DeKALB, Ill. – With snow and sleet coming down outside, the Northern Illinois University football team held spring practice number seven inside the comfort of the Chessick Practice Center Saturday afternoon.
 
The Huskies practiced for approximately two hours in full pads, with practice periods following a similar pattern throughout the spring with special teams periods interspersed with 11-on-11 periods in the latter half of practice, after starting with fundamental drills, seven-on-seven and offensive line versus defensive line sessions. Coming out the day after a Friday night practice, NIU head coach Thomas Hammock was pleased with the energy and intensity, not just Saturday but throughout the first seven practices.
 
"I think it's been intense, there's been a lot of back and forth, give and take with offense, defense and special teams," Hammock said. "We are a lot more physical football team on both sides of the ball. There is contact out there. We've added a couple tweaks to practice to try and maximize the conditioning aspect to make them feel the stress of pushing through, being brilliant in the fundamentals and they've handled it exceptionally. I've been very, very pleased with our football team and the direction we're headed."
 
The offense appeared to have the better of Saturday's scrimmage sessions. Multiple backs, including a healthy Harrison Waylee, and two receivers currently working as running backs in Billy Dozier and Isaiah Bragg, ripped off long runs through holes created by the Huskies' veteran offensive line and then making defenders miss at the second and third levels.
 
Afterwards, Hammock talked about the strength of the offensive line.
 
"[The first thing you notice is] the cohesion, right? You have four guys that played every game last year, and [freshman center] Pete Nygra has done a phenomenal job since the day he walked on campus," Hammock said. "They gained a lot of chemistry and valuable experience [last year], and they come out here and they are a unit. We also have depth; we have guys behind [the first five] that have played a lot in Evan Buss and John Champe. Coach Agpalsa has done a great job with that group of men, refining their skills, making sure they are excellent on fundamentals. I'm excited about that group."
 
The aim with having Dozier and Bragg work at running back is about one of Hammock's other goals of spring which is to continue to build depth.
 
"Last year I told our team, the strength of our team is our depth," Hammock said. "Now, we have more depth and more experience. So how do we take that up a couple more notches in our preparation to separate and continue to separate. That's what we're trying to do, look at different things where we can have a chance to assess what players can do in case a situation arises where you don't want to burn a kid's redshirt. Billy has done a phenomenal job; he's extremely intelligent and can play wide receiver and running back. He can be a college version of [49ers RB/WR] Deebo Samuel, or something like that. He gives us more depth and I think over the course of a 12-game season, especially at the running back position, you need to build as much depth as possible."
 
Defensively, Hammock said he has been pleased with the development of younger players and the competition he sees on that side of the ball.
 
"Guys are making tremendous jumps," he said. "If you look at our defense line, linebackers and secondary, you see all young guys that are fighting for playing time. They've embraced that aspect and they're putting themselves in position to make contributions on our defense. The goal of the spring this year was to build our team, not counting anybody that's coming in in the summer. Even though somebody may come in here and surprise us, we want to build our team and be ready, and then if the surprise happens, it happens."
 
The Huskies return to the practice field Monday morning and will close out spring drills on Saturday, April 16 at the NIU Football Spring Showcase, beginning at 10 a.m. at Huskie Stadium. A complete schedule of practices, as well as the latest coverage, a spring roster and more, is available online at NIU Spring Football Central on NIUHuskies.com.
 
Season tickets for the six-game NIU football home schedule are NOW on sale at NIUHuskies.com or by calling 815-753-PACK (7225) Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Season ticket prices start at just $97 for all six games for general admission East Side tickets, or purchase a minimum of four reserved season tickets through the Huskie Plan for the discounted prices of $102 (sections B, F) or $88 (sections A, G) each.

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