Football | August 23

DeKALB, Ill. – "Coach, who's the quarterback?" It's the question, Northern Illinois University head coach Thomas Hammock has heard time and time again in 2024, going all the way back to before the start of spring practices.
 
Lately, he's heard it at the Huskie Summer Circuit events in early June, at the Brigham-Novak Golf Tournament in July, at the Mid-American Conference Media Day in Canton, Ohio, Chicago Media Day at Harry Caray's and DeKalb Media Day early in preseason camp. His answer has been consistent. There's a competition that will be decided during fall camp.
 
Following spring ball, Hammock put junior Ethan Hampton, redshirt freshman Josh Holst and Arkansas Pine-Bluff transfer Jalen Macon into the top tier of candidates to replace Rocky Lombardi.  With fall camp concluded on Wednesday and the team's attention turned to the season opener versus Western Illinois in eight days, Hammock revealed that either Macon or Hampton will be the starter.  While Hammock admits that he – and the team – know where the quarterback position stands, he still is not going to answer the question publicly before August 31.
 
"The quarterbacks know who is playing, but there's no advantage for us to announce who the quarterback is at this time," Hammock said. "The decision was made. I spoke to each quarterback and we're moving forward, preparing to play Western Illinois."
 
The competition has convinced Hammock and quarterbacks coach Eric Eidsness, that no matter who is playing, the quarterback position is in good hands.
 
"I like where the quarterback position is," Hammock said. "It is the best room that we've had since I've been here. Collectively, all those guys in that room can play. We feel like we have three guys that we certainly can win with, and that's a lot more than what we've had in the past. You may package things a little bit differently, depending on the player, but I have complete confidence that those guys can go out there and execute at a high level."
 
"I'm proud of the room, proud of their growth," Eidsness said. "I think the biggest thing I tell guys is you don't have to be THAT guy. You have to be you, and however you can move the chains and get first downs and put the ball in the end zone, that's how you have to do it. The next guy may do it a totally different way. We can be successful with both."
 
Of the three top QBs – who are joined in the room by true freshman Luke Marble and junior college transfer Kenny Lueth – Hampton brings the most experience at NIU. The Elburn, Illinois (Aurora Christian HS) product has played in 10 games and started four over the last three seasons. In 2022, he started three games after Lombardi went down and completed 72-of-122 passes for 798 yards and seven touchdowns before suffering a season-ending injury himself. He saw spot duty behind Lombardi last year and enters 2024 with nearly 1,000 passing yards (968) in those 10 appearances.
 
"Ethan, obviously, he's been in the system," Eidsness said. "Every year there are nuances to it, but he's still ahead of the game as far as knowing just the operation and how to do it. He's learned from previous quarterbacks how to handle a receiver room, how to handle a tight end room, how to get in and coach them up because it has to come from the players, and he's learned that."
 
Macon brings 10 games of experience at Arkansas Pine-Bluff, where he threw for 937 yards and five touchdowns on 85-of-136 passing over the last two seasons. The biggest of the quarterbacks at 6-5, 230 pounds, the Nashville, Tennessee (Hillsboro HS) product has made impressive strides since arriving at NIU in January.
 
"Jalen is a very good athlete with a strong arm," Eidsness said. "His ceiling is very, very high. Day one, when he got here in the winter not knowing the cadence, not knowing a formation, not knowing alignment, we're not even talking about reads and throws. So there is a lot to know and he has come so far in what he's doing."
 
Marengo, Illinois' Holst spent 2023 running the Huskies' compete team, facing the NIU defense each day.
 
"Josh Holst is kind of a combination of [Hampton and Macon]," Eidsness said. "He's very athletic. He runs well, throws well and he probably anticipates as well as anybody in the room [in terms of] getting the ball out early, getting it out on time. It's important that they look at it as a group, even though you're competing. We have to grow together. You always tell them you're one play away from playing, so if you're not that guy, you have to be ready to be that guy and I think they took that approach. I've seen really good competition. I've seen guys get better, and I've seen guys support each other."
 
On Friday, the Huskies practiced against a "compete" team for the first time while preparing for the opener versus Western Illinois and Hammock liked the way the Huskies worked.
 
"These guys are very professional in their approach," Hammock said. "They understand we're eight days away from a game, and obviously we need to focus on the opponent, and not necessarily the opposite side of the ball. I love the focus. I love the way the compete team came out and tried to make sure they made it as competitive as possible to give the best look possible."
 
The Huskies continue preparation for Western Illinois with practices on Saturday and Sunday before NIU classes begin on Monday.
 
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