Hampton got knocked around good. And Rocky's leg will be iffy for the rest of the year I'm betting.

So...we will see one, maybe more games, where we live or die with Lynch.

And remember Tommy Fiedler, he was what, the 5th or 6th on the depth chart, and started a bowl game for us.

My new prediction is we'll see much more Lynch, and maybe other QBs. Not that we want to, but we'll need to.

Look for that transfer portal to get us a QB next year too.

The question is do we burn his redshirt? That was the plan per both Lynch and Ham. We can use him in 3 more games and he keeps his redshirt.

(09-24-2022 09:20 PM)NIU84 Wrote:  Look for that transfer portal to get us a QB next year too.

I'll take Mike Wright from Vanderbilt. He can't be happy with getting benched for a true freshman.

(09-24-2022 09:23 PM)NILAW Wrote:  The question is do we burn his redshirt? That was the plan per both Lynch and Ham. We can use him in 3 more games and he keeps his redshirt.

I get the feeling we'll have to make that decision this year.

(09-24-2022 09:25 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(09-24-2022 09:20 PM)NIU84 Wrote:  Look for that transfer portal to get us a QB next year too.

I'll take Mike Wright from Vanderbilt. He can't be happy with getting benched for a true freshman.

He's a dual threat isn't he?

As for my prediction after here on out, we win the MAC yet again.

(09-24-2022 09:27 PM)HawaiiToNIU Wrote:  

(09-24-2022 09:25 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(09-24-2022 09:20 PM)NIU84 Wrote:  Look for that transfer portal to get us a QB next year too.

I'll take Mike Wright from Vanderbilt. He can't be happy with getting benched for a true freshman.

He's a dual threat isn't he?

He is. He had 6 passing TDs (only 1 INT) and 264 yards rushing on 32 carries in 2.5 games. They benched him in their game vs. Wake Forest.

(09-24-2022 09:32 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(09-24-2022 09:27 PM)HawaiiToNIU Wrote:  

(09-24-2022 09:25 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(09-24-2022 09:20 PM)NIU84 Wrote:  Look for that transfer portal to get us a QB next year too.

I'll take Mike Wright from Vanderbilt. He can't be happy with getting benched for a true freshman.

He's a dual threat isn't he?

He is. He had 6 passing TDs (only 1 INT) and 264 yards rushing on 32 carries in 2.5 games. They benched him in their game vs. Wake Forest.

GIMME GIMME GIMME. But Nebraska is more likely to get him, with how thirsty they are for anything right now.

I think Hampton is fine. He was back in on the 2pt conversion. Think he just got the wind knocked out of him on that long ball to Rut. Rocky can't be in too bad of shape or they wouldn't be letting him be all over the place on the sideline, he'd be at home with that leg up. If all they want Lynch for is a change of pace/runner, then Fletcher can do the same thing and keep Lynch's RS, if it came to that. If it came down to no Lombardi or Hampton at all, I wouldn't care if they burned Lynch, mainly because I personally don't believe he is the #1 guy down the road. Don't see a need to go to the portal in the offseason either, unless someone leaves. Next year would be Hampton, Lynch, Fletcher, Lomax, Cremascoli, and the FR coming in, Kidd, looks legit. However, with the o-line, backs and receivers that are coming back, and the success of Lombardi...If Hammock felt compelled to go out and get a transfer, I think it would be a pretty attractive situation.

Did Rocky get a leg injury in camp? They have obviously removed his running option from the offense because he is susceptible to re-injury. There are going to be situations where that aspect of his game will be missed. Seems the injury bug isn’t just removing players but limiting them as well.

Hampton was solid. He made a jump from last week and that’s all you can ask of a young, inexperienced player. I’ll have a rewatch today to see who really did well but it was nice to see Tewes have a decent game. We really need someone at TE to be some kind of threat. Especially in the red zone

All in all Hampton did pretty well, and the play calling was certainly better. They opened up the book a little bit and it showed.


I doubt if Rocky's injury will keep him out for the year, but if it did, I wonder if he'd come back next year if he got a medical redshirt.

(09-24-2022 10:07 PM)TXHuskieJA26 Wrote:  I think Hampton is fine. He was back in on the 2pt conversion. Think he just got the wind knocked out of him on that long ball to Rut. Rocky can't be in too bad of shape or they wouldn't be letting him be all over the place on the sideline, he'd be at home with that leg up. If all they want Lynch for is a change of pace/runner, then Fletcher can do the same thing and keep Lynch's RS, if it came to that. If it came down to no Lombardi or Hampton at all, I wouldn't care if they burned Lynch, mainly because I personally don't believe he is the #1 guy down the road. Don't see a need to go to the portal in the offseason either, unless someone leaves. Next year would be Hampton, Lynch, Fletcher, Lomax, Cremascoli, and the FR coming in, Kidd, looks legit. However, with the o-line, backs and receivers that are coming back, and the success of Lombardi...If Hammock felt compelled to go out and get a transfer, I think it would be a pretty attractive situation.

