If you aren't paying attention to the MAC, you’re missing the weirdest, most chaotic brand of football in America. Seriously. People talk about the Iron Bowl or the Game, but there’s something visceral about two schools in the middle of cornfields fighting over a heavy metal vegetable. NIU vs Ball State football isn't just a game; it’s a geographical grudge match that basically determines who gets to claim supremacy over the "I-88 to I-69" corridor of the Midwest.
Honestly, the Bronze Stalk trophy is the perfect symbol for this. It’s a 12-pound trophy designed by DeKalb artist Renee Bemis that literally depicts several stalks of corn. It’s gritty. It’s unpretentious. And lately, it’s been the center of some of the most heartbreaking finishes in college football.
The Recent Heartbreak and the 2025 Shift
Coming into the 2025 season, the vibes were heavy. Ball State had been on a tear, winning three straight in the series, often in the most painful ways possible for Huskies fans. We’re talking about games decided by last-second field goals in back-to-back years.
But things flipped on October 25, 2025.
NIU finally broke the curse. Before that game, the all-time series was deadlocked at 25-25-2. You can’t make that up. Over 50 games played since 1941, and they were perfectly even. The Huskies’ 21-7 victory in DeKalb didn't just reclaim the trophy; it gave them the 26-25-2 lead and finally stopped a six-game skid that had the fan base in a total panic.
Josh Holst, the redshirt sophomore quarterback, didn’t put up video game numbers—he went 6-of-11 for 65 yards—but he was efficient when it mattered. He ran for a score and threw a 14-yard strike to DeAree Rogers to seal the deal. But the real story? The ground game. Telly Johnson Jr. and Chavon Wright basically turned the Ball State defense into a treadmill, combining for 266 rushing yards. Johnson’s 53-yard house call on the opening drive set a tone that the Cardinals never quite matched.
📖 Related: The Truth About the Memphis Grizzlies Record 2025: Why the Standings Don't Tell the Whole Story
A Rivalry Defined by the "One-Score" Trap
If you bet on NIU vs Ball State football, you’re probably stressed out. These teams have a bizarre addiction to close finishes.
Since the Bronze Stalk was introduced in 2008, the Huskies have won it 11 times, but the margin of error is razor-thin. Check the history:
- Ten of the last 15 MAC games for Ball State have been decided by six points or less.
- NIU leads the entire FBS in one-score games played since 2016.
- Before the 2025 blowout (if you can call 21-7 a blowout), the previous seven meetings were decided by a combined total of just 15 points.
It’s almost like the universe refuses to let one team run away with it. Even in 2022, we saw a double-overtime thriller where Carson Steele (who eventually moved on to UCLA and then the NFL) powered the Cardinals to a 44-38 win after NIU blew a 17-point halftime lead. That’s the kind of trauma Huskies fans have had to endure.
The Defensive Masterclass of 2024
One thing that often gets overlooked in the NIU vs Ball State football narrative is the defensive identity of Northern Illinois. In 2024, the Huskies boasted a top-three total defense nationally for a significant chunk of the season. They were holding opponents under 25 points like it was a law.
Ball State, on the other hand, has relied on opportunistic play. In the 2025 matchup, they forced three turnovers, including a pick by Joedrick Lewis in the end zone that kept them in the game way longer than they probably should have been.
👉 See also: The Division 2 National Championship Game: How Ferris State Just Redrew the Record Books
The Moving Parts: Coaching and Transfers
Mike Neu, a Ball State alum himself, has brought a certain level of stability to Muncie, but the MAC is a fickle beast. The 2025 Cardinals struggled with slow starts. They’d go three-and-out, put their defense in a hole, and then spend the rest of the afternoon trying to climb out.
Kiael Kelly has been a bright spot for the Cardinals. He’s a dual-threat guy who can hurt you with his legs—he actually led the team in both passing and rushing during that 2025 loss. It’s hard to gameplan for a guy who can tuck it and run for 80 yards if the pocket collapses.
On the NIU side, Thomas Hammock has built a team in his own image: tough, run-heavy, and physically exhausting to play against. They aren't trying to be the "Greatest Show on Turf." They want to run the ball 40 times and hit you in the mouth.
Why the Bronze Stalk Might Be Going Away
There is a massive elephant in the room. NIU is slated to move to the Mountain West Conference for football in 2026.
This changes everything.
✨ Don't miss: Por qué los partidos de Primera B de Chile son más entretenidos que la división de honor
The 2025 meeting was likely the last time these two will face off as conference rivals for a long time. Rivalries like this are the soul of the MAC. When you take out the "Battle for the Bronze Stalk," you lose a piece of that Midwestern identity.
Will they keep playing? Maybe as a non-conference game. But it’s never quite the same when there aren't conference standings on the line. The desperation of a Tuesday night in November—what we affectionately call #MACtion—is hard to replicate in a random September non-conference slot.
What You Should Watch For Next
If you're looking to follow these programs, the focus shifts to the 2026 recruiting classes and how NIU prepares for a much tougher travel schedule in the Mountain West.
- Monitor the Transfer Portal: With NIU moving up in terms of conference prestige, expect them to be aggressive in poaching talent from smaller schools or keeping their own stars from jumping to the Power 4.
- Watch Nathan Voorhis: The Ball State defensive lineman is a certified problem for offensive coordinators. He’s been chasing sack records and is the kind of player that can ruin a game plan single-handedly.
- Keep an eye on the 2026 Schedule: See if these schools schedule a home-and-home. If they don't, the 2025 game in DeKalb was the end of an era.
The history of NIU vs Ball State football is a story of ties (there are two on the record), heart-stopping kicks, and a bronze vegetable that means more to these players than a New Year's Six bowl might mean to a blue blood.
If you want to dive deeper into the stats, you can check the official NIU Athletics page or the Ball State Sports history archives to see the full play-by-play of how this rivalry became so incredibly even.
To stay ahead of the curve, keep a close watch on the Mountain West transition news. It will dictate how NIU recruits over the next 12 months, especially in the Chicago and Indianapolis markets where they usually go head-to-head with Ball State for talent.