Champaign — NIU’s Thomas Hammock continued his streak of 100-yard rushing games, rushing for 111 yards against Illinois on Saturday.

The junior tailback is coming off a career-high 177-yard rushing performance in NIU’s 20-17 win over South Florida last Thursday.

Hammock, who rushed for his eighth 100-yard game in his career, out-rushed the Illini duo of Rocky Harvey and Antonio Harris, 111-83. As a team, the Huskies out-rushed the Illini 214-102.

Hammock said he played well because of the switching-off series with Michael Turner. Hammock and Turner, who rushed for 78 yards on 14 carries, switched off every two series.

“That really helped me out a lot,” Hammock said. “Watching Michael out there really motivated me to go out there and run the ball hard.”

The junior also wanted to dispel questions about the offensive line.

“Every week there are questions about the offensive line,” he said. “Michael [Turner] and I ran the ball well today.”

School record – Sophomore placekicker Steve Azar hit a career-long 50-yard field goal in the second quarter to tie the game at 3. The kick was also the second longest in school history.

After missing his first field goal last season, Azar went on to make his next 14. In the first two games this season, Azar is 4-for-8.

Stuck on one – At the start of the second half, the Illinois coaches were stuck on the first floor of Memorial Stadium because the elevator was not working. The Huskies scored a field goal on the 11-play drive, taking the 6-3 lead.

Upset city – In its second Division I-A game of the season, South Florida surprised the nation by defeating Pittsburgh 35-26.

Undefeated – Illinois has defeated NIU in all three meetings. The last time the two teams met on Sept. 17, 1994, Illinois defeated NIU 34-14.

Against in-state non-Big Ten teams, Illinois is 44-1-3, with their only loss coming to Illinois Wesleyan in Illinois’ first varsity football game in 1890.