Honestly I forgot about Fletcher, but he has past game experience too. I guess Lynch is a stronger runner, so for a change of pace vs a big time opponent, they took him. But gotta agree Fletcher is the option to avoid the rs burn issue.

One other thought. Given that Hampton looked solid, I wonder if that takes pressure off of Rocky to force a early return, and take another week to heal. We have Toledo after BSU, would love to see a healthy-as-possible Rocky go for that game.

(09-25-2022 07:56 PM)NIU84 Wrote:  

(09-24-2022 10:07 PM)TXHuskieJA26 Wrote:  I think Hampton is fine. He was back in on the 2pt conversion. Think he just got the wind knocked out of him on that long ball to Rut. Rocky can't be in too bad of shape or they wouldn't be letting him be all over the place on the sideline, he'd be at home with that leg up. If all they want Lynch for is a change of pace/runner, then Fletcher can do the same thing and keep Lynch's RS, if it came to that. If it came down to no Lombardi or Hampton at all, I wouldn't care if they burned Lynch, mainly because I personally don't believe he is the #1 guy down the road. Don't see a need to go to the portal in the offseason either, unless someone leaves. Next year would be Hampton, Lynch, Fletcher, Lomax, Cremascoli, and the FR coming in, Kidd, looks legit. However, with the o-line, backs and receivers that are coming back, and the success of Lombardi...If Hammock felt compelled to go out and get a transfer, I think it would be a pretty attractive situation.

Honestly I forgot about Fletcher, but he has past game experience too. I guess Lynch is a stronger runner, so for a change of pace vs a big time opponent, they took him. But gotta agree Fletcher is the option to avoid the rs burn issue.

One other thought. Given that Hampton looked solid, I wonder if that takes pressure off of Rocky to force a early return, and take another week to heal. We have Toledo after BSU, would love to see a healthy-as-possible Rocky go for that game.

We need to handle our business with Toledo and CMU. It’s going to come down to us and those 2 with H2H probably deciding a tie breaker. I’m guessing all three go 6-2. So if Rocky isn’t 100 for ball st we could roll out Hampton and a loss would be tolerable if it gets Rocky totally healthy for Toledo.

After the losses to Tulsa and 2 P5s, I (like others) revised my own outlook for the "next level" this season. Yeah, those three losses hurt, considering how the Huskies lost. But that's (redundant cliche here) "past history." We can still take that next step up.

That step is win a bowl. Any bowl. The streak is 0-7. That has to stop, and I think this is the team that can do it. NIU cannot pull an RC in the "Vacation Bowl." That'd be 0-8, and that kind of attention we don't want.

Bowl games -- like o-o-c games -- are where the team steps off into the big bad world where somebody else gives a damn and there is attention to be gained. How much doesn't matter. It's still there.

Being honest, nobody except the MAC gives a rat's patootie how NIU does within the conference. To me that's a launcing pad, up and out there.

So my bid for "after Kentucky" is just that: bowl win. Now NIU has to get there. A 6-2 MAC record should do it. A MACC would guarantee it.

I felt Hampton played fairly well in both games. I think coaching decisions during the Tulsa and Vandy game cost us those games. We had our chances against a superior KTY team. The dropped interception would have really made a difference and the onside kick was so close to working. Those 2 plays kept us from really having s shot to upset KTY.

Hampton to me has good potential, but Rocky is has better team leadership and management skills then Hampton. But, who is to say that once Rocky graduates, Hampton wont step up in those areas.

This team has good potential to win the MAC still. The players we lost early this year will be back next year and if Hampton makes the jump, we should be in decent shape on offense. Defense, is another matter.
Poor tackling has cost us in every game so far. It just seems that we get to the QB, but dont wrap them up. It seems like we just cant finish many plays. We either give up a touchdown (Vandy) or give up a first down. Poor tackling has cost us a lot. I guess we always have room to improve.

If we get healthier, particularly with Rocky quick, I see no reason why we cannot run the table in the MAC. I agree the "next step" is to win a bowl game this year, but need to maintain MAC dominance as well.

