Northern Illinois welcomes Western Illinois to DeKalb on Saturday for the 2024 season opener.
It’s the fourth time in coach Thomas Hammock’s six seasons that the Huskies are playing an in-state FCS school in their first home game. NIU beat Illinois State in 2019 in Hammock’s first game as head coach and beat Eastern Illinois to open the 2022 season but lost to Southern Illinois in last year’s home opener.
The Huskies are coming off a 7-6 season that included a victory over Arkansas State in the Camellia Bowl. The Leathernecks — coming off two straight 0-11 seasons and on a 24-game losing streak — hired former EIU offensive coordinator Joe Davis in December as their new head coach.
Time/TV: 2:30 p.m., ESPN+.
Line: None.
Series: NIU leads 21-18-1.
Key matchup
NIU’s offensive line vs. WIU’s defensive line
The lower-level Leathernecks could be overwhelmed up front by a Huskies unit that has a combined 114 starts among its projected starters: sixth-year players J.J. Lippe and Logan Zschernitz, seniors Evan Buss and John Champe and redshirt sophomore Evan Malcore. Zschernitz and Champe were second-team preseason All-MAC selections, while Lippe was on the third team.
Players to watch
WIU: Linebackers Juan DelaCruz and Ryan Crandall were named to Phil Steele’s preseason All-Big South/OVC second team. DelaCruz, a senior from Gurnee, had 61 tackles last season, including 4½ for a loss. Crandall, a junior from Iowa, had 66 tackles and a team-high 5½ for a loss.
NIU: Senior running back Antario Brown was a first-team All-MAC selection last season after rushing for 1,296 yards (6.1 per carry) and 10 touchdowns. Brown’s 6.33 career yards per carry ranks fifth in NIU history, and last fall he moved past Hammock into 13th on the program’s career rushing list. He was named to preseason watch lists for the Doak Walker, Maxwell and Walter Camp awards.
Facts & figures
NIU and WIU first played in 1903 and last met in 2016, a 28-23 Leathernecks victory at Huskie Stadium. … The Huskies’ 32 seniors are tied for the sixth-most in the FBS, and 21 of them have played their entire careers in DeKalb — trailing only Stanford and Navy. … WIU is 65-51-4 all time in openers, but the last win came in 2017 at Tennessee Tech.
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