By Woodrow Carroll
With a 30-29 victory over visiting Ball State last week, the Northern Illinois University Huskies collected their third one-point victory this season.
Throw in a 22-20 victory at Toledo Saturday, Oct. 9 reveals that Northern Illinois has been tough at crunch time.
A 32-yard field goal at the buzzer by Northern Illinois’ John Richardson put the Huskies in the victory column against Ball State. Thanks to Richardson’s kick, Northern Illinois, 7-3 and 5-1 in the Mid-American Conference (MAC), continues to set the pace in the MAC West. Richardson earned MAC West co-special teams player of the week for his second game-winning kick this season. A victory at Buffalo Wednesday this week and the Huskies would assure a spot in the MAC Championship Game, Wednesday, Dec. 4 at 11 a.m. in Detroit. It would be the Huskies’ eighth championship game in the past 12 seasons.
Edward Garrison was a 19th Century jockey noted for his come-from-behind victories. The Huskies have taken their cue from Garrison.
Northern Illinois trailed Ball State, 10-0, before coming alive. The Huskies opened the season with a late touchdown and two-point conversion to beat Georgia Tech, 22-21. In defeating Central Michigan, 39-38, October 23, Northern Illinois trailed 35-18 before storming back.
Northern Illinois tailback Jay .Ducker’s 155 yards rushing against Ball State was the fourth straight game he surpassed 100 yards.. Not the biggest of running backs at 5-10 and 185, Ducker was 2019 Nebraska high school player of the year.
It was a good week for Northern Illinois head coach Thomas Hammock. To go with the victory over Ball State, Hammock, 40, signed an extension that will keep him at the school through 2026. Hammock is in his third year at the school with records of 5-7 in 2019 and 0-6 in the COVID-shortened 2020 season.
• The Illinois bye weekend will end with a key game at Iowa at 1 p.m. Saturday prior to closing the regular season at home against Northwestern Saturday, Nov. 27.
The Illini are in a quirky position in reaching a bowl game. Under first-year head coach Bret Bielema, Illinois, 4-6 overall and 3-4 in the Big Ten Conference would be bowl-bound with victories over both Iowa and Northwestern.
The real teaser for Illinois’ bowl prospects would be to finish 5-7 overall.
A total of 82 teams are needed to fill the bowl slots. Six victories will qualify teams for bowl games. There will be a shortage of six-victory teams to fill the bowl slots. Teams such as Rutgers, Missouri, and Illinois, among other potential teams are projected to finish 5-7 overall and still qualify for bowl invitations.
If Illinois comes up short in its quest to make it to a bowl game, the Illini might look back on crossover games with Big Ten East Division foes.
West Division member Illinois drew Maryland, Penn State ,and Rutgers, from the Big Ten East as conference crossover opponents. None of the three has a winning record in the Big Ten with Penn State’s 3-4 in the Conference the best.. Yet, despite a memorable 20-18 victory in nine overtimes over Penn State, the Illini suffered close-margin defeats to both Maryland and Rutgers.