Any “next step” NIU takes will be the next time they find a super star type player. A Lynch, Golladay or Smith. Guys who can turn a game around all by themselves. You saw how we lost to Vandy and Tulsa. Big plays created by individual talent. Without game breaker you really do have to win the hard way.

I know a lot of us have pie in the sky dreams of bigger bowls and such, but until we get a superstar or two we should be realistic about MACC’s being the goal. Of course a bowl win should also be expected but we know 90% of bowls are just who-cares match ups.

When you look back at the 2012 team we are talking about our greatest QB ever. Our 2nd all-time leading WR. A 1st rd draft pick safety. A 10 yr nfl corner. 2 NFL WRs. An NFL D-tackle. A NFL TE. That’s the lightening in a bottle a MAC team has to catch to have any kind of meaningful bowl.

(09-26-2022 11:43 AM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  Any “next step” NIU takes will be the next time they find a super star type player. A Lynch, Golladay or Smith. Guys who can turn a game around all by themselves. You saw how we lost to Vandy and Tulsa. Big plays created by individual talent. Without game breaker you really do have to win the hard way.

I know a lot of us have pie in the sky dreams of bigger bowls and such, but until we get a superstar or two we should be realistic about MACC’s being the goal. Of course a bowl win should also be expected but we know 90% of bowls are just who-cares match ups.

When you look back at the 2012 team we are talking about our greatest QB ever. Our 2nd all-time leading WR. A 1st rd draft pick safety. A 10 yr nfl corner. 2 NFL WRs. An NFL D-tackle. A NFL TE. That’s the lightening in a bottle a MAC team has to catch to have any kind of meaningful bowl.

I think we had that with Rudolph, but won't ever know how it could have been with him and Rocky for one more season. Reminds me of TLL, just bigger.

Currently projected to go to the Barstool Bowl vs SDSU. I'll take it.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/sports.yaho...27114.html

(09-26-2022 12:53 PM)HuskiePride12 Wrote:  

(09-26-2022 11:43 AM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  Any “next step” NIU takes will be the next time they find a super star type player. A Lynch, Golladay or Smith. Guys who can turn a game around all by themselves. You saw how we lost to Vandy and Tulsa. Big plays created by individual talent. Without game breaker you really do have to win the hard way.

I know a lot of us have pie in the sky dreams of bigger bowls and such, but until we get a superstar or two we should be realistic about MACC’s being the goal. Of course a bowl win should also be expected but we know 90% of bowls are just who-cares match ups.

When you look back at the 2012 team we are talking about our greatest QB ever. Our 2nd all-time leading WR. A 1st rd draft pick safety. A 10 yr nfl corner. 2 NFL WRs. An NFL D-tackle. A NFL TE. That’s the lightening in a bottle a MAC team has to catch to have any kind of meaningful bowl.

I think we had that with Rudolph, but won't ever know how it could have been with him and Rocky for one more season. Reminds me of TLL, just bigger.

I think Rudolph is right on the cusp of a super star player. Definitely a guy who can change game momentum in one play.

(09-26-2022 01:09 PM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  

(09-26-2022 12:53 PM)HuskiePride12 Wrote:  

(09-26-2022 11:43 AM)Rabid Squirrel Wrote:  Any “next step” NIU takes will be the next time they find a super star type player. A Lynch, Golladay or Smith. Guys who can turn a game around all by themselves. You saw how we lost to Vandy and Tulsa. Big plays created by individual talent. Without game breaker you really do have to win the hard way.

I know a lot of us have pie in the sky dreams of bigger bowls and such, but until we get a superstar or two we should be realistic about MACC’s being the goal. Of course a bowl win should also be expected but we know 90% of bowls are just who-cares match ups.

When you look back at the 2012 team we are talking about our greatest QB ever. Our 2nd all-time leading WR. A 1st rd draft pick safety. A 10 yr nfl corner. 2 NFL WRs. An NFL D-tackle. A NFL TE. That’s the lightening in a bottle a MAC team has to catch to have any kind of meaningful bowl.

I think we had that with Rudolph, but won't ever know how it could have been with him and Rocky for one more season. Reminds me of TLL, just bigger.

I think Rudolph is right on the cusp of a super star player. Definitely a guy who can change game momentum in one play.

Very excited to get him back next year. He's got unteachable speed. He's the kind of player you have to change a gameplay for and delegate resource on defenses to making sure he doesn't get free. Of which, will definitely open up some things for other players on offense. Hopefully Joiner or McCray can be the short pass catcher underneath.

Luckily for us, barring transfers out, our entire offensive line returns next season. Really hoping they are that dominant line we've believed them to be.