Former Ravens Coach Leads Epic College Football Comeback

Former Baltimore Ravens running backs coach Thomas Hammock and his Northern Illinois Huskies are the talk of the college football world.

Northern Illinois Huskies head coach Thomas Hammock tells his players to exit the field after the game as Arkansas State Red Wolves take on the Northern Illinois Huskies during the Camellia Bowl at Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, Ala., on Saturday, Dec. 23, 2023. Northern Illinois Huskies defeated Arkansas State Red Wolves 21-19. / Jake Crandall/ Advertiser / USA TODAY NETWORK

In January of 2019, Baltimore Ravens running backs coach Thomas Hammock left to take the head-coaching job at Northern Illinois, his alma mater. Now over five years later, he and his Huskies are on top of the college football world.

On Saturday, Hammock led his Huskies into South Bend, Indiana and walked away with a stunning 16-14 victory over No. 5 Notre Dame. The Huskies were a 28.5-point underdog heading into the game, and now they have the biggest win in program history, and the $1.4 million the Fighting Irish paid them to play the game.

"I'm so proud of the kids, our coaches, everybody, they believed," Hammock said to NBC postgame, per NIU Athletics. "They believed and we came here and got it done. They listened to what I said, I told them all week, 'we don't need luck, we just need to be our best,' and they were their best today."

Notre Dame marched 75 yards for a touchdown on its opening drive, but NIU responded with 13 unanswered points to take a six-point lead into halftime. The Irish then capitalized on a missed Huskies field goal to re-take the lead on a 64-yard touchdown drive, but after that, most of the second half turned into an offensive stalemate.

That stalemate lasted until around the six-minute mark of the fourth quarter, when NIU cornerback Amariyun Knighten intercepted Notre Dame quarterback Riley Leonard and returned it to midfield. The Huskies then methodically marched down the field, with Kanon Woodill nailing a 35-yard field goal to give his team the lead with 31 seconds left. The Irish had one last gasp, but the Huskies blocked Mitch Jeter's 62-yard field goal attempt as time expired to seal the massive upset.

NIU outgained Notre Dame 388-286 and held the ball for 34:38 to the Irish's 25:22, in part due to two picks off Leonard. The star of the show on offense was running back Antario Brown, who had 99 rushing yards, as well as 126 receiving yards and a touchdown through the air.

"I think he is one of the best backs in the country," Hammock said. "He is 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. And we were going to plan it that way. He was cramping up in the second half and we didn't use him a lot, but I said, 'you did more than enough to help us be in position to win the game.'"

When Hammock went to NIU, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh knew the Huskies were getting a great coach. Now, the entire college football world knows as well.

“He’s a tremendous coach, great leader and great developer of players,” Harbaugh said. “He’s a smart game planner, a hard-nosed disciplinarian but a player’s coach at the same time. He relates to his guys really well. He’s been a big part of our success.”

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