Overheard at the Dog Park: What the Huskies are saying ahead of Saturday’s game at Toledo

NIU was picked last in the MAC this year, but they’re 1-0 in the conference after beating Eastern Michigan, 27-20, on Saturday to improve to 3-2 overall, and right guard Logan Zschernitz said the team is out to turn some heads:

“We’re out here proving people wrong. That’s where we like to be.”

[ Instant replay: Main takeaways from NIU’s 27-20 win over Eastern Michigan ]

Safety C.J. Brown on people not expecting much out of NIU, which was 0-6 last year and are 11-point underdogs at Toledo on Saturday:

“Everybody voted us to be last in the conference,” Brown said. “They look at us like we’re the underdogs. But I feel like it’s good to be the underdogs sometimes.”

Coach Thomas Hammock on the team’s wins this season:

“Like I tell the player we’re not trying to win a beauty pageant. I think that’s the great thing about us. We don’t have to be pretty. We don’t have to be anybody’s first choice. But it’s us. Embrace us.”

Tight end Tristan Tewes on how the team handled a 2-hour, 44-minute lightning delay Saturday:

“Coach just builds the culture of a mature team. Everybody is able to stay locked in. Young guy or old guy, everybody knows the standard here. Just being able to stay locked in was the biggest key we had.”

[ NIU had to manage a 166-minute weather delay against Eastern Michigan. Here’s how they did it, and won ]

Hammock on the team’s identity:

“We’re not a sexy team. We’re not a cute team. But we embrace what we are. We’re going to get in there and grind for four quarters and give ourselves every opportunity to score one more point than the opponent.”

Hammock on the Toledo defense, which enters Saturday’s game second in the MAC in total defense:

“There’s going to be a Rolodex of different looks to keep you off schedule. Our offensive coaches are grinding to find out little ways to help our guys play fast and play physical.”

Hammock called Tuesday’s practice the best the team has had all year. Zschernitz on what was clicking:

“Coming off a win, a MAC win, it’s always a big boost to us. And then being a big rivalry week, that always gets us going.”

Brown on what’s been working for the defense, which held Eastern Michigan to 20 points last week:

“Because the (defensive) line did well, we covered well, too. Coach has been preaching in practice that it starts on the D-line and we all bounce off that.”

[ Defense, Antario Brown step up as NIU holds off Eastern Michigan, 27-20 ]

Hammock said players from the scout team have earned time on special teams this year, like George Gumbs, Louis Frye and Muhammad Jammeh. He said the scout team has been responsible for a lot of NIU’s success this year:

“I think we’re really playing well because of the type of effort we’re getting from our compete team. It’s a very underrated quality of your football team, the guys in the trenches trying to get guys ready. They’re doing a phenomenal job getting us a look.”

Hammock on Dillon Thomas, who has played three positions in the past year and as a linebacker was named the MAC West Defensive Player of the Week after two sacks against EMU:

“Everybody can’t be a starter. But what you do is stay locked in, stay engaged and stay committed to getting better. That’s what happened. That’s normally how people become good players. They stay engaged, they don’t worry about outside influences. They worry about what they need to do to progress as a football player, and Dillon Thomas has done that.”