By Woodrow Carroll
It’s difficult to believe, but, Northern Illinois University head football coach Thomas Hammock is in his fourth season as taskmaster of Huskies’ football fortunes.
Hammock’s first two seasons in DeKalb were a bit of a struggle. Hammock’s rookie run at Northern Illinois in 2019 the Huskies were 5-7 in won-loss. Two years ago, Northern Illinois was 0-6 in a COVID-19-shortened season.
Last season was anyone’s guess, going in, as to the Northern Illinois football fate.
Turned out far better than expected in the eyes of most observers. The final record for Northern Illinois in 2021 was 9-5. With the exception of a 63-10 loss at Michigan and an easy victory at home over the Maine Black Bears, almost every Northern Illinois game was up for grabs near the end.
Perhaps, a better indicator of a successful season is extra games. In that department, Northern Illinois did very well last season.
Extra games relate to postseason play. For instance Illinois and Northwestern each had 12 games scheduled last season and played 12! Northern Illinois was down for 12 games and ended up playing 14. Not only did Northern Illinois qualify for a bowl game, the Huskies captured the Mid-American Conference (MAC) West and earned a shot at Kent State in the MAC championship game.
In that championship game in Detroit, Northern Illinois defeated the Golden Flashes, 41-23, to avenge a Conference loss to Kent State. The MAC championship game was the 13th of the season for Northern Illinois which closed out the season losing to Coastal Carolina, 47-41, in the Cure Bowl.
National champion Georgia played 15 games last season. The Bulldogs lost to Alabama, which played in 15 games last season, in the Southeastern Conference (SEC) championship game then rebounded to beat Michigan and Alabama in the playoffs.
Ten of the Northern Illinois 14 games last season were single-digit differences. Not all were victories, however, each was exciting!
Schedules for Northern Illinois and MAC teams are a shade different than for Big Ten teams.
Illinois and Northwestern each will play three non-conference foes this season, all at home. Northwestern has a Big Ten game against Nebraska, August 27, in Ireland to open this season, so the Wildcats may need some time in Evanston to recover. Northern Illinois will play four non-conference opponents two each at home and away..
Northern Illinois will open at home against Eastern Illinois Thursday Sept. 1 in a non-conference game. A trip to Tulsa September 9 will follow. Then two SEC foes, Vanderbilt and Kentucky, will play Northern Illinois in non-conference games
Although both Vanderbilt and Kentucky are both in the SEC, that is where the comparisons end. The Vanderbilt Commodores will come to DeKalb September17. Northern Illinois will make the trip to Lexington, Ky. the following Saturday.
Last season each SEC team finished up with six or more victories with one exception, Vanderbilt which closed 2-10 overall and was winless in eight Conference games.
The Northern Illinois game at Kentucky September 24 paints a different picture than Vanderbilt. In 2021, Kentucky proved to be a formidable opponent. The Wildcats were, 10-3 overall and 5-3 in the SEC and beat Iowa, 20-17, in the Citrus Bowl. One of the Wildcats’ losses was 30-13 loss to national champion Georgia.
Northern Illinois is a slight favorite to repeat as MAC champion among those who cover the Conference on a regular basis. The Huskies were tabbed to edge Toledo for the MAC West championship. Toledo was viewed as the best bet to win it all if Northern Illinois falters. Toledo and Northern Illinois will meet Saturday, Oct. 8 in DeKalb.
One of the bright spots for the Huskies last year was the play of quarterback Rocky Lombardi, a redshirt senior who spent three years at Michigan State before transferring to Northern Illinois. He stepped right in at quarterback last Fall and led the Huskies’ season-opening, 22-21, victory at Georgia Tech.
From winless in 2020 to MAC champion in 2021 was the results for Northern Illinois.. What is in store for the Huskies this time around?