DeKALB – Redshirt junior defensive tackle Skyler Gill-Howard was in his first season at NIU the last time the University of Akron Zips paid a visit to Huskie Stadium. He didn’t play a snap that season, but he was there to get the experience of an embarrassing loss at home.
In NIU’s 2022 season finale, Akron spoiled the Huskies’ senior sendoff with a 44-12 throttling, as backup quarterback Jeff Undercuffler Jr. threw for 312 yards and three touchdowns.
The Huskies returned the favor last season when they let then-junior running back Antario Brown run wild in a 55-14 beatdown of the Zips in Akron. But head coach Thomas Hammock wants his players to keep the sting of that 2022 defeat in their minds ahead of their upcoming rematch with the blue and gold.
“Coach Hammock told us today (Friday), ‘You guys better remember that feeling when they came in here and dominated us,’” Gill-Howard said.
NIU (5-4, 2-3 MAC) will welcome the Zips (2-7, 1-4 MAC) back to DeKalb on Wednesday night, one week after dethroning the last unbeaten team in Mid-American Conference play: Western Michigan University. The Huskies played what Hammock described as “complementary football” as they rode to a 42-28 victory in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
While Hammock said he saw a lot of good on the field last week, he believes there’s greater heights that NIU can reach.
“There’s still another level that we can go,” Hammock said. “And that’s what we are chasing – chasing that greatness as a football team to play our best football in November.”
Dealing with Akron’s air assault
NIU will look to make that jump to the next level against an Akron team with a record that, according to Hammock, doesn’t accurately reflect its talent.
“I think this team plays a lot better than their record,” Hammock said of the Zips. “They play a lot of tough football games.”
Akron enters its first midweek MACtion game of the season with the MAC’s third-best passing offense, led by two-time Power Four transfer redshirt junior quarterback Ben Finley.
Finley, who began his career at North Carolina State University before spending last season at the University of California, Berkeley, has started all nine games for the Zips in 2024. He threw four touchdown passes to match his career-high in their 41-30 loss to the University at Buffalo in Week 10.
Knocking on the door
With a victory on Wednesday, NIU would reach the six-win minimum needed to earn bowl game eligibility, thus extending the Huskies’ season by one game. However, NIU has yet to beat a MAC foe at Huskie Stadium this season, losing to Buffalo in Week 4 and the University of Toledo in Week 8.
That in mind, and with a chance at added revenge against the Zips, Gill-Howard said the Huskies will have plenty to play for.
“It definitely puts a big chip on our shoulder,” Gill-Howard said. “We’re looking to compete. Akron’s a good team, and they’ve been playing really well this year. We’re looking to just dominate at home and not let what happened in the past happen again.”
Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. Wednesday at Huskie Stadium. The contest will be broadcasted on CBS Sports Network, with live statistics available on SIDEARM Sports.
