First Scouting Report: Against Northern Illinois, Kentucky must escape a ‘trap game’

Mark Story

An early look ahead to the Kentucky Wildcats’ next football game:

The opponent

No. 9 Kentucky (3-0, 1-0 SEC) will face MAC opponent Northern Illinois (1-2, 0-0 Mid-American Conference) on Saturday (Sept. 24) at Kroger Field.

The game will kick off at 7 p.m. and be telecast by ESPN2.

Coach Thomas Hammock’s Huskies were defeated 38-28 at home by SEC foe Vanderbilt on Saturday (Sept. 17) at DeKalb, Ill.

Series history

This will be the first football meeting between Kentucky and Northern Illinois.

Including this season-opening 37-13 victory over Miami (Ohio), Mark Stoops is 7-0 vs. MAC teams as Kentucky head coach.

Coming as the second of two straight non-league games and the week before a crucial SEC road game at Mississippi (Oct. 1), UK must avoid looking past the Huskies.

Barion Brown returned the opening kickoff of the second half 100 yards for a touchdown in UK’s 37-13 victory over Miami (Ohio) in the 2022 season opener. Under Mark Stoops, Kentucky is 7-0 vs. Mid-American Conference teams.
Barion Brown returned the opening kickoff of the second half 100 yards for a touchdown in UK’s 37-13 victory over Miami (Ohio) in the 2022 season opener. Under Mark Stoops, Kentucky is 7-0 vs. Mid-American Conference teams.

Know your foe

1. Counting Saturday’s loss to Vanderbilt, Northern Illinois is 5-13 over the past 10 seasons against Power Five Conference foes. The Huskies had lost eight such games in a row before winning at Georgia Tech, 22-21, in the 2021 season opener.

NIU is now 1-12 all-time against Southeastern Conference teams. The one victory came over — wait for it — Alabama, a 19-16 Huskies victory over Coach Mike Shula’s Crimson Tide in 2003 in Tuscaloosa.

2. In his fourth season as Northern Illinois head coach, Thomas Hammock is 15-20 as Huskies head man. NIU began the season with a 34-27 victory over FCS foe Eastern Illinois then fell 38-35 at Tulsa in week two before Saturday’s loss to Vandy.

Northern Illinois went 0-6 in the abbreviated-by-COVID-19 2020 season, but bounced back to go 9-5 last year. Hammock’s Huskies ended 2021 by beating Kent State 41-23 in the Mid-American Conference championship game and besting Coastal Carolina 47-41 in the Cure Bowl.

In his playing days, Hammock was a star running back at NIU. Hammock ran for 1,083 yards and 16 touchdowns for the Huskies in 2000 and 1,096 yards and seven TDs in 2001.

3. Northern Illinois quarterback Rocky Lombardi is a transfer from Michigan State. The 6-foot-3, 227-pound redshirt senior completed only 47.9 percent of his passes in his three years at MSU, throwing for 1,902 yards with 11 touchdown passes and 14 interceptions.

Last season at NIU, Lombardi put up substantially better numbers. The Clive, Iowa, product completed 58.6 percent of his passes while throwing for 3,048 yards with 19 TDs. vs. nine interceptions. In the first two games of 2022, Lombardi completed 60.4 percent of his throws for 451 yards with four touchdowns and one pick.

Against Vanderbilt, Lombardi went 7-of-7 passing for 79 yards and a touchdown. However, he left the game in the second quarter with an unspecified injury. Backup quarterback Ethan Hampton went 12 of 19 passing for 124 yards and two touchdowns. But, after NIU had taken a 28-14 lead, Hampton could not get the Huskies back in the end zone as Vandy scored the game’s final 24 points.

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