DeKALB, Ill. – Northern Illinois University head coach Thomas Hammock put his Huskie football team through the longest scrimmage session of 2022 spring practices Saturday at Huskie Stadium as the defending MAC Champions continued what Hammock has termed an "excellent" spring.
  
"We got done what we wanted to accomplish today," Hammock said after the two-hour practice with approximately two thirds of it spent in 11-on-11 team periods. "Guys came out with an edge, with a chip on their shoulders. They're competing, they're giving themselves an opportunity to help us in the fall and I couldn't be more excited about where we are right now."
 
Although he declined to declare either the offense or defense the "winner" of Saturday's 11th (of 15) spring sessions before getting the scored results, Hammock was pleased to see the offense rebound after cutting Friday night's practice short.
 
"It's a tough one [to call] today, I couldn't tell you [who won the day]," Hammock said. "I thought that the defense got after [the offense] yesterday, and I thought the offense responded well [today], so I'll be very curious to see how it all scores out."
 
Quarterback Rocky Lombardi connected with Trayvon Rudolph for a touchdown on one of the offense's standout plays Saturday, and quarterbacks also hit tight end George Gumbs multiple times, including for a touchdown during red zone situations. Newcomer Justin Lynch found Messiah Travis for a TD and Harrison Waylee handled nearly all of the running back duties with the first team while Billy Dozier ran hard with the twos.
 
Hammock has continually praised the play this spring of starting quarterback Rocky Lombardi and has seen enough from back-ups Jeffery Lomax and Justin Lynch (with redshirt freshman Ethan Hampton sitting out), to give him confidence in the Huskies' future at that position.

"We have some good depth at the quarterback position," Hammock said. "Jeff Lomax and Justin Lynch have really stepped up. They've given us some options to think about how we want to game plan and how we want to go out and execute and who deserves snaps. Ethan will be back in the summer, so we feel like the quarterback position is solidified for a long time."
 
A similar situation exists along the offensive line where NIU returns four starters and redshirt freshman Pete Nygra is already established as the heir apparent to 2021 center Brayden Patton. This spring, Hammock has seen multiple players show that they are ready to step up and step in when the opportunity arises.
 
"We feel like we have three or four more guys that can help us win," Hammock said. "John Champe, Tyler Pitcel, Matt Schooley, Evan Buss, and one of our young freshmen, Drew Hoth, are doing a nice job. We have a chance to have 10 guys that we can go win with and that's a lot more than we had last year, and then there are some younger guys being developed in the pipeline."
 
On the opposite line, the absence of James Ester, Devonte O'Malley and Cade Haberman - all out this spring – has provided an opportunity for young players like Jalonnie Williams and Jaden Wilson to make significant strides.
 
"The depth of our line is phenomenal," Hammock said. "We have three guys that are all starter type guys that aren't practicing, but what that has allowed us to do is develop a young guy like Jalonnie Williams, who we think has maybe the most upside in the program on the D line. He's gotten stronger. Now he's come out here and executed and used his length to his advantage. Jaden Wilson is also a young man who has played some defensive end, he played some interior defensive line, and he's making a lot of plays. When we get to the summer, we will probably have seven interior defensive linemen that we're going to have confidence that we can play."
 
Defensively on Saturday, veteran Michael Kennedy continued to be active at defensive end as he had a pass break up as did linebacker Nick Rattin, while newcomer Jordan White took a tipped ball back for a pick six. With quarterbacks and Waylee in red "no touch" jerseys and the defense not taking players to the ground, sacks and TFLs were difficult to judge.
 
Hammock said that lack of tackling has been intentional so as to protect teammates.
 
"It's been a very competitive spring and we tried to back them off a little bit," Hammock said. "Our size and physicality have increased. For a head coach, it's a little bit scary watching some of those contacts, but guys have confidence in their abilities, they have confidence in their training; they trust the coaches and they're going out there and trying to execute at a high level."
 
There are four practices remaining with the final session set for next Saturday at 10 a.m. as NIU will hold its "Spring Showcase."  Fans are invited to come out, watch practice, purchase their season tickets for the 2022 campaign and, following practice, kids 13 and younger will take the field for the Victor E. Huskie Egg Hunt. NIU players will assist the youngsters – who will be separated by age group – in collecting the candy treats and will sign autographs.  Detailed information on all the activities surrounding the Spring Showcase, including the egg hunt, Huskie Athletic Fund Donor Appreciation Lunch, select a seat, premium seat areas and more, will be online Monday at NIUHuskies.com.
   
-- NIU --