NIU at North Carolina State: 3 things to know as Huskies take on former coach Dave Doeren

DeKALB – After beating Notre Dame and then losing to Buffalo, NIU’s roller coaster of a season rolls into Raleigh, North Carolina, on Saturday for a game against NC State.

The Wolfpack (2-2, 0-1 ACC) have given up more than 50 points in a game twice this year, a 51-10 loss to Tennessee and a 59-35 loss at Clemson. They’re coached by Dave Doeren, who led NIU to a 23-4 record in 2011-12, leaving hours before the Huskies earned a bid to the Orange Bowl.

KIckoff is 11 a.m. on the CW. Here are three things to know about the game.

Flushing the Buffalo loss

NIU was ranked for the first time since 2013 heading into the home game with Buffalo. Despite racing out to a 14-3 lead and limiting the Bulls to 184 yards of total offense, the Huskies lost 23-20 in overtime.

The main thing coach Thomas Hammock told his players after the loss?

“I love you guys,” Hammock said. “I didn’t love them more after we beat Notre Dame and love them less after we lost to Buffalo. I think that’s important, especially in this day and age where society is.”

Hammock said it’s one of the biggest lessons he learned when coached running backs for the Baltimore Ravens from 2014-2018. He said Kyle Juszczyk made a mistake in a game, and he got on him.

“He said, ‘Coach, I have a family. I have responsibilities. Do you really think I’m trying to mess up?’” Hammock said. “And that was an a-ha moment for me. Ever since that moment I have never been disappointed in a player. They are the last people who want to mess up or make a mistake or not do the right thing. If you look at it from that perspective, it’s like if you have a family member, are you going to love them less because they did something wrong?”

Wide receiver Andrew McElroy said it was a very important message for the Huskies to hear.

“Win or lose, we are still a team. We’re still a family,” McElroy said. “Regardless of the outcome of the game, we’ll still have that good team chemistry and that we will have each other’s backs and that will just make us the best team possible.”

Forcing some turnovers

After the loss Saturday, Hammock said he believed the only way the team would lose to Buffalo is if they lost the turnover battle. It did, committing two and forcing one. Hammock spoke strongly after the game about how Ethan Hampton’s interception and Tristan Tewes’ fumble were pivotal.

The Huskies are 28th in the country in turnovers, having committed just three turnovers this year. But they are 95th in the country with just three forced turnovers.

The Wolfpack has been prone to interceptions this year, with quarterbacks Grayson McCall and CJ Bailey - who have each attempted at least 45 passes - each throwing two interceptions.

Hammock said a focus in practice has been punching at the ball, something Buffalo was successful at in forcing NIU’s fumbles. He said statistically, 75% of the time the second person that comes in is the one that knocks the ball out. So the second tackler needs to be punching at the ball no matter what.

“That’s obviously a category we have to improve on,” defensive lineman Cade Haberman said of takeaways, pointing to a third-quarter play in which the Huskies forced a fumble on fourth down but couldn’t get the recovery despite swarming around the ball. “It’s not like we haven’t had opportunities. That fumble on fourth down against Buffalo, it was right there. We had it in our hands, and we didn’t come up with it.”

Buffalo went on to score a touchdown on that drive, cutting the lead to 14-10 at the time.

Facing a former coach

Saturday will be the fourth time in school history the Huskies have faced a former coach. In 1996, the Huskies lost to Jerry Pettibone and Oregon State, 67-28. The 1993 team lost 28-10 to Bill Mallory and Indiana. And the 1907 team lost 16-0 to John L. Keith and Illinois State.

Hammock said although Doeren took NIU to great heights, it doesn’t mean much to be going against a former Huskies coach.

“We acknowledge that and appreciate everything he’s done for the program,” Hammock said. “But that has no bearing or anything to do with the game that’s going to be played on Saturday. We know we’re playing a very good opponent, we respect them and we have to play our best to compete at a high level.”

Prediction: NIU 27, North Carolina State 21