DeKALB — It’s been almost four years since that magical November night at Huskie Stadium.
NIU erased a 10-point deficit, traded blows with archival Ball State and fell behind again when the Cardinals hit a field goal with less than 2 minutes remaining. Then came one final drive — a 62-yard march down the field — to set up John Richardson’s 32-yard walk-off.
Red fireworks lit up the night sky, complete strangers hugged each other in the stands and Richardson showed the world watching he had ice in his veins.
That would be the last time the Huskies got the better of their archrivals.
Ball State has since handed NIU three straight losses — each more heartbreaking than the last — and evened the all-time series at 25-25-2 with last year’s walk-off win in Muncie.
This year, the rivalry comes back to DeKalb as the Huskies (1-6, 0-3 MAC) host the Cardinals (3-4, 2-1 MAC) at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, and the stakes are higher than ever. Not only is NIU chasing its second win of the season — and its first against FBS competition — but the Huskies are also looking to reclaim the Bronze Stalk trophy one last time before making their exit from the MAC after this season.
“It gives you something to focus on,” head coach Thomas Hammock said of the Battle for the Bronze Stalk, a trophy game created in 2008. “But, like I told our players, the trophy just signifies that you won a game. We’ve got to do whatever we need to do to try to figure out a way to win a game, and then we can figure out the trophy afterwards.”
NIU enters Saturday’s battle looking to snap a six-game losing skid — its longest since 2020 — after taking a 48-21 loss at Ohio. Despite the blowout, the Huskie offense put up a season-high 21 points as quarterback Josh Holst, back in the starting role, threw two touchdowns on 21-of-29 passing. Junior wideout DeAree Rogers led the receiving effort with a season-high 107 yards on seven catches, including a 50-yard touchdown reception.
“I think it gave us a lot of confidence,” offensive lineman Landon Hron said. “I’ve always had confidence in our offense, but going into this week, I think we’ve got to keep that urgency and tempo, and hopefully, we can do that for four quarters.”
To do that, NIU will need to slow down BSU’s standout edge rusher Nathan Voorhis, whose nine sacks this season are tied for second in the Football Bowl Subdivision.
Defensively, the Huskies are coming off their worst performance of the season, having given up 538 yards and 48 points to the Bobcats. Sixth-year senior linebacker Quinn Urwiler led the team with 12 tackles, while true freshman safety James Finley notched his first career interception — and NIU’s fifth of 2025.
Now, NIU will be faced with a speedy and athletic Cardinal offense led by dual-threat quarterback Kiael Kelly, who rushed for three scores and threw for another in a 42-28 win against Akron. With the offensive challenge that lies ahead, Hammock said his defense has to get back to playing physical.
“At the end of the day, we have to be able to choose violence when you play,” Hammock said. “If you choose violence, that gives you a chance to have some success … I think they watch the tape and understand, no matter what, we have to be a physical outfit.”
Saturday’s game also has the potential to end NIU’s postseason hopes entirely. A loss to the Cardinals would virtually eliminate the Huskies from MAC championship game contention and likely keep them from making a bowl game. Still, Urwiler, a team captain, said the team hasn’t lost faith as NIU tries to engineer a late-season turnaround with five games left.
“Everyone is still locked in, on board,” Urwiler said. “That’s for the leaders to make sure that the standard is staying the standard … When we do get the win on Saturday, it’s obviously just going to help us swing the momentum and get to that six wins that we need.”
