ATHENS, Ohio - The Northern Illinois University football team could not overcome the Ohio Bobcats' rushing attack Saturday afternoon in a 48-21 loss at Peden Stadium.

"Obviously credit Ohio, they were better in all three phases," said head coach Thomas Hammock. "We've got to find a way to play better. I thought we did some good things offensively in the second half. We need to play faster to get more plays off. Ohio had a really good plan offensively and ran downhill."

Ohio (4-3, 2-1 MAC) ran for 333 yards and had over 500 yards of total offense on the day. The Huskies' 21 points were a season-high on 293 yards of offense.

NIU (1-6, 0-3 MAC) threw for a season-high 161 yards on Saturday as Josh Holst (Marengo, Ill./Marengo) had two touchdown passes. Holst was 21-for-29 passing in the game, the second-most completions in his career. Junior wide receiver DeAree Rogers (Lexington, S.C./Lenoir-Rhyne) tied a season-high with seven receptions and had a season-high 107 yards.

The Bobcats took control early, forcing NIU into a three-and-out on its first possession. Chase Hendricks then returned a punt 53 yards to the NIU 14 yardline and two plays later Sieh Bangura scored on a two-yard touchdown run to put the Bobcats up 7-0 2:13 into the game. Ohio took a 14-0 lead with 4:53 to go in the first quarter when quarterback Parker Navarro's nine-yard touchdown run capped an 11-play, 91-yard drive. Bangura made it 21-0 early in the second quarter, scoring his second rushing touchdown with 12:13 to go.

Dev'ion Reynolds (Zion, Ill./Carmel Catholic) gave the Huskies a spark with a 67-yard kickoff return to the Ohio 20 yardline. After a third-down conversion on a 10-yard reception by Jake Appleget (Lincoln, Neb./Nebraska), Holst hit redshirt-freshman Devon Akers (Ankeny, Iowa/Ankeny) for a seven-yard touchdown pass on Akers' first career reception at the 10:08 mark. The Huskies then went for a two-point conversion and got the points on a Holst screen pass to George Dimopoulos (Crystal Lake, Ill./Crystal Lake Central) to make the score 21-8. The NIU defense got two stops late in the quarter, forcing an Ohio punt from the Huskies' 36 and getting an interception as freshman James Finley IV (Portage, Ind./Andrean) picked off Navarro in the end zone with 0:11 left in the first half.

The Bobcats took a 27-8 lead early in the third quarter on a 66-yard Duncan Brune touchdown run, but missed the extra point. Ohio led 34-8 when Holst threw his second touchdown pass of the game, a 50-yard strike up the sideline to Rogers that made the score 34-14 with 6:04 to play in the quarter. The pass was the longest of the season for NIU.

"We played faster and with more urgency in the second half," Hammock said. "We called plays at the line of scrimmage which is what we need to do to pick up the tempo and let our guys play."

Ohio responded with a one-yard Bangura touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter to go up 41-14. NIU then drove 75 yards on eight plays with Chavon Wright (Opa Locka, Fla./Charleston) punching in a one-yard touchdown run to make it 41-21 with 12:08 to play in the game. Holst combined with Rogers on two passes for 41 yards, including a 22-yard throw to the Ohio one yardline, and also ran for 24 yards.

Bangura had 147 rushing yards on 22 carries and three touchdowns while Brune added 126 yards and two scores. Navarro had 248 yards of total offense with 205 through the air. Defensively, Quinn Urwiler (Mooseheart, Ill./North Dakota) led all players with 12 tackles as Jasper Beeler (Farmington, Mich./Saginaw Valley State) and Marc Pretto (Montclair, N.J./Fordham) both had eight.

NIU returns to Huskie Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 25 to take on the Ball State Cardinals for the Bronze Stalk trophy. Kickoff is at 2:30 p.m. with the game broadcast on ESPN+ and locally on 94-9 WDKB. Tickets for all remaining NIU home football games are on sale now. Purchase tickets for the 2025 NIU Football season anytime online at NIUHuskies.com/tickets. For more information, call the NIU Ticket Office at 815-753-PACK (7225) weekdays between 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. or email huskiestickets@niu.edu.

—NIU—