Editor’s Note: The Northern Illinois football team opens its season at Iowa State on Thursday. Leading up to the game, the Daily Chronicle will provide readers with an occasional story about the Cyclones from the Ames (Iowa) Tribune as a part of a content sharing agreement.
Iowa State defensive backs coach Bobby Elliott hasn’t coached safety Zac Sandvig in a game yet.
But he already knows Sandvig’s special.
It’s not every year Elliott, who’s been coaching since 1976, finds a safety that can play both the free and strong spots.
“Very seldom do you get one of those,” Elliott said. “It’s hard to find because you have to teach two positions.”
Sandvig’s versatility will come in handy in the season opener. With David Sims suspended after pleading guilty on charges of unauthorized use of a credit card earlier this month, Sandvig will slide into Sims’ strong safety spot against Northern Illinois on Thursday (7 p.m., CSN)
“It’s a great luxury to have Zac Sandvig,” quarterback Austen Arnaud said.
Learning both safety spots was a no-brainer for a kid from West Des Moines Valley High School who just wanted to get on the field anyway he could.
“In most defensive systems, the two spots are pretty interchangeable,” Sandvig said. “So I’ve been learning both, getting tips from (free safety) Michael (O’Connell) and Sims. It’s been going pretty well.”
It’s tough for most players to get enough reps to master both positions, Elliot said. But Sandvig’s spent time at both spots throughout his five years at ISU. Plus, the Cyclones rotate him between free and strong safety during each practice.
Elliott believes Sandvig’s anticipation skills allow him to play both spots.
“That’s the thing that makes him tick,” Elliott said. “He knows what to do all the time.”
Arnaud calls Sandvig, who will graduate with a double major in accounting and finance, one of the smartest players on the team.
“He picks up things on the fly,” Arnaud said.
Sandvig doesn’t care which spot he sees more time at, and Elliott is comfortable using him at either position.
For Sandvig, it’s easy to switch from strong safety, which tends to play closer to the line of scrimmage and have a bigger role in stopping runs, to free safety, which serves as a last line of defense and tends to have a bigger role in pass coverage.
"There are a few calls and a few techniques that are a little different here and there, but you have to be able to flip the switch on and be a strong safety or vice versa,” Sandvig said.
Sandvig saw more action on special teams than in the secondary the last three seasons. He did start against South Dakota State in 2008. He received the Jim Doran Award last season, given to the Cyclones’ top special teams performer.
But this year he should be more of a factor on defense.
“I expect Zac to have a big role for us, not just on special teams,” Elliott said. “… That comes in handy for us in the first ballgame, but as the season wears on, if we have one of the other two guys tired or nicked or hurt or just not having a good day, Zac can come in and play either spots.”
And that works for Sandvig.
“I’ll do whatever I can to help the team,” Sandvig said.
