NIU Today

Fifty Northern Illinois University student-athletes representing 15 Huskie teams celebrated commencement along with their classmates Saturday, May 11, at the NIU Convocation Center. The graduation ceremonies, the last presided over by NIU President John G. Peters, honored students graduating either this spring or after the summer. Saturday’s degree recipients brings the total number of student-athletes...

Five members of Northern Illinois 2012 football senior class have earned membership in the 2013 NFF Hampshire Honor Society from the National Football Foundation & College Hall of Fame, marking the most Huskies ever named to the prestigious list in a single year. Northern Illinois seniors Alan Baxter (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Buffalo Grove HS), Nabal Jefferson...

The Northern Illinois University football team carried its success on the field into the classroom placing a school-record six Huskies on the league’s Academic All-MAC Football Team, as selected by the conference’s faculty athletic representatives. Nose guard Nabal Jefferson (Chicago, Ill./Marist), a three-time Academic All-MAC selection, headlines the list of NIU’s first-team honorees which includes...

Northern Illinois’ Ryan Neir was named the Mid-American Conference Male Scholar-Athlete of the Week for the week of Dec. 31 through Jan. 6, the league office announced Monday. This marks the sixth time that a Huskie has won the honor this year, as MacKenzie Roddy (Oct. 4), Mike Mascitti (Nov. 15), Nabal Jefferson and Amanda Corral (Dec....

For the second straight year, Northern Illinois won the Mid-American Conference Championship “The Hard Way,” as the Huskies won a battle of ranked teams with a 44-37 double overtime win over Kent State at Ford Field in Detroit. NIU quarterback Jordan Lynch capped a Heisman-worthy performance with his third touchdown run of the game in...

Northern Illinois punter Ryan Neir is one of 69 candidates for the 2012 Ray Guy Award, presented to the nation’s top collegiate punter, the Augusta Sports Council announced Friday. Neir, a senior from Roscoe, Ill., is averaging 38.3 yards per punt for the 7-1 Huskies, who take on Western Michigan at 11 a.m. Saturday in...

Four Northern Illinois student-athletes were named 2012 1A FAR Academic Excellence award recipients. NIU volleyball player Kristin Hoffman, punter Ryan Neir of the Huskie football team, women’s golfer Kelsie Passolt and track and field’s Jenner Sio were among 55 awardees from Mid-American Conference schools on the list. Student-athletes who carry a 3.8 GPA, have competed...

With only eight seconds left on the clock at Huskie Stadium and the score tied at 38 last November, sophomore kicker Mathew Sims booted a 34-yard field goal lift Northern Illinois to victory over Ball State. NIU had rallied from a 17-point deficit in the third quarter to earn its sixth consecutive win and claim...

Junior running back Leighton Settle (Madison, Wis./Madison West/Fresno City CC) scored three touchdowns while rushing for 152 yards on 23 carries to lead Northern Illinois to a 55-24 victory on Saturday afternoon at Huskie Stadium. Junior quarterback Jordan Lynch (Chicago, Ill./Mt. Carmel) gained 144 yards on 21 carries with a touchdown and went 14-of-32 through...

Iowa scored its only touchdown of the game on a 23-yard run by Damon Bullock with 2:15 to play, lifting the Hawkeyes to an 18-17 victory over Northern Illinois Saturday in front of a crowd of 52,117 at Soldier Field. Northern Illinois used the running of first-time starting quarterback Jordan Lynch and a stifling defensive...

Mid-American Conference champion Northern Illinois placed five players on the league’s Academic All-MAC Football Team announced Friday, with four more Huskies receiving honorable mention status on the squad, which is selected by the MAC faculty athletic representatives. NIU starters Chandler Harnish (Bluffton, Ind./Norwell HS), Nabal Jefferson (Chicago, Ill./Marist HS), Ryan Neir (Roscoe, Ill./Hononegah HS), Keith...

NIU defensive lineman Nabal Jefferson (Chicago, Ill./Marist) was named the Mid-American Conference’s Male Scholar-Athlete of the Week, the league announced Wednesday. The award is voted on by a select group of faculty athletic representatives from the conference’s member institutions. Jefferson played a huge role on defense last week in NIU’s 23-20 Marathon MAC Championship win...