The 5 best plays from NIU’s spring practice Wednesday

DeKALB – The second week of NIU’s spring practice began Wednesday, with the Huskies hitting the Chessick Center field to avoid the cold, wind and light snow outside.

After an early focus on the ground game in full-team drills, the playbook opened up.

Although the team was without big pieces such as quarterback Rocky Lombardi and receiver Trayvon Rudolph, there were some great plays in the team’s fourth of 15 practices. Here are five that stood out:

5. Saving the best for last

A little dive up the middle for a fullback might not seem like a monster play, but the way the team erupted after Brock Lampe took a handoff on the final play of team drills, you’d think they’d just won a national championship.

Lampe doesn’t carry and mostly blocks. But offensive and defensive players celebrated for almost a minute after his carry.

Coach Thomas Hammock said instead of a scoring system pitting offense against defense, it measures the things the teams need to do to win. That way, there’s more of a sense of working together while not eliminating competition. And since the metrics have improved every practice, he said, he thinks the team has responded well. Not to mention celebrating Lampe’s carry.

4. Back-to-back smacks

Davis Patterson took a handoff on a sweep and ran right into a one-man brick wall, defensive end Pierce Oppong.

On the very next play, Oppong was at it again, getting into the backfield and coming up with a tackle for a loss on a running back that appeared to be Gavin Williams.

The defensive line has had a strong showing so far. A strength last year, it may have actually improved even more.

3. The deep ball

Granted, this was only in 7-on-7 drills and not full-team practice like the other plays, but Ethan Hampton let rip a rocket that found Patterson on a perfectly placed pass in a lot of traffic. Hampton tossed both arms up to celebrate.

Patterson is part of a receiver corps that is still awaiting Rudolph’s return. But Hammock said the group is set up to be deep this year, adding that Patterson has been a pleasant surprise since transferring in from Notre Dame College. (Not that one.) He also said Keyshaun Pipkin is emerging as a go-to guy in the offense.

Hampton’s been the first quarterback used in most drills, followed by Nevan Cremascoli and then Justin Lynch. True freshman Mason Kidd has had limited reps. Hammock said he expects Lombardi to be cleared in the next week or two.

2. The turnover

Demond Taylor got the only turnover during full team drills, getting into the backfield – again the Huskies have been good at that this spring – and coming up with the ball, taking off for what may have been a touchdown.

Nate Valcarcel came close to an interception during 7-on-7s, getting his hands on a Cremascoli pass. Javaughn Byrd also came close, slapping down a Cremascoli pass in full team drills

1. The loss

Early in the full team drills, when the Huskies were working on runs only, Williams tried to find some room.

All he found was lineman Devonte O’Malley, who swallowed him up for a big loss.

Williams did get some payback later, taking off for more than 20 yards on an option handoff by Hampton. The defense went after Hampton, and Williams had a lot of turf in front of him. Williams also caught a short pass from Hampton that he turned into a large gain.