Football will compete in its sixth straight MAC Championship game Friday — its third consecutive time playing Bowling Green in the game.

The Huskies picked up a big win last season in the championship when they defeated the Falcons 51-17. Bowling Green won the previous title matchup between the two teams, downing the huskies 47-27 in 2013.

The Falcons are coming off a 48-10 win over Ball State last week. They went 9-3 this year including a seven-game winning streak midway through the campaign. The team recorded 40-plus points seven times and went 7-1 in the MAC. They also went a perfect 6-0 on the road.

The Huskies lost just one game at home this season and went 6-2 in the MAC. They average 34.6 points-per-game and are allowing 24.8 points-per-game. Junior running back Joel Bouagnon is tied for fifth in the nation with 18 rushing touchdowns and has led NIU in rushing throughout the year. Sophmore cornerback Shawun Lurry is still tied for the nation lead in interceptions with eight — the NIU record is 10.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Ryan Graham suffered a leg injury in Tuesday’s game against Ohio. He’s now the second quarterback to go down for the Huskies this year following a season-ending injury to junior quarterback Drew Hare.

“Ryan [Graham] wasn’t able to come back,” said head coach Rod Carey, according to a Wednesday Northern Star article. “I don’t know his status. If we get into the championship game I wouldn’t know his status. I would hope for the bowl game he’ll be back, but I wouldn’t know the status on that either.”

Next in line at quarterback lies third-string quarterback freshman Tommy Fiedler, who entered last week’s game and nearly led a successful comeback for NIU. Fiedler would likely be the starter for the Championship game if Graham isn’t able to play. It would be his first career start.

The game will take place at 7 p.m. Friday in Detroit, Mich. and on ESPN2.