This is certainly not the way Northern Illinois wanted to start its summer camp.
Following practice Tuesday, head coach Rod Carey revealed that Cameron Stingily will miss at least the first four games of the season due to an undisclosed injury. That means the running back will miss games against Presbyterian (Aug. 28), Northwestern (Sept. 6), UNLV (Sept. 13) and Arkansas (Sept. 20).
The last three games are on the road, while the Huskies will open up conference play two weeks after the Razorbacks game following a bye weekend.
“It’s tough to replace him but we knew we would be very, very deep there, and so we are,” Carey said. “The next guy’s just got to understand, there’s probably going to be more carries for him, at least early.”
The loss of Stingily for such a period of time is a rather significant blow to NIU’s offense, an offense that’s already forced to replace All-Everything quarterback Jordan Lynch.
Last season, Stingily led all running backs with 1,119 yards and nine touchdowns; next closest was Tommylee Lewis’ 356 yards and James Spencer’s three touchdowns.
HuskieWire.com wrote that "[w]ith Stingily out, senior Akeem Daniels, who missed last year due to a foot injury, should get the majority of the carries.” In 2012, Daniels ran for 447 yards and nine touchdowns.