What to watch for when NIU opens its season against Eastern Illinois

The Northern Illinois University football team opens its season Thursday against in-state foe Eastern Illinois.

The game kicks off at 7 p.m. Thursday at Huskie Stadium in DeKalb and will air on ESPN+.

NIU won the last meeting between the teams, 38-10, in 2017. It’s the third meeting between the teams this century, with the Huskies also having won 43-39 in 2013.

Scouting the Panthers

Chris Wilkerson takes over the program at which he played from 1991-1995 after a 1-10 season. While only four starters are back on offense – three linemen and a tight end – nine are back on defense, including four with Ohio Valley Conference honors.

“There’s a lot of things we have to be prepared for from an offensive standpoint and a defensive standpoint,” fourth-year NIU head coach Thomas Hammock said. “Case in point, at the previous stop [Unviersity of Chicago for] Coach Wilkerson, they ran the ball for over 300 yards per game. Their starting running back [Markenzy Pierre] is 5-11, 230 pounds. That tells me they want to have a physical mentality and run the football. But then you look at some of the athletes they have at the wide receiver position, they have some guys that they are going to try and get the ball to in space.”

Three things to watch

1. More mature Huskies take the field

Since the 2020 COVID-shortened season, NIU has been one of the youngest college football programs. While not exactly laden with upperclassmen this year [nine seniors and eight juniors], the team still has 30 sophomores.

Nineteen of the offensive players and 24 of the defensive players listed on the two-deep rosters are sophomores or freshmen. But a lot of the sophomores, thanks to the COVID year not counting against eligibility, have three seasons under their belts.

“The great thing is we’re still a young football team,” Hammock said. “When I look at our roster, we only have so many seniors. So we have a young, experienced team which I think is good for the long-term of our program. ... That maturity allows you to have the confidence to say, ‘OK, these guys are checking off the boxes to get ready for Thursday.’ ”

2. Kyle Pugh is back for Year 8

After a medical redshirt for missing last year, Kyle Pugh is back for his eighth season with the Huskies.

A force when healthy, he’s expected to be among a group of four starting linebackers who return a ton of experience.

“I had to sit and watch last year,” Pugh said. “It’s kind of been brewing for a while now. I can’t really explain how excited I am.”

Defensive lineman James Ester said it was good to see Pugh back.

“He’s crazy. There’s no quit. There’s literally no quit,” Ester said. “That’s the type of guy you want to have leading your defense every time.”

3. Playing in-state foes

Hammock said he likes the atmosphere of playing in-state opponents and expects a good crowd on both sides at Huskie Stadium on Thursday.

But he also said he wished the Huskies got the chance to play the larger in-state schools as well. Northern Illinois, Illinois and Northwestern are the state’s only FBS programs.

“I think those types of things are great for college football,” Hammock said. “We would love to have an opportunity to play some bigger in-state schools. It should go both ways, in my opinion. Spread the wealth around. But I don’t control those things, obviously. But playing state schools and the rivalry and the camaraderie and all the kids who played each other at different levels, that’s what makes college football special.”

Pulse of the fans

Quick analysis

With a new coach for the Panthers, the Huskies are focusing on taking care of business. One of the more interesting things to keep an eye on is the turnover battle. The Huskies were one of the worst FBS teams in terms of forcing turnovers last year – as well as pressuring the quarterback. Coaches and players throughout the offseason have said those two things were directly related to each other. The line has been focused on improving, and not only is there a year more experience for most of the starters, but transfer Izayah Green-May has come from Wisconsin and is poised to help out.