Luck of the Irish propels NIU into overtime, past Fresno State

BOISE, Idaho– With Northern Illinois dodging bullets all game long Saturday against Fresno State in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, the Huskies found some magic in their 28-20 double-overtime win—and used a little luck of the Irish, too.

Fresno State missed a 35-yard field goal attempt as time expired in regulation, NIU found a reprieve in overtime.

And the Huskies took full advantage of it.

“When (Fresno State) missed the field goal at the end of the game, I said we’re going to empty the clip and figure out a way to win this game by any means necessary,” NIU coach Thomas Hammock said. “And our players went out there and executed at a high level.”

Hammock scrounged deep into his bag of tricks and found an old one but a good one with a play called “Irish.”

“We ran it against Notre Dame. It was wide open and we did not connect on the pass, but we didn’t need it to win the game,” Hammock said with a wry grin. “But we’ve carried that play all season, and we have wide receivers who can throw the ball.”

Against Notre Dame, Trayvon Randolph, a senior wide receiver who entered the transfer portal after the regular season, was the one who missed on the throw in the Huskies’ 16-14 win in South Bend.

But this time in the second overtime period, Hammock turned to freshman wide receiver George Dimopoulos, a Crystal Lake Central grad, to execute the play. And the result was a decisive one in the game.

Dimopoulos took the ball from quarterback Josh Holst, a Marengo grad, and found Dane Pardridge in the corner of the end zone for a 25-yard scoring strike.

Still not satisfied with the number of trick plays, Hammock dug up one more called Jacks.

And it came up aces.

Forced by rule to go for two points in the second overtime, Dimopoulos took a handoff from Holst on what appeared to be a sweep play before tossing it back to Holst just over the goal line.

“In the huddle, I was just telling George to make a good throw,” said Holst, who won MVP honors with 182 yards passing and two TDs along with a team-high 65 yards rushing.

Dimopoulos actually had three total pass attempts, though the first one was ruled down after Holst fielded an errant snap with his knee on the ground. Holst continued on with the play and Dimopoulos had a throw that was dropped in the end zone before replay ruled Holst down.

“The first one was a great throw, but my knee went down and it sucked,” Holst said. “The second one was an all-right throw, but Dane made a great catch. And then obviously on the two-point conversion he put it right there. He did really well.”

But in case anyone thought there was a quarterback controversy brewing, Hammock snuffed it out right away.

“We’ll be better,” Hammock said. “And we’ve got a young quarterback who’s going to continue to get better.”

After the game, Fresno State admitted they were looking for NIU’s trick plays after studying tape.

“In the red zone, they’ve done a lot of those,” Fresno State interim coach Tim Skipper said. “We knew something was going to happen. We lost our guys and they made plays.”

But it took more than trick plays to beat a gritty Fresno State team, which lost its coach after the regular season. It took a good game from Holst—and a trademark stout defensive effort from the Huskies.

Holst didn’t blink after a rough start, throwing an interception on his first pass attempt of the game.

“It sucks to start the game off like that, but it’s the first play of the game and you’ve got the whole game to go after that,” Holst said. “So, you try to put that in the back of your mind and think about those seniors and play for them. I wanted to respond for those seniors.”

One of those seniors was safety Nate Valcarcel, who had a big interception early in the second half that sparked a big defensive effort.

“After coming out in the second half, we executed really well,” said Valcarcel, who finished with two tackles, an interception and a QB hurry. “Nobody can question our effort, which goes a long way on defense. I’m just blessed to go out here with a win for our seniors and this team.”

NIU held Fresno State to 129 yards and six first downs in the second half, stifling what had been a more potent attack in the first two quarters.

Hammock appreciated the effort of his team on what he deemed a successful season.

“I like the perseverance of the young men in our program,” Hammock said. “You always talk about adversity and handling the highs and lows of a season. And these guys stayed in there. We had guys go in the portal and do different things, but these guys stayed together as a unit, as a team. You beat Notre Dame at their place, won eight games and finished as bowl champions. I’d like to say that’s a pretty successful season.”