NIU hoping to reverse Bronze Stalk trend Saturday against Ball State

DeKALB – NIU has dropped four of the last five meetings against Ball State after 11 straight wins in the series.

The Huskies (4-3 overall, 1-2 MAC) look to reclaim the Bronze Stalk for the first time since 2021 when they head to Muncie to take on the Cardinals (2-5, 1-2) having lost 20-17 last year and 44-38 in double overtime in their last trip to Scheumann Stadium.

The game kicks off at 2:30 p.m. on ESPN+. Here are three things to know about the game.

Righting the ship on offense

Last week against Toledo, NIU ran 92 plays, amassed 391 yards and did not turn the ball over. They also didn’t score a touchdown in a 13-6 loss to Toledo.

Coach Thomas Hammock said a lot of the issue was execution in specific situations - NIU went 4 for 19 on third down. He said he’s still confident in the offense.

“We have to be more precise,” Hammock said. “For each play, we have to play it for what it is. And if we can do that we can have more success on offense with our situational football.”

Ball State is allowing an average of almost 500 yards per game and 42.9 points per game.

Senior center Logan Zschernitz said the team can’t take any plays off.

“We have good players, we have good plays,” Zschernitz said. “It’s just a matter of putting it all together at the same time.”

Looking for a rare recent win over the Cardinals

The good news for the Huskies is the one time they beat Ball State in the Hammock era, they won the MAC. Each of the five games since Hammock took over has been a one-score game.

He said the team has learned its lesson from the last couple of years against the Cardinals, who can tie the all-time series with a win. He said the team needs to make the Cardinals beat them, not beat themselves.

“We’ve lost the turnover [battle] every game we played,” Hammock said. “We haven’t executed on special teams, and this goes all the way back to 2019 when we dropped a kickoff return out of bounds at the 3-yard line. We haven’t finished games. We’ve had the lead in the fourth quarter and haven’t finished games, and normally that’s attributed to turnovers.”

Three of NIU’s losses to Ball State came in years in which the Cardinals finished with a losing record, including the last two seasons.

Jaden Dolphin has been with the team since 2020. He said the mistakes against Ball State have been self-inflicted.

“I think we’ve definitely learned from that,” Dolphin said. “We’re a way more disciplined team than we’ve been in the past. And I think it will really show this year.”

Getting healthy

The Huskies are in the Top 25 nationally in nine defensive categories and are Top 10 in total defense (third, 258.1), passing yards allowed (eighth, 156.6), first-down defense (103, eighth) and third-down conversion defense (19.5%, first).

They’ve done it all this year without defensive end Ray Thomas, who Hammock said was the team’s best player last year.

Hammock also said Thomas is expected back in the lineup against the Cardinals.

And he’s not the only one. Antario Brown and Trayvon Rudolph were both limited in both practice last week and in terms of snaps against Toledo. Hammock said they’re both practicing at full strength this week.

Evan Buss is also expected to return, Hammock said, at right tackle.

Hammock also said Ethan Hampton is cleared to return to quarterback, but there’s still a question of whether it will be him or Josh Holst at quarterback.

“Ethan is cleared, but we’ll have a better idea of which direction we’re going to go closer to game time,” Hammock said.

Prediction: NIU 17, Ball State 14