Ohio (3-3 overall, 2-1 Mid-American Conference) will take the field at Peden Stadium at 3:30 p.m. for the season’s final Saturday home game against Northern Illinois (1-5 overall, 0-2 MAC). The road back to the MAC title game has gotten rockier for Ohio after a tough loss at Ball State two weeks ago, but the conference is still wide open and a talented Ohio team looks to get back on track during Homecoming Weekend.
The Huskies have a poor record, but it doesn’t tell the whole story through the first half of 2025. They have one of the most disciplined defenses in the MAC and are allowing less than 21 points per game. Unfortunately, the offense has fallen victim to a slow system and a lack of production, especially due to turnovers, averaging over one each of the last three games.
Now, let’s take a more in-depth look at Northern Illinois.
Head Coach
Thomas Hammock is at the helm for Northern Illinois. Hammock, a former tailback for Northern Illinois, has vast experience coaching and is in his seventh year with the team; the longtime Baltimore Ravens running backs coach took over in 2019. Hammock has led the Huskies to one MAC title win back in 2021. In 2024, they went 8-5 with potentially the biggest upset of the season, a win over the eventual championship game runner up in Notre Dame.
Hammock is in the top five for all-time wins with Northern Illinois, including back-to-back bowl wins the past two seasons. The Huskies have finished each of the past two years strong, and it has started with MAC play going well after the midpoint, so they should not be taken lightly despite their record this weekend.
Quarterbacks
The offensive struggles for Northern Illinois this season became enough for Hammock two weeks ago to make a change at the most important position on the field. After sophomore Josh Hoist started the first four games with more interceptions than touchdowns, Hammock decided to hand the duties over to true freshman Brady Davidson.
Davidson’s college career has started with two losses, and he has also thrown more interceptions than touchdowns in a small sample size. However, the Northern Illinois offense needed a change, and a player that defense had never seen and had minimal film can cause some problems schematically for opponents and help get Northern out of its offensive funk to start the year.
Running Backs
When the passing game is not working, coaches normally turn to the running backs, and that is what Hammock has had to do so far this year. Thankfully for him, both sophomore Telly Johnson Jr. and redshirt senior Chavon Wright have both eclipsed over 300 yards on the ground, but neither man has found the endzone much, with just three touchdowns together in six games.
Wide Receiver
Poor offenses normally do not supply sturdy receivers, but one man for the Huskies stands out so far this year. Junior DeAree Rogers has 289 yards on the year, over 200 more than any other pass catcher. He is also one of only two players to have caught a touchdown for them this year. The team hopes for these numbers to increase the offense with Davidson stepping in, and that will start with Rogers.
Defense
This year, Northern Illinois has been built on a slow-paced approach, which has helped its defense. The numbers definitely do not jump off the chart with this group, but they are effective when they play together. The leaders of the defense are two linebackers, redshirt sophomore Filip Maciorowski and redshirt senior Quinn Urwiler. These two are the top tacklers on the team with 46 and 70, respectively, and they lead the team with 1.5 sacks each.
Urwiler has an especially good year so far, being the standout guy for Northern Illinois, as his 70 tackles are tied for first in the MAC.
