Football | August 22

DeKALB, Ill. –  The Northern Illinois University football team capped the third week of fall camp with a team scrimmage on Saturday evening. NIU Football Coach Rob Harley enjoyed seeing his team answer and adjust in live competition.

"I think putting them in situations and seeing who rising to the moment and who took a few minutes to adjust, you saw both on each side, and each responded," said Harley. "We try to put them in as many competitive situations as we can get to see them respond, negatively or positively, and see what's the next play going to look like. I was really pleased with that."

The Huskies practice schedule will adjust with classes set to begin Monday, Aug. 24. The big focus during the last three weeks has been fundamentals and basics. With the shift in schedule comes an additional ingredient to the mix: the opponent.

"If we don't know some of the basics now through fall camp, we'll never know them. Obviously, we'll continue to work on the small things but shifts to situational football and what your opponents do well," said Harley.

NIU will face its first opponent in 14 days, traveling to Iowa on Sept. 5 before hosting Illinois State on Sept. 12.

Redshirt sophomore tight end Jason Fowler (Skokie, Ill./Niles West) is entering his third fall camp with the Huskies. Through camp, he's been encouraged by the big plays from the offense and the tight ends improvement in the run game.

"The offense has been doing good, I feel like we're starting to gel more. More big plays and chemistry," said Fowler. "We've become a lot more dominate of blockers … we don't lose a beat no matter who is in right now."

The Huskies running back room has a history of churning out productive backs and this season should be no different. This week, running back Telly Johnson Jr. (Augusta, Ga. / Hephzibah) was named as a preseason candidate for the 2026 Doak Walker Award.

Running Backs Coach Ty Boles is entering his fourth season with NIU and his second as the RB coach. Always bringing energy and enthusiasm on the sidelines, Boles said one of the focuses this offseason was contact balance to finish hard-earned yards.

"The strength of this group is on any given play this group can go the distance and have an 80-yard touchdown," said Boles. "Those guys really do a good job of making corners and safeties miss and capitalize on the o-line's great blocks. Any play can be explosive and change the game."

First-year Offensive Coordinator / Quarterbacks Coach Tony Petersen joins the Huskies after helping Illinois State reach the FCS Championship last season. The veteran play caller likes what he's seen from the offense the through fall camp.

"Up front we're doing a nice job, quarterbacks are making good decisions, happy with the wide outs, tight ends … our guys are coming out and grinding every day and getting one percent better," Petersen said. "All of (the quarterbacks) are locked in. We always talk about quarterbacks making great decisions, throwing the ball on time and being accurate. If we can do those things, we're doing pretty good."