DeKALB — When NIU nickelback Taylor Powell scooped up a forced fumble and took it 34 yards to set up Chavon Wright’s 1-yard touchdown plunge early in the fourth quarter, the Huskies looked poised to end their Mid-American Conference tenure on somewhat of a high note.
Instead, NIU (3-9, 2-6 MAC) watched a two-score lead slip away as Kent State (5-7, 4-4 MAC) racked up 15 unanswered points, handing the Huskies a 35-31 loss at home on Senior Day — and their final game before heading off to the Mountain West Conference.
“Tough way to end the season for our seniors that put a lot into this program … wasn’t able to get it done for those guys,” head coach Thomas Hammock said. “Credit to Kent. They made the plays necessary in-game to win the game.”
NIU once again leaned heavily on its ground attack, churning out 307 rushing yards. Wright led the charge with 185 yards and two touchdowns on 30 carries in his final college outing. Meanwhile, quarterback Jalen Macon added 65 rushing yards and two scores but was limited to 5-of-10 passing for 27 yards.
“I feel like we executed our gameplan very well,” Macon said. “At times, I felt like there could’ve been certain small details that we could’ve fixed as far as extending some drives a little bit more.”
Kent State scored the game’s first points after both teams came up empty in their opening drives, with Will Hryszko kicking a 34-yard field goal. NIU then found the end zone with a 2-yard QB keeper by Macon to take a 7-3 lead entering the second quarter.
The Golden Flashes responded with a nine-play, 81-yard drive ending in a 5-yard passing touchdown from Dru DeShields to his tight end Terik Mulder, putting Kent State back in front.
After an NIU punt, sixth-year senior linebacker Quinn Urwiler made the first big splash of his collegiate swansong. Urwiler recorded his first career interception midway through the second quarter, snagging a pass that popped off the hands of a Kent State receiver.
“The first time I grabbed it, I was like, ‘All right, here we go. I’ve gotta run and show coach Ham the running back skills from high school,’” Urwiler said. “And then I dropped it, and I caught it again. Dropped it, I think I caught it a third time.”
The Huskies capitalized on Urwiler’s takeaway with a 38-yard Wright rushing score. The MAC foes then traded touchdown drives, with Kent State first scoring off a 17-yard pass before Macon dived for his second touchdown of the day one drive later. The teams entered halftime with NIU leading 21-17.
NIU and Kent State later exchanged field goals early in the second half, keeping the Huskies at a four-point lead. Urwiler then struck again on Kent State’s next possession, forcing a fumble recovered by Powell and returned to the Golden Flashes’ 1-yard line. Wright found paydirt the very next play to extend NIU’s lead to double digits, 31-20.
Kent State stormed back with consecutive touchdown drives, capped by rushing scores from Cade Wolford (31 yards) and Gavin Garcia (26). NIU’s final drive made it to the KSU 27 before a fourth-down incompletion forced the game-sealing turnover on downs. The Golden Flashes finished having outgained the Huskies 438-334, averaging 7.55 yards per play.
With the defeat, NIU closes out a frustrating 2025 campaign with a 3-9, 2-6 MAC record — its worst finish since earning identical marks in the injury-riddled 2022 season. Hammock credited the seniors for keeping the team together amid the season’s struggles.
“Obviously not what we wanted or expected but extremely proud of the seniors,” Hammock said. “When you have a season like this, it’s easy to go the other way in the locker room — with your work ethic, with your mentality — and these guys have been outstanding.”
