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Albertsons Stadium Boise, Idaho
SERIES HISTORY:
NIU and Fresno State meet for the sixth time ever and for the second consecutive time in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl as the teams played in what was then the Humanitarian Bowl in Boise on December 18, 2010. That win gave NIU a 3-2 edge in the all-time series. Each team is 1-1 at home with two-game sets in 1972-73 and in 1990-91. The closest game of the five played between the teams was the first, which the Bulldogs won 9-6 in DeKalb. NIU tied the series with a 24-15 win the next year in Fresno. Stats from the 1990 game are prominent in the Huskie single game records listing as NIU triumphed 73-18 in one of the highest-scoring games in school history.
Northern Illinois Huskies Notes
DOG TREATS
The NIU Huskies make their 21st bowl appearance all-time and 16th as a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision team when they take on Fresno State in the 2024 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. • NIU is bowl eligible for the 19th time this century and has played in 15 bowls games since 2003, more than any other Mid-American Conference team. • NIU and Fresno State last played in the 2010 Humanitarian Bowl in Boise with the Huskies taking a 3-2 lead in the all-time series between the schools with a 40-17 win on the blue turf. • There are 16 seniors listed as starters on the Huskies’ depth chart for the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl and 22 on the depth chart, including all three specialists. NIU will not have any player start the bowl game who has not started a game before. • Eleven current Huskies have played in 50 or more games at NIU while the defense features seven players with at least 100 career tackles, led by senior Jaden Dolphin’s 208 stops. • NIU is the only team in the FBS that has not allowed a 100-yard rusher this season, or in its last 16 games, dating back to the 2023 game at Central Michigan. • Opponents have averaged just 6.6 points per game in the second half versus NIU this year. The Huskies have three second half shutouts (Akron, Bowling Green, Central Michigan) and have not allowed a second half touchdown in its last three games. • Senior defensive tackle Devonte O’Malley, a first team All-MAC selection in 2024, has recorded a sack in six of NIU’s last eight games and has eight on the season, the highest total by a Huskie since Sutton Smith’s 15 in 2018. O’Malley’s 21 career sacks are sixth at NIU all-time. • Eight Huskies, led by first team selections Devonte O’Malley (DT), Nate Valcarcel (S) and J.J. Lippe (OL), were named to the 2024 All-MAC team. Offensive linemen Logan Zschernitz and John Champe along with defensive end Roy Williams, earned second team recognition. • NIU has held 20 of its last 25 opponents over the last two seasons to 25 points or less, including 11 of its 12 2024 foes with Western Michigan the only team to surpass 25 points against the Huskies this season. • The Huskies rank second in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) in third down conversion percentage defense with opponents converting just 25.9 percent of their third down chances in 2024. Only four teams have converted more than three first downs against NIU this season. • Redshirt freshman quarterback Josh Holst, a walk-on, makes his third start of the year versus Fresno State and has seen action in six games on the season.
NOTING NIU
BOWLING IN BOISE:
The NIU football program makes its 21st bowl appearance all-time and its 16th as a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision team in the 2024 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. A year ago, NIU defeated Arkansas State, 21-19, on December 23, 2023, to earn its first bowl win in 13 seasons, since the GoDaddy.com Bowl win over Arkansas State on January 8, 2012.
TWO-BY-TWO (ALMOST):
NIU’s 2024 season largely played out in pairs. After winning its first two games, including the historic 16-14 win over No. 5 Notre Dame in South Bend on September 7, NIU dropped its next two games – a 20-23 overtime loss to Buffalo and a 24-17 loss at NC State in a game which saw NIU commit four turnovers. The Huskies came back, winning at home versus UMass, and holding Bowling Green to seven points for its first MAC win. The next week in DeKalb, Toledo scored just 13 but held NIU to six; then heartbreak at Ball State as the Cardinals made a 52-yard field goal with two seconds on the clock, just 13 seconds after NIU had taken a 23-22 lead. The two-by-two trend continued as MACtion got underway as the Huskies took out Western Michigan and Akron by the largest scoring margins in MAC games on the year. After losing at Miami, 20-9, NIU broke the string with a 24-16 Senior Day victory at home over Central Michigan.
HUSKIE BOWL FACTS:
NIU will play in a bowl game for the 13th time in the last 17 seasons in 2024, dating back to a 2008 Independence Bowl appearance. NIU is 5-10 as an FBS program and 6-14 all-time in bowl games. The Huskies appeared in a MAC-record eight consecutive bowl games from 2008-15 and NIU’s 13 bowl appearances since 2008 and 15 since 2003 lead all MAC teams (see chart page 5). The Huskies’ modern bowl history began at the California Bowl when the 1983 MAC Champions earned a 20-13 win over Cal State Fullerton. NIU reached six or more wins but was not selected for a bowl in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003 (with 10 wins!) and 2005 (despite playing in the MAC Championship game).
