College Football TimelineTHE COLLEGE FOOTBALL ARCHIVE
HomeRivalriesKent State vs Northern Illinois
College football / Rivalry archive

Kent State vs Northern Illinois Timeline

Explore every documented meeting, final score and season in the recorded history between Kent State and Northern Illinois.

PROGRAM ONEKent State7 recorded wins
HEAD TO HEAD7–23WINS · LOSSES
PROGRAM TWONorthern Illinois23 recorded wins
30Recorded meetings
1966Earliest documented
2025Most recent season
0Tied games
THE RIVALRY THROUGH TIME

Head-to-head timeline

Meetings are listed oldest first. Scores and dates reflect the available historical records.

30 games
  1. 1966
    Kent State26 — 7Northern Illinois
    Sep 24, 1966Kent State won
  2. 1967
    Kent State35 — 0Northern Illinois
    Sep 23, 1967Kent State won
  3. 1971
    Kent State7 — 26Northern Illinois
    Oct 30, 1971Northern Illinois won
  4. 1972
    Kent State7 — 28Northern Illinois
    Oct 28, 1972Northern Illinois won
  5. 1975
    Kent State15 — 38Northern Illinois
    Oct 4, 1975Northern Illinois won
  6. 1976
    Kent State42 — 0Northern Illinois
    Nov 25, 1976Kent State won
  7. 1977
    Kent State18 — 21Northern Illinois
    Oct 29, 1977Northern Illinois won
  8. 1978
    Kent State21 — 27Northern Illinois
    Nov 4, 1978Northern Illinois won
  9. 1979
    Kent State0 — 25Northern Illinois
    Nov 3, 1979Northern Illinois won
  10. 1980
    Kent State14 — 35Northern Illinois
    Nov 1, 1980Northern Illinois won
  11. 1981
    Kent State31 — 10Northern Illinois
    Oct 10, 1981Kent State won
  12. 1982
    Kent State15 — 23Northern Illinois
    Sep 18, 1982Northern Illinois won
  13. 1983
    Kent State7 — 38Northern Illinois
    Sep 24, 1983Northern Illinois won
  14. 1984
    Kent State10 — 24Northern Illinois
    Sep 22, 1984Northern Illinois won
  15. 1999
    Kent State7 — 50Northern Illinois
    Oct 23, 1999Northern Illinois won
  16. 2001
    Kent State44 — 34Northern Illinois
    Oct 13, 2001Kent State wonDix Stadium
  17. 2002
    Kent State6 — 13Northern Illinois
    Sep 28, 2002Northern Illinois wonHuskie Stadium
  18. 2005
    Kent State3 — 34Northern Illinois
    Oct 22, 2005Northern Illinois wonDix Stadium
  19. 2007
    Kent State20 — 27Northern Illinois
    Nov 10, 2007Northern Illinois wonHuskie Stadium
  20. 2008
    Kent State14 — 42Northern Illinois
    Nov 19, 2008Northern Illinois wonDix Stadium
  21. 2011
    Kent State10 — 40Northern Illinois
    Oct 8, 2011Northern Illinois wonHuskie Stadium
  22. 2012
    Kent State37 — 44Northern Illinois
    Dec 1, 2012Northern Illinois won
  23. 2013
    Kent State24 — 38Northern Illinois
    Oct 5, 2013Northern Illinois wonDix Stadium
  24. 2014
    Kent State14 — 17Northern Illinois
    Oct 4, 2014Northern Illinois wonHuskie Stadium
  25. 2016
    Kent State21 — 31Northern Illinois
    Nov 25, 2016Northern Illinois wonDix Stadium
  26. 2017
    Kent State3 — 24Northern Illinois
    Oct 7, 2017Northern Illinois wonHuskie Stadium
  27. 2021
    Kent State52 — 47Northern Illinois
    Nov 3, 2021Kent State wonDix Stadium
  28. 2021
    Kent State23 — 41Northern Illinois
    Dec 4, 2021Northern Illinois wonFord Field
  29. 2023
    Kent State27 — 37Northern Illinois
    Nov 25, 2023Northern Illinois wonDix Stadium
  30. 2025
    Kent State35 — 31Northern Illinois
    Nov 28, 2025Kent State wonHuskie Stadium
THE COMPLETE SCOREBOOK

All recorded results

The latest documented meeting appears first.

SeasonMatchupScoreOutcome
2025Kent State vs Northern Illinois35–31Kent State won
2023Kent State vs Northern Illinois27–37Northern Illinois won
2021Kent State vs Northern Illinois23–41Northern Illinois won
2021Kent State vs Northern Illinois52–47Kent State won
2017Kent State vs Northern Illinois3–24Northern Illinois won
2016Kent State vs Northern Illinois21–31Northern Illinois won
2014Kent State vs Northern Illinois14–17Northern Illinois won
2013Kent State vs Northern Illinois24–38Northern Illinois won
2012Kent State vs Northern Illinois37–44Northern Illinois won
2011Kent State vs Northern Illinois10–40Northern Illinois won
2008Kent State vs Northern Illinois14–42Northern Illinois won
2007Kent State vs Northern Illinois20–27Northern Illinois won
2005Kent State vs Northern Illinois3–34Northern Illinois won
2002Kent State vs Northern Illinois6–13Northern Illinois won
2001Kent State vs Northern Illinois44–34Kent State won
1999Kent State vs Northern Illinois7–50Northern Illinois won
1984Kent State vs Northern Illinois10–24Northern Illinois won
1983Kent State vs Northern Illinois7–38Northern Illinois won
1982Kent State vs Northern Illinois15–23Northern Illinois won
1981Kent State vs Northern Illinois31–10Kent State won
1980Kent State vs Northern Illinois14–35Northern Illinois won
1979Kent State vs Northern Illinois0–25Northern Illinois won
1978Kent State vs Northern Illinois21–27Northern Illinois won
1977Kent State vs Northern Illinois18–21Northern Illinois won
1976Kent State vs Northern Illinois42–0Kent State won
1975Kent State vs Northern Illinois15–38Northern Illinois won
1972Kent State vs Northern Illinois7–28Northern Illinois won
1971Kent State vs Northern Illinois7–26Northern Illinois won
1967Kent State vs Northern Illinois35–0Kent State won
1966Kent State vs Northern Illinois26–7Kent State won
OUR DATA STANDARD

Sources and historical coverage

These results are compiled from season-by-season records imported from CollegeFootballData. Only games with both final scores are counted. Older seasons and some lower-division records may be incomplete; the earliest documented year is not necessarily the first meeting ever played.

Page updated November 7, 2026 · Historical records are subject to correction.