Last of the MAC: NIU linebackers hoping to say goodbye with a win
The end of an era arrives in DeKalb on Friday.
When Northern Illinois finishes its season by hosting Kent State, it will be the school's final game in the Mid-American Conference. NIU has had two stints of MACtion, from 1975-85, then from 1997-2025. Next year, the Huskies will join the Mountain West.
On a smaller scale, an era is over for NIU senior linebacker Quinn Urwiler. The Batavia native transferred from North Dakota, waited his turn and finally became a starter this season.
He's made it pay off, leading the MAC in total tackles with 129. If Urwiler can get 13 tackles Friday, he'll finish with one of the 10 best seasons in NIU history and the most tackles in a single campaign in 33 years.
“I 100% think it was worth it,” Urwiler said this week. “When I was a little kid, I always dreamed about being a Division I player and being able to start. The way it worked out, it took longer than what I wanted it to. But at the end of the day, I was able to be in a great position to start and make my name known.”
Another area player is Urwiler's partner at linebacker, Glenbard West grad Filip Maciorowski. He is second on the team in tackles and ranks 15th in the MAC.
“He's a dog,” Maciorowski said of Urwiler. “So when we're playing out there, it makes my job easier because he's flying around making all these tackles. It's fun.”
Urwiler's college career fits into three equal segments. He spent two years at North Dakota. Then when he transferred to NIU, he joined younger brother Trey, a wide receiver.
The past two years, he's been without Trey, who decided to transfer to Aurora University. Trey Urwiler recorded 27 catches for 422 yards in the first five games this fall, then suffered a season-ending knee injury.
“Yeah, it was a tough moment (when Trey left NIU),” Quinn said. “But at the end of the day, we're all here to play. At the end of the day, I just wanted him to be happy about it.”
There's a third Urwiler brother, Zach, who went to Marmion and played in college at Northern Michigan. When the brothers were younger, their father, Gary, was head coach at Mooseheart.
“Every day, we would always put on shoulder pads and go outside and hit each other,” Quinn said. “We'd always go to our dad's practice when he was at Mooseheart and basically, he would let us jump in drills and we would practice with the high schoolers. We were always getting in fights with each other. It was all love, though.”
Once he transferred from North Dakota, Urwiler quickly became a special teams standout at NIU. But he asked to redshirt in 2023, so he'd have more chance to play linebacker. He didn't start on defense until this season, and he thrived despite being somewhat undersized at 6-foot, 226 pounds.
“Of course, I'm not the 6-3, 240 linebacker that everyone wants to recruit,” he said. “So I thought I've just got to be big in the weight room so I don't get bullied on the inside. That's really what helped me.”
Maciorowski also took an unlikely path, since he played mostly tight end and receiver in high school. He would jump in as an edge rusher on passing downs, and that's what caught the attention of NIU's coaches.
“They moved me to linebacker pretty much the first week I got here, once they saw my size, my length and my speed,” Maciorowski said. “They thought I'd be a great fit, and I went for it.”
There's one skyscraper (relatively speaking) on the NIU campus. It was at the top of that building, during Christmas break in 1995, where the school held a news conference introducing new football coach Joe Novak.
“Back to the MAC with Novak,” was the slogan that day. It took some time to turn things around — Novak went 3-30 in his first three seasons — but eventually Northern Illinois became one of the most successful Group of Five programs, playing Florida State in the Orange Bowl in 2012.
What happens next is hard to predict. The Huskies are 3-8, so anything could happen this offseason. The nearest rival in the Mountain West will be Wyoming, so that's a significant change.
“Obviously, we didn't want the season we had,” Urwiler said. “I think a big thing is leaving the MAC on a high note. We had to make a decision as a university, not only to help the university, but also help the players. I think the Mountain West is a great opportunity to showcase what the NIU Huskies are all about.”
Urwiler will be out of eligibility, but Maciorowski could stay and help set the tone for the next era.
“I think it's exciting,” he said. “It's a new challenge, something to look forward to. I feel like we can definitely compete. We've got a lot of young players that are developing and making their jumps, so I'm excited.”
Playoff peek
North Central will begin the quest to reach its sixth straight Division III championship game Saturday when it hosts Hanover (Indiana) at noon in Naperville. It will take four playoff wins to reach the title contest.
A more interesting playoff game might be Wheaton visiting No. 5 Wartburg in Iowa at noon. Wheaton's two losses this season were against the top two teams in Division III, North Central and Mount Union. All Division III playoff games can be streamed on ESPN-Plus.
In the FCS playoffs, Illinois State (8-4) plays at Southeast Louisiana at noon Saturday. The winner moves on to face No. 1 North Dakota State. ISU is one of six teams from the Missouri Valley Conference in the 24-team field.