HAMMOCK’S BOWL HISTORY:
NIU head coach Thomas Hammock, a Huskie alum who was inducted into the NIU Hall of Fame in 2022, never had the opportunity to play in a bowl game during his playing days at NIU (1999-2002) but has coached in 10 bowl games during his college coaching career, including two Rose Bowls during his time at Wisconsin, in the 2006 Poinsettia Bowl as a NIU assistant. Hammock now has led NIU to three bowl games as head coach.
WINNERS:
NIU secured bowl eligibility with its win over Akron on November 13th in Huskie Stadium and guaranteed its 19th winning season this century (25 years) with its win over Central Michigan in the 2024 season finale. The Huskies rank among the Top 30 FBS programs in the country in wins over the last 15 seasons, with five conference championships, 11 winning seasons and 11 bowl appearances, including in 2024. The Huskies are bowl eligible for the third time in the last four seasons. NIU’s 14 bowl appearances since 2003 and five MAC Championships lead all MAC teams.
THE LAST MEETING:
Quarterback Chandler Harnish and running back Chad Spann each scored two rushing touchdowns as NIU wrapped up the 2010 season with a 40-17 win over Fresno State in the Humanitarian Bowl. Harnish threw for a season-best 300 yards and ran for 72 yards on 10 carries. His two touchdowns came in the first half along with a 22-yard touchdown pass to fullback Kyle Skarb that put the Huskies up 23-10. Spann rushed for 95 yards and scored his two touchdowns in the second half. Senior defensive end Jake Coffman had a career-high three sacks, all in the first half, as part of a defensive effort that included six sacks and 14 tackles for loss. NIU gained 503 yards of total offense, averaging 9.1 yards per play.
DOGS IN IDAHO:
Including its 2010 bowl win in Boise, NIU is 3-2 all-time in games played in the Gem State with the other four games all played in Moscow, Idaho, which is located approximately 300 miles north of Boise, versus the University of Idaho. The football Huskies last played in Idaho in 2013 with NIU claiming a 45-35 win over Idaho at the Kibbie Dome on September 14 en route to an undefeated regular season behind Heisman Trophy finalist Jordan Lynch.
CALIFORNIA COMPETITION:
NIU is 12-15 all-time against teams from California, including its 3-2 mark versus Fresno State. Six of the losses have come to San Diego State as NIU is 0-6 versus the Aztecs all-time with the most recent meetings in 2016-17. NIU has a 4-5 record all-time against Long Beach State and defeated San Jose State (18-17, 1995) and Cal Poly (47-30, 2011) in their only meetings. NIU is 2-1 versus Cal State Fullerton and split a pair of games with Pacific. The Famous Idaho Potato Bowl marks the third time NIU has played a California team in a bowl game (Fresno State twice, Cal State Fullerton in 1983).
LAST TIME OUT:
In the 2024 regular season finale, NIU scored three rushing touchdowns in the first quarter to take a 19-0 lead over Central Michigan on Nov. 30, taking down the Chippewas 24-16 for a Senior Day victory. The Huskies held CMU to 204 yards of total offense, including just 51 in the second half. Telly Johnson Jr. rushed for a game-high 84 yards on 20 carries while senior Gavin Williams had 65 yards on six carries as well as three receptions for 26 yards. Cade Haberman blocked his third kick of the season on the PAT after the Chippewas’ first touchdown which JaVaughn Byrd returned for two points.
ON THE OFFENSE
RANKING THE OFFENSE:
NIU ranks 16th in the country in rushing offense with a 207.3 yard average and owns the No. 2 total offense in the MAC with an average of 383.4 yards per game. NIU is also the MAC’s No. 2 team in fewest sacks allowed (1.42/game) and the league leader – and No. 8 in the country – in time of possession (32:52) . The Huskies’ third down conversion percentage of .435 is second-best in the league. DUAL THREAT: Senior running back Gavin Williams, who transferred to NIU from Iowa in 2023, leads NIU in rushing with 741 yards on 135 carries; his 893 all-purpose yards, including 138 receiving on 22 catches, also lead the team. He has three 100-yard games this season and more than 1,000 yards in his 25 games as a Huskie. Williams’ value has gone beyond stats, though, as his biggest plays seem to come in the biggest moments. From saving a potential turnover on a kickoff at Notre Dame, to third down conversion catches to keep drives going, to ripping off touchdown runs versus Western Michigan, Akron and CMU.
