NIU’s final season in the Mid-American Conference and quest for a third straight bowl win kicks off at 1 p.m. Saturday against Holy Cross at Huskie Stadium.

The Huskies were 8-5 last year and won the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl against Fresno State. Quarterback Josh Holst was the game’s MVP filling in for an injured Ethan Hampton and now takes over as the starter after Hampton transferred to Illinois.

The team lost 21 starters and only returns five players who started at least six games. They also have new offensive and defensive coordinators.

Here are three things to know heading into the game against the Crusaders, who went 6-6 in 2024.

Remembering SIU

Thomas Hammock, entering his seventh season as NIU head coach, said during camp he showed his players 40 clips from a 2023 game against Southern Illinois, which like Holy Cross is a Football Championship Subdivision school. NIU lost 14-11 to the Salukis.

He said he wanted to remind his players that anybody can be defeated on any given day.

He said it showed them the work and preparation the team needs to do ahead of time and the mistakes they cannot make, like the three turnovers the Huskies committed.

“I tell them all the time if you don’t study history you’re doomed to repeat it,” Hammock said. “It was a tough meeting. A lot of those guys sitting in those seats didn’t play in that game. But hey, you look at the game, you look at the mistakes and you ... attack it head on. What are the factors that made us lose the game. And that’s what we tried to address.”

Hammock said learning from the mistakes in a loss like that is important. In 2024, the team beat Western Illinois 54-15 in its game against an FCS school.

Senior tight end and defensive end Pierce Oppong, who was on the roster but didn’t play in that game, said the team received the message.

“The thing we’re trying to hammer here is not be complacent,” Oppong said. “He came in here today and mentioned that a play takes six seconds, so it’s six seconds and wash, even if it’s good or bad, just be ready to continue playing the game.”

Focus on turnovers

The NIU defense ranked in the Top 20 nationally in many major defensive categories last year, but struggled to force turnovers. That’s been the main charge of the offseason and fall camp under new defensive coordinator Rob Harley.

Hammock said he believes as a coach you get what you emphasize. And turnovers have been an emphasis.

Cornerback Jacob Finley said the team has been working on punching at the ball more.

“When you wrap them up, the first guy wraps them up,” Finley said. “The second guy comes in and punches at the ball, see if the guy fumbles. A lot of guys, once they’re wrapped up, they tend to just brace and they don’t know when the second contact is coming in.”

Despite lack of returning starters, the team is still experienced

Tight end Jake Appleget, offensive tackle Evan Malcore, defensive ends Jalonnie Williams and Roy Williams, and kickoff specialist Austin Bullock are the only players who started at least six games for the Huskies a year ago.

But the cupboard isn’t quite as bare as most teams with that level of returning starters. There’s Holst, who was a bowl game MVP. Telly Johnson Jr. started two games and played in six filling in for an injured Antario Brown. He ran for 480 yards and four touchdowns, averaging 4.7 yards per carry. Offensive linemen Abiathar Curry and Thomas Paasch have both played in at least 10 games, including two starts for Paasch a year ago.

And the defense is loaded with players like Oppong (46 games), linebacker Danny Cronin (31 career games), safety Jasper Beeler (22 career games), cornerback Malik Armstrong (18 career games) and linebacker Quinn Urwiler (44 career games) who have a lot of experience but limited starts.

“We have a lot of guys that have developed in our program,” Hammock said. “Last year was a unique year. It was the last year [players who earned an extra year of eligibility from the COVID-shortened season in 2020], so we had a lot of guys that were in the program a year longer than anticipated. And these guys learned from those older players. So just because they didn’t play a lot in games, they gained valuable experience with the practice reps. So we have a team full of guys that have tremendous experience. Now they have to go out there and do it in a game.”