The NIU Huskies trailed by just nine at halftime, but two third quarter takeaways helped Central Michigan score 24 unanswered points to start the second half on its way to a 40-10 victory over NIU on Wednesday night (Nov. 11) at Huskie Stadium. "Obviously this falls squarely on my shoulders," said NIU head coach Thomas Hammock. "I take full responsibility for the way we played, we have to play better. It's unfortunate, the way our kids have practiced and got themselves prepared, at the moment we are just not reaping the rewards. "We have to be better on offense, we have to be able to move the ball, we have to be able to stay on the field on third down. We have to be able to score in the red zone to give our defense a chance." Kyle Pugh (Chicago Heights, Ill./Bloom Township) made a game-high 14 tackles, including 1.5 sacks, his highest total in a game since 2017. Deveren Rayner (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence Central), making his first career start, and Jordan Hansen (Arlington Heights, Ill./John Hersey) each made seven tackles.