The last time NIU lost six straight football games, TikTok was all the rage, the Los Angeles Dodgers were in the World Series and COVID-19 was wreaking havoc on the world.
Five years later, nothing much has changed — aside from, thankfully, a global pandemic. Despite a season-best scoring effort, the Huskies dropped their sixth straight in a 48-21 mauling by the Ohio Bobcats on Saturday at Peden Stadium in Athens, Ohio.
NIU (1-6, 0-3 MAC) managed to keep Ohio quarterback Parker Navarro from throwing a touchdown for the first time all season but instead got gashed on the ground. The Bobcats (4-3, 2-1 MAC) ran wild on the Huskies’ defense, piling up six rushing touchdowns, highlighted by a hat trick from running back Sieh Bangura. Ohio finished with 538 total yards — 333 rushing and 205 passing — 27 first downs, 75 total plays and won the time-of-possession battle by nearly 12 minutes (35:50-24:10).
“They beat us in all three phases,” head coach Thomas Hammock said. “We’ve got to find a way to play better … We obviously need to play a little bit faster and get some more plays off, so we can have a chance to make some plays.”
Too little, too late
After sitting behind true freshman Brady Davidson the past two games, redshirt sophomore quarterback Josh Holst reclaimed the starting job and delivered NIU’s best passing performance of the season. Holst completed 21-of-29 passes for 161 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.
“We felt like he deserved an opportunity to play in MAC play,” Hammock said of Holst. “The teams he played against were some of the best teams on our schedule. To give a full evaluation on him based on those games, I didn’t think it was the right thing to do … I thought he performed well today. He gave us a chance.”
Although, most of NIU’s offensive success came after the game was already well out of reach. Ohio sprung to a 21-0 lead early in the second quarter after two Bangura touchdown runs sandwiched a scoring scramble by Navarro. A 67-yard kickoff return by Dev’ion Reynolds set up a 7-yard touchdown pass from Holst to redshirt freshman tight end Devon Akers — the latter’s first career reception. Holst then connected with George Dimopoulos for the 2-point conversion.
After halftime, the Bobcats responded with back-to-back scoring drives capped off by a Duncan Brune touchdown. Brune ripped off a 66-yard TD run three plays into the second half before ending the following series with a 4-yard run into the end zone. Midway through the third quarter, the Huskies fired off their longest passing touchdown all season. Holst completed a 50-yard deep shot to DeAree Rogers — their second scoring connection of the year — to make it 34-14.
“He came out there, he made the throw that he had to make,” Rogers said of Holst. “Josh did a great job of just finding me downfield and just trusted me to win my one-on-one matchup.”
Both teams then exchanged 1-yard touchdown runs — Bangura scoring for the third time before Chavon Wright answered with his second TD of 2025. Ohio concluded the scoring with a 91-yard fumble return touchdown after forcing the ball from Holst on a fourth-down scramble.
Accountability struggle
Having suffered its third conference loss, NIU is likely out of contention for a trip to Detroit to compete for one last MAC title. Another loss — especially next week at home against archrival Ball State — will almost certainly keep the Huskies from going bowling for a third straight year.
As the fate of the season hangs in the balance, Hammock once again jumped at the opportunity to fall on the sword — just as he has for each of his team’s five other losses.
“I’m the head coach. I’m responsible for how we play,” Hammock said. “For whatever reason, we’re not getting the results that we want. That’s something that is hard to take, but I have to live with that and take responsibility for that. So, I’m not going to shy away from that. I’m never going to blame players. I just don’t think that’s an effective way of coaching.”
However, Holst said the blame for a season riddled with miscues and losses doesn’t fall on the coaching staff. It falls on those whose job it is to play the game.
“The coaches are doing their job every week; the coaches are putting us in a position to win,” Holst said. “It’s not on the coaches, it’s on the players. We need to execute, and we need to take accountability better — each and every player on this team — quit pointing fingers, start pointing the thumb.”
