Battle for the Bronze Stalk
Statistics
Ball State Cardinals Northern Illinois Huskies
Sport	Football
First meeting	October 4, 1941 Ball State 6, Northern Illinois 6
Latest meeting	November 7, 2023 Ball State 20, Northern Illinois 17
Next meeting	2024
Trophy	Bronze Stalk Trophy (2008–present)
Meetings total	51
All-time series	Northern Illinois leads, 25–24–2
Trophy series	Northern Illinois leads, 11–5
Largest victory	NIU 63–17 (2017)
Longest win streak	NIU, 10 (2009–2018)
Current win streak	Ball State, 2 (2022–present)

[Interactive fullscreen map + nearby articles]

Locations of Ball State and Northern Illinois

The Bronze Stalk Trophy is presented to the winner of the annual college football game between Mid-American Conference rivals Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois and Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana. The two interstate rivals began competing for this trophy in 2008.^[1]

Designed by nationally recognized sculptor and DeKalb artist Renee Bemis, the trophy depicts several cornstalks in tribute to the prevalence of maize around the respective home states of the rivals.

The first meeting between the two occurred in 1941, a 6–6 tie; the Huskies lead the all-time series 25–23–2, having won 17 of the last 22 meetings. Ball State won the inaugural contest for the Bronze Stalk at Scheumann Stadium in 2008, with Northern Illinois winning the trophy for the first time the following season on Brigham Field at Huskie Stadium.^[2]

Game results

Ball State victories	Northern Illinois victories	Tie games

No.	Date	Location	Winner	Score
1	October 4, 1941	DeKalb, IL	Tie	6–6
2	October 17, 1942	Muncie, IN	Ball State	14–0
3	October 8, 1966	Muncie, IN	Northern Illinois	38–24
4	October 7, 1967	DeKalb, IL	Northern Illinois	28–14
5	September 14, 1968	Muncie, IN	Northern Illinois	40–20
6	October 25, 1969	DeKalb, IL	Northern Illinois	17–13
7	October 24, 1970	Muncie, IN	Northern Illinois	31–14
8	October 23, 1971	DeKalb, IL	Tie	10–10
9	October 20, 1973	DeKalb, IL	Northern Illinois	45–17
10	November 9, 1974	Muncie, IN	Ball State	31–21
11	October 25, 1975	DeKalb, IL	Ball State	3–0
12	October 30, 1976	DeKalb, IL	Ball State	33–7
13	October 15, 1977	Muncie, IN	Ball State	31–6
14	November 18, 1978	DeKalb, IL	Ball State	31–13
15	November 17, 1979	Muncie, IN	Ball State	42–0
16	September 13, 1980	DeKalb, IL	Ball State	18–17
17	October 3, 1981	Muncie, IN	Ball State	23–0
18	October 2, 1982	DeKalb, IL	Ball State	14–7
19	October 1, 1983	Muncie, IN	Northern Illinois	27–14
20	September 29, 1984	DeKalb, IL	Ball State	15–14
21	October 5, 1985	Muncie, IN	Ball State	29–0
22	August 30, 1986	DeKalb, IL	Ball State	20–10
23	October 31, 1987	Muncie, IN	Ball State	42–17
24	October 29, 1988	DeKalb, IL	Ball State	18–17
25	October 25, 1997	DeKalb, IL	Ball State	21–14
26	October 3, 1998	Muncie, IN	Ball State	18–13

No.	Date	Location	Winner	Score
27	October 9, 1999	DeKalb, IL	Northern Illinois	37–17
28	September 30, 2000	Muncie, IN	Northern Illinois	43–14
29	November 17, 2001	DeKalb, IL	Northern Illinois	33–29
30	October 5, 2002	Muncie, IN	Northern Illinois	41–29
31	November 1, 2003	DeKalb, IL	#21 Northern Illinois	48–23
32	October 30, 2004	Muncie, IN	Northern Illinois	38–31
33	October 29, 2005	DeKalb, IL	Ball State	31–17
34	September 30, 2006	Muncie, IN	Northern Illinois	40–28
35	November 24, 2007	DeKalb, IL	Ball State	27–21
36	November 5, 2008	Muncie, IN	#16 Ball State	45–14
37	November 12, 2009	DeKalb, IL	Northern Illinois	26–20
38	November 20, 2010	Muncie, IN	Northern Illinois	59–21
39	November 15, 2011	DeKalb, IL	Northern Illinois	41–38
40	October 6, 2012	Muncie, IN	Northern Illinois	35–23
41	November 13, 2013	DeKalb, IL	#20 Northern Illinois	48–27
42	November 5, 2014	Muncie, IN	Northern Illinois	35–21
43	October 10, 2015	DeKalb, IL	Northern Illinois	59–41
44	October 1, 2016	Muncie, IN	Northern Illinois	31–24
45	November 9, 2017	DeKalb, IL	Northern Illinois	63–17
46	October 6, 2018	Muncie, IN	Northern Illinois	24–16
47	October 5, 2019	DeKalb, IL	Ball State	27–20
48	November 18, 2020	Muncie, IN	Ball State	31–25
49	November 10, 2021	DeKalb, IL	Northern Illinois	30–29
50	October 1, 2022	Muncie, IN	Ball State	44–38^2OT
51	November 7, 2023	DeKalb, IL	Ball State	20–17
Series: Northern Illinois leads 25–24–2

References

^ "Northern Illinois and Ball State to Play for The Bronze Stalk". NIUhuskies.com. November 21, 2007.
^ "Northern Illinois Opponents". Archived from the original on February 16, 2010. Retrieved November 9, 2010.

v t e Ball State Cardinals football
Venues	Ball State Field (1924–1967) Scheumann Stadium (1967–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Indiana State (Blue Key Victory Bell) Northern Illinois (Bronze Stalk Trophy)
Culture & lore	Charlie Cardinal The Pride of Mid-America Marching Band
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024

v t e Northern Illinois Huskies football
Venues	Glidden Field (1903–1965) Huskie Stadium (1965–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Ball State: Bronze Stalk Trophy
Culture & lore	"Huskie Fight Song" Huskie Band
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917–1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold

v t e Mid-American Conference football rivalries
Conference	Wagon Wheel (Akron–Kent State) Bronze Stalk Trophy (Ball State–Northern Illinois) Anniversary Award (Bowling Green–Kent State) Bowling Green–Toledo Central Michigan–Eastern Michigan Central Michigan–Western Michigan Michigan MAC Trophy (Central Michigan–Eastern Michigan–Western Michigan) Battle of the Bricks (Miami–Ohio)
Non-conference	Steel Tire (Akron–Youngstown State) Blue Key Victory Bell (Ball State–Indiana State) Victory Bell (Cincinnati–Miami) Battle for the Bell (Marshall–Ohio)

Game results

See also

References