SB Nation - Jason Onyebuagu

Postseason Huskie Hardware Roundup

Mike Breese — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 06:43:47 -0000

We on award tour with Chad Spann my man

Goin each and every place with a ball in his hand

Off-tackle, left, right, to the endzone

We on award tour with JO and Eddie A

Driving and pushing the big uglies to the ground

Run-block, cut-block, pass-block, pancake

We on award tour with Corporal Coffman

Switch him to D-Tackle, he's still the best

Swim move, bull rush, tipped pass, sack lunch

All-MAC Teams (As voted on by the Coaches)

Phil Steele's 2009 Postseason All-MAC Team

Team Awards (Voted on by the players)

Offense

C Eddie Adamski - 1st Team (Coaches, PS), Co-Top OL

LG Jason Onyebuagu - 1st Team (Coaches, PS), Most Inspirational Player, Co-Top OL

RB Chad Spann - 1st Team (Coaches), 2nd Team (PS), Offensive MVP, Overall MVP, Top RB

RB Me'co Brown - 3rd Team (Coaches, PS)

LT Trevor Olson - 3rd Team (PS)

WR Landon Cox - 4th Team (PS), Top WR, Frank Cahill (WR) Award

Defense

DE Jake Coffman - 2nd Team (Coaches), 1st Team (PS), Defensive MVP, Co-Top DL, Jawan Jackson (Walk-on) Award

DE Brandon Bice - 2nd Team (Coaches), 4th Team (PS)

DT D.J. Pirkle - Co-Top DL

DE Sean Progar - 2nd Team Freshman All-American (PS), Freshman of the Year

SS Tracy Wilson - 3rd Team (PS), Top DB

LB Cory Hanson - 4th Team (PS), Top LB

Special Teams

K Mike Salerno - 2nd Team (Coaches), 3rd Team (PS), Special Teams POY

PR Tommy Davis - 3rd Team (Coaches), 4th Team (PS)

Western Michigan vs NIU: A Primer for Homecoming 2009

Mike Breese — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 07:29:19 -0000

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Kalamazoo is the closest city to Dekalb that houses a MAC squad being 3 1/2 hours away. They like to make inroads recruiting in the Chicago area, especially now that long-time NIU recruiting coordinator Mike Sabock has taken the same position east down I-94. The Broncos have also been our homecoming opponent both in 2007 and in 2003. The 2003 game was the most highly-attended game in Northern Illinois history with a total of 28,221 fans coming out to support the Huskies.

If Western Illinois is NIU's little brother than Western Michigan would have to be that kid that you beat up, who goes away for a little while and then comes up with some creative new strategies to beat you up yourself. Then he becomes king of the playground until you gather yourself and start controlling the turf again. What am I talking about?

1950-1982: 15-1 WMU
1983-1988: 5-0 NIU
1991-2000: 6-0 WMU
2001-2005: 5-0 NIU
2006-08: 3-0 WMU

Overall, we have an 11-23 overall record against the Broncos. I like the 10-9 since 1983 stat personally though. '83 was Mallory's last big year and we even beat Western the year after that with Lee Corso as our coach. In the 1990's we were bad, until Coach Novak started turning things around. Gary Darnell left WMU in 2004 and current HC Bill Cubit took the reigns and supremacy over the Huskies in these last few years.

Cubit was OC for WMU from 1997-99, went to Mizzou for a year and then had 2-year stints at both Rutgers & Stanford before landing back in Kalamazoo as the head ball coach.

Flashback to 2006: Garrett Wolfe has rattled off 10+ games of 150 yds or more until we come rolling in to Kalamazoo on what seems like a harmless game. We've beaten WMU every year, so that trend should continue right? Well, Wolfe got held to only 25 yds on 18 carries and the rest was history. Phil Horvath had 3 interceptions and was sacked 3x, while WR Britt Davis was the main offensive contributor. There goes the Heisman & there goes the MAC West. Does that make you cringe? Final score: 14-16.

2007 (Vintage RABA Recap): WMU was homecoming back then too and we came in to the game with a 1-5 record and almost beat the Broncos 13-17. It was the beginning of the Ryan Morris show at QB. This was the game where on a fake MPZ miraculously got off that deep pass for a TD. A couple interesting thoughts I had that day:

Crowd was 23K. So that means its a plus 4,000 to 5,000 fans if we actually have a good football team.

#15 QB Ryan Morris has no arm. He's a poor man's Phil Horvath. Not even that. I still heard "Nicholson Sucks" chants in the crowd when he wasn't even playing lol. There were men open that he couldn't even get the ball. Embarrassing.

Again, I'm very surprised that Joe Novak seems to keep Justin Anderson in there for every play. He just doesn't have that breakaway speed or any other attributes that make him special like a Wolfe or a Turner. I would like to see the other speed backs get a look. Outside runs with Justin Anderson just aren't going to work because his speed isn't good enough.

2008 (Vintage RABA Recap): I actually made the trip up to K-Zoo that year for the game and it was a great time. It only took me 5 days to get a recap up for some reason. 1st quarter of the game, the man that became an instant star against Minnesota the week before, Chandler Harnish, went down with an ankle injury. For the rest of the game, we had to use a mix of Dan Nicholson and Britt Davis. Neither were effective though, as Nicholson got sacked 4 times whereas Grady only ran the ball. On the ground #3 was pretty effective scoring a TD and averaging over 6 ypc. One thing of note was that stellar LG Jason Onyebuagu didn't play in the game last year, which may have added to the problems moving the ball offensively.

