Everything NIU coach Thomas Hammock said after Huskies beat Notre Dame

It’s being dubbed the biggest win in Northern Illinois history. Conversely, it’s one of the worst losses in Notre Dame history.

NIU head coach Thomas Hammock guided his alma mater to a 16-14 victory over Notre Dame in South Bend on Saturday. Here is everything he said about it afterward.

Opening statement

“We built it the right way. We develop. We recruit. We find the right type of kids that want to work, want to grind. Not affected by outside things. We built a great culture here. Family atmosphere. Guys love coming into the building. We love being around them. When you do it step by step along the way and you don’t take any shortcuts, things like this become possible.”

On NIU running back Antario Brown

“I think he’s one of the best backs in the country, bar none. I know people talk about the kid from Boise State and all that, he’s one of the best backs in the country if he wants to be. Did I believe he could have a game like this? I did. We were going to plan it that way. He was cramping up in the second half. We used him a lot. I said, ‘You did more than enough to help us be in position to win the game. We’re not going to play you if you’re not 100 percent.’ He wasn’t.

“I told Mike Turner before the game, I need a Mike Turner performance [from Brown] in this game. And he showed up in a big way. Big, big way, especially with the slant early. Catching the ball. Doing a bunch of different things. I think he showed why I believe he’s one of the best-kept secrets in America. I’m proud of him. Proud of his growth. Young man has been through a lot and he continues to persevere.”

On the game-winning drive

“We have a deep football team. I had no concerns. We got guys that can go in there and make plays. I told you guys all preseason. We got 80 guys we can go win with. You make look at [Trayvon] Rudolph being down, Rudolph went down first half. But we got guys stepping up… We got a bunch of different guys stepping up in moments, and we believed. They worked together. Next-man up mentality. We’ve done a great job of building the roster in a way that can withstand, and it did today.”

On NIU’s defense against Notre Dame

“I think we were bigger than what they thought. We’re not a normal MAC team, in my opinion. We’re big on our offensive and defensive line, and we’re physical. I didn’t look at it as a mismatch in that capacity. Our kids went out there and played hard and played tough and played physical. And I told them all week, you can make a mistake but don’t lack physicality. And we didn’t lack physicality today and I think we won the battle up front.”

On Brown’s 83-yard touchdown after Notre Dame pinned NIU at its own 2 on the kickoff

“It calmed my nerves. The thing is, I asked the coaches, do we want Rudolph to catch [the kickoff]? We made one mistake and we learn from it. But then to go out there and have a 98-yard drive, it was like, ‘OK, game on now.’ It’s not going to get away from us. Gavin Williams made a tremendous play with the ball hitting the inch line and got it and gave us a chance. It could have been 14-0 quickly. That gave us a chance to get in rhythm. We didn’t turn the ball over today. We put the ball on the ground but we did not turn the ball over. I believe we were at least plus-two in takeaways, and you have to do that to win a game like this. We should have had a couple more picks, in my opinion. But we made enough plays to win.”

On NIU special teams

“We obviously put a lot of emphasis into that, right? Our coaches this morning, I said, ‘This game is going to come down to a field goal.’ I had a dream last night, the game came down to a field goal. I said, ‘I don’t know what happened.’ But obviously we made it.”

On NIU’s kicker missing an attempt earlier

“We put him in a tough situation. We had the wind. I didn’t think we would take a negative yardage play on the third down run. We did. That was out of the range we wanted him to be kicking from. But going into the direction at the end of the game we knew we had to get closer because the wind was kind of tricky. So we wanted to get closer to give him a chance to make it. He nailed it. He hit it flush. That’s the one he’s going to have engraved in his mind the rest of his life, and that’s why you coach. You want those moments for players. You want those moments for the coaches. And I couldn’t be more proud.”

On going to a Catholic high school and winning a game at Notre Dame

“I talked about that with my staff. My D-line coach, we went to high school together. We took a buddies trip in high school and came to a Notre Dame game. That’s the last time I was here. They had wooden benches with a number on it, and you had to just sit. So if you had any type of girth it was uncomfortable. But going to a Catholic high school in Fort Wayne, and all my buddies are Notre Dame loyalists, but they supported NIU today. I certainly appreciate that.”

On blocking two Notre Dame kicks

“We knew we had to sell out. We had to sell out at the end of the first half and at the end of the game. Those guys, wow. Just unbelievable effort, tenacity to get in there and block the kick.”

On playing better defensively after Notre Dame’s first drive

“We just settled in. We settled in. They made some plays on the first drive. They got into manageable situations on third down. They got the run game going early. But then came, you got to make plays on third down. They were long situations. We knew, OK, they’re not going to try to push it down the field. We had to play good coverage and we did. We made plays on the ball.”

On the biggest plays of the game

“The slant in the first quarter to Antario Brown. To me, once that happened, it was a belief and a confidence to say, ‘Hey, game on.’ I thought that was the changing point. Ethan made a great throw. He made a great catch. At that point, we were in attack mode after that.”

On if this is the biggest win in NIU history

“That’s hard for me to do because I wasn’t around for every win. It’s certainly the biggest win in my six years. I’ll let everybody else talk. I don’t want to take away from any team that played a tremendous game. I just don’t want to do that. But it’s certainly the biggest win in my tenure. A top-five win. And I’m happy for my players.”

On beating Notre Dame as the head coach at his alma mater

“I was flushed with emotion after the game just because, to do things the right way, it takes a tremendous amount of discipline. These players will tell you, all week I was like, ‘Get your study tables in. If you don’t get your study tables, you are not getting on the bus.’ You just have to be diligent. Football can’t be the end-all, be-all. We are trying to create men who are trying to be productive in society. And i take that very seriously. That’s why I came back to college, to help grow these guys. The win is great, but we still have to handle our responsibilities as a student-athlete. I believe in that. That’s how I was brought up. That’s changed my life when I was in college, and I want to try to change these guys’ lives long-term. That’s just really, really important to me. We don’t take short cuts. We don’t cut corners.”

On living with whatever result if NIU gave it its best

“And we won. We won the game. So they believed. They did it. They got the reward. What a great atmosphere.”

On what beating Notre Dame does for NIU

“I hope this win brings support. Financial support. It’s a new era of college football with NIL and all these different things. We want to continue to build a program. My whole vision for this program was to play so well it can increase student attendance, increase exposure. This is home for me. I love NIU. I was raised here. That’s what I want to continue to do for generations to come.”

On upsetting Notre Dame being the best story in Week 2 of college football

“It’s huge. I think it’s even more huge that we have a bye week next week. Make it the biggest story today and tomorrow. I’m good with that. We got enough time to get ready for our next opponent. If we had another game could you imagine trying to get these guys brought down and, hey, you got to execute, and boom, boom, boom. We got some time to get them back, let them enjoy this, have some fun. But as far as the exposure, I can’t wait to watch ESPN when i get home.”

On if NIU is in the playoff picture now

“Hell no. We got to win one week at a time. Our goal is to be 1-0 every week. I’m naive to this process. We need to continue to win and stack wins and then at the end of the season, we’re not even going to go there. It’s Week 2.”