With 15 seconds left on the clock Saturday against Ball State University, NIU was on the cusp of victory. Senior kicker Kanon Woodill had just made a 47-yard field goal to give the Huskies their first lead of the game.

But once again, the Cardinals manifested an improbable game-winning sequence to hand the Huskies their third consecutive loss in the Bronze Stalk rivalry.

And once again, head coach Thomas Hammock had to take accountability for yet another heartbreaking defeat by the Cardinals.

“Obviously a tough loss – one that falls squarely on my shoulders,” Hammock said. “I’ve got to do a better job of getting our team ready to play and ready to execute in all situations.”

For a coach with an unparalleled pulse on his team, getting his players to execute has been a far too frequent struggle for Hammock, now in his sixth year leading the Huskies.

Most times, the offense and special teams have been the main culprits behind a loss. On Saturday, it was the defense that faltered against the enemy.

In every defeat, there are multiple factors to be looked at, but all of them trace back to one man, and that’s where this week’s takeaways column begins.

1. Players may make bad plays, but the ultimate blame for failure falls on the man in charge.

One of the common themes in each of NIU’s four losses has been Hammock and his players trying to take the blame.

Hammock has usually been the first to take responsibility, citing his failure to prepare the team. The Ball State game was no different. Then, a player will try to shift the blame from the coaches onto themselves for their failure to execute on the field. Senior running back Antario Brown was the latest to do so.

“The coaches don’t play the game, man,” Brown said. “It’s up to us as players to make plays.”

While it’s noble of the players to fall on the sword for their coach, accountability starts at the top. Hammock’s role as head coach makes him responsible for putting together successful gameplans, ensuring his players can execute them and making smart decisions in critical moments, just as every other coach in the country is expected to. If he can’t do that, NIU’s bowl game aspirations could also be shot in no time.

2. The Huskies have two quarterbacks, which means they actually have none. Or does it?

NIU’s loss to Ball State saw the Huskies rotate two quarterbacks. Redshirt freshman Josh Holst got the start over redshirt junior Ethan Hampton despite the latter being recovered from the injury that kept him out of the 117th Homecoming Game the week prior. Holst played most of the first half before Hampton replaced him on NIU’s fifth possession, trailing 19-7. 

“When it became a throw game, we thought Ethan (Hampton), with his experience, gave us a little better chance to move the ball down the field,” Hammock said.

The Huskies ultimately flip-flopped quarterbacks three times, going back to Holst to begin the second half before switching to Hampton again the following drive. Hampton finished the game 18-of-33 passing for 168 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Holst completed 7-of-10 passes for 68 yards and also threw an interception.

The late John Madden once said, “if you have two quarterbacks, you actually have none.” But it doesn’t take a football savant to see that NIU doesn’t have a single, bona fide starter. Hammock’s decision to start Holst over a healthy Hampton proves that.

It remains to be seen whether NIU will continue to flip-flop between signal-callers or choose one to ride with the rest of the season. Either way, it’ll be interesting to see what plays out at the quarterback position in the final four games.

3. After yet another bungled play, it’s clear Trayvon Rudolph isn’t the playmaker he once was.

Aside from frustrating losses in winnable games, one of the most concerning trends this season has been the lack of production from redshirt senior wide receiver Trayvon Rudolph. The former walk-on entered the season as NIU’s No. 1 receiving option, yet only has 19 catches for 201 yards and a touchdown through eight games.

Part of that dip can be attributed to scheming, as Rudolph has been targeted 31 times in 2024. But even when the ball does go his way, Rudolph has let multiple game-changing plays slip through his hands – literally and figuratively.

In the win against the University of Notre Dame, Rudolph missed a wide-open receiver near the end zone on a trick play that should’ve been a touchdown. Two weeks later, he couldn’t get his hands around what would’ve been a long catch-and-run score in a 23-20 overtime loss to the University at Buffalo.

In his latest blunder, Rudolph dropped a surefire touchdown pass that would’ve given the Huskies a halftime lead over Ball State. 

On NIU’s final drive of the first half, Hampton delivered a perfectly placed deep ball down the right sideline and into the hands of Rudolph. But the receiver couldn’t come down with the catch, dropping the ball at the Ball State 5-yard line. Had he caught it, Rudolph’s momentum would’ve propelled him into the end zone to put NIU up 20-19 with 14 seconds left in the first half, pending the extra point. Instead, the Huskies turned the ball over on downs two plays later.

It’s difficult to pinpoint the root of Rudolph’s struggles, whether it be physical, mental or some combination of the two. Whatever the reason may be, this isn’t the Rudolph that NIU fans are used to seeing – the speedster who breezes by defenders on the regular and once racked up a school-record 309 receiving yards in a game.

4. The Notre Dame upset has lost nearly all of its meaning.

Saturday’s loss dropped the Huskies to 1-3 in Mid-American Conference play, effectively killing their chances of competing for the conference title in December. It’s a long fall from grace for the first MAC team to ever knock off a top-five opponent. 

While the win over then-No. 5 University of Notre Dame is still arguably the biggest in school history, its meaning is watered down by the fact that NIU failed to capitalize on it.

The Huskies could’ve been unbeaten, ranked in the top 15, and the frontrunner for a spot in the expanded College Football Playoff by now. Instead, they’re 4-4, out of the conversation to win their own conference, and featured in the latest episode of SEC Shorts, a sketch comedy series about the Southeastern Conference. Of course, that last part mainly touched on NIU’s skid since that upset.

Even if the Huskies can squeak into a bowl game, the stunner in South Bend may will go down as one of the most wasted wins in program history.

5. Despite a paddling from Ball State, NIU’s defense is still one of the best in the country.

The Huskies gave up 392 yards of total offense and allowed the Cardinals to convert 10 of their 18 third-down attempts. For a team that ranked third nationally in total defense and first in third-down defense going in, that’s an awful performance. The players on the side of the ball know it, too.

“We were pretty awful out there,” redshirt junior defensive tackle Skyler Gill-Howard said.

However, that performance doesn’t erase its best successes against stronger offenses. For every game the defense has slipped up, there’s at least three where opposing offenses couldn’t do squat against NIU.

Heading into Week 10, the Huskies rank seventh in total defense and fourth in third-down defense, so the drop-off hasn’t been steep. It’s still very much an elite unit from top to bottom.

We’ll see if the defense can rebound Wednesday night against Western Michigan University.