Ball State University
Northern Illinois University
FOOTBALL GAMEDAY: Ball State Set For Battle for the Bronze Stalk
October 22, 2025 | Football
| Ball State (3-4, 2-1Â MAC) at Northern Illinois (1-6, 0-3 MAC) | |
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MUNCIE, Ind. -- Ball State returns to the road Saturday, when it heads to Northern Illinois for the Battle of the Bronze Stalk. The Cardinals are looking to improve to 3-1 in MAC play for the first time since the 2020 COVID-19 campaign.
-- Established in 2008, the Battle for the Bronze Stalk is the youngest rivalry game in the Mid-American Conference, but it hit full stride three years ago when Ball State won a double overtime thriller in Muncie, 44-38. It was the first of three straight trophy wins for the Cardinals, with each of the last two games coming down to last-second field goals. With the Huskies set to move to the Mountain West for football in 2026, this could be the final Bronze Stalk meeting with the teams battling as conference foes.
-- Ball State earned its fourth straight homecoming victory last Saturday, topping Akron by a final score of 42-28. The four-game homecoming win streak is the longest since the Cardinals earned seven straight from 1992-98 and includes last season's 25-23 victory over NIU.
-- With last Saturday's win over Akron, the Cardinals improved to 2-1 in MAC play for the first time since the 2022 season. A win at NIU on Saturday would boost Ball State to 3-1 in league play for the first time since the 2020 COVID-19 campaign. The Cardinals finished that season 5-1 in league play, won the MAC Championship Game versus Buffalo and picked up the first bowl victory in program history over then-No. 19 San Jose State in the Arizona Bowl.Â
-- Ball State defensive end Nathan Voorhis continued his stellar start to the 2025 season in last Saturday's win over Akron, picking up his MAC-leading ninth sack of the season. Voorhis, who is tied for second nationally in total sacks, has earned at least one sack in five of Ball State's seven games, including a career-high 3.5 in the Oct. 4 victory over Ohio.
-- With five games remaining, Voorhis' nine sacks are within reach of Ball State's official single-season record of 11.5, and its all-time mark of 13. Voorhis also is second on the team in overall tackles (31), trailing only Alfred Chea (36). Voorhis, who picked up five tackles in the win over Akron, has a total of 11 tackles for loss this season to set the opposition back a total of 63 yards.
-- Offensively, Qua Ashley and Kiael Kelly remain the Cardinals' rushing leaders with 476 and 331 net rush yards this season. Kelly's 846 passing yards this season already have surpassed his first three seasons combined (608), more than doubling his career total to 1,454.
WHAT A WIN MEANS:
-- With the series deadlocked at 25-25-2 between Ball State and Northern Illinois, the winner of Saturday's game will gain control of the all-time series.
-- Ball State, which is 3-0 at home this year, is looking for its first road victory of the season. The last time the teams battled in DeKalb, the Cardinals earned a 20-17 victory on Nov. 7, 2023, thanks to a 36-yard field goal from Jackson Courville as time expired.Â
INSIDE THE SERIES: NORTHERN ILLINOIS
-- The Cardinals and Huskies have met 52 times overall and on 17 occasions since the start of the Bronze Stalk rivalry game in 2008.
-- After snapping a series-long 10-year win streak by the Huskies from 2009-18 with a 27-20 victory in DeKalb on Oct. 5, 2019, the Cardinals have won five of the last six battles for the Bronze Stalk Trophy.
-- In the Cardinals' 2024 Homecoming game against the Huskies, Ball State held claim of the Bronze Stalk Trophy for the third year in a row thanks to a game-winning, 52-yard field goal as time expired by kicker Jackson Courville. Overall, Ball State has won the rivalry trophy six times, while NIU has claimed it 11.
-- Saturday's game could be the last time these two teams compete against one another as conference rivals, as Northern Illinois' football program will compete for the Mountain West beginning in 2026.
-- Going into the contest, both Ball State and Northern Illinois look to gain the advantage in the overall series which is currently tied 25-25-2.
EVERY GAME TIGHT IN THE MAC
-- Ten of Ball State's past 15 games in the MAC have been decided by six points or less. Ten of the last 13 have been decided by seven or less.
-- Six out of eight Ball State games in the Mid-American Conference last year were decided by six points or less -- five of those by three points or less.
-- Last season's only games not decided by six points or less were the season's final two games following a coaching change.
-- The 2024 campaign marked the first time in program history with six or more MAC games decided by 6 points or fewer.
LIMIT THE FLAGS
-- Ball State is the MAC's leader in fewest penalties (32), fewest penalty yards (259), fewest penalties per game (4.57) and fewest penalty yards per game (37.00).
