Quarterback Nevan Cremascoli makes his debut in NIU’s loss to Central Michigan

DeKALB – After Northern Illinois’s first drive Wednesday went nowhere and Central Michigan answered with a touchdown, coach Thomas Hammock decided to make a quick change.

Hammock put in true freshman quarterback Nevan Cremascoli. He ended up taking most of the snaps the rest of the way in the Huskies’ 35-22 loss to the Chippewas, eliminating NIU from bowl contention a year after winning the Mid-American Conference title.

[ 5 takeaways from NIU’s loss to Central Michigan ]

The New Trier grad completed 13 of 33 passes for 158 yards with two touchdowns and an interception in his debut for NIU (2-7, 1-4 MAC). He was sacked in the end zone and fumbled in the fourth quarter, leading to a CMU touchdown that turned a six-point game into the 35-22 final.

“That was not the plan going into it,” Hammock said of Cremascoli playing as much as he did. “But if you can’t get the run game going, you have to have balance. Nevan, we put him in a tough spot in some situations. That sack-fumble in the end zone is not his fault, that’s just not a good call in that situation.”

Cremascoli said offensive coordinator Eric Eidsness told him Tuesday that he may see the field.

“I’ve been getting reps with the twos, and the ones a little bit here and there,” Cremascoli said. “I got told by coach E yesterday I was going to get on the field. I just had to mentally prepare myself. I was ready to go in and wanted to show what I can do.”

Justin Lynch made his third straight start at quarterback. But Central Michigan (3-6, 2-3) was ready for the run, and a fourth-and-1 run with Antario Brown in the quarterback spot failed to produce the yard needed.

The Chips quickly took advantage, going up 7-0.

“Obviously, their plan was to sell out and stop the run,” Hammock said. “That was my concern. If you know a team is going to run the ball, you can sell out and stop the run. They jumped in some bear stuff, and we had some situations stuff where we were stuffed on fourth down. We couldn’t stay on the field.”

Cremascoli came in on the next drive and got off to a hot start. He hit Tristen Tewes for 25 yards. Then, after two Brown runs set up a third-and-5, he rolled out under pressure and hit Cole Tucker for 12 yards.

On the next set of downs from the CMU 33, Cremascoli threw four straight incompletions. CMU answered with another touchdown, and with Cremascoli back at quarterback the Huskies went three-and-out on the next series.

“We have to be able to find some offense,” Hammock said. “We have to have some balance. We have to be able to run it, we have to be able to throw it. ... We have to go back, figure out how to stay on the field, do the things a good offense should do.”

Down 21-0 at the break, the Huskies got a stop on their first defensive series and the NIU run game finally started to pick up. The Huskies had 43 yards on 16 carries, and Cremascoli had the only double-digit run of the half, a 10-yard scramble.

But Harrison Waylee opened NIU’s first drive with runs of 15 and 7 yards on his way to a 136-yard performance.

Hammock said he felt Cremascoli made some nice plays in the game.

“It was definitely faster, but my coaches and my teammates, going against these guys every day, got me prepared for this moment,” Cremascoli said. “I made some mistakes, but like coach said, this was a learning experience.”

Even with the late sack and an interception with 1:17 left when the Huskies were already down two scores, Hammock said Cremascoli showed poise throughout the game.

“He’s a true freshman, and I think he has a lot of upside,” Hammock said. “... If he learns and grows from this experience, he has the chance to be a great quarterback. That’s a lot of pressure. But the one thing I’ve learned about him is he doesn’t flinch. That’s the sign of a good quarterback, when they don’t flinch under pressure. And he’s not going to flinch. He’s going to go back to the drawing board, back to practice next week and have a great week of practice.”

Cremascoli has been moving up the depth chart steadily throughout the season. The injuries to starter Rocky Lombardi and backup Ethan Hampton accelerated that, but he was behind not only Lynch, but Jeffrey Lomax had been taking more snaps in the spring and fall workouts heading into the season.

But Hammock said he really likes what he’s seen of late from the freshman.

“He’s a guy that’s come in here from Day 1 and been a leader, been like a sponge, learning the offense and everything we’re doing with our system,” Hammock said. “You see him execute against the defense, and the plays he’s able to make, the throws he’s able to make, we feel like he took a step forward over the last four weeks to give himself a chance.”

Hammock said that the final three games of the year, with the Huskies out of bowl contention, will feature Cremascoli and Lynch.

“We have to go that direction,” Hammock said. “Obviously, we’ve had some injuries, that’s no secret. But we feel like those two guys give us the best chance to win. We have to find the right mixture and balance. Obviously, it’s hard to play multiple quarterbacks, but at the same time we have to find some offense and find what these guys do well and let them go out there and execute.”