What to watch when NIU heads to Tulsa for its first road game of the year

DeKALB – The Northern Illinois University football team heads to Oklahoma for the first time, taking on Tulsa at 6 p.m. Saturday on ESPN+.

The Huskies were 34-27 winners last week against Eastern Illinois, while the Golden Hurricane lost, 40-37, in overtime at Wyoming.

Scouting the Golden Hurricane

Tulsa gained 521 yards of offense in the loss, running 84 plays and passing for 460 yards before losing in double overtime.

Fourth-year NIU coach Thomas Hammock said Tulsa features a very deep receiving group. Keylon Stokes, Malachai Jones and JuanCarlos Santana each crossed over 100 receiving yards Saturday, while Isaiah Epps had four catches for 79 yards, giving quarterback Davis Brin plenty of options.

“This quarterback is very experienced,” Hammock said. “Obviously, you’re not going to give him much he hasn’t seen already. He’s very crafty in the pocket. People get pressure, and he can evade pressure well. He can put the ball in spots, and he’s got receivers that can make plays. We have to do a good job in eliminating the run after catch because they have some dynamic receivers. [Stokes] becomes a running back with the ball in his hands.”

Three things to watch

1. Trying to contain the Tulsa offense

The NIU defense sparkled in the first half against Eastern, not allowing a touchdown. But that did not carry over into the second half, as the Panthers ran up 295 yards of offense in the final 30 minutes and ended up outgaining the Huskies for the game, 441-379.

And now the Huskies are facing a team that ran 84 plays, albeit in a double-overtime contest.

In addition to not allowing big plays after the catch, Hammock said the line has to get in Brin’s face and create some havoc.

“Obviously, our guys up front have to get in his face and create some stress,” Hammock said. “We have to keep him pressured to get him off his spot.”

Linebacker Daveren Rayner, who made a team-best 14 tackles last week, said he’s confident the defense can build off the two forced turnovers from last week.

“That’s one of the cons of running the hurry up and having that tempo is sometimes you get carless with the ball,” Rayner said. “Sometimes you get tired. Miscommunication might occur. But I think we’ll have a pretty [good chance] of getting the ball out like we’re supposed to.”

2. Take what the defense gives

After a big first half, NIU ran 15 times for 33 yards in the second half, while Lombardi was 11 of 16 for 161 yards in the last two quarters.

Hammock said the Huskies will do whatever the other team isn’t trying to stop.

“It has to start there,” Hammock said. “If they are going to give us an opportunity to throw the ball‚ we have to throw the ball. If they’re going to give us an opportunity to run the ball, we’ll run the ball. We can’t be stubborn in our approach on offense, and take what the defense is giving you, especially with the way our quarterback is playing.”

3. On the road again

The Huskies hit the road for the first time this season. Last year, they won their road opener – also the season opener at Georgia Tech.

They also played at Michigan last year, losing 63-10.

So even though game temperatures Saturday could be hovering around 90 degrees, Daveren said the team is ready for the road challenge.

“I think last year, the nonconference games we played like like Michigan and Georgia Tech, kind of put us in a good position to know what that away feeling is like,” Daveren said. “I feel like when you play in front of 111,000 people, it doesn’t get much harder than that. It’s pretty routine after that.”

Pulse of the fan

Quick analysis

It’s weird saying a team needs a bounce back after a win, but it feels like that’s exactly the boat the Huskies are in. After the game Thursday, Hammock even said in his postgame interview he told his players they are in the perfect situation because “people are going to think we’re not good.” Saturday is a chance to put that to the test. While the defense may struggle, it still will be interesting to see if it can force a couple turnovers, something lacking last year but present last week. Eric Rogers had a pair of first-half interceptions. And the yards will be there for the taking for the offense, so again, if the Huskies can be more consistent throughout the game, things will bode well for them.