TELLY TIME:
True freshman Telly Johnson Jr. is averaging nearly 85 rushing yards per game since making his NIU debut versus Ball State on October 26 with six carries for 48 yards. He then posted back-to-back 100-yard rushing games, first with a team season high 141 yards on 23 carries and two rushing touchdowns in NIU’s win at Western Michigan to earn MAC Co-Offensive Player of the Week honors. He followed that with a 104-yard day versus Akron in his first career start. He has scored four rushing touchdowns in NIU’s last four games to tie for the team lead and has run for 424 yards on 85 carries on the season. TWO FOR 100: NIU rushed for 295 yards in the Akron game with both Telly Johnson Jr. and Gavin Williams gaining 100-plus yards, the first time since Jay Ducker (146) and Antario Brown (105) each went over the 100-yard mark in the 2021 Cure Bowl game versus Coastal Carolina.
EXPLOSIVE:
All four of NIU’s touchdowns versus Akron came via the “big play,” it’s most long play scores since the 2023 Akron game. Wide receiver Trayvon Rudolph ran for a 58-yard touchdown and threw a 39-yard touchdown pass to Dane Pardridge . Grayson Barnes scored on a 32-yard catch and run on a fourth and two-play in the second quarter, and Gavin Williams secured the win with a career-long – and NIU season-long – 71-yard rush in the fourth quarter.
CHEESEHEADS:
NIU’s offensive line room is filled with Wisconsin natives. From the 2024 starter – seniors J.J. Lippe (Milwaukee), Logan Zschernitz (Spencer), Evan Buss (Kimberly) and John Champe (Brookfield) and sophomore Evan Malcore (Sun Prairie) – to the replacements who have stepped in with Buss out due to injury: redshirt freshman Thomas Paasch (Green Bay) and senior Matthew Schooley (Wisconsin Rapids).
TWO MINUTE:
The 2024 Huskies have been effective in two-minute situations, scoring in the final minutes of a half nine times. Kanon Woodill has finished those drives with field goals five times, including the game-winner at Notre Dame, the game-tying kick versus Buffalo to send the game to overtime and the kick to give NIU the lead at Ball State. At Western Michigan, quarterback Ethan Hampton directed a 12- play, 60-yard drive, hitting Gavin Williams who scored from five yards out, to give the Huskies a 21-14 halftime lead.
DETAILING THE DEFENSE
HISTORICALLY GOOD:
In holding opponents to averages of 281.0 yards and 18.4 points, to rank fifth and 15th in the country, respectively, the Huskie defense is reaching levels that have not been seen by NIU in years. To find a lower average yards by opponents than this year’s 281, you have to go back 54 seasons to 1972 when opponents averaged 255.2 yards per game. The 2008 NIU defense gave up 18.0 points per game, the last time opponents averaged less than the 18.4 NIU is currently giving up.
THIRD AND NO:
NIU has held eight opponents this season to three or less third down conversions. The Huskies’ third down conversion percentage defense of .259 (41-of155) ranks second in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) as opponents are converting just over once in every four third down tries. Both NC State (1-of-11) and Bowling Green (1-of-13) were held to one conversion while Buffalo (2-of-15), Toledo (2-of-15), Western Michigan (2-of-10) along with Miami had a pair of third down conversions. Only Ball State (10-of-18), UMass (5-of-14), Akron (6-of-18) and Central Michigan (4- of-12) have converted more than three times on third down against NIU this season.
NO RUSH:
The NIU defense has held five opponents to less than 100 yards rushing but are just 2-3 in those games with wins over Akron, which gained a season-low 50 yards on 24 carries, and Western Illinois, who earned 94 yards on 29 carries in the season opener. The Huskies lost at NC State on September 28, despite holding the Wolfpack to just 63 rushing yards on 27 carries, to Buffalo who totaled 77 yards on 37 runs on Sept/ 21 and at Miami, who gained 87 yards on 28 carries, on November 19.
RUSHING D RECORDS:
NIU opponents have been held to 150 or fewer yards on the ground 17 times in the last 24 games and nine times in 2024. The Huskies are 12-5 in those games, including an 8-1 mark when opponents rush for 101-150 yards. NIU’s win over Western Michigan marked its first in the last two seasons (seven games) when giving up more than 150 rushing yards.
