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Ohio defensive lineman Anas Luqman rushing Ball State's quarterback.
Ohio defensive lineman Anas Luqman rushing Ball State’s quarterback. [Reece Merkel | WOUB Public Media]

Ohio University Football is set for a homecoming matchup with Northern Illinois

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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) – Ohio University Football (3-3, 1-1 MAC) returns to Peden Stadium this week for the first time since Sep. 27 as they host Northern Illinois (1-5, 0-2 MAC) on homecoming weekend in Athens.

Saturday’s meeting will mark the 26th all-time matchup between the Bobcats and the Huskies dating back to 1968. NIU holds the series lead with a 14-11 mark against Ohio, however, the Bobcats have won three of the last four meetings since 2018. Each of the last 10 meetings between the schools have been decided by less that 10 points.

The Huskies did take arguably the most important meeting between the two schools in 2011 when they faced off at Ford Field for the MAC Championship.

This year the two will meet for potentially the last time for a while. With NIU set to leave the MAC after this season, it may be many seasons before Ohio faces the Huskies again.

NIU was picked No.5 in the conference preseason coaches’ poll but have struggled through its first six games. The Huskies have just one win and it came in their opening game against Holy Cross.

Ohio Football safety DJ Walker celebrating after an Ohio defensive stop against Ball State.
Ohio Football safety DJ Walker celebrating after an Ohio defensive stop against Ball State. [Reece Merkel | WOUB Public Media]
Since that victory, Northern Illinois has dropped five-straight and lost each of its first two MAC games. The Huskies have faced a number of challenges in the early portion of the season, particularly on offense.

NIU scores the second-fewest points in the MAC at 10.8 per game, just slightly more than the MAC’s worst offense in UMass. Northern Illinois has also only found the end zone six times this year.

Part of the problem on offense has been the ongoing struggle at the quarterback position. Josh Holst started the season but had accumulated under 400 passing yards in his first four starts. That led to Brady Davidson getting both starts in NIU’s two conference games. Davidson has thrown for 200 yards on the dot through his first two starts and has found the end zone once while throwing a pair of interceptions (he threw an INT against SDSU in an appearance off the bench).

The NIU rushing attack has been the bright spot for the team in what has been a tough start to the year. In all six games this season the Huskies have rushed for over 100 yards, and they went for a season high 238 in last week’s loss to Eastern Michigan (of note: EMU’s rush defense ranks last in the MAC by nearly 40 yards per game).

Their offense will take on an Ohio defense that shined in moments against Ball State but ultimately couldn’t get the job done.

Ohio put together a strong first half against Ball State, but in the second they couldn’t move the ball. With just 95 total yards in the second half and unable to put any points on the board, the offense cost the Bobcats the game.

Quarterback Parker Navarro and company will be looking to get back to their explosive ways against NIU. It won’t be easy with the Huskies ranking second in the MAC in passing defense.

The action kicks off at 3:30 p.m. from Peden Stadium and airs on ESPN+.