Football | August 14

DeKALB, IL – Like a lot of position groups on the 2025 Northern Illinois University football team, the Huskies' linebackers are experienced and ready to jump into more prominent roles this season in the NIU defense.
 
"We feel like we have five to six guys that give us some really good depth and versatility," said head coach Thomas Hammock. "Those guys give us a solid core in the middle of our defense."
 
The Huskies will have to replace its top two tacklers from a year ago with the graduation of Christian Fuhrman and Jaden Dolphin who had 61 and 60 tackles respectively. Redshirt-Senior Quinn Urwiler (Mooseheart, Ill./North Dakota) played in all 13 games last season and had 32 tackles. He had a season-high six stops against Toledo and four in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl victory over Fresno State.
 
"I was glad when I got here to see he was still around," said first-year linebackers coach Cory Connolly, who coached previously at Ball State before coming to NIU. "The moment I got here Quinn showed he's a great leader. I saw that right from the beginning of winter workouts, not just in the linebacker room but with the defense and the team as a whole. He had a really strong spring into summer and now fall camp. I really love where he's at right now."
 
Redshirt-Junior Jake Gassaway (Omaha, Neb./Millard South) also played in every game in 2024 with 25 tackles including three for loss and a quarterback sack. The Huskies will also look to a pair of transfers to fill out some depth in the group. Redshirt-Junior Marc Pretto (Montclair, N.J./Fordham) had played in five games a year ago. Senior Danny Cronin (Elmhurst, Ill./Dartmouth) comes home to Illinois after playing at Dartmouth and leading the Big Green to back-to-back Ivy League titles. In 2024 Cronin earned his second straight All-Ivy honorable mention honor after posting 54 tackles, four tackles for loss, a sack, and interception, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery.
 
"Everybody is competing for a role and we're still in the process of seeing what we have," Connolly said. "There's no clear cut starter and no one has any entitlement. That pushes everyone in the room, including myself, to be great every single day and be ready when your number is called."
 
"Coach Connolly has done a nice job with our linebacker corps," Hammock added. "They're playing at a tremendous level. Our defensive line really keeps them clean and allows them to make plays."     
 
NIU opens the 2025 season on Saturday, August 30 at 2:30 p.m. against Holy Cross at Huskie Stadium. Season and single game tickets are on sale now for the 2025 NIU Football season. Season ticket prices for NIU's six 2025 home games begin at as little as $110 each for a general admission ticket. With the purchase of the Huskie 4-Pack (four or more tickets), pay $110 each for a reserved seat in sections A, B or F on the West Side. Reserved west side seats are priced at $152 or $170 with discounts available for NIU alumni, NIU faculty/staff, DeKalb County residents, seniors (62+) and members of the Varsity Club (former student-athletes). Tickets are also on sale for NIU's road games at Maryland and Mississippi State though the NIU Athletics Ticket Office.
  
Purchase tickets for the 2025 NIU Football season anytime online at NIUHuskies.com/tickets. For more information, call the NIU Ticket Office at 815-753-PACK (7225) weekdays between 9 a.m.-5 p.m. or email huskiestickets@niu.edu. 
 
--NIU--