Preview 2019: Previewing and looking ahead to the Northern Illinois Huskies season with what you need to know.
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– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Schedule Analysis
– Northern Illinois Previews 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2018 Record: 8-6 overall, 6-2 in MAC
Head Coach: Thomas Hammock, 1st year
– CFN Preview 2019: All The Team Previews
5. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE NORTHERN ILLINOIS OFFENSE
– New head coach Thomas Hammock was a NIU star running back, knows the program, and knows how to get a running game moving. He and offensive coordinator Eric Eidsness have to try improving one of the nation’s worst offenses – the Huskies won the MAC title despite going for just 322 yards and 20 points per game. On the year, NIU failed to his 30 points 11 times, but now it has to hold up its end of the bargain with seven starters back.
– The passing game was inefficient, but it got better. Marcus Childers was the second-leading rusher, but he only threw 15 touchdown passes with just ten picks. Late in the year, though, he was accurate, hitting 64% of his passes or better in five of the last six games, and came through in the MAC title game with four touchdown throws in the comeback win. He takes a whole lot of shots, though, and has been banged up throughout his career. Junior Anthony Thompson has to be ready after getting in a little bit of work.
– It’s a Thomas Hammock coached team … the running game it’ll work. Tre Harbison is a 227-pound banger who started his career out at Virginia and came on last season to lead the way with 1,034 yards and five scores. Combining with senior Marcus Jones and sophomore Hordan Nettles, the backs are there, but …
– The O line loses some fantastic parts. Max Scharping was a great one at left tackle, and now it’s up to his understudy Isaac Hawn to to step in. The right side should be okay, but junior Austin Warner has to be great with all-star C Luke Shively done.
– The top two receivers are gone, making Spencer Tears the main man after catching 40 passes with four scores. There weren’t enough deep shots, but there’s speed in sophomores Cole Tucker and Dennis Robinson to stretch the field more – even though those two both averaged fewer than ten yards per grab. There will be a rotation at tight end replacing Ty Harmston, but junior Mitchell Brinkman is back after making six grabs before getting hurt early on.
NEXT: What You Need To Know About the Defense, Top Players, Keys to the Season, What Will Happen
4. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE NORTHERN ILLINOIS DEFENSE
– Defensive coordinator Derrick Jackson needs to first find new killers for the pass rush. The Huskies allowed just 357 yards and 23 points per game, and it all came from an amazing defensive front that lived behind the line. Eight of the top ten tacklers are back, but All-American pass rusher Sutton Smith is off to the NFL and Josh Corcoran is done on the other side.
The pressure is now on Quintin Wynne and Matt Lorbeck to become the new stars on the outside – Lorbeck should be the better pass rusher right away. the tackles are set with juniors 284-pound Jack Heflin and 292-pound Weston Kramer back.
– The linebacking trio of Antonio Jones-Davis, Kyle Pugh and Lance Deveaux are back after combining for 303 tackles. There’s not a lot of size among the group, but this is the team’s biggest strength with depth to go along with the talent returning.
– The safeties are set but the corners need some work. Sophomores Antwain Walker and Devin Haney are the new main men on the outside, with the hope that they’re fixtures in the secondary for the next three years.
Former Notre Dame transfer Mykelti Williams stepped up right away finishing third on the team with 75 tackles after taking over one safety gig, and Trashon Foster is a big hitter at the other spot.
NEXT: Top Players, Keys To the Season, What Will Happen
3. TOP NORTHERN ILLINOIS PLAYERS
Best Northern Illinois Offensive Player
RB Tre Harbison, Jr.
Who wants to be Thomas Hammock’s lead back? The 5-11, 227-pound Harbison is the lead Huskie in a pack of great runners to rotate, with good thump on the inside and just enough of a burst to average over five yards per carry. The former Virginia Cavalier hit the 100-yard mark five games, but his production slowed a bit late in the year. Even so, he hit the 1,000-yard mark.
2. QB Marcus Childers, Jr.
3. OT Jordan Steckler, Sr.
4. RB Marcus Jones, Sr.
5. OG Brayden Patton, Jr.
Best Northern Illinois Defensive Player
LB Antonio Jones-Davis, Sr.
