DeKALB, Ill. – A school record 24 Northern Illinois University football student-athletes have been named to the 2021 Academic All Mid-American Conference Team announced by the MAC Office Monday.
 
The MAC Champion Huskies ranked second among all MAC schools with 24 honorees and broke the previous NIU record for most Academic All-MAC players in a season, set last year when 17 NIU players earned the recognition.

Huskies Erik Abrell, Matt Ference and Liam Soraghan all garnered Academic All-MAC honors for the third time, while a quartet of NIU offensive linemen – Leif Engstrand, J.J. Lippe, Brayden Patton and Logan Zschernitz – joined tight end Tristen Tewes and linebacker Nick Rattin as two-time selections.
 
Nine of the 24 players honored qualified for Academic All-MAC status as graduate students. There were nine undergraduate and five graduate majors represented among the honorees.   
 
To qualify for the Academic All-MAC Team, a student-athlete must have at least a 3.20 cumulative GPA and have participated in at least 50 percent of the season's contests. First-year students and junior college transfers in their first year of residence are not eligible for the award. 
 
2021 NIU Football Academic All-MAC Selections
Name                                      Year                Major                                                                        GPA
Erik Abrell, LS                         Jr.-R                MBA (Grad)                                                              4.00
Braxton Chapman, RB            Jr.                    Exercise Physiology (Grad)                                     3.667
Ivan Davis, DE                         Fr.-C                Kinesiology                                                               3.587
Lance Deveaux Jr., LB            Sr. (6)              Sport Management (Grad)                                      3.734
Billy Dozier, WR                      Fr.-C                Sport Management                                                    3.21
Jay Ducker, RB                       Fr.-C                Health Sciences                                                       3.492
Leif Engstrand, OL                  Fr.-R                History                                                                      3.738
Matt Ference, P                      Sr.                   Finance (Grad)                                                         3.524
Miles Joiner, TE                      Jr.-R                MBA (Grad)                                                              3.557
Michael Kennedy, DE              Jr.-R                MBA (Grad)                                                                3.78
J.J. Lippe, OL                          Fr.-R                Leadership & Management                                     3.686
Pierce Oppong, DE                Fr.-C                Mechanical Engineering                                          3.917
Brayden Patton, C                  Sr.-R                Sport Management (Grad)                                      3.933
Nolan Potter, OT                     So.-R               Organizational/Corporate Communications            3.253
Clint Ratkovich, RB                 Sr.-R                MBA (Grad)                                                              3.734
Nick Rattin, LB                        So.                   Finance                                                                    3.589
Tyrice Richie, WR                   Sr.-R                Sport Management                                                  3.288
Liam Soraghan, TE                 Jr.-R                Mechanical Engineering                                          3.200
Tristen Tewes, TE                   Fr.-R                Environmental Studies                                             3.903
Raishein Thomas, DL              Fr.-C                Kinesiology                                                               3.700
Messiah Travis, WR                Fr.-R                Sport Management                                                  3.345
Cole Tucker, WR                    Jr.-R                Digital Marketing (Grad)                                          3.555
Jacob Waskow, DT                 Fr.-C                Undecided                                                               3.645
Logan Zschernitz, OG             Fr.-R                Mechanical Engineering                                          3.318

To see the complete Academic All-MAC team, go to MACsports.com (see link above).
 
-- NIU --