Football | October 7
DeKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University football team begins conference play following a bye week, hosting Air Force on CBS Sports Network at 6:30 p.m. CT. Saturday night will be the Huskies first Mountain West game as well as NIU's 119th Homecoming game, the oldest major college alumni gathering in the state of Illinois.
The annual celebration dates back to an alumni football game played on Oct. 10, 1903 and is one of the oldest in the country. NIU is 75-33-10 all-time in the Homecoming Game and have won 22 of the last 27. The Homecoming Block Party will take place in Downtown DeKalb on Thursday, Oct. 8 from 5-8 p.m. CT.
NIU will play another opponent for the first time in Air Force, the third consecutive such game (Arizona and Georgia State). The Huskies last played a service academy in 2012, a 41-40 win over Army. All-time NIU is 2-3 against service academies (Army, 2-1; Navy, 0-2).
Against Georgia State, the NIU offense produced a season-high 432 total yards. Junior running back
Telly Johnson Jr. (Augusta, Ga. / Hephzibah) rushed for a season-high 85 yards with a touchdown and now has at least 80 yards rushing in two of the last three games. Redshirt senior wide receiver
DeAree Rogers (Lexington, S.C. / Lenoir-Rhyne) also set a season-high mark with 107 yards on nine catches and one touchdown reception. Rogers' 7.75 receptions per game ranks eighth in the FBS.
Redshirt junior quarterback
Taron Dickens (Miami, Fla. / Western Carolina) threw for 320 passing yards on 28 of 42 attempts with one touchdown. Dickens became the first NIU quarterback to throw for more than 300 yards in a game against an FBS opponent since Rocky Lombardi set a school record with 532 passing yards against Kent State on Nov. 3, 2021.
Defensively, redshirt sophomore linebacker
Brady Kerperin (Jefferson City, Mo. / Iowa Western Community College) led all players with 10 tackles and added 1.5 tackles for loss. Junior safety
Kyon Conyers (Millville, N.J. / Long Island University) recorded his first interception of the season and leads the team in tackles with 27 through four games.
The Huskie defense forced another two turnovers against Georgia State, one interception and one fumble, and have six through four games. Over the last 11 games, NIU has forced 15 turnovers.
Air Force enters the game following a 14-9 win over Navy. The Falcons lead the Mountain West in both rushing yards per game with 297.3 and time of position at 35:57. The backfield trio of Owen Allen, Rocco Conti and Kemper Hodges have combined for 471 rushing yards and three touchdowns this season.
Linebacker Blake Fletcher is the Falcons leading tackler with 44, ranking second in the conference in tackles per game. Air Force sits third in the Mountain West in total defense, allowing 286.3 yards per game.
NIU hits the road next week, traveling to Wyoming on Saturday, Oct. 17 for a 2:30 p.m. CT kick on The CW.
Single-game tickets for the four remaining home games start at just $35. More information on tickets can be found online at NIUHuskies.com/tickets, by calling the NIU Ticket Office at 815-753-PACK (7225) weekdays between 9 a.m. – 5 p.m. or by emailing, huskiestickets@niu.edu.
