A 7:15 a.m. start time wasn’t early enough on Tuesday morning for the NIU football team to beat a DeKalb forecast that predicted temperatures in the 30’s, in addition to intense wind and rain.

The Huskies started an hour early and were able to finish up a little after 8:15. Head coach Dave Doeren understands that weather will almost always be an issue in the spring, but the first-year head coach is okay with that.

“I was just excited to get two hours of work in because of the weather forecast today,” Doeren said. “I think we’ve been pretty fortunate to be honest. I think today it was colder than you would hope for, but we can’t worry about the things that we can’t control.”

In an ever-changing battle for the starting running back slot, Doeren singled out senior Jasmin Hopkins on Tuesday as the back that most consistently brought his A-game.

“I’ve been really impressed with Jasmin Hopkins,” Doeren said. “I think he’s just been super consistent.”

Jamal Womble came into spring practices taking the bulk of the first-team reps, but as of late, the junior-college transfer has been working with backup quarterback Jordan Lynch and the second-team offense. 

 The decision by Doeren to make a drill on Sunday full-contact came back to haunt him when starting tight-end Jason Schepler went down with an apparently-severe knee injury. A member of the All-MAC third team last season, Schepler caught eight passes for 93 yards in 2010.

“We wanted it to be live so guys could fight for yards,” Doeren said. “We had a bit of an unfortunate event at the end, but the purpose of the drill was to expose both sides to [full-contact].”

Doeren credited Cameron Bell, who came back from injury on Tuesday and helped out with some of the blocking work that Schepler would have been responsible for.

“[Cameron] really stepped up to help the team and I’m proud of him for that,” Doeren said.