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| Northern Illinois running back Cameron Bell (left) has been helping with scouting for Thursday's Iowa State game. (Rob Winner – rwinner@daily-chronicle.com) |
DeKALB – Cameron Bell isn’t a spy. The 6-foot-2, 242-pound Northern Illinois running back is too hulking to sneak into Huskies opponents’ practices without notice.
He’s more of an informant.
The Iowa State transfer won’t be playing with the Huskies against some of his former Cyclones teammates during Thursday’s season opener in Ames, Iowa, because of a transfer agreement when he came to NIU. But Bell, a linebacker during his two seasons with Iowa State, is trying to give the Huskies a competitive advantage against the Cyclones.
Huskies senior running back Chad Spann has picked the brain of Bell, who transferred to NIU last year after Paul Rhoads was hired as the Iowa State head coach. Some of the defensive schemes have changed since Bell played under Gene Chizik, now the head coach at Auburn, but some of the personnel remain the same.
“I sat and watched film with Cameron (last week), and he was just telling me about every player they had lining up,” Spann said. “I can’t go into specifics, but he just told me little bits about guys here and there.
“He kind of understands the defense a little better. It’s changed a little bit since he’s been there.”
Bell, a junior, had to redshirt last season due to NCAA transfer rules. He will sit out the opener because of a transfer agreement between Iowa State and NIU.
“That’s pretty typical of where we’re at in college athletics anymore,” NIU coach Jerry Kill said. “When someone wants to transfer to another school and that team’s on your schedule, no one’s going to release him. We knew that when it happened, when he was released. …I understand it fully. I don’t have no complaints over it at all.
“It hasn’t affected us any. We’re deep at running back. Cameron, I’m sure he’d like to play and all that, but he understood that when he came in.”
Bell will be available for the home opener against North Dakota on Sept. 11. He is expected to complement Spann, junior college transfer Jasmin Hopkins and Ricky Crider – all smaller backs – as a between-the-tackles bruiser.
Bell, who has not yet had an NCAA carry, gained more than 3,000 rushing yards during his high-school career.
While he won’t be on the field Thursday lugging Iowa State defenders on his back, Bell is doing his part – and providing the information – to help his newest team prevail over his former teammates.
“He’s excited,” Spann said. “He’s kind of put all that energy that he would want to show in this game on me. He’s kind of told me, ‘Chad, you got to do this thing out there for me.’ ”
Father vs. son: Bell isn’t the only Huskie with a connection to Iowa State. Sophomore safety Tommy Davis III’s father, Tommy Davis, played running back for the Cyclones from 1981-1984. The younger Davis said his father hasn’t trash-talked leading up the Thursday’s season opener.
“He gets excited about every game, so it’s not anything special, but he’s really excited about it,” Davis III said.
The NIU safety and punt returner said he has cousins that live in Ames and that about 15 family members and friends will attend Thursday’s game at Jack Trice Stadium.
Davis III said he took several trips with his father to the Iowa State campus to relive his father’s playing days.
“He has all the articles still and talks about it,” the younger Davis said.
