Football | September 16

DeKALB, Ill. – The Northern Illinois University football team plays the first of back-to-back road games this weekend, traveling to Arizona on Saturday, Sept. 19. Kick is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. CT on TNT with JB Long and Mike Golic Jr. on the call with Coy Wire on the sidelines.

For the radio call to hear Andy Garcia, Mark Lindo and Terry Bonadonna, tune into 94-9 WDKB.

Saturday night will be the first meeting between NIU and Arizona. The Huskies will have played in 31 states and one Canadian province following the completion of the game.

In last week's game against Illinois State, redshirt senior wide receiver DeAree Rogers (Lexington, S.C. / Lenoir-Rhyne) tied a career-high 11 catches for 74 receiving yards and a touchdown. Junior running back Telly Johnson Jr. (Augusta, Ga. / Hephzibah) carried the ball 22 times, second most in his career, for 83 yards and a touchdown.  

Redshirt junior quarterback Taron Dickens (Miami, Fla. / Western Carolina) threw for 193 passing yards on 22 of 27 attempts with one touchdown and one interception. NIU scored 24 unanswered points before falling just short, 28-24.  

Freshman linebacker Jack Murray (Brookfield, Wis. / Brookfield East) posted his first career double-digit tackle game with 12 while senior defensive back Avery Jones (Baltimore, Md. / Lafayette College) added eight tackles and a pair of sacks. The Huskies recorded a pair of interceptions in the contest thanks to junior cornerback Yassine Falke (Indianapolis, Ind. / Marian University) and redshirt freshman safety Andruw Ellis (Roxana, Ill. / Roxana), who returned his 30 yards for a touchdown.

NIU has recorded at least one interception in the last four games and has forced 12 turnovers over the last nine games.  

Arizona welcomes NIU after dropping its first Big 12 loss to No. 15 BYU. Quarterback Noah Fifita threw for 230 passing yards with one touchdown and interception while adding 38 rushing yards and a score on the ground. Fifita ranks second among active FBS quarterbacks in career touchdown passes with 76 and third in passing yards with 9,692.

Linebacker Taye Brown is the team's leading tackler with 15 after earning Third Team All-Big 12 last season. The Wildcats rank tied for second in the conference in sacks with seven on the season, led by linebacker Chase Kennedy's 2.5.

The Huskies final non-conference game of the season will be at Georgia State on Saturday, Sept. 26 for a 1 p.m. CT kickoff on ESPN+.