                                               MAC Rk          FBS Rk
Fewest Penalties                       1st                15th
Fewest Penalties/Gm               1st                14th
Fewest Penalty Yds                   1st                14th
Fewest Penalty Yds/Gm           1st                13th
VOORHIS LEADING DEFENSIVE LINE SURGE
-- Nathan Voorhis (pronounced VORR-is) has had a sack in five of Ball State's seven games, and boasts seven sacks in the Cardinals' three home games, alone.Â
-- His 3.5 sacks against Ohio set a career-high and his nine total sacks through seven games (1.29 per game) are tied for second among all FBS players.
FBS Sacks Leaders
Player                                   Gms   Sacks     Yds    SPG
1.  David Bailey, Texas Tech      7     10.5     100   1.50
2.  John Henry Daley, Utah       7       9.0       73   1.29
     Nathan Voorhis, Ball State 7       9.0       58   1.29
4. Bryun Parham, UConn       7       8.5       56   1.21
     Nadame Tucker, W. Mich    7       8.5       66   1.21
6.  Cashius Howell, Tex A&M    7       8.0       65   1.14
CARDINALS' ALL-TIME SACKS LEADERS
-- Current sack leader Nathan Voorhis boasts 9.0 sacks on the year, already more than last year's leader, Riley Tolsma, who had 5.5.
-- Voorhis is just the second Ball State player since 2000 to record at least nine sacks in a season. His current total of 9.0 is the most in a season for a Cardinals' defender since Anthony Winbush registered 11.5 in 2017.
-- Voorhis is on pace to challenge Ball State's all-time sack leaders. The stat has been an official NCAA statistic since 2000, placing Anthony Winbush as the Cardinals' "NCAA-recognized official" record-holder with 11.5 sacks in 2017.
-- Ball State has maintained sack statistics since 1978, however, with Kelly George (1982) and Craig Newburg (1981) both owning their place in the Cardinals' record book with 13 in those seasons.
-- Voorhis is one of 17 Ball State players ever to record at least eight sacks in a season -- though surely the first to do so in the season's first five games.
Ball State Single-Season Sacks Leaders
Player                                              Sacks     Yds
1.    Kelly George, 1982                     13.0         --
       Craig Newbury, 1981                 13.0         --
3.    Anthony Winbush, 2017           11.5       64
4.    Keith McKenzie, 1995                11.0       52
       Bryant Branigan, 1992               11.0       72
6.    Wilber McDonald, 1997            10.0       71
7.   Nathan Voorhis, 2025                 9.0       58
       Hiram Maddox, 1996                   9.0       37
       Keith McKenzie, 1994                  9.0       50
       Toby Beagle, 1990                       9.0       82
       Mose Carter, 1988                       9.0         --
       Rush Brown, 1978                        9.0         --
13. Anthony Winbush, 2016             8.5       45
       Jonathan Newsome, 2012          8.5       42
15. Sidney Houston, 2023                 8.0       52
       Jonathan Newsome, 2013          8.0       54
       Brandon Crawford, 2007             8.0       39
       Evan Triggs, 2001                         8.0       36
       Brian Williams, 1996                    8.0       51
       David Cipranic, 1991                    8.0       57
       Rush Brown, 1979                        8.0         --
* Sacks have been officially recognized as an NCAA statistic since 2000; Ball State sack records date to 1978; Ball State sack yardage records date to 1990.
CARDINALS AMONG MAC & FBS SACK LEADERS
-- As a team, Ball State's 2.71 sacks per game (19 total) rank fourth in the MAC and 24th nationally.
MAGWOOD & KELLY CONNECTIONS
-- In consecutive games against UConn and Ohio, connections between Kiael Kelly and Qian Magwood were explosive!
-- In the Ohio win, Kelly found Magwood for a 43-yard game-winning TD down the left sideline with 57 seconds remaining in the game.
-- Two of the three times that Kelly and Magwood connected on pass routes at UConn, they were both explosive.
-- On the final play of the first quarter, Kelly found Magwood on a screen pass. Magwood sprinted down the right sideline for 53 yards for what was the longest catch of
Magwood's career and the longest pass of Kelly's.
-- One play later, to open the second quarter, Kelly handed to Magwood on a reverse, and ventured into his own route in the right flat. On the first pass of his career, Magwood found Kelly for a 19-yard TD, reaching the end zone for Ball State's first score.
-- Two consecutive plays covered 72 yards with career longs and career firsts for both of them.
BETTER CALL SAUL
-- Transfer punter Adam Saul ranks fifth in the MAC and 52nd nationally with a 42.5-yard punting average.
-- Saul owns eight punts of at least 50 yards this year, including a 58-yard boot versus Akron, a 62-yard kick against Ohio and his career-long 67-yarder at Purdue.
-- 10 of his 42 punts have landed inside the opponent's 20-yard line.Â
-- His 62-yarder against Ohio landed at the Bobcats' 1-yard line and on their first play from scrimmage after the punt, Ball State recorded a safety to pull within 14-12 in an eventual upset win.
-- Saul was called on for 10 punts twice this season, at Auburn and again at Western Michigan.
