2025 Northern Illinois Huskies football team

2025 Northern Illinois Huskies football
2025 Northern Illinois Huskies football
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Record	0–0 (0–0 MAC)
Head coach	Thomas Hammock (7th season);
Offensive coordinator	Quinn Sanders (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Rob Harley (1st season)
Home stadium	Huskie Stadium

2025 Mid-American Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
Akron*	0	–	0	0	–	0
Ball State	0	–	0	0	–	0
Bowling Green	0	–	0	0	–	0
Buffalo	0	–	0	0	–	0
Central Michigan	0	–	0	0	–	0
Eastern Michigan	0	–	0	0	–	0
Kent State	0	–	0	0	–	0
Miami (OH)	0	–	0	0	–	0
	0	–	0	0	–	0
Ohio	0	–	0	0	–	0
Toledo	0	–	0	0	–	0
UMass	0	–	0	0	–	0
Western Michigan	0	–	0	0	–	0
Championship: December 6, 2025
* Ineligible for postseason play due to low APR score As of July 7, 2025

The 2025 Northern Illinois Huskies football team will represent Northern Illinois University in the Mid-American Conference (MAC) during the 2025 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Huskies are expected to be led by Thomas Hammock in his seventh year as the head coach. The Huskies play home games at Huskie Stadium, located in DeKalb, Illinois.

This will be the Huskies' last season competing in the MAC as the program will join the Mountain West Conference as football-only members beginning with the 2026 season.^[1]

Offseason

Transfers

Outgoing

Player	Position	Destination
Andre Cobb	DB	Fresno State
Ethan Tierney	S	Fresno State
Ethan Hampton	QB	Illinois
Amariyun Knighten	DB	Indiana
Raishein Thomas	DE	Mississippi State
Nevaeh Sanders	DE	Mississippi State
Cam Thompson	WR	Mississippi State
Santana Banner	S	Missouri
Jalen Johnson	WR	New Hampshire
Dashaun Gibson	DB	Southern Illinois
Skyler Gill-Howard	DL	Texas Tech
Trayvon Rudolph	WR	Toledo
Christian Medlock	OL	Toledo
Keyshaun Pipkin	WR	UT Martin
Cam'Ron Dabney	DB	Western Carolina
Kyle Thomas	WR	Unknown
Kenny Lueth	QB	Unknown
Christian Fuhrman	LB	Unknown
Isaac Hatfield	LB	Unknown
Shad Dabney	DB	Unknown
Jalonnie Williams	DE	Withdrawn

Incoming

Player	Position	Previous school
Andrew Glass	K	Kent State
Thomas McCoy	WR	Marshall
Keshawn Lyons	CB	McKendree
Miles Thompson	CB	Texas Tech
Alvin Gulley Jr.	DL	Yale

^[2]^[3]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV
August 30	2:30 p.m.	Holy Cross*	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL	ESPN+
September 5	6:30 p.m.	at Maryland*	SECU Stadium College Park, MD	BTN
September 20	3:15 p.m.	at Mississippi State*	Davis Wade Stadium Starkville, MS	SECN
September 27		San Diego State*	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL
October 4		Miami (OH)	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL
October 11		at Eastern Michigan	Rynearson Stadium Ypsilanti, MI
October 18		at Ohio	Peden Stadium Athens, OH
October 25		Ball State	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL (Bronze Stalk Trophy)
November 5	6:00 p.m./7:00 p.m.	at Toledo	Glass Bowl Toledo, OH	ESPN2/ESPNU
November 12	6:00 p.m.	at UMass	Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium Hadley, MA	ESPN2/ESPNU/CBSSN
November 18	6:00 p.m.	Western Michigan	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL	ESPN2/ESPNU/CBSSN
November 28	11:00 a.m.	Kent State	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL	ESPNU/CBSSN
*Non-conference game All times are in Central time

^[4]

Game summaries

Holy Cross (FCS)

Holy Cross Crusaders (FCS) (0-0) vs. Northern Illinois Huskies (0-0) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Crusaders (FCS)	-	-	-	-	0
Huskies	-	-	-	-	0

at Huskie Stadium • DeKalb, Illinois

Date: August 30
Game time: 2:30 PM CDT

Statistics	HC	NIU
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Passing: Comp–Att–Int
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Holy Cross	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Northern Illinois	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

at Maryland

Northern Illinois Huskies (0-0) vs. Maryland Terrapins (0-0) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Huskies	-	-	-	-	0
Terrapins	-	-	-	-	0

at SECU Stadium • College Park, Maryland

Date: September 5
Game time: 7:30 PM EDT

Statistics	NIU	MD
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Passing: Comp–Att–Int
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Northern Illinois	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Maryland	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

at Mississippi State

Northern Illinois Huskies (0-0) vs. Mississippi State Bulldogs (0-0) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Huskies	-	-	-	-	0
Bulldogs	-	-	-	-	0

at Davis Wade Stadium • Starkville, Mississippi

Date: September 20
Game time: 3:15 PM CDT

Statistics	NIU	MSST
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Passing: Comp–Att–Int
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Northern Illinois	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Mississippi State	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

