NIU vs. Central Michigan – September 15, 2017
Huskie Stadium - DeKalb, Illinois 

NIU Head Coach Rod Carey

Opening Statement…
"We're ecstatic about the win. It's hard to win a football game, much less a conference game early in the year which is a little different for us, but we got the win. We tried to give them a big lead early with a couple of mishaps on special teams, but we fought back offensively and Marcus (Childers) had a slow start but he got himself going after that first touchdown, and we had a nice lead at halftime.

"I thought we took complete control of the game in the third quarter, but then we let off a little on defense, which was disappointing but (their quarterback) came in and did a good job so give them credit. They're a good football team. It was definitely a four-quarter game and with the ebbs-and-flows of that game I was certainly happy to pull it out there in the end with Vinny Labus' pick."

On Vinny Labus' interception…
"Vinny was ready after Kyle (Pugh) got dinged on the last drive. Backups are sometimes tough because you've got to be ready all the time and he is. He did a great job." 

On the kicking game…
"We were very frustrated with it especially in the first half. We had a high snap on a punt and then we lose a dribbler on another one. I raved about (Hayden Sak) being the best snapper we've ever had, and mentally he was shaken after that. But I think he'll bounce back. He's a tough guy and he really cares. So it's not a lack of caring and not being locked in. Maybe the moment got too big for him and we need to help him bounce back." 

On the defense…
"I love the way we attack things defensively. We come out and take it as a challenge and not an 'oh crap' moment. We're going to attack it and you saw that. We held them to a field goal and one missed field goal early in the game. Things could've slipped away early, but out defense kept us in it."