First Four Scouting: NIU Watch

[Brad]

NIU football: Defensive line to face tough test with stellar RBs in non-conference play

 

By JESSE SEVERSON- jseverson@shawmedia.com

 

DeKALB – The Northern Illinois run defense is going to get tested early and often during non-conference play.

 

The Huskies are set to face off against three consecutive 1,000-yard rushers to start the season and senior defensive end Ladell Fleming is ready for any challenge as they had their first full-pads practice of training camp on Thursday.

"We just have to make sure our conditioning is right and with the way we're conditioning, we should be good," Fleming laughed at the Huskies final media day earlier in the afternoon. "I like when teams run at us. If you stop them with the run, it's that feeling of being able to stop them from going straight through your defense. When we're able to stop the run, it's a huge deal for me."

First up in the line of three stellar backs against the Huskies is junior Brian Hill, when Northern Illinois opens its season on Sept. 3 at Wyoming. Hill, who came to the Cowboys from Belleview, ran for 1,631 yards and six touchdowns in 12 games last year – good for 135.9 per game. He was eighth in the country in both total rushing yards and yards per game, despite the Cowboys finishing 2-10.

"I don't look at it as a test – I mean, it's a game," Northern Illinois coach Rod Carey said of facing the slew of talented running backs in non-conference play. "Listen, Hill is a great running back, certainly proved that running the ball. They ran the ball against everybody, it didn't matter. I don't care about their record, they just ran the ball well against everybody. He's certainly a good player and we'll have to have it buttoned up and be ready to get him down."

The Huskies then face South Florida running back Marlon Mack (1,381 yards, eight touchdowns) and dual-threat quarterback Quinton Flowers (991 rushing yards, 12 touchdowns) before taking on San Diego State's Donne Pumphrey, who had 1,653 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns and was the Mountain West Conference Offensive Player of the Year.

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[Paisa el Toro]

NIU could be like Ball State, if we don't bring focus to the game. We've got to play mistake-free ball and exploit our speed against these MAC teams.