The NI-5: Five things to watch for in NIU’s season opener at Georgia Tech

The Northern Illinois football team is set to head to Georgia Tech on Saturday to open the season. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. on ACC Network.

The game itself isn’t only the first between the teams, it’s the first time the Huskies have played in Georgia or against a team from Georgia.

Here are five things to keep an eye on in the opener:

Containing a dual-threat QB in Georgia Tech’s Jeff Sims

As a true freshman, Sims threw for 1,881 yards in 10 games last year as Georgia Tech went 3-7. He also ran 170 times for 492 yards and six scores.

“We just have to make sure we attack the quarterback,” NIU safety Devin Lafayette said. “Make sure we get to him fast, try to get him out of the game early, whatever we can do possibly to hurt him or something. Just go ahead and get him out so he’s less of a stress.”

Third-year Georgia Tech coach Geoff Collins said Sims has been working throughout the offseason to become a better passer, having completed 54.9% of his passes last year with 13 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.

“His desire to be an elite quarterback is strong,” Collins said. “He’s learning our offense in its totality and also defenses and structures and how to redirect protections, how to take the run game. He’s been really good, so we’re excited for that to come together for him Saturday night and play at a high level because he really can.”

In last year’s 0-6 season, the Huskies had 11 sacks while giving up 14. James Ester had one of those sacks, as 10 different Huskies got to the quarterback last year.

Ester said getting pressure on Sims will be key.

“Obviously, we’re a very young group, but I think guys have progressed in a major way,” Ester said. “I think we’ve learned to get to the quarterback and press him. That’s going to be a major thing for us against Georgia Tech.”

Ester said the goal is to force Sims to stay in the pocket and turn him into a passer.

“The biggest thing for us is to make him win the game with his arm,” Ester said. “The run is going to be stopped. That’s definitely a major priority for us. They have a deep running back room and an athletic room. And just stopping the run, that’s the thing. Make him throw the ball and see what he does.”

NIU is searching for their first ‘Boneyard’ win since 2018

Anytime the Huskies visit a Power 5 school, they call it a Boneyard Game. The Huskies last won such a game in 2018, when they won, 7-6, at BYU. On top of that, Saturday will be a whiteout game for the Yellow Jackets, with the crowd all in white, a tradition that dates to 2008. Georgia Tech is 7-4 in whiteout games and has won five of its past six such games.

“We can’t be wowed and awed fro the whiteout or whatever else they have going on down there,” third-year NIU coach Thomas Hammock said. “This will be the first time playing in front of fans for a lot of guys. I think we need to embrace that. We need to want to be in that moment.”

Hammock said the team will need to play with poise and confidence in front of the energetic crowd. In addition to his team being loaded with “COVID” freshmen – players in their second year who played last year but did not use eligibility per NCAA rules – most of them did not play in front of crowds of any size last year.

The team played at Utah, Vanderbilt and Nebraska in Hammock’s first season, losing all three games.

Junior wide receiver Cole Tucker has played in all those games, plus games at Iowa and Florida State. He said the biggest thing in these games is to handle adversity.

“Playing in places like Iowa and Nebraska before get you ready,” Tucker said. “It might be cool at first, but it goes away within the first five minutes. You don’t even notice they’re there. The biggest thing I tell these guys is to block it all out. Obviously, the opposing fans are going to be rowdy. It’s the first game of the season. There’s going to be a whiteout, so they’re going to try and be in your head. But what happens on the football field is all that matters.”

Collins said it should be a great environment Saturday night.

“Excited about the whiteout,” Collins said. “I’ve said this many times, there’s nothing like a Saturday night game, downtown Atlanta, Bobby Dodd Stadium.”

What does the back end of the receiver chart look like?

Tyrice Richie made 53 catches last year, and Clint Ratkovich proved himself as a target out of the backfield at Western Illinois last season before transferring to NIU. Add in Tucker, and that’s an experienced trio for junior transfer Rocky Lombardi to target.

Trayvon Rudolph, who established himself as a top kick returner as a true freshman last year, had 14 catches for 232 yards but was held out of the end zone. Hammock said he is a dynamic player.

“He’s ahead of where he was last year, and he made quite a few plays for us last year,” Hammock said. “To have that experience in the six games, he was able to learn, plus all offseason, spring ball, summer conditioning, all those things you do to make yourself into a good player, he’s done.”

Hammock said he expects more of a contribution from three players who were redshirt freshmen last year and this year, Messiah Travis, Mohamed Toure and Fabian McCray. They combined for seven catches and one score, including five catches and a touchdown for Travis.

“Those guys have found a nice niche in our offense,” Hammock said. “We have to find creative ways to get them on the field where they can help us.”

Tucker said the group has gotten better in the offseason.

“I think the biggest jump from last season to this season is how mature they’ve gotten,” Tucker said. “With last year, it was kind of an awkward year. It was weird. But I think the step they’ve taken, pushing aside those outside matters, focusing on themselves, that’s the biggest step forward I’ve seen them take, and they’re ready to help the offense in a big way.”

How does Hammock balance what he expects to be a deep running back group?

Harrison Waylee led the Huskies with 491 rushing yards and 4.3 a carry in his true freshman year, while Erin Collins ran for 3.8 a carry after transferring into the program.

But things got a lot deeper this year with the addition of Ratkovich, true freshman Antario Brown and Jay Ducker, a freshman last year who was injured the whole season.

“They’ve got three really good running backs – two that are returners, one that is an elite 100-meter guy [Waylee], one that is a very physical runner that has some speed [Erin Collins],” Geoff Collins said. “Then there’s the freshman ... [Brown], a really, really good player. They want to run the football, and they’re very good at it.”

Hammock said the Yellow Jackets have a “twitchy” defense that blitzes from every angle. And when they attack the runner, they go for the ball.

“They do a tremendous job of taking the ball away,” Hammock said. “When they tackle, there are guys ripping at the ball actively. I’ve shown multiple clips. They do a great job of trying to rip the ball out. And as a former running backs coach, the importance of ball security, we got our work cut out for us.”

How does the youth of both rosters match up?

In information released by Georgia Tech, the 13 seniors on the roster is the fourth-fewest in the Football Bowl Subdivision. However, that list did not include NIU, which has only seven seniors and would be the second-fewest behind only Colorado.

Instead of a depth chart, Collins released what he calls “Above the Line,” a list of players that “are ready to play and can see game action. Of the 72 players, 25 are freshmen, which Collins said is the fewest in his three years with the program.

“That shows the development, the investment in building this roster the right way,” Collins said. “There’s going to be some young players that continue to develop and move up, but it’s nice to have so good quality experience so they don’t have to be thrown in the fire as fast as we might have had to in recent years.”

Hammock, instead of the school’s traditional two-deep roster, did the same thing to not put the Yellow Jackets at a competitive advantage, releasing a list of 75 players that could see playing time. Fifty of those were freshmen.

And for the freshmen on both teams, it will be the first time in front of a large crowd.

“All the true freshmen that played for us last year haven’t played for us in this place packed,” Collins said. “So just controlling their nerves early, get them into a rhythm, and get them used to playing in a big-time environment like this should be.”

Have a Question about this Daily Chronicle article?