Football | August 24

DeKALB, IL – As the preseason has moved along for the Northern Illinois University football team, an added emphasis has been put on situational football. Whether it's a two-minute drill or just a third down, game situation experience can prove pivotal once the season starts.
 
One position group that is putting this into practice is the cornerbacks. Dan Jackson, in his second season at NIU as cornerbacks coach and pass defense coordinator, said that understanding each situation will be key to his group's success in 2021.
 
"The biggest thing that's going to make our group successful is understanding situational football," Jackson said. "It's physicality and tackling in the run game and it's having great discipline and having great eyes in man coverage. If they play with discipline, we'll be able to make an impact."
 
The cornerback group is led by 2020 Second Team All-Mid-American Conference selection Jordan Gandy (DeKalb, Ill./DeKalb/South Dakota State), who led NIU with 41 tackles and eight pass defenses. His seven pass breakups led the conference last season.
 
"Jordan is a guy who has played a lot of football," said Jackson. "He took so many reps for us last year that the game has been able to slow down for him. He's an explosive player with great speed. He had so many tackles a year ago because he's physical and does a great job getting off blocks. I'm excited about his growth, both physically and on the football field."
 
A pair of juniors that give this young group some experience are Dillon Thomas (Kansas City, Mo./Park Hill South) and Zhamaine March (Detroit, Mich./East English Village Prep). Thomas had 19 tackles, three pass defenses, two pass breakups and an interception in 2020. He has played 32 career games at NIU, playing both cornerback and safety. March has shown to be a physical player in the slot, making five tackles with a forced fumble in six games last season while being a contributor on special teams.
 
"Dillon's versatility gives him an opportunity to make a bunch of plays. He's made some really big flash plays in camp. He can play safety and corner for us. He's a utility guy that's doing a good job. March is a contact player. He plays with great technique and every day he's making flash plays. He's a guy that the staff trusts to go out there and make plays and I love his physicality."
 
Jackson also spoke highly of the growth of freshmen Myles McGee (Canton, Ga./Sequoyah) and Eric Rogers (Burlington, N.J./Burlington Township), players that were on the roster in 2020 and are ready to make their mark on the field this season.
 
"The biggest thing for Myles is he's grown mentally. He's an athletic kid and a smooth player with great ability. A year ago, the game was moving really fast for him. For Myles to have the game slowed down and him understand his job, that's why he's been making plays on the field in practice. Eric Rogers has gotten bigger in the offseason and now he's out here batting balls down and coming up with tackles. Eric may have grown the most from year one to year two of any player I have coached. He's been really impressive."
 
With a solid mix of veteran leadership and young talent, the NIU cornerbacks will be out to make plays and put the opposing offense in tough situations.
 
"We talk about eliminating explosive plays. For corners, that's typically getting off a block and making a tackle in a lot of space. They have to trigger fast, play through receivers, get off blocks and make tackles. We want versatility out of our guys to cover a number of positions, and with our youth a lot of them were just mastering the corner last year. Now that they understand the defense, we can move several guys around which gives us the chance to get our best guys on the field."
 
The Huskies were on the practice field at Huskie Stadium for two hours Tuesday morning after a day off Monday for the first day of classes. Both the offense and defense made plays in the final game-situation period of practice, which head coach Thomas Hammock noted was a time for the "iron to sharpen iron."
 
"We have to keep working on those situations," Hammock said. "When you have good-on-good, someone's going to come out on top. That's the whole point of sharpening each other so we can prepare for those situations. We've got to have 11 guys on each side of the field working together, and both sides have things they need to work on to get ready for tomorrow."
 
NIU opens the season at Georgia Tech on September 4 before welcoming fans back to the stands at full capacity in Huskie Stadium beginning with the home opener versus Wyoming on September 11. Kickoff for the game is at 12:30 p.m. (CT) and the game will honor First Responders and Health Care Heroes, while also serving as a Welcome Back Fans celebration. 
  
Season tickets for NIU's complete six-game home schedule remain on sale with season ticket prices as low as $85. Purchase a minimum of four tickets for all six games via the Family Pack for just $90 per ticket (in sections B and F) or $66 per ticket (in sections A and G). Three-game or four-game mini-plans are also available with Mission's 3-Game Mini-Plan priced at $79 (including processing), while Victor E.'s 4-Game Mini-Plan is $107. 
  
To see all the ticket options and prices, and for more information on premium seating, see the Football Ticket Page at NIUHuskies.com.  To purchase tickets, call 815-753-PACK (7225) or go to NIUHuskies.com/MyHuskies.  
 
-NIU-