DeKALB – Playing in front of a home crowd of more than 18,000 for the second time this season, NIU football had the University of Toledo beat on paper in Saturday’s 117th Homecoming Game.
The Huskies ran 92 plays, put up 391 yards of offense and had 25 first downs to Toledo’s 15. The defense held the Rockets to 2-of-15 on third down and 0-of-2 on fourth down.
And yet, NIU succumbed to Toledo 13-6 to have its Homecoming spoiled by the Rockets for the second time in three years.
“We didn’t get the result we wanted, but we’ll learn from it. We’ll grow from it,” head coach Thomas Hammock said. “But we will certainly not put our head down and be frustrated from a football game.”
All of NIU’s six points – its fewest scored in a game since 2018 – came off the right leg of senior kicker Kanon Woodill, who made field goals of 36 and 37 yards while missing a 47-yard attempt.
NIU struggled to keep the chains moving on critical downs throughout the game. The Huskies went 4-of-19 (21.1%) on third down and 2-of-8 (25%) on fourth down.
“We were going for the win,” Hammock said. “We were not going to hold anything back, and we just didn’t make the plays in those situations (fourth downs).”
BATTLE OF THE BACKUPS
Both sides of Saturday’s contest featured a quarterback making his first collegiate start.
Redshirt freshman Josh Holst filled in as NIU’s signal-caller after redshirt junior Ethan Hampton exited last week’s win over Bowling Green State University with an undisclosed injury.
Holst completed 22-of-46 passes and threw for a career-high 210 yards. While Holst enjoyed seeing his first starting action, it wasn’t what he hoped it would be.
“It’s cool to go out there and have your first start,” Holst said. “We just need to make a lot more plays.”
For the Rockets, sophomore John Alan Richter started in the place of injured junior Tucker Gleason. Richter finished 15-of-28 passing for 152 yards and a touchdown.
LOW-SCORING AFFAIR
The Huskies got off to a dominant start with three plays or 15 or more yards on their opening possession. The drive ran out of steam inside the Toledo red zone, leading to Wododill’s 36-yarder to put NIU on the board first. On defense, the Huskies forced a Toledo punt or turnover on downs on its first three drives of the game.
NIU almost scored a touchdown in the second quarter. Facing third-and-6 in Toledo territory, Holst scrambled out of the pocket and down the right sideline for a 36-yard touchdown, which was nullified by an offensive holding penalty.
Toledo took the lead four plays later with the longest touchdown pass NIU has surrendered all season. Toledo senior wide receiver Jerjuan Newton gashed through busted coverage in NIU’s secondary, caught a deep pass from Richter without a defender near him and took it for a 52-yard touchdown to give the Rockets a 7-3 lead.
Woodill cut the Rocket lead down to a single point with his 37-yard make as time expired in the first half, making it a 7-6 ball game at halftime.
The Huskies remained silent on the scoreboard for the rest of the game as its last seven possessions ended in punts or turnovers on downs. Toledo freshman kicker Dylan Cunanan tacked on the game’s final points with field goals in the third and fourth quarters.
NIU will have a chance to bounce back Saturday when the Huskies face archrival Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana, in the Battle for the Bronze Stalk rivalry game.
