NIU:

Even though Tom Herman, Iowa State offensive coordinator, won’t see NIU safety Tracy Wilson play until Thursday night, he already knows the junior’s presence within the Huskies’ defensive huddle.

“You can tell that he’s kind of a field general out there,” Herman said. “He gets everybody lined up.”

Wilson is one of the 11 NIU football captains on the NIU leadership team council.

“We are going to try and lead by example on and off the field,” Wilson said.

Wilson and teammates will get a challenging test Thursday night when they take on Iowa State.

The Cyclones’ offensive success depends on their potent running game.

Though it isn’t just their stud at running back, Alexander Robinson, who they’ll primarily focus on.

Quarterback Austen Arnaud can not only stretch defenses through the air but extends plays with his legs.

“[Arnaud] did a good job [last season] getting [the wide receivers] the ball because he made plays with his feet outside the pocket,” Wilson said.

When asked about what areas of his game have improved, Wilson didn’t want to go into much detail.

“Come first game, I’m really going to see if I improved on them,” Wilson said. “Out here in practice I may look better but it’s practice.”

While authoring a game plan against NIU’s defense, one dimension of Wilson’s game stood out and caught Herman’s eye.

“The biggest thing is once the ball is snapped he’s flying around 100 miles per hour with his hair on fire looking to be around the football,” Herman said.

Iowa State:

Iowa State’s football fans had their shirts covered in drool a lot last season.

Not due to lack of entertainment, but the performances that Cyclones starting running back Alexander Robinson put together.

Robinson blazed his way to six 100-yard games on the way to 1,195 rushing yards and six touchdowns.

Even NIU head coach Jerry Kill might’ve had a little saliva on his shirt when asked about Robinson.

“That running back is darn good,” Kill said.

Kill and the rest of the NIU football team won’t be packing bibs for the trip to Jack Trice Stadium.

The Huskies are well aware of the Cyclones success on the ground and they won’t be in awe of it.

Instead, they’ll bring that no-give mentality, looking to shut down Robinson. The Huskies want to come out victorious in their season opener.

“They know how to run the football,” Kill said. “That’s the number one goal; we have got to stop the run and there ain’t a question about that on defense. [If] we don’t do that, it’ll be a long day.”

Tom Herman, Iowa State offensive coordinator, described Robinson as a do-it-all kind of back.

“The word ‘complete’ is certainly the first word that comes to my mind,” Herman said.