NIU football: Huskies to open MAC play at defending champ Toledo

The Mid-American Conference released its conference football schedule Wednesday, which for NIU begins Sept. 30 at defending MAC champ Toledo.

The first two conference games are on the road, as NIU also heads to Akron on Oct. 7. The Huskies’ first home game in MAC play is Oct. 14 against Ohio, which starts a stretch of four out of five weeks at home for NIU.

Game times and the TV schedule will be announced later this year.

The midweek slate starts for the Huskies on Halloween, heading to Central Michigan. All three MACtion games for NIU are on Tuesdays this year, including the Bronze Stalk game against Ball State on Nov. 7 at Huskie Stadium.

The school released its nonconference schedule last month, which opens Sept. 2 at Boston College followed by the home opener against Southern Illinois on Sept. 9.

On Sept. 16 is a trip to Nebraska, then Tulsa comes to DeKalb on Sept. 23.

“The nonconference schedule is a great opportunity to see where we are,” NIU head coach Thomas Hammock said. “It’s a jam-packed nonconference schedule, it will be very competitive, and we’ll have to play our best. For us, it’s about getting prepared, staying healthy, getting through the nonconference schedule, and knowing what we are facing in the MAC. We want to be prepared to play our best football going into the first conference game, which is against the defending MAC champs in Toledo.”