Northern Illinois vs. San Diego State

Northern Illinois and San Diego State have 6 meetings on file, the first in 1968; San Diego State leads the series 6–⁠0 in the games on file. Over the last 6 meetings it’s San Diego State 6–⁠0, and San Diego State has won the last 6. Share

Scheduled 2031 at San Diego State. As the programs’ Wikipedia articles list them (CC BY-SA).

Northern Illinois wins: 0
San Diego State wins: 6
Ties: 0
Earliest on file: 1968
Longest streak: 6 San Diego State
Current streak: 6 San Diego State
Last 10 meetings: San Diego State 6–⁠0
Most recent: 2025

The series at a glance

Every meeting by decade, colored by the winner
	’0	’1	’2	’3	’4	’5	’6	’7	’8	’9	W–L
1960s											0–⁠1
1970s											0–⁠2
2010s											0–⁠2
2020s											0–⁠1

Average margin: 15.7 points; 2 decided by one score (8 or fewer)
At Northern Illinois: 0–⁠3 Northern Illinois’s record at home
At San Diego State: 3–⁠0 San Diego State’s record at home

Every meeting on file, as played. Ranks are the AP poll’s going in.

Games that tell the story

San Diego State’s biggest win1970: San Diego State 35, Northern Illinois 3by 32 points

Both programs through the years

Our Elo rating at the end of each season, a measure of how strong a team was, not a forecast; 1500 is an average FBS team.

Stars of the series

Biggest days

Donnel Pumphrey San Diego State

23 carries, 220 yards, 3 TD

2016 Rushing

Biggest days: the week’s best individual games by our big-days rule, from box scores (2004 on).

Every game

Sep 27, 2025	San Diego State 6, Northern Illinois 3	at Northern Illinois
Sep 30, 2017	19San Diego State 34, Northern Illinois 28	at San Diego State
Sep 17, 2016	San Diego State 42, Northern Illinois 28	at Northern Illinois
Oct 2, 1971	San Diego State 30, Northern Illinois 10	at San Diego State
Sep 12, 1970	San Diego State 35, Northern Illinois 3	at Northern Illinois
Sep 20, 1968	San Diego State 40, Northern Illinois 21	at San Diego State

Every game is listed as played on the field.