"How about it? Great win," said . . .
"That's what we talked about. Dealing with adversity and coming out on the other side. We certainly did that and [stopped them from clinching] the MAC Championship game and that was a great accomplishment."
With the Huskies ahead 10-7 midway through the fourth quarter, NIU went into its bag of tricks to extend the lead to 17-7. Freshman wide receiver Michael Love took an end around and found junior tight end Mitchell Brinkman wide open in the end zone for a seven-yard touchdown pass, extending the Huskie lead to 10 with 7:47 remaining.
Western Michigan answered right back with a six-play, 75-yard drive, capped by a 16-yard touchdown run from Levante Bellamy. A pair of completions from Jon Wassink to Skyy Moore for a combined 38 yards started the drive and four plays later Bellamy scored his second touchdown of the game to cut the NIU lead to 17-14 with 6:25 left to play.
After the two teams traded punts, NIU had the ball with 3:13, looking to run out the clock. Facing third-and-three at the Bronco 32, junior quarterback Marcus Childers picked up enough yards for the first down before losing the football, giving it back to Western Michigan with one more chance and just over two minutes on the clock.
On the first play of the drive, Wassink connected with Dashon Bussell across midfield but he was hit by sophomore safety Dillon Thomas , who knocked the ball loose. Senior safety Mykelti Williams recovered the fumble to seal the win for the Huskies.
"What a tribute to our young men," Hammock said. "We were going to make it ugly, we were going to make it sloppy and it played right to our game plan. What a way to go out for our seniors. What a way to springboard to 2020 for our young players.
"We played the way we wanted to play, we were in four-minute offense from the opening snap and I'm not ashamed to say it. They executed our plan. [Marcus] Childers did a great job and how about the defense stepping up and creating a turnover to win us the ballgame."
Early in the game it was the Huskie special teams that kept the game scoreless as sophomore linebacker Jordan Cole blocked a 34-yard Bronco field goal attempt.
A turnover on downs by the Broncos gave NIU the ball at midfield, leading to the opening score late in the first quarter. Freshman John Richardson connected on a 44-yard field goal, capping a 5-play, 24-yard drive, to give NIU a 3-0 lead with 25 seconds left in the opening quarter.
Junior wide receiver Tyrice Richie scored on a 71-yard forward toss off a jet sweep from Childers to give the Huskies a 10-0 lead. Richie appeared to be tackled near the NIU 40-yard line, but he rolled over the top of the Bronco defender, never touching the ground, before racing the rest of the way for the score with 2:15 to play in the second quarter.
On the following drive, Western Michigan marched inside the NIU 15 before junior defensive end Matt Lorbeck forced a fumble by Wassink that was recovered by senior safety Trayshon Foster, as the Huskies took a 10-0 lead into halftime.
Western Michigan needed just five plays and 81 yards to open the second half with a touchdown. Bellamy had four carries on the drive, including one for 55 yards, before finishing it with a six-yard touchdown run, cutting the NIU lead to 10-7.
Early in the fourth quarter, the Broncos started a drive on their own 20 and a 15-yard sack by junior defensive tackle Jack Heflin pushed Western Michigan back to its own two-yard line. The Huskies had great field position at the Western Michigan 30 following the punt, setting up the Love-to-Brinkman touchdown pass.
(Courtesy of NIU Athletics)