SECOND HALF D:
Opponents have scored just 79 points against NIU in the second halves of games this year for an average of 6.6 points per game. The Huskies have three second half shutouts (Akron, Bowling Green, Central Michigan) and have not allowed a second half touchdown in the last three games, since WMU scored a pair of TDs on November 6. Miami scored just three points in the second half, Toledo and Ball State were each held to a pair of field goals in the second half, while both Notre Dame and NC State each managed just one third quarter touchdown.
STOP RIGHT THERE:
NIU opponents have reached the Red Zone (20-yard line) just 32 times in the Huskies’ 12 games this year. Teams have scored on 25-of-32 trips inside the red zone with only 13 of those scores or 41 percent for touchdowns. Opponents have been held to field goal attempts from inside the red zone 12 times. By comparison, in the last three seasons, NIU opponents’ touchdown percentage from the red zone has been 58 (2023), 68 (2022) and 69 (2021) percent.
ON THAT NOTE:
In 11 games, NIU opponents have attempted 25 field goals and made 18, the most since 2018 when Huskie foes made 25-of-34 three-pointers. All but one of NIU’s 12 opponents in 2024 have attempted at least one field goal with Western Michigan the only exception. Miami was the fourth team to try at least three threes.
SPECIAL INTEREST
BLOCKS A LOT:
NIU defensive tackle Cade Haberman recorded his third blocked kick of the season versus Central Michigan when he knocked down a PAT which teammate JaVaughn Byrd caught and returned for two points. It is the most blocked kicks in a season for a Huskie since Jimmie Ward blocked three punts in 2010 and the most blocked placekicks in a season since Quince Holman had four blocks (2 PATs and 2 FGs) in 2005.
BIG BLOCKS:
Cade Haberman earned MAC Special Teams Player of the Week honors after blocking a pair of Notre Dame field goals, including the 62-yard potential game-winner as time expired. He is the first Huskie to block two kicks in a game since Jalen McKie blocked a field goal and a PAT at Nebraska in 2019; the last player to block two field goals in a season was George Rainey in 2013.
BLOCK PARTY:
In all, NIU has blocked four kicks on the season with freshman Santana Banner’s blocked field goal at Ball State added to Haberman’s three blocks. It is the most field goal blocks by the Huskies since 2019 when they had five total blocked kicks including a punt, a PAT and three field goals.
BUSY MAN:
NIU kicker Kanon Woodill made field goals in nine of the Huskies’ 12 games and in every game decided by one score or less in 2024. At Notre Dame, Woodill made threes from 42 and 21 yards to give NIU a 13-7 halftime lead, then booted the game-winning 35-yard kick with 31 seconds to play. He also had three field goals in NIU’s 17-7 win at Bowling Green and accounted for all six of NIU’s points versus Toledo. The senior has made a career high 15 threes in 2024. Woodill is 29-of-43 on threes in 21 career games as the starting placekicker. He has moved onto the Huskie career Top 10 list for points scored kicking and field goal percentage (.674).
TO THE HOUSE:
NIU ranks 13th nationally in kickoff returns with a 25.44-yard average on 18 returns in 2024, largely on the strength of a pair of 89-plus yard kickoff returns by two different Huskies. At Western Michigan, Cam Thompson put the Huskies ahead to stay with a 91-yard kickoff return touchdown in the third quarter, the first kickoff return TD by a Huskie since Trayvon Rudolph’s 100- yard kickoff return versus Bowling Green in 2021. On October 5, Jaylen Poe took a kick back 89 yards to the four-yard line versus UMass. It is the first time since Huskie great Tommylee Lewis scored on kickoffs of 100 and 95 yards versus Toledo in 2011 that NIU has had two returns of at least 89 yards in the same season.
UNCOMMON:
At Bowling Green, senior long snapper Isaac Hatfield scored the first points of his career by catching a pass from tight end Grayson Barnes on a two-point conversion attempt, giving the Huskies a 14-7 lead to start the fourth quarter. Hatfield and Hunter Higham of Hawai’i, who caught a two-point conversion pass versus Northern Iowa on September 21, are the only FBS long snappers to score this season.
OF NOTE
CHRISTMAS EVE EVE:
NIU plays a bowl game on December 23 for the fourth time when the Huskies take on Fresno State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. A year ago on December 23, NIU defeated Arkansas State, 21-19, in the Camellia Bowl in Montgomery, Alabama. The Huskies played the 2014 Boca Raton Bowl and the 2015 Poinsettia Bowl in San Diego on December 23rd.
