‘Good chance’ Antario Brown back for Akron, and other NIU storylines to watch

DeKALB – After knocking off the last undefeated team in the Mid-American Conference, the NIU football team returns home for the first time in 25 days to take on Akron.

The Huskies (5-4, 2-3 MAC) won 55-14 on the road last year against the Zips (2-7, 1-4), avenging a 44-12 loss the last time the teams played in Huskie Stadium. NIU had one of its best wins of the year last week, winning 42-28 at Western Michigan.

Kickoff is 6 p.m. Wednesday. The game will be broadcast on CBS Sports Net.

What’s the running back position look like?

Early against the Broncos, Antario Brown was injured at the end of a long run and fumbled the ball – the only turnover of the game for the Huskies. He didn’t return to the game.

That opened the door for freshman Telly Johnson Jr., in his second game after playing sparingly at Ball State, to put up a monster performance – 23 carries, 141 yards and two touchdowns. He was named the MAC Co-Offensive Player of the Week.

Hammock said there was a good chance Brown could be playing this week. But he said Johnson’s performance shows exactly how deep the running back room is. Redshirt freshman Jaylen Poe has been injured recently, resulting in Johnson’s promotion against Ball State.

But Hammock said other true freshmen such as Emil Smith, Romelo Ware and Elijah Porter can also play for the Huskies.

“It’s just a matter of they’ve got other guys in front of them,” Hammock said. “We have a tremendous young group of running backs. It was hard to pick Telly out of the group, to be honest, because any one of those guys can play for us. So those guys are highly motivated on the compete team.

“There’s no guarantee Telly will be our starter next year; there’s no guarantee Poe will be our starter. Those guys have a tremendous amount of work ahead of them.”

Defensive lineman Skyler Gill-Howard said Johnson was causing issues for the Huskies’ defense in practice when he was on the scout team – an NIU defense ranked 37th nationally against the run.

“When Telly was on the scout team he was killing us, man,” Gill-Howard said. “That guy was running hard. Hammock watches all the film, scout team or not, and that guy was working hard. ... When he did get moved up, he told me before the game, ‘Hey, Sky, I’m a dog,’ and I’m like, ‘I know you are, man.’ Obviously AB went down, very unfortunate, but he made the most of it.

“To see him get moved up was amazing, and what he did, I was just proud of him.”

Ethan Hampton coming off one of his best games

After suffering an injury and having to split time with Josh Holst, Hampton returned as the full-time quarterback against the Broncos. And Hammock said he played the position the way the team needs him to.

Hampton was 13-of-16 passing for 156 yards and two touchdowns. Almost all of that came in the first half as the Huskies built a lead and relied on Johnson and Gavin Williams running the ball.

Hammock pointed to a drive at the end of the first half. NIU took over on its 40 after the Broncos just tied the score with 1:54 left. Hampton led a 12-play, 60-yard drive, ending with a 5-yard pass to Williams for a score.

Earlier in the drive, Hampton found Trayvon Rudolph on a third-and-4 for a first down, bringing the ball down to the 5.

“He was very efficient,” Hammock said. “His ball location was excellent. He didn’t put the ball at risk. Obviously, the way the game played out we didn’t need to throw the ball as much, but we feel very confident with him throwing the football. If Akron decides it wants to load up the box, then we’re going to take shots down the field.”

The importance of forcing turnovers

The Huskies improved to 3-1 in games in which they’ve forced a turnover. They entered Kalamazoo with three interceptions on the year. They added three more against the Broncos.

They are 3-0 in games in which they’ve forced an interception – Notre Dame, Bowling Green and Western Michigan. The Falcons and Broncos are tied for first in the MAC, while Notre Dame still has lost only to the Huskies this year.

Hammock called it game-changing momentum getting that many interceptions and hopes it continues into this week.

“The DBs were working hard this week,” Gill-Howard said. “It was tough, because they were playing max protect on us. We couldn’t get a lot of pressure, but when we did, Ray Thomas on the one Nate picked pushed the guard into the quarterback and threw off his throwing motion. Nate was able to make a great play, but the DBs saved us, ’cause that max protection is hard to get through.”

Prediction: NIU 28, Akron 17