San Diego State

San Diego State Aztecs (0-0) vs. Northern Illinois Huskies (0-0) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Aztecs	-	-	-	-	0
Huskies	-	-	-	-	0

at Huskie Stadium • DeKalb, Illinois

Date: September 27

Statistics	SDSU	NIU
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Passing: Comp–Att–Int
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
San Diego State	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Northern Illinois	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

Miami (OH)

Miami RedHawks (0-0) vs. Northern Illinois Huskies (0-0) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
RedHawks	-	-	-	-	0
Huskies	-	-	-	-	0

at Huskie Stadium • DeKalb, Illinois

Date: October 4

Statistics	M-OH	NIU
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Passing: Comp–Att–Int
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Miami (OH)	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Northern Illinois	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

at Eastern Michigan

Northern Illinois Huskies (0-0) vs. Eastern Michigan Eagles (0-0) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Huskies	-	-	-	-	0
Eagles	-	-	-	-	0

at Rynearson Stadium • Ypsilanti, Michigan

Date: October 11

Statistics	NIU	EMU
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Passing: Comp–Att–Int
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Northern Illinois	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Eastern Michigan	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

at Ohio

Northern Illinois Huskies (0-0) vs. Ohio Bobcats (0-0) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Huskies	-	-	-	-	0
Bobcats	-	-	-	-	0

at Peden Stadium • Athens, Ohio

Date: October 18

Statistics	NIU	OHIO
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Passing: Comp–Att–Int
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Northern Illinois	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Ohio	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

Ball State (Bronze Stalk Trophy)

Ball State Cardinals (0-0) vs. Northern Illinois Huskies (0-0) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	-	-	-	-	0
Huskies	-	-	-	-	0

at Huskie Stadium • DeKalb, Illinois

Date: October 25

Statistics	BALL	NIU
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Passing: Comp–Att–Int
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Ball State	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Northern Illinois	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

at Toledo

Northern Illinois Huskies (0-0) vs. Toledo Rockets (0-0) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Huskies	-	-	-	-	0
Rockets	-	-	-	-	0

at Glass Bowl • Toledo, Ohio

Date: November 5

Statistics	NIU	TOL
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Passing: Comp–Att–Int
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Northern Illinois	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Toledo	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

at UMass

Northern Illinois Huskies (0-0) vs. UMass Minutemen (0-0) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Huskies	-	-	-	-	0
Minutemen	-	-	-	-	0

at Warren McGuirk Alumni Stadium • Hadley, Massachusetts

Date: November 12
Game time: 7:00 PM EST

Statistics	NIU	MASS
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Passing: Comp–Att–Int
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Northern Illinois	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
UMass	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

Western Michigan

Western Michigan Broncos (0-0) vs. Northern Illinois Huskies (0-0) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Broncos	-	-	-	-	0
Huskies	-	-	-	-	0

at Huskie Stadium • DeKalb, Illinois

Date: November 18
Game time: 6:00 PM CST

Statistics	WMU	NIU
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Passing: Comp–Att–Int
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Western Michigan	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Northern Illinois	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

Kent State

Kent State Golden Flashes (0-0) vs. Northern Illinois Huskies (0-0) – Game summary

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Flashes	-	-	-	-	0
Huskies	-	-	-	-	0

at Huskie Stadium • DeKalb, Illinois

Date: November 28
Game time: 11:00 AM CST

Statistics	KENT	NIU
First downs
Total yards
Rushing yards
Passing yards
Passing: Comp–Att–Int
Time of possession

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Kent State	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Northern Illinois	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

References

^ Bonagura, Kyle (January 7, 2025). "Northern Illinois to join Mountain West as football-only in '26". ESPN. Retrieved June 29, 2025.
^ "Northern Illinois Football Transfer Portal". ON3.
^ "Northern Illinois Huskies 2025 College Football Transfer Portal". 247Sports.
^ "2025 Northern Illinois Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved February 13, 2025.

[1] Bonagura, Kyle (January 7, 2025). "Northern Illinois to join Mountain West as football-only in '26". ESPN. Retrieved June 29, 2025.

[2] "Northern Illinois Football Transfer Portal". ON3.

[3] "Northern Illinois Huskies 2025 College Football Transfer Portal". 247Sports.

[4] "2025 Northern Illinois Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved February 13, 2025.

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Northern Illinois Huskies football
Venues	Glidden Field (1903–1948, 1951–1965) Dekalb Township High School football field (1949–1950) Huskie Stadium (1965–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Ball State: Bronze Stalk Trophy
Culture & lore	"Huskie Fight Song" Huskie Band
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917–1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold