DeKALB — When NIU football head coach Thomas Hammock watched Holy Cross nearly pull off an upset at Boston College two years ago, he remembers thinking to himself, “Now, who would put Holy Cross on our schedule?”

Just a week earlier, the Huskies had barely escaped Chestnut Hill with an overtime win to open the 2023 season. But when Hammock had that thought, he did so knowing exactly what the future held: a date with Holy Cross.

That date arrives at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, when the Crusaders visit Huskie Stadium to kick off the 2025 campaign. It’ll be the first-ever meeting between the schools and the third time in four years NIU has opened its season at home against an FCS foe.

Hammock said the players are excited to get back in action, but fan turnout at the game will be crucial.

“We need our fans to show up and show out at Huskie Stadium,” Hammock said. “That creates a tremendous home-field advantage. We obviously want to play well at home. We only get six opportunities at home for our seniors, and we want to make sure we take full advantage of each opportunity that we get.”

Testing the product on the field

Saturday will be the first opportunity for the coaching staff to assess many facets of the team in a real-game situation, including the revamped offensive scheme implemented by new coordinator Quinn Sanders. Hammock was clear about his expectations for the offense during a press conference Tuesday.

“I want to see triple-option. I want to make sure we have the dive, we pitch. I want to see us execute triple-option very similar to Army and Navy.”

That was a joke, of course. Though NIU has historically favored the run game — much like the service academies — the Huskies are expected to be a balanced but adaptable offense in 2025.

“Coach Sanders has done a phenomenal job building the offense around the guys that we have, and I think that’s the key. That’s going to change week to week,” Hammock said. “If we lose a receiver in Week 1, we may have to be a different offense in Week 2. If we lose a tight end in Week 1, we may have to be a different offense in Week 2. We have to evolve.”

This weekend will also be the first test true for new defensive coordinator Rob Harley’s unit. Since Harley’s arrival in January, the defense has emphasized forcing takeaways and bringing the “HEAT” to opposing teams.

“Just make everybody uncomfortable in the heat,” said redshirt junior cornerback Jacob Finley, who enters his first season as NIU’s top corner. “A lot of people don’t perform well when it’s too hot outside, so we want to raise that temperature for other teams.”

But before the Huskies were ready to turn up the heat, they had to first revisit where they’d been burned before.

‘Any given day, anybody can be beat’

As Spanish philosopher George Santayana once wrote in 1905, “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” To avoid just that, Hammock turned back the tape during fall camp to NIU’s latest loss to an FCS opponent — the 2023 home opener.

After sneaking out of Chestnut Hill with their 18th Boneyard victory, the Huskies returned home for an in-state battle with Southern Illinois. NIU entered the matchup as a 6.5-point favorite, but finished having been humiliated in every phase of the game. The defense missed 10 tackles, per PFF; kicker Jake Seibert missed two of three field goal attempts; and, to top it all off, quarterback Rocky Lombardi threw three interceptions, including the game-sealing pick with 38 seconds left.

Only nine players on the current roster saw the field that day, but Hammock felt it was necessary to instill an important lesson in his players: “Any given day, anybody can be beat.”

“If we don’t want to have this same type of scenario, then we need to make sure we are putting in the time and the effort to make sure we can maximize our ability on Saturday,” Hammock said.

Dissecting Holy Cross

With that message delivered, NIU’s focus is now squarely on the Crusaders, who enter their second season under head coach Dan Curran after winning a share of their sixth consecutive Patriot League championship in 2024.

“I can really respect the way Holy Cross plays on tape,” Hammock said. “They play physical; they play hard; they play disciplined football. Coach Curran was an old fullback, and that shows with the way his team plays.”

In addition to a vaunted special teams unit, Hammock said Holy Cross poses a tremendous challenge offensively, noting that Curran once coordinated one of the best passing attacks in the country at Merrimack in 2012 — when the Warriors averaged 399.2 passing yards per game.

The Crusaders will be quarterbacked by Illinois transfer Cal Swanson in his first collegiate start. Though he didn’t see any action his first two seasons, the former three-star recruit is a mobile playmaker with a strong arm. In the backfield, Holy Cross boasts a one-two punch at running back in junior Jayden Clerveaux and senior Sam Slade. According to Hammock, Clerveaux is a physical, downhill runner, while Slade is a “slasher” — an explosive and elusive back — likely to get involved in the passing game.

NIU will also face a strong trio of Holy Cross wideouts in senior Max Mosey, junior Charly Mullaly and sophomore Alijah Cason. The Huskies will especially focus on slowing down the versatile Mosey, whose 19.3 yards per catch last season ranked eighth in the FCS.

“He can do it all,” Hammock said of Mosey. “He was a quarterback in high school, so we know he can throw. He’s the Wildcat quarterback. They’re going to move him in a bunch of different spots, so he’s a guy we definitely have to make sure we have all hands on deck.”

Defensively, the Crusaders employ a 4-2-5 defensive structure under veteran coordinator Brian Vaganek. Hammock said Holy Cross excels at stunting the defensive line and creating pressure at different points, with junior cornerback Cam Jones and senior defensive end Christian Ross among the standouts.

Knowing the caliber of the opponent they’ll face, the Huskies aren’t taking anything for granted. They know they’ll need to be at their best for all four quarters.

“We can’t just roll out the bed and expect to win this game,” Hammock said. “We’re going to try to play as hard as we can play for 3,600 seconds.”