NIU football: Huskies making adjustments to take next step

CHICAGO – Northern Illinois is preparing to take its next step after a historic season last year.

After becoming the first FBS team to win its conference championship game one year after going winless, the Huskies have spent the summer working on building off of last season’s success and taking another step as a program.

“You can tend to be complacent, you can tend to be happy with whatever happened, but I think our main goal is to repeat and do it all again,” linebacker Nick Rattin said. “Keeping that edge all season long is going to help us.”

NIU head coach Thomas Hammock and players previewed the season at Harry Caray’s in Chicago on Thursday as part of their Chicago Media Day.

Much of last season’s Mid-American Conference championship and 9-5 overall record happened because NIU won close games. The Huskies won six of their nine games that ended within a touchdown, including three games by one point each.

NIU spent the offseason working on situations where the team needed to make plays in order to take a large lead, like extending a drive on third down, not committing a penalty or turning the ball over.

“Knowing that we can really stomp on teams is going to be a thing for us,” Rattin said. “When we get that opportunity, we need to take advantage of it.”

Hammock said this season’s team is faster, stronger and bigger, which will help them find their edge in those close games and he also is excited with its depth. NIU will have 22 returning starters, 14 on defense, and they add 10 transfers.

Despite the large number of returning players, the Huskies haven’t become content and plan to cruise through the season. This year’s team has a better mix of veterans and younger players and has created competition at each position that hasn’t allowed any player to get too comfortable.

Rattin and wide receiver Cole Tucker have noticed that the younger players haven’t only taken their lifting and studying the playbook more seriously than in the past, but they’ve also conducted themselves maturely outside of football, which they think translates to success on the football field.

“I think we’re a lot more mature,” Tucker said. “We have a better understanding of what it takes to win a football game.”

The Huskies will quickly learn if they’re ready to take that next step during the nonconference portion of their schedule. NIU starts the season Sept. 1 by hosting Eastern Illinois and then will travel to Tulsa before taking on SEC opponents Vanderbilt and Kentucky, respectively.

Each team will provide a test for NIU as it tries to see whether the improvements the Huskies have made over the offseason will help them take that next step.

“You never quite understand where you are until you face some adversity,” Hammock said. “I think the nonconference [games] give us some adversity. We’re going to be in tough football games early. How are we going to respond?”