DeKALB — The NIU football team entered its Tuesday night tilt with Western Michigan looking to replicate the resounding success it had less than a week earlier in Massachusetts. And for the first quarter and change, it looked like that might just happen.
The Huskies (3-8, 2-5 MAC) came out swinging with a 43-yard touchdown run on the game’s opening drive. They then snagged a tip-drill interception on the Broncos’ (7-4, 6-1 MAC) first play from scrimmage, turning it into a 39-yard field goal. After a 41-yard field goal early in the second quarter, NIU held a 13-0 advantage over the MAC frontrunner.
But, like most of its fleeting successes this season, that two-score lead quickly went up in smoke.
The Huskies surrendered 35 unanswered points over the next two-and-a-half quarters, falling 35-19 in their final midweek MACtion game and extinguishing any remaining hope of reaching a bowl game. The loss also snapped a three-game winning streak against the Broncos.
“We played decent for a half, but we didn’t put two halves together tonight,” head coach Thomas Hammock said. “We were down a couple of guys on defense — not to make an excuse. We have to get some of our young defensive players to grow up, and we will, and we’ll get better as we move forward.”
NIU gave up 393 total yards on the night, with the bulk of the damage coming on the ground. The Broncos trampled the Huskies with 361 rushing yards — the most allowed by NIU this season — as quarterback Broc Lowry and running back Jalen Buckley combined for five rushing touchdowns.
That also marks the most rushing yards NIU has permitted in a single game since Sept. 18, 2021, when the Huskies gave up 373 to a Michigan ground attack powered by future NFLers Blake Corum, Hassan Haskins and Donovan Edwards.
“As a whole, as a defense, we all have to play better; we have to be more physical,” said safety Jasper Beeler, who led the team with a career-high 13 tackles. “They out-toughed us today. That’s something that we pride ourselves on, and we didn’t do that.”
Offensively, the Huskies once again leaned on their two-headed rushing attack of Telly Johnson Jr. and Chavon Wright. Johnson totaled 42 yards, including the long touchdown run, while Wright carried the bulk of the load with 21 attempts for 92 yards.
Meanwhile, both sides struggled to move the ball through the air. NIU quarterback Jalen Macon completed just one of his seven passes for 5 yards before he was replaced in the fourth quarter for freshman Brady Davidson, who finished 5-for-8 for a game-high 73 yards and a touchdown. Lowry was 5-of-9 passing for 32 yards and an interception.
The teams’ combined 110 passing yards marked the lowest passing total in a Football Bowl Subdivision game this season.
Huskies get trampled
After NIU took a 13-0 lead and both sides exchanged punts, Western Michigan got on the board with an 18-yard scoring run by Lowry. The Huskies then failed to convert a fourth-and-1 at their own 39, setting up an 8-yard Buckley scoring run that put WMU up 14-13 at halftime.
“I was trying to keep our offense on the field and play keep-away from them, and they stopped us in a critical situation, so credit to them,” Hammock said. “They made the play in a critical moment, and then we couldn’t get off the field when they had the ball.”
The Broncos opened the second half with their longest march of the night — 12 plays, 89 yards. Lowry capped the drive with an 8-yard touchdown, stretching the lead to 21-13 midway through the third quarter. The next three possessions turned into punts before Buckley muscled in a 1-yard score. Lowry followed suit with his own 1-yard scoring plunge to complete the hat trick and close out WMU’s scoring.
Davidson then led a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive in his second series under center. He strung together three consecutive completions to wide receiver Rickey Taylor Jr. for 53 yards, ending with an 18-yard touchdown strike for the receiver’s first collegiate scoring catch.
Western Michigan bled off the remaining time to seal its first win in DeKalb since 2021 and get one step closer to sealing a MAC championship game berth.
NIU will conclude the regular season at 11 a.m. Nov. 28, when the Huskies host Kent State at Huskie Stadium for Senior Day.
