DeKALB — Call it a rock fight. Call it a slog. Call it whatever you want.
Just don’t call it pretty.
In a football game where punts outnumbered points, NIU already had the distinction of being one of the nation’s worst offenses. Once San Diego State kicker Gabriel Plascencia nailed a 25-yard walk-off field goal, there was little doubt left.
Even after a defensive effort that produced two critical takeaways and 10 third-down stops, the Huskies (1-3) could only muster 179 yards and a field goal in a 6-3 loss to the Aztecs on Saturday at Huskie Stadium. It goes down as the lowest-scoring game in all of college football this season and NIU’s worst scoring day since Jan. 2, 2010, when the Huskies fell 27-3 to South Florida in the International Bowl.
Though his offense’s performance was comparative to that of a sputtering kazoo — such as the ones blaring in the west stands during the game — head coach Thomas Hammock was the one to fall on the sword.
“I’m the head coach. I take full responsibility for the loss. It’s on me,” Hammock said. “Obviously, I played here. I have a tremendous amount of passion for this place. We’re not playing good on offense, so that’s my responsibility.”
Unsightly quarterbacking
Quarterback Josh Holst finished 6-of-14 passing for 49 yards and no touchdowns while taking two sacks in the worst statistical performance of his career. Holst was replaced by true freshman Brady Davidson on the second drive of the second half, only for the latter to throw an interception to Aztecs cornerback Chris Johnson four plays in.
“You’re playing good defense, and you give them the ball at midfield, you can’t make those mistakes,” Hammock said of the turnover. “Throw the ball away, and live to play another down.”
Holst retained his spot under center for the rest of the game. The Huskies crossed the 50-yard line only once for the remainder of the game.
“We didn’t make enough plays at that position to score points,” Hammock said. “I mean, we scored three points. That position, obviously, has to be assessed.”
A battle of defenses
After receiving the opening kickoff, the Huskies embarked on a 16-play, 62-yard scoring drive that ended with Andrew Glass’ 32-yard field goal. San Diego State responded with a 13-play, 63-yard drive that drained the rest of Quarter 1 and culminated in a game-tying 30-yard field goal by Plascencia.
The score was deadlocked for the remaining 34 minutes and 55 seconds of play as both teams engaged in a defensive slugfest. NIU limited SDSU to 5-of-15 on third-down conversions, while the Aztecs held the Huskies to 4-of-15.
“You kind of expect what they’re going to do, so it’s just coming downhill and bringing what you got and hitting somebody,” linebacker Quinn Urwiler said. “I think we filled the gaps really well, and we saw exactly what they were going to do up there the whole game. We executed at a very high level.”
Urwiler was the centerpiece of NIU’s defensive effort. The sixth-year senior led the game with 16 tackles, making him the first Huskie with 15-plus tackles in a game since Antonio Jones-Davis in 2019.
Both of the Huskies’ two takeaways came from their starting safety tandem of Muhammed Jammeh and Jasper Beeler. Jammeh picked off Jayden Denegal on the first drive of the second half — his second interception of the season. Beeler later notched his first pick as a Huskie midway through the fourth quarter. The Saginaw Valley State transfer came down with a tipped pass on fourth-and-1 at his own 34-yard line.
Walked off
NIU’s ensuing drive made its way into San Diego State territory. Facing fourth-and-2 on the 44-yard line, the Huskies ran a trick play out of the Wildcat that saw Holst run for no gain, resulting in a crucial turnover on downs.
“It was a run-pass option, and they covered it well,” Hammock said. “We get the first down, you got a chance to go kick the field goal and win it. We didn’t make the play.”
The defense soon came through by forcing another three-and-out for SDSU, only for the Huskies to lose 9 yards on their next possession and punt. The Aztecs burned off 1 minute and 42 seconds before a NIU timeout in an attempt to ice Plascencia. Even so, the 245-pound placekicker knocked his attempt through the uprights, improving his team to 3-1 and keeping NIU winless (0-7) in the all-time series between the schools.
As he reconciled a frustrating loss in front of a home crowd of 13,512, Hammock said he was proud of the effort.
“We played three quality opponents the last three weeks, and I thought we battled for as long and as hard as we can,” Hammock said. “We just didn’t get the result that we wanted today. But we’ve got to come back and work to get better for next week with a rivalry game coming at home.”
