Nevada and Northern Illinois both crashed to 3-9 seasons a year ago, and now they'll get reacquainted as brand-new conference mates trying to prove last year was the exception, not the rule.
Bush’s Picks
NEVNIU
NEVNIU
OverUnder
Best BetNevada
Nevada gets the nod here mostly on program stability — Jeff Choate is in year 3 with the same system, while NIU is breaking in an interim staff and a brand-new offensive coordinator on the fly. A settled program, even a mediocre one, tends to beat a program mid-overhaul.
Nevada
+Carter Jones has 7 starts of experience already
+Offensive line trending up after a strong 2025
+3rd year of continuity under Jeff Choate
−Finished just 3-9 last season
−Unsettled QB battle with transfer Luke Duncan
Northern Illinois
+Leading receiver DaAree Rogers and most weapons return
+New OC Tony Petersen brings a fresh offensive plan
−Scored fewest points in a season since 1998
−Interim head coach after a mid-cycle staff change
−QB job still wide open entering the year
Nevada's quarterback room is settled in name only. Carter Jones started 7 games as a true freshman last year and enters the fall as the incumbent, but UCLA transfer Luke Duncan showed up with real pedigree and has pushed the competition deep into camp, even after tossing 3 picks in the spring finale. Northern Illinois has the messier version of the same problem: redshirt senior Jalen Macon headlines a QB battle that new offensive coordinator Tony Petersen is still sorting out, with no returning starter to fall back on.
The Huskies do return some juice on the outside — leading receiver DaAree Rogers caught 46 balls last year and most of his fellow pass-catchers are back — but that only matters once NIU settles on someone to get them the ball. Nevada's hedge against its own uncertainty is the offensive line, which coaches believe quietly became one of the most improved groups on the roster a season ago. Whoever wins each quarterback job will at least have real pieces around him.
Show fees
11:00 PM CT
Spread
ML
Total
NEV Nevada
NIU Northern Illinois
Neither program walks in with momentum. Both finished 3-9 last year, and NIU's offense was bad enough to post its fewest points in a season since 1998 — the kind of number that gets people fired, or in this case, gets your head coach hired away. Thomas Hammock left for Seattle in February, and defensive coordinator Rob Harley got bumped up to interim head coach mid-cycle. Nevada, by contrast, is running it back with Jeff Choate for a 3rd season — for a program starving for stability, that continuity alone is worth something.
Nevada Wolf Pack
Nov 6?vs New Mexico—
Oct 30?@ UCLA—
Oct 17?@ North Dakota State—
Oct 9?@ UTEP—
Sep 25?vs Air Force—
Sep 19?@ Middle Tennessee—
Sep 12?vs Montana State—
Sep 5?vs Western Kentucky—
Northern Illinois Huskies
Nov 6?@ San José State—
Oct 31?@ UNLV—
Oct 17?@ Wyoming—
Oct 10?vs Air Force—
Sep 25?@ Georgia State—
Sep 19?@ Arizona—
Sep 12?vs Illinois State—
Sep 5?@ Iowa—
Recent form.
This is also uncharted territory for both sides. Northern Illinois is leaving the MAC behind entirely for the Mountain West, so this game is as much about staking a claim in a new league as it is about erasing last year's record. Nothing in either team's offseason points to an overnight fix — this reads like 2 teams still figuring out who they actually are.
