KALAMAZOO, Mich. – Western Michigan football is on the road for a second straight week and will close the regular season with a 7 p.m. ET Mid-American Conference game at MAC West Champion Northern Illinois on Tuesday night.
 
|| GAME INFORMATION

• Tuesday, Nov. 23 | 7 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. CT
• Huskie Stadium – DeKalb, Ill.

 
|| BROADCAST INFORMATION

• ESPNU – Drew Carter (PxP), Charles Arbuckle (Analyst)
• Bronco Radio Network 106.5 FM (Robin Hook & John Creek)

 
BRONCOS vs. HUSKIES
  

• Tuesday night will be the 47th meeting between Western Michigan and Northern Illinois. The Broncos hold a 26-20-0 advantage in the all-time series with the Huskies.
• The first meeting dates back to 1950, and the two institutions have met every year since 1997.
• The Broncos have won three of the last five including last year's 30-27 victory at Waldo Stadium, but lost seven straight game from 2009-2015. The last win for WMU at NIU was on Oct. 13, 2007, a 17-13 victory.
• Head coach Tim Lester is 2-2 against the Huskies, and all four games have been decided by one score:
  • 2017- at NIU - L, 35-31
  • 2018 - vs. NIU - W, 28-21
  • 2019 - at NIU - L, 17-14
  • 2020 - vs. NIU - W, 30-27

 
 
SCOUTING NORTHERN ILLINOIS (8-3, 6-1 MAC West)
  

• The Huskies went 2-2 in non-conference play. They opened the season with a 22-21 victory at Georgia Tech, fell to Wyoming at home 50-43, lost at Michigan 63-10, then defeated Maine at home 41-14.
• NIU opened MAC play with a 27-20 victory over Eastern Michigan at home. All seven of NIU's MAC games have been decided by a single score, and the Huskies are 6-1 in those games. The only MAC loss for NIU was at Kent State, 52-47.
• Last week, NIU claimed its eighth Mid-American Conference West Division title in the last 12 years, and first since 2018, in dramatic fashion with a 33-27 overtime victory over the Buffalo Bulls at UB Stadium Wednesday night. After NIU recovered a Buffalo fumble at the goal line on the Bulls' opening possession of OT, running back Clint Ratkovich burst through the line on the Huskies' first play on offense and took it 25 yards to the house to seal the game and division for NIU. Ratkovich finished the game with a season-high 75 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 11 carries.
• It was NIU's ninth contest decided by eight points or less this season.

 
 
THE LAST MEETING
  

• A 24-yard field goal from Gavin Peddie with 2:23 remaining proved to be the game-winner as Western Michigan football moved to 4-0 with a 30-27 victory over NIU at Waldo Stadium on Nov. 28, 2020.
• Tied at 27 with 3:44 remaining and possession on the 50-yard line, the Broncos executed a six-play, 43-yard drive down to the NIU seven-yard line to set up the eventual game-winning field goal. The drive started with a 14-yard completion to D'Wayne Eskridge followed by a reverse to Eskridge that went for 27 yards. After two straight runs and an incomplete pass, Peddie drilled the field goal. From there, the defense did its job and forced a turnover on downs to seal the game.
• Eskridge finished with 285 all-purpose yards, a kick return for a TD, and seven receptions for 134 yards.