2022 MAC Football Week 5 Game Preview: Northern Illinois Huskies at Ball State Cardinals

The Northern Illinois Huskies and Ball State Cardinals will meet this Saturday in their annual rivalry game. The winner of the game will take home the Bronze Stalk Trophy. Northern Illini are on a three-game losing streak and lost their starting quarterback. Ball Stated lost to Georgia Southern last week.

NIU and Ball State meet on Saturday, October 1st at 2:00 p.m. (1:30 p., CST) at Scheumann Stadium in Muncie, IN. The teams first met in October 1941 and the inaugural game ended in a 6-6 tie. They met every year from 1966 to 1988 and since 1997 they have met each year except 1972. Ball Stated won the first nine games of the series, but NIU won 17-5 over the last 23 games.

Northern Illinois Huskies are playing Ball State Cardinals in the MAC Football Week 5. Rocky Lombardi is injured and didn't play last week. Ethan Hampton played well last time. Cole Tucker is the team's leading receiver with 18 catches, 333 yards and three touchdowns. Shemar Thornton is out injured. NIU's rushing attack is not effective this season. The team is averaging 148 yards per game. Last season, they netted almost 100 yards more per games on the ground. They ended the season with 241.5 yards. The defense is very good. It's allowed 33.0 points and 426 yards, but it's also very effective.

Northern Illinois Huskies play Ball State Cardinals in the MAC Football Week 5. The Cardinals are second in their conference, but they are also 9th in points scored per game and 102nd in NCAA. Ball Stations have turned the ball over six times and allowed 21 points off those turnovers. Northern Illinois has four DBs that will be all over the field. They are Riley, Riley Riley and Malcom Lee, Jaquan Amos, and Nic Jones. They also have Clayton Coll, Cole Pierce, Sidney Houston Jr., who has 67 tackles. and Coll’s 29 tackles leading the team.

Northern Illinois Huskies play Ball State Cardinals in the MAC Football Week 5. NIU's defense held the eighth-ranked team in nation to 31 points last week. If Lombardi is back for NIu, that should open up more options and give the Huskie offense a boost.