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Writer's pictureBrenden Duffy

Northern Illinois Week: Huskies Overview

This Saturday, Notre Dame football returns to South Bend for their home opener against the Northern Illinois Huskies. Both the Irish and Huskies come into this week two matchup with perfect records. We saw the Irish secure a big time 23-13 win at Texas A&M in primetime last week, while the Huskies throttled their FCS opponent, Western Illinois, 54-15. Let’s preview this Huskie squad:

Photo by The Irish Tribune


NIU Head Coach Thomas Hammock is in his sixth season at the helm. It has been an up-and-down tenure for Hammock but the team did show improvement last season. Following a brutal 2022 season, which saw the Huskies finish 3-9, they experienced a quick turnaround last year, finishing 7-6 with a Camellia Bowl victory.


NIU enters 2024 returning most of its talent, with the biggest exception at quarterback as Rocky Lombardi entered the NFL. The Huskies return most of their offensive line, leading rusher, five of the top seven receivers, and leading tackler.



Offense


On offense, NIU found most of their success in the run game last year. Running back Antario Brown was the MAC’s second-leading rusher with 1,296 yards last year in addition to 11 total touchdowns. Brown is back, and should be the workhorse, however, former Iowa transfer Gavin Williams could be in line to take snaps from Brown. Last week, Brown and Williams split carries, with Brown being the more effective back as he rushed for 69 yards on 8 carries. The backs will be running behind a line featuring two full-time starters from last season, while all five starters have experience at NIU.


As mentioned earlier, there is a new quarterback in Dekalb. Ethan Hampton is a senior who waited his turn to start for three seasons, and he did not disappoint last week. NIU threw the ball all around the field against the lesser Western Illinois defense, as Hampton displayed accuracy and efficiency, finishing 18/20 for 328 yards and 5 touchdowns with no interceptions.


While the Huskies returned five of their top seven receiving threats from a year ago, the two to keep an eye on are Trayvon Rudolph and tight end Grayson Barnes. Rudolph, a senior, has had two seasons of 50-plus receptions and 500-plus receiving yards despite missing all of 2022 due to a knee injury. Last week, Rudolph showed off his versatility, finishing with 4 receptions for 104 yards and a touchdown, while also adding 2 rushes for 67 yards and another touchdown. The other threat, Grayson Barnes, has not had quite the career up to this point as Rudolph, however, he is poised for a big season this year. Barnes, a JUCO product, saw his first NCAA action last season as he finished the year with 23 receptions for 422 yards and 5 touchdowns for the Huskies. The senior tight end showed out last week with 5 receptions for 95 yards and a touchdown.



Defense


Overall, NIU’s defense appears to be solid, especially for the MAC. Last season, the Huskies ranked 23rd in yards per game allowed and 28th in points per game allowed nationally. However, their biggest flaw was the pass rush. In total, NIU had 22 total sacks last season, 5th-fewest among MAC teams. This number should improve as the Huskies return both talented edge rushers Rashein Thomas and Roy Williams. Unfortunately for NIU, it appears Thomas has been dealing with an undisclosed injury to open the season, and this is something to monitor as he was the team’s leading tackler a season ago. Thomas’ 74 tackles led the country among defensive lineman last year. With Thomas missing last week, fellow edge rusher Roy Williams had a nice game, finishing with 4 tackles and the team’s lone sack. Williams, a junior, totaled 24 tackles, 5.5 for loss, and 3.5 sacks in 13 games last year. Given the struggle versus Western Illinois, it is hard to imagine NIU will be able to force any pressure against the Irish without Thomas.


Since the beginning of last season, the Huskies are 8-1 in games where they allow fewer than 179 rushing yards. This seems to be the magic number for the Huskies defense, as they are 0-5 in games where they allow more than 179 yards on the ground. A big rush attack from the Irish offense could be the key to a successful Saturday.


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