IN OT:
NIU is 10-6 in overtime games after losing, 23-20, in OT to Buffalo on September 21. NIU has played an overtime game in four consecutive seasons. Prior to the Buffalo game, the Huskies had won five of their last six overtime contests.
Fresno State Bulldogs Notes
SETTING THE STAGE
• Fresno State looks for its sixth straight bowl win at the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl. • Fresno State makes its return to Boise for a bowl game for the first time since 2010, also against NIU. • With a win in the bowl game, Fresno State will have its fourth-straight winning season, its longest since a four-season streak from 2007-10 (excluding the 3-3 COVID season). • With the setting of the Idaho Potato Bowl being the blue turf at the home of Boise State, Fresno State is no stranger to playing on The Blue. The Bulldogs have won two of their last four trips to The Blue, both Mountain West Championship wins over Boise State. • Although his first trip to Boise as a Bulldog, senior safety Dean Clark has played in the Idaho Potato Bowl having appeared in the 2021 game when he was at Kent State. Clark had a career-best 13 tackles against Wyoming in that game. • Fresno State had 11 players earn All-Mountain West honors this season with three first team honorees in WR Mac Dalena, CB Cam Lockridge and LB Tuasivi Nomura. • For the fourth time since 2020, Fresno State has a new head coach leading its football program. On December 4, 2024, Matt Entz was named the 23rd head coach in Bulldog football history. Entz is the program’s fourth head coach in the last five years, and third in the last six months. • Although Entz was hired as head coach before the bowl game, interim head coach Tim Skipper and the staff from the 2024 season will coach the Bulldogs in the bowl game. • As of Friday, December 13, Fresno State has had 15 players enter the transfer portal including seven starters. • Due to starting QB Mikey Keene entering the portal, the Bulldogs are left with five quarterbacks on the roster with a combined eight career pass attempts between Joshua Wood and Jayden Mandal. No quarterback currently with the Bulldog program has started a game at the collegiate level. • At this point in the season, Fresno State has had 13 different players earn their first career start. With several starters hitting the portal, there are expected to be new first-time starters in different positions in the bowl game. • This season, the Bulldogs have had 35 different players start at one point on the year. • Fresno State did not lose starters at the following positions: running back, tight end, safety, defensive end, linebacker, kicker and punter. • Seniors Mac Dalena (WR) and Malachi Langley (LB) have appeared in 58 consecutive games as Bulldogs. That is the fifth-longest streak of games played by players at one school in the FBS. For Dalena, that is every game of his collegiate career. • Fresno State has three players who have played in four games this season to utilize a redshirt, but can play in the game without fore fitting that redshirt eligibility. Those players are WR Chedon James, OL Jacob Spomer and DL Ezra Christensen. • Fresno State has had seven one-score games in 2024 and is 2-5 in those games. Seven one-score games are the third most from around the FBS, and the second most in the Mountain West behind Nevada with eight. • True freshman running back Bryson Donelson has been one to keep an eye on in the offense as the season has gone on. Donelson has 62 carries for 380 yards and two touchdowns. He became the first freshman RB to have a 100-yard performance for the Bulldogs since 2017. He was the MW Freshman of the Week on Nov. 25.
TEAM NOTES
Bowling secured Earning its sixth win of the season over Colorado State on Nov. 23, Fresno State became bowl eligible for its fourth consecutive season. It is the first time since the 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 seasons that Fresno State appeared in a bowl game in four-straight seasons. Last year, the Bulldogs defeated New Mexico State 37-10 in the Isleta New Mexico Bowl. Fresno State has a 17-15 all-time bowl game record. The Bulldogs have won their last five bowl games, an active streak that is third in the nation behind Georgia and Minnesota with seven each. Tim Skipper became the fourth first-year head coach to lead the Bulldogs to a bowl game, joining Alvin Pierson (1945), Tim DeRuyter (2012) and Jeff Tedford (2017). Tedford is the only one to have led the team to a victory, defeating Houston in the Hawaii Bowl that season. That win by Tedford and Co. sparked the Bulldogs’ current bowl game winning streak.
One-score games, going the other way
Fresno State has had seven one-score games in 2024 and is 2-5 in those games. Seven one-score games are the third most from around the FBS, and the second most in the Mountain West behind Nevada with eight. The Bulldogs one-score wins came against Nevada (24-21) and Colorado State (28-22), while the losses were from Washington State (25-17), Hawai’i (21-20), Air Force (36-28) and UCLA (20-13). The tables turned from 2023 when Fresno State was 5-2 in its one-score games. Since 2021, the Bulldogs have had 25 one-score games and are 14-11.
