Northern Illinois University junior quarterback Ethan Hampton (Elburn, Ill./Aurora Christian HS) earned the first Offensive Player of the Week honor of the season from the Mid-American Conference on Monday after throwing for five touchdowns and 300-plus yards in NIU’s 54-15 season-opening win over Western Illinois.

In his first start since October 8, 2022, and the fifth start of his NIU career, Hampton completed 18 of 20 passes for a career high 328 yards and the five passing touchdowns, which went to five different receivers. His passing efficiency rating of 310.3 broke NIU’s single game record, previously held by College Football Hall of Famer George Bork, who had a rating of 261.3 versus UW-Whitewater on Sept. 14, 1963.

Hampton’s ESPN QBR of 98.1 is currently ranked third in the country behind only Jalen Milroe of Alabama and Drew Allar of Penn State, he is tied for first in passing touchdowns among all Football Bowl Subdivision quarterbacks and his completion percentage (90.0) ranks second nationally.

Hampton’s five TD passes tied for the sixth-most in NIU history and are the most by a Huskie QB in a game since Nov. 1, 2011, when Chandler Harnish threw six TD passes in a legendary 63-60 win over Toledo.

In less than three quarters of action, Hampton posted the first 300-yard passing game in NIU’s last 30 games, since November 3, 2021, when Rocky Lombardi threw for a school record 532 yards against Kent State.

On Saturday, September 7, Hampton and the Huskies make the short trip to South Bend, Indiana to take on seventh-ranked Notre Dame in the first meeting between the teams. Kickoff is at 2:30 p.m. CT/3:30 p.m. ET at Notre Dame Stadium. Watch the game on NBC or stream on Peacock.