Each week during the college football season, the Northern Star will recap the most interesting NIU grades published by Pro Football Focus, a sports analytics company that evaluates every player on every play of every game. Season and single-game grades are based on a 0-100 scale. To learn more about PFF’s grading system, click here.
For the first time in over a year, one can confidently say NIU football dominated an opponent.
The Huskies blitzed UMass with a 45-point onslaught on Wednesday night to secure their third win of the 2025 campaign. It was one of those games where all three phases worked together seamlessly. So, of course, the grades issued by PFF reflected that dominance accordingly.
NIU (90.6 overall): After earning its worst-ever overall grade in a 45-3 pantsing by Toledo, NIU rebounded with its highest-graded performance of the year. The Huskies received season-high marks in offense (80.7), passing (79.1), receiving (67.8), defense (80.0), run defense (85.2) and special teams (81.0). This is NIU’s best overall grade since the 2024 season opener — a 55-14 domination of Western Illinois that earned a 90.7.
Brady Davidson (84.5 offense): The freshman signal-caller only needed 24 snaps to claim NIU’s second-highest offensive grade. Davidson relieved starter Jalen Macon midway through the third quarter and promptly threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Gary Givens III to put the Huskies up 45-0. He also logged an 85.7 passing grade — the highest by any NIU player in a game this season.
Lance Ingold (81.9 defense): In his first career start, Ingold saw action on 42 of 68 total defensive snaps. The defensive end earned the Huskies’ top defensive grade, beating out leading tacklers Quinn Urwiler (79.4) and Filip Maciorowski (75.0). He finished with three tackles, a 15-yard sack, a QB hit and a forced fumble.
Jacob Finley (85.7 tackling): Finley topped NIU’s tackling grades after putting together a career night against the Minutemen. He made 14 stops on Wednesday to surpass his previous season-high of nine set at Eastern Michigan on Oct. 11. The cornerback played 44 defensive snaps.
Kimar Nelson (91.6 special teams): The freshman linebacker was only in on 24 plays, but that was all he needed to make his impact on the game. Nelson blocked a UMass punt on the game’s opening drive, setting up a chip-shot field goal for NIU’s first points of the game. He also took home the Huskies’ fifth-highest defensive grade (72.4) after making the first three tackles of his collegiate career.
