NIU’s season opener sure seemed headed toward a defeat at the hands of an FCS team. At least until Dev’ion Reynolds turned the tide in just 13 seconds.

The offense was struggling, especially after starting quarterback Josh Holst left the game in the second half Saturday against Holy Cross in an eventual 19-17 Huskies victory.

Special teams wasn’t performing much better with some costly miscues.

And the defense, as sharp as it had been all game, just gave up the game’s first touchdown on a 77-yard drive that took just 1:27 off the clock and gave the Crusaders their first lead, 10-6.

Reynolds made sure the lead was short-lived. He already had a 54-yard kickoff return. Turns out that was just the appetizer. Reynolds went 96 yards for a touchdown, putting the Huskies ahead 12-10.

“That drive before, we kind of had a mental lapse,” safety Muhammed Jammeh said. “We gave up a lot of plays. ... When Dev made that play he made up for a couple of the plays on defense. You just feel the confidence through the whole team. the whole stadium, everything.”

It revitalized everything for the Huskies at that point. Holy Cross went three and out on its next drive and only managed 9 yards for the rest of the game. When the offense got the ball back, it pulled out its first touchdown of the game, pushing the lead to 19-10.

NIU was 3 for 13 on third down before that drive. The Huskies went 2 for 2 on the scoring drive, letting Chavon Wright take a direct snap and score on a 2-yard run. He finished his NIU debut with 11 carries for 77 yards after rushing for over 2,200 yards last year at Charleston, leading NCAA Division II.

“He gave us energy on the sideline. 96-yard touchdown, you have to build on that,” Wright said. “And I feel we did build on that as far as confidence.”

Holy Cross made things interesting with a 97-yard kickoff return of their own by Alijah Cason with 4:03 left. But the defense came up with another three-and-out to preserve the win.

Jammeh said he liked how the defense stepped up. He had an interception earlier in the game. It was the third of his career in his 39th game and first since 2023.

“I just want to keep the defense and instill the mindset to attack the next play,” Jammeh said. “Let’s not give in. We had a relapse on one drive but we came back, stacked plays on top of plays.

Before Reynolds’ return, special teams hadn’t exactly been a bright spot. Highly touted transfer kicker Andrew Glass missed an extra point. Long snapper Ross Pedro had a high snap that lost 32 yards, a miscue that not only set up Holy Cross’ first points of the game but kept NIU from crossing 200 rushing yards as a team.

Cason had a 69-yard return to start the second half, but the Crusaders missed a field goal attempt. Danny Vuckovic had a punt blocked and ended up shanking one for 20 yards after pinning two inside the 20 to start the game.

Special teams was a point of emphasis during the offseason, NIU coach Thomas Hammock said. He said Saturday showed there’s a lot to get better at. Hammock said the blocked punt happened because the team didn’t count the overload correctly. And they tried to kick it away from Cason on his TD return, but the Crusaders countered well to make sure he still ended up with the ball.

Hammock said on the whole, it’s about experience with special teams.

“You lose guys in the portal? Those are guys that were playing special teams,” he said. “We’ve got a true freshman on the special teams unit. We have guys who haven’t played football on the special teams unit. So that’s going to happen. A lot of things like that happen in the first game they have to learn from quickly. These things cannot continue to show up.”

Hammock said he trusts special teams coach Cory Connolly to get things straightened out by Friday’s game at Maryland.

The growing pains certainly didn’t apply to Reynolds, who only played in the bowl game last year.

“It felt unreal, honestly. I didn’t know if it was real,” said Reynolds, a Carmel Catholic graduate and redshirt freshman. It’s my first game but I really appreciate the opportunity everybody’s giving me, putting me in the game."