Quinn Urwiler forced his second turnover, the Northern Illinois’ offense was surging, and the Huskies seemed headed toward a win in their final Mid-American Conference game.

But the Huskies were outgained 143-69 in the final 13:46, a two-score lead disappeared, and a disappointing season ended with a 35-31 loss to Kent State on Friday.

“We just got lazy,” Urwiler said. “Guys not wrapping up, not fitting where we’re supposed to be fitting. Those are moments you have to win, and we didn’t do that.”

NIU (3-9 overall, 2-6 MAC) wrapped up its seventh season under coach Thomas Hammock and its fourth with a losing record. The Huskies won bowl games the last two years and also went 3-9 in 2022. They’ll head into the Mountain West next year.

The Huskies built up a 31-20 lead, thanks in a big part to Urwiler. He knocked out the ball from DaShawn Martin, letting Taylor Powell return it down to the Kent State 1-yard line, just missing the Huskies’ first defensive touchdown of the year.

Chavon Wright, who finished with 185 rushing yards on 30 carries, scored his second touchdown of the day on the next play to push the lead to 31-20 with 13:52 left.

Cade Wofford followed with a 31-yard touchdown run on a third-and-9 play on the next drive for the Golden Flashes (5-7, 4-4) to cut the lead to three with 10 minutes to play.

“We just have to make the play in that situation to get them into a fourth-down situation,” Hammock said. “Maybe they kick the field goal. Maybe they go for it. Now we’re playing a different type of game.”

The Huskies got to around midfield on the next drive, but had to punt. Kent State needed six plays and 2:52 to cover 80 yards to take the lead for the final time with 4:11 left on a 26-yard score by Gavin Garcia.

The Huskies got down to the Kent State 27, but Macon’s fourth-and-10 pass to Gary Givens was incomplete, sealing the loss.

The Huskies had 307 yards on the ground, led by Wright’s 185. He and quarterback Jalen Macon each rushed for two touchdowns. Macon, who was 1 for 7 last week, was 5 for 10 with 27 yards this week, his longest pass 7 yards.

NIU went through the season not throwing for more than 161 yards in a game.

“Obviously, it’s not what we wanted or expected, but I’m extremely proud of the seniors,” Hammock said. “When you have a season like this, it’s easy to go the other way in the locker room with your work ethic, with your mentality, and these guys have been outstanding.

“I will go on record as saying this has been the best leadership of my seven years. When you have great leadership, when it’s not going good, that’s a testament to the guys in the locker room.”

The NIU offense and defensive depth chart for Friday featured just 12 seniors, and there were a total of 21 seniors on the roster.

Obviously, the transfer portal can have a big effect on a team, but theoretically, there should be a lot of talent returning for the Huskies when they head into the Mountain West in 2025.

“We’re going to put our heads down and grind,” Macon said. “Find the pieces that we need to be successful in the new conference. At the end of the day, we’re just putting our head down, looking within, finding the pieces we need to find and going from there. NIU is going to work at the end of the day. We’re going to do what we’ve got to do to thrive in the new conference.”