After NIU let coordinator go, offense flourished for a quarter before regressing

DeKALB – For about a quarter, it looked like the Northern Illinois offense was responding to a change at coordinator.

Sixth-year head coach Thomas Hammock confirmed Saturday after the Huskies’ 24-16 win over Central Michigan that Wesley Beschorner was let go after the Huskies’ 20-9 loss to Miami on Nov. 19.

Hammock said he took over most of the offensive coordinator duties. And NIU stormed out of the gate by scoring touchdowns on its first three possessions, building a 19-0 lead against the Chippewas.

“I had a chance to evaluate things after Miami of Ohio with a long layoff and decided we needed to change some things up,” Hammock said. “I was obviously a lot more involved in the play calling. We put a great plan together. I handled the meetings with the players about the plan. And I liked the way we played today.”

But after 16 plays for 168 yards on the first three drives that staked the Huskies to a 19-0 lead, the offense dried back up.

Trayvon Rudolph was a big part of the offensive plan for the Huskies. He was targeted on 14 of Ethan Hampton’s 29 attempts, catching nine passes for 97 yards.

“[Hammock] evaluated and said he was going to trust us this week and take the shots,” Rudolph said. “The whole offense came in as one. He saw what he saw, and he was feeding into what we see and just observing and taking everything in and trusting in us.”

NIU ended up with 332 yards of total offense, a 7-minute edge in time of possession and 22 first downs.

But the Huskies only managed five points in the final three quarters. After Central Michigan’s first touchdown, JaVaughn Byrd returned the PAT attempt that was blocked by Cade Haberman 95 yards for two extra points, making up for a pair of missed PATs.

“Really it was just going back to doing my job,” Byrd said of his two-point return. “The call was opposite me, so I have to protect the fake. I think it was Cade that got the block and it just fell in my lap. I had to get those Spidey senses going, grab the ball and take off.”

It was the third blocked kick by Haberman this season. His first two came in a 16-14 win against Notre Dame.

The Huskies finished 5 of 14 on third down and Hammock said they didn’t have many manageable situations later in the game.

“We got into a couple longer situations,” Hammock said. “The first quarter we were in some manageable situations where we could have the run/pass option. ... On third down we struggled today, so we’ve got to look at some of the things we called on third down.”

As has been common this season, the NIU defense kept the team in the game. Central Michigan didn’t get a first down until the Huskies led 19-0.

After NIU pushed the lead to 24-16 with a 17-play, 66-yard drive that took 8:47 and ended with a 26-yard field goal by Kanon Woodill, Central Michigan had four possessions to tie the game. Two of them ended with turnovers.

Immediately after the field goal, Nate Valcarcel recovered a fumble forced on a sack by Demond Taylor. Early in the fourth, Jacob Finley had an interception to end a CMU drive around midfield.

The Chippewas started a drive with 5:24 left in the game on their 33 and got down to the NIU 41, but Valccarcel broke up a fourth-and-12 pass with 1:39 left to end the threat, and the Huskies ran out the clock.

Hammock said he liked that the team ended the game on offense. And Valcarcel said he liked how the defense left the second quarter in the past.

“Obviously, in the second quarter we had some minor mistakes,” Valcarcel said. “Coming out of halftime it was really just some guys not doing their 1/11th. We got that fixed coming out of halftime.”