DEKALB, Ill. – A school-record 17 members of the Northern Illinois University Football team garnered Academic All Mid-American Conference honors, including 11 first-time honorees, as the league announced the 2020 Academic All-MAC Team on Friday.
 
"Obviously, to be recognized as Academic All-MAC means you're handling your business on the football field and in the classroom," said second-year NIU head coach Thomas Hammock. "We take that seriously at NIU and hope to continue to add more names to that list going forward."
 
NIU's 17 honorees are the most for the Huskies since 2016 when 15 student-athletes were honored by the league's Faculty Athletic Representatives. A member from that team, linebacker Kyle Pugh, and three-time selection Benn Olson headline this year's that features six two-time selections, five from last season's squad. Joining Pugh are long snapper Erik Abrell, punter Matt Ference, linebacker Nathan Harman, offensive lineman Benn Olson and tight end Liam Soraghan.
 
Center Brayden Patton and tight end Maximillian Thrower, who are both pursuing their Master's degree in sports management, recorded the highest grade point averages for the Huskies with each earning a 4.0 GPA. Both are first-time Academic All-MAC honorees as well.
 
All totaled, five offensive linemen, four linebackers, three tight ends, two wide receivers, two specialists and one defensive lineman were named to the All-MAC squad.
 
*Erik Abrell, Long Snapper, Sr., 3.71, Finance (Aurora, Ill.)
Miles Baggett, Defensive Lineman, Sr., 3.66, Sport Management (Chicago, Ill.)
Daniel Crawford, Tight End, Sr., 3.20, Enterprise Software (Macomb, Mich.)
Leif Engstrand, Offensive Lineman, RS-Fr., 3.78, History (Oconomowoc, Wis.)
*Matt Ference, Punter, Sr., 3.58, Marketing // Currently in MBA Program (St. Louis, Mo.)
*Nathan Harman, Linebacker, So., 3.31, Business Administration (Monticello, Ill.)
J.J. Lippe, Offensive Lineman, RS-Fr., 3.80, Leadership and Management (Milwaukee, Wis.)
Jyran Mitchell, Wide Receiver, So., 3.32, Business Management (Matteson, Ill.)
*+Benn Olson, Offensive Lineman, Sr., 3.68, Engineering Management (Burnsville, Minn.)
Brayden Patton, Center, Sr., 4.0, Sport Management (M.S.) (Elletsville, Ind.)
^Kyle Pugh, Linebacker, Sr., 3.8, Sport Management (M.S.) (Chicago Heights, Ill.)
Nick Rattin, Linebacker, So., 3.55, Finance (Palatine, Ill.)
*Liam Soraghan, Tight End, Jr., 3.23, Mechanical Engineering (Dearborn, Mich.)
Tristen Tewes, Linebacker, RS-Fr., 3.93, Environmental Studies (Pleasant Plains, Ill.)
Maximillian Thrower, Tight End, Sr., 4.0, Sport Management (M.S.) (Detroit, Mich.)
Mohamed Toure, Wide Receiver, RS-Fr., 3.35, Undecided (Irvington, N.J.)
Logan Zschernitz, Offensive Lineman, So., 3.71, Mechanical Engineering (Spencer, Wis.)
 
* - 2019 Academic All-MAC
+ - 2018 Academic All-MAC
^ - 2016 Academic All-MAC
 
The Academic All-MAC honor is for a student who has excelled in athletics and academics.  To qualify, a student must have at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA and have participated in at least 50 percent of the contests in that season. First-year students, junior college transfers in their first year of residence and four-year and grad transfers are not eligible for the award.
 
-NIU-