DeKALB – NIU football overcame the cold, wind and rain at Huskie Stadium and racked up 439 yards of total offense to prevail over the University of Akron (2-8, 1-5 MAC) on Wednesday night.
With the 29-16 victory, the Huskies (6-4, 3-3 MAC) are bowl eligible for the third time in four seasons.
“Great win for our seniors,” head coach Thomas Hammock said. “To extend the season, that’s a big deal.”
Redshirt senior wide receiver Trayvon Rudolph had a large hand in the victory, scoring NIU’s first two touchdowns of the night.
Wednesday night saw NIU’s defense feast on the Mid-American Conference’s third-best passing offense. Zips redshirt junior quarterback Ben Finley completed a season-worst 36.5% of his passes, finishing 19-of-52 passing for 205 yards and a touchdown. The Huskies were also dominant on the ground, sacking Finley four times and holding Akron to 50 total rushing yards.
“We just fed off each other’s energy,” said senior defensive end Raishein Thomas, who recorded two sacks in his third game back from injury. “One guy makes a play, everyone’s talking to him. ‘Hey, let’s go. Let’s make another one.’ We just continued to feed off their energy, and from there, we just played how we play.”
The NIU defense got an early takeaway with a fumble recovery on the game’s first possession. After the Zips went three-and-out on their drive, senior punter Avery Book fumbled the snap, which was recovered by the Huskies at Akron’s 21-yard line.
Senior kicker Kanon Woodill drew first blood four plays later with a 32-yard field goal. Akron responded with a seven-play, 68-yard scoring drive that ended in a 40-yard touchdown pass from Finley to sophomore wide receiver Adrian Norton. The Zips failed to convert the ensuing 2-point attempt.
The Huskies jumped back in front with a 58-yard touchdown run by Rudolph – his second of the season. Rudolph took the direct snap out of wildcat formation and found an opening on the right side as he went untouched to the end zone.
The former high school quarterback struck again 4:30 later with a 39-yard touchdown pass to redshirt sophomore wide receiver Dane Pardridge. Rudolph described the play as redemption for the pass he missed to Pardridge two months ago against the University of Notre Dame.
“I knew I had to make up for the Notre Dame one,” Rudolph said. “I was telling Hammock, ‘don’t give up on me on that one.’ It felt amazing.”
Akron almost entirely eliminated NIU’s lead with two scoring plays in a 1:36 span early in the second quarter. Akron redshirt junior kicker Garrison Smith made a 27-yard field goal roughly four minutes into the period. The Zips then blocked NIU senior punter Tom Foley’s punt and recovered the ball in the end zone for a touchdown to make it a 17-16 game.
NIU answered on the following drive with a 32-yard scoring connection from redshirt junior quarterback Ethan Hampton to senior tight end Grayson Barnes. On fourth-and-1, Hampton delivered a quick pass to Barnes in the flat, who ran up the right sideline to score his first touchdown since the season opener. The teams went to halftime with NIU leading 23-16.
Snoozer second half
Both offenses struggled to move the ball coming out of halftime. The Huskies and Zips combined for just 82 yards in the third quarter, with every drive during that period ending in a punt or a turnover on downs.
The game remained stagnant until midway through the fourth quarter when NIU put the game away with the longest run of senior running back Gavin Williams’ career. Williams took NIU’s first carry of the drive and ripped off a 71-yard touchdown run, hugging the Huskies’ sideline the entire way.
“We practice that play a lot, and that was probably the cleanest look that we’ve had,” Williams said. “Those opportunities don’t really come around often.”
Williams joked that his desire to score stemmed from trying to avoid getting scolded by Hammock on the sideline.
“It was really just trying to make the most of it and not coming up short, because I wasn’t trying to go back to the sideline and have coach (Hammock) get after me for not scoring,” Williams said as Hammock chuckled nearby.
Williams’ run allowed him to eclipse 100 rushing yards on the night, making him one of two Huskies to post a 100-yard rushing performance against the Zips. Freshman running back Telly Johnson Jr. led the Huskies with 107 yards in his first collegiate start.
NIU held off Akron for the rest of the game, finishing the Zips off with a fourth-down stop deep in Huskie territory with 26 seconds left. Hampton kneeled the game out to give the Huskies their first home win over a MAC foe since Nov. 14, 2023.
Around that same time, NIU was officially eliminated from MAC championship contention with Miami University’s 34-7 thumping of Kent State University in Oxford, Ohio – where NIU will play its next game.
While Hammock hopes his players can enjoy the victory, he said the coaching staff already has its sights set on beating Miami (Ohio) and winning the Mallory Cup on Tuesday.
“We want to win the game, and we want to get the trophy,” Hammock said. “And so we have to play our best football to get that done.”