The velociraptors at defensive end took most of the attention and spotlight away from the rest of the great defense, but the 5-11, 226-pound Jones-Davis was the big tackler of the group with a team-high 130 stops with four sacks and 14.5 tackles for loss. Extremely quick, he was great at getting all over the field and behind the line – he ended up with six double-digit tackle days – and was great in pass coverage, too.
2. S Mykelti Williams, Sr.
3. LB Kyle Pugh, Sr.
4. LB Lance Deveaux, Sr.
5. DT Jack Heflin, Jr.
NEXT: Keys to the Season, Prediction & What Will Happen
2. KEYS TO THE SEASON
Biggest Key To The Northern Illinois Offense
Score. The defense was able to pick up the slack time and again for an offense that didn’t take a whole lot of chances. But the lack of a steady scoring punch proved costly, scoring 13 points or fewer five times – going 1-4 with the only win 7-6 over BYU – with not enough consistency. It was simple – when NIU scored 24 points or more, it went 7-0.
It starts with keeping the chains moving by converting third down chances, finding a downfield passing game, and coming up with something that can work on a regular basis. Go from averaging 322 yards per game to around 400, and the D will take care of the rest.
Biggest Key To The Northern Illinois Defense
The pass defense has to be better. It was a strange part of the NIU puzzle. The pass rush was among the nation’s best, and the defensive front was able to turn it on from time to time and take over, but the secondary still got bombed on way too often.
The Huskies were hit for 250 yards or more nine times and gave up multiple scores five times. Even so, the team was able to win from time to time despite all the big passing games allowed. As long as there aren’t big yards per throw, things are fine. It was when the Huskies were hit for the deep shots that the losses – for the most part – came.
Key Player To A Successful Season
DE Quintin Wynne, Sr.
And junior end Matt Lorbeck. These two worked in the rotation and combined for 6.5 sacks and 14 tackles for loss. The was fine, and they should be able to get behind the line, but now they have to take over for the combination of Sutton Smith and Josh Corcoran. All those two all-stars did was come up with 25 sacks and 39 tackles for loss. No pressure.
Key Game To The Northern Illinois Season
at Toledo, Nov. 13
The regular season finale against Western Michigan will be a big deal, but that’s in Dekalb. The MAC West showdown against Toledo is on the road coming off a trip to Central Michigan 11 days before. The win over the Rockets last season helped propel the Huskies into the MAC title game, just like Toledo’s win in 2017 got it into the championship.
The winner isn’t going to be guaranteed anything – again, watch out for Western Michigan – but this might turn out to be the real MAC championship.
– Northern Illinois Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2018 Northern Illinois Fun Stats
– Sacks: NIU 50 for 323 yards – Opponents 43 for 306 yards
– Field Goals: Opponents 25-of-34 – NIU 13-of-18
– Time of Possession: Opponents 31:46 – NIU 28:12
NEXT: What Will Happen
1. NORTHERN ILLINOIS WIN TOTAL PREDICTION: WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN
The coaching change won’t be an issue. Thomas Hammock and his staff will do a great job for the program.
The personnel won’t be an issue. The defense is loaded with potential all-stars, and the pass rush will show up despite the loss of Sutton Smith and Josh Corcoran on the outside.
The offense won’t be as much of an issue. Painful in way too many games, the backfield will be among the MAC’s best, and the line that wasn’t quite up to its normal snuff will grow into solid group.
The defending MAC champion will be good enough to make a big push for an eighth trip to the conference title game in the last 11 seasons. Jerry Kill got there. Dave Doeren coached in it, and Rod Carey kept it all going.
Hammock will put NIU back in Detroit at some point during his tenure, but …
Set The Regular Season Win Total At … 7
The issue is the schedule.
The Huskies were able to battle with Utah and Florida State and beat BYU, and they took down Nebraska two years ago – this program is used to dealing with the bigger schools. But this time around, NIU has to go to Utah and Nebraska, and Vanderbilt, too.
Like last year against the three Power Fivers on the slate, going 0-3 won’t be a shock. That’s not really the issue, either.
At Ohio, at Toledo, at Miami University, and yeah, despite the issues last season, at Central Michigan. Those are the problem games, along with tough home dates against Eastern Michigan and Western Michigan.
The team is good enough to win its share of conference battles, but like last year, it’ll drop five regular season games in all.
Win the right league games at the right times like it did last year, and there won’t be any issues.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– Schedule Analysis
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