After a day filled with speculation, it was announced today that BYU and Northern Illinois have scheduled a home-and-home series. These will be the first meetings between the schools football teams. Northern Illinois will travel to Provo on Oct. 27, 2018 and will host BYU in Dekalb, IL on Oct. 24, 2020
The Northern Illinois Huskies are based out of DeKalb, Illinois and play on Brigham Field at Huskie Stadium. The Huskies have an established program as they started playing football in 1899. They are currently a member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) and were the MAC Champions in both 2011 and 2012. With 46 wins since 2009, the Huskies have the second highest win total in the FBS. They are currently on a 26 game home winning streak going into the 2014 season.
The Huskies have garnered national attention over the last couple of years as current NFL player Jordan Lynch propelled the Huskies to a 24-4 record as their quarterback. Behind his play the Huskies won their division, went to the championship game both years, earned a BCS bowl bid to the Orange Bowl, and a bowl bid to the Poinsettia Bowl. Lynch also became the first Heisman hopeful from Northern Illinois to attend the Heisman ceremony in New York.
Currently the team is coached by Rod Carey who is entering his second year as head coach after spending two years as the offensive coordinator. Carey and his team look to continue to build off the teams success and was recently picked to finish second in the MAC, even after losing Lynch to the NFL.