Three Things Not to Expect at the Huskies' Spring Presentation – Shaw Local

NIU's spring football season ends Saturday with the annual Spring Showcase, the 15th and final practice the Huskies will hold.

Practice is open to the public and begins at 12 p.m. at Huskies Stadium. When it rains, the showcase is in the Chessick Center.

At this point, we know what we expected at the start of camp and what it looked like at the one-third and two-thirds marks. In the spirit of change, we would like to introduce you to three things here habit see Saturday.

A spring game

Coach Thomas Hammock was asked after the Huskies' 13th practice session on Tuesday whether he expected anything different from the team on Saturday in the slightly different atmosphere.

He simply answered no.

After a pause, he continued to explain that the team had put in a lot of work leading up to Saturday and that while both fans and recruits would be in attendance, the Huskies wouldn't be straining to prove a point.

In the past, the showcase under Hammock generally followed the same structure as a regular practice, perhaps with a slightly greater emphasis on full-team drills.

But while spring games at the Power 5 level have become huge TV events and in-person draws, NIU remains focused on a standard 15th-ranked practice.

An answer at the quarterback

That's not coming on Saturday. It probably won't happen until the season opener against Western Illinois on August 31st.

Hammock said there were three quarterbacks he felt separated themselves from the pack. He hasn't even named those three yet, even though they are Ethan Hampton, Josh Holst and Jalen Macon in terms of playing time.

Hampton is the incumbent, having started four games in his career as a backup to Rocky Lombardi, who graduated. Holst has seemingly moved up the depth chart. After spending the early part of the spring as the team's third-string quarterback, he stepped up to Macon on Tuesday.

Macon was third on Tuesday. Some of the worst plays came from him, as well as some of the best during his tumultuous day. He was intercepted by Amariyun Knighten and sacked by Devonte O'Malley, but he also threw a beautiful 30-yard bomb to Jalen Johnson.

So we'll see all three on Saturday. We simply won't know who will start against Western Illinois. And this question is unlikely to go away anytime soon.

A complacent defense

NIU ranked 23rd nationally in total defense last year, allowing 319.5 yards per game.

Hammock said that with nine starters down, the defense fought hard to maintain its lead and never became complacent. He said the physicality of the practices was a bright spot.

While three of last year's top five tacklers graduated, the top two – Ray Thomas and Jaden Dolphin – will be back for 2024. Linebacker Christian Fuhrman comes from southeast Missouri State to handle much of the load that Tyler Jackson shouldered last year.

All five players who had an interception (O'Malley, JaVaughn Byrd, Muhammad Jammeh, Nate Valcarcel and Cyrus McGarrell) return this year. Of the six players who had more than one sack, Ray Thomas, O'Malley, Neveah Sanders and Roy Williams return.

The defense had 27 quarterback hurries last year and players who combined for 16 of them are back.

Pick a defensive metric, any metric, and the Huskies are probably brimming with talent. And they really want to show that they are even better than last year.