Football | October 21
DeKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University football team returns home this weekend to face Hawai'i on Saturday, Oct. 24 at 2:30 p.m. CT on Hall of Fame Weekend, presented by eo5 Hotels. Matt Rodewald and Clay Harbor will be on the call for the broadcast on MW+.
NIU Athletics will celebrate its 2026 Hall of Fame class during Saturday's game and the group will be formally inducted on Friday, Oct. 23, in the historic Duke Ellington Ballroom at the Holmes Student Center. The ceremony is scheduled for 7 p.m. and is open to the public.
NIU Athletics 2026 Hall of Fame Class: Doug Free, Football (2003-06), Matt German, Baseball (2004-07), Jordan Godsey, Men's Soccer (2009-12), Janay Mitchell, Women's Track and Field (2010-13), Leslie Pottinger [Davies], Women's Basketball (1991-95) and Nelle Youel [Link], Women's Tennis (2011-15).
Saturday's game will be the first meeting between NIU and Hawai'i.
The Huskies (0-6, 0-2 MW) totaled 392 yards of offense last weekend at Wyoming, aided by running back
Telly Johnson Jr. (Augusta, Ga. / Hephzibah) rushing for a season-high 139 yards and one touchdown on 16 carries. Johnson is currently riding a three-game touchdown streak and is averaging just over 80 rushing yards a game in the last five outings.
Wide receiver
DeAree Rogers (Lexington, S.C. / Lenoir-Rhyne) continues to haul in passes at an impressive clip for the Huskies, finishing last week with 11 receptions for 89 receiving yards. Through six games, Rogers has three games of 10 or more catches and joins Kenny Golladay as the second NIU player since at least 2010 to do so. The South Carolina native currently ranks tied for third in the FBS in receptions per game.
Linebacker
Brady Kerperin (Jefferson City, Mo./Blair Oaks) recorded his third straight game with 10 or more tackles, leading all players with a season-high 11 last week. Cornerback
Yassine Falke added a season best eight tackles against Wyoming. The NIU defense held Wyoming to 196 passing yards and have now kept four of its last five opponents to under 200 passing yards.
Hawai'i (1-6, 0-4 MW) is the conference's passing leader at 268.1 yards per game. The Warriors fell to New Mexico in their last contest, 21-10. Hawai'i will be playing its first ever game in the state of Illinois this weekend.
Quarterback Micah Alejado ranks 15th nationally in passing yards per game (266.1) and leads the nation in passing attempts per game (43.6). Alejado's top two targets are wide receivers Kainoa Carvalho and Tama Uiliata with Carvalho recording 384 yards on 32 receptions while Uiliata has 266 yards on 30 catches.
Linebacker Jamih Otis is tied for ninth in the MW in tackles per game and has 51 on the season. Fellow linebacker Wynden Ho'ohuli has a team-high 4.5 tackles for loss along with 43 tackles, two sacks and two forced fumbles. The Warriors defense is allowing 382.9 yards per game and 25.0 points per game through seven games.
Next up, NIU begins the first leg of a back-to-back road games, heading to UNLV on Halloween. Kickoff against the Rebels on Saturday, Oct. 31 is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. CT on CBS Sports Network.
