What to watch when NIU hosts rival Toledo in homecoming showdown

Northern Illinois Louis Frye (17) tries to tackle a Vanderbilt ball carrier in the second quarter on Saturday Sep. 17 at Huskie Stadium in DeKalb.

DeKALB – The Northern Illinois University football team will try to avoid an 0-2 start in Mid-American Conference play by knocking off rival Toledo on Saturday for the Huskies’ homecoming.

Kickoff is at 2:30 p.m. and the game will be on ESPN+ as the Huskies (1-4, 0-1) look to snap a four-game losing streak, including 44-38 last week to Ball State in double overtime. Coach Thomas Hammock also will be enshrined into the NIU Hall of Fame.

Scouting Toledo

The Rockets (3-2, 1-0) lead the MAC in scoring offense and scoring defense. Hammock called Desjuan Johnson one of the most disruptive players in the MAC.

But Hammock also stressed that even though it doesn’t come with a trophy such as with Ball State or Miami, this is a rivalry game, at least to him.

“In my opinion as a former Huskie, this is the biggest rivalry of the school,” Hammock said. “We play Ball State for a trophy that was created sometime after I got done playing, so that wasn’t a rivalry game for us. Same with Miami of Ohio. But since I played, Toledo was always the team we needed to beat.”

Hammock said a win puts the Huskies right back in the race for their second straight MAC title.

“They’ve been an upper echelon program in the MAC for a long time,” Hammock said. “Back when NIU was struggling we understood we had to beat Toledo to give ourselves an opportunity to do some of the things we wanted to do. That part has not changed, and everybody who is coming back this weekend understands what this game means.”

Three things to watch

1. Can the Huskies put together a four-quarter game?

The Huskies have been close in every game this season, and if one play here or there goes different, the team has a much different record.

Hammock said it’s a matter of keeping focus for 60 minutes. Every play can be a play that changes the game.

“We are a good football team,” Hammock said. “Four, five plays go a different way, our record could be completely reversed. I have to do a better job of making sure they can play four quarters, and I think those are the things we’re working on.”

Hammock said against Ball State the team played well in the first half, building a 21-0 lead and holding Ball State to seven first-half points, but they need to perform like that consistently.

“Like I said we’re a good team,” defensive lineman Michael Kennedy said. “We’re just leaving a couple plays out there that didn’t go our way. If you look at it a year ago we made those plays. That’s the only difference. We’re still a good team. I know our record says we’re 1-4, but I think we’ve still got what it takes.”

2. How is the defense shaping up?

Hammock said it’s easy to blame the secondary, which gave up 403 passing yards against Ball State and is ranked 129th nationally, allowing 311.8 yards per game through the air. The secondary also was missing it’s top three players last week in Jordan Gandy, Eric Rogers and JaVaughn Byrd.

He said defense is about details, and slips in the passing game can come from elsewhere, like the defensive line not pressuring the QB enough or a linebacker dropping six yards instead of 12.

Defensive tackle Cade Haberman said it only takes one slip-up to create a big play.

“When the big plays happen, there’s one person not doing their assignment,” Haberman said. “And it’s kind of sporadic, I’m not putting the blame on any one person. It all goes around. If we want the big picture results, we’ve all go to come together and play one solid game on defense. I think every game we’ve all seen flashes of how good this defense can be.”

3. Balancing redshirts vs. playing time in the post-portal landscape

With quarterback Rocky Lombardi hurt, Ethan Hampton has taken over the starting role, but Temple transfer Justin Lynch has seen increased playing time the last two weeks, rushing for 89 yards on 15 carries last week.

With two more games to go before he loses a redshirt, Hammock said the coaching staff will worry about that later. On the whole, he said, the transfer portal has changed the way programs think about redshirts.

“I think in this day and age of college football, with as much movement as there is, you’re not building tradition programs anymore, right?” Hammock said. “With the evolution of the portal and different things, to me, come in with the mindset to play. You never know next year what you’re team is going to look like or who is coming in.”

He said in this landscape, the time to worry about next year is next year.

“I think 10, 15 years ago redshirting everybody, making sure guys are 22 years old as seniors was the thing,” Hammock said. “You can’t – this is like NFL football. Every year you build a new team. I think the portal has created a free-agency-type mentality. It is what it is, but you have to adapt and adjust your philosophy.”

Pulse of the fans

Analysis

It’s homecoming. Hammock is going into the Huskies Hall of Fame. And some players – although Hammock wouldn’t say who, as usual – will be back. As much as the team looked lucky at times in 2021, that’s how snakebit it has looked in 2022. Every good break last season has turned into a tough break this season. Maybe there will be enough good vibes around the stadium that the Huskies can snap their four-game skid. If they don’t, a shot at the MAC title is realistically gone.

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