Football | August 10
DeKALB, IL – It's often called the third phase of football, but Northern Illinois University head football coach Thomas Hammock knows special teams play just as crucial a role in a game as offense or defense."We spend a lot of time on special teams," said Hammock. "With that amount of time, there's an emphasis on it. We want to be great on special teams. We made a tremendous jump last year in that area. There's only 70 people that can get on that bus, and in the NFL the special teams guys make the team first. That's where we're at. We're trying to identify the guys that can make a difference on special teams."
"If you're great on special teams that says a lot about the team you have. We have a lot good athletes and physical players, and we have to take advantage of their skillsets to make sure they go out there and make plays."
One of those standout special teamers is second-year wide receiver and kick returner Trayvon Rudolph (Crete, Ill./Crete-Monee HS). A Freshman All-American and Second Team All-Mid-American Conference selection as a returner in 2020, Rudolph led the MAC and was second in the nation with 725 kick return yards. He was also among the top 10 players in the country in all-purpose yards per game with 159.50. Rudolph made some dynamic plays at wide receiver in Tuesday's practice, catching a pair of deep passes from quarterback Rocky Lombardi (Clive, Iowa/Valley HS/Michigan State).
"He had a lot of big returns last year, but now we're working on turning those into touchdowns," said Co-Special Teams Coordinator Nic MicKissic-Luke. "After a year in the weight room getting stronger, we hope he can get out of some of those tackles take those returns to the house for us."
"It's still important for us that Trayvon is a difference-maker in special teams," Hammock added. "You can change games in special teams. Those are opportunities for explosive plays, and instead of 40-yard plays make them touchdowns. He is here to be a dynamic wide receiver, and we have to find creative ways to find speed and space. He's a special player and we have to let him make plays when he has the opportunity."
A position of strength for the 2021 season for the NIU football team comes from its specialists in redshirt-junior long snapper Erik Abrell (Aurora, Ill./Aurora Christian/Western Illinois), senior punter Matt Ference (St. Louis, Mo./Lafayette) and redshirt-sophomore kicker John Richardson (Orland Park, Ill./Brother Rice). Abrell has played in 28 games over the last three seasons. Ference holds the NIU career punting yards (10,994) and career punting average (41.5 yards per punt) in his four-year career. He was named to the Ray Guy Award watch list earlier this summer. Richardson has not missed a point after touchdown in the last two seasons and was 7-for-9 on field goal attempts in 2020.
"Those are positions that you don't want to constantly keep changing," said Hammock. "These guys work hard, they are well-trained, and they understand the techniques of what they need to do to be efficient at their jobs. It's a very comforting feeling knowing that we can send the punt team out there and we got a guy that holds the team record for punt yards, or the field goal team with a kicker that's won games for us kicking field goals. We feel very confident in them. They give that unit a boost."
Tuesday's practice began with a one-on-one ball-carrier versus defender drill, which Coach Hammock noted was a chance to get the day started on a competitive beat and start the day strong.
"We always want to make practice as competitive as possible and break routines. Football is not a routine game. There are things that happen on schedule and things that are off schedule. We knew it was going to be hot today and that presented another element. We wanted to get them immediately locked in at the start of practice, and in order to do that we had a competitive drill at the beginning before sending them off to individual groups to work on their fundamentals."
The Huskies are back on the practice field Wednesday night when they will be in full pads for the first time this preseason.
NIU opens the season at Georgia Tech on September 4 before welcoming fans back to the stands at full capacity in Huskie Stadium beginning with the home opener versus Wyoming on September 11. Kickoff for the game is at 12:30 p.m. (CT) and the game will honor First Responders and Health Care Heroes, while also serving as a Welcome Back Fans celebration.
Season tickets for NIU's complete six-game home schedule remain on sale with season ticket prices as low as $85. Purchase a minimum of four tickets for all six games via the Family Pack for just $90 per ticket (in sections B and F) or $66 per ticket (in sections A and G). Three-game or four-game mini-plans are also available with Mission's 3-Game Mini-Plan priced at $79 (including processing), while Victor E.'s 4-Game Mini-Plan is $107.
To see all the ticket options and prices, and for more information on premium seating, see the Football Ticket Page at NIUHuskies.com. To purchase tickets, call 815-753-PACK (7225) or go to NIUHuskies.com/MyHuskies.
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NIU Football Position Preview: Specialists - Northern Illinois University Athletics
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