Overall, starting your second road game in a row, in-conference, with a rotating door at QB, with one of your best WRs not making the trip, with a new coach, with an inconsistent running game, with a freshman at LT is not going to be a good situation.

We actually outgained the Broncos 439-384 despite losing 26-29. The problem? Settling for FGs instead of TDs. Sound familiar? Just like Idaho. RB Brandon West tore us apart rushing for 175 yds on just 25 carries. WMU QB Tim Hiller tossed the ball around for 186 yds and 3 TDs. A key contributor in last years game in Jamarko Simmons who had 8 catches for 102 yds and a TD has since graduated to the NFL.

Reading Material

HuskieWire Writer's Bloc with WMU Beat Writer Graham Couch

NStar's Offensive Breakdown of WMU

NStar's Defensive Breakdown of WMU

So far this season

9/05	@ Michigan	0-1 (0-0)	L 31-7
9/12	@ Indiana	0-2 (0-0)	L 23-19
9/19	Miami (OH)	1-2 (1-0)	W 48-26
9/26	Hofstra	2-2 (1-0)	W 24-10

@ Michigan: Just domination all around by the Wolverines. Any types of yards or points by the Broncos happened well after UM was up 31-0. WR Juan Nunes had a nice 73 yd TD and that was it for the WMU offense. They averaged 1.6 ypc rushing in this game.

@ Indiana: This was a very odd game where each team wanted to give away the win to the opponent. The Hoosiers settled for 3 FGs and a missed FG whenever they got in to redzone situations. This plus 13 penalties for 106 yds allowed the Broncos to get back in to the game. WMU would have won it too, if they didn't fumble the ball 3 times on their last 3 possessions, allowing IU to get a safety and control the ball until the clock ran out. Total yds were 372-288 in favor of IU. Hiller had to pass the ball around again and rushing was only .8 ypc!

vs Miami: The score is deceiving because WMU got up to 35-0 early in the 3rd quarter. And then 6-48 later in the 3rd. Of course the Redhawks pretty much gave the Broncos the game giving them the ball 4x on the ground and once through the air. Plus 10 penalties for 77 yds. You have to hand it to Miami for fighting hard in garbage time, eventually coming in front of the yardage stat 421-370.

vs Hofstra: Just a lackluster performance against an FCS opponent that didn't have anything special to bring to the table. Early on, WMU couldn't convert a 4th down, threw an interception and settled for a field goal. The Pride managed to stick around until before the end of the 1st half, in which Brandon West ran it in after a long drive by the Broncos. The second half was sloppy too with Western fumbling the ball on both of their first 2 possessions in the 3rd quarter.

09_29_2009 WMU Broncos Football Press Conference

National Rankings

Category	National Rank	Actual	National Leader	Actual	Conf Rank	Mid-American Conference Leader	Actual
Rushing Offense	113	86.25	Air Force	319.00	11	Northern Ill.	188.00
Passing Offense	21	271.25	Hawaii	423.33	3	Toledo	320.50
Total Offense	73	357.50	Texas A&M	574.33	5	Toledo	473.25
Scoring Offense	T-81	24.50	Texas	49.50	4	Central Mich.	32.75
Rushing Defense	84	157.00	Oklahoma	40.67	4	Central Mich.	113.00
Pass Efficiency Defense	74	129.77	Florida	75.31	9	Eastern Mich.	79.69
Total Defense	95	390.25	North Carolina St.	201.25	11	Central Mich.	274.00
Scoring Defense	T-54	22.50	Oklahoma	4.67	3	Central Mich.	16.75
Net Punting	64	35.78	BYU	43.70	6	Ball St.	40.19
Punt Returns	66	8.00	Louisiana Tech	45.50	6	Central Mich.	17.90
Kickoff Returns	32	25.00	Stanford	41.67	3	Temple	28.15
Turnover Margin	91	-.75	Arizona St.	3.33	10	Ohio	1.00
Pass Defense	85	233.25	Eastern Mich.	78.00	11	Eastern Mich.	78.00
Passing Efficiency	51	134.76	Hawaii	180.65	3	Buffalo	143.97
Sacks	T-48	2.00	Texas A&M	4.67	2	Temple	2.67
Tackles For Loss	96	4.50	Oklahoma	11.33	11	Kent St.	7.00
Sacks Allowed	T-71	2.00	Iowa St.	.50	6	Toledo	.75

Notes

Offense - Rushing offense is terrible, but that doesn't mean RB Brandon West isn't a home run threat every time he touches the football.

Defense - Rush D is 84th nationally, but still 4th in the MAC? How bout those MAC defenses. You can pass on these Broncos and overall they are 95th nationally and 11th in the conference in defense. We should be able to pick our spots pretty good, because it's not like WMU's played some of the top offenses out there excluding Michigan in their debut. Bring a lot of pressure.

Special Teams/Other - Brandon West is their kickoff return specialist and he does a great job putting the Broncos in good field position. Turnovers will be huge in this game, because WMU likes to give the ball up a lot on the ground and sometimes through the air as well.

Impact Players

Category	Player	National Rank	Actual
Rushing	Brandon West	T-57	74.00
Passing Efficiency (Min. 15 Att./Game)	Tim Hiller	52	136.88
Total Offense	Tim Hiller	34	249.75
	Brandon West		74.00
Receptions Per Game	Jordan White	T-32	6.00
	Juan Nunez	T-40	5.75
	Robert Arnheim	T-78	4.50
	Chleb Ravenell		3.75
Receiving Yards Per Game	Juan Nunez	36	85.25
	Jordan White	T-81	63.00
	Chleb Ravenell		46.75
	Robert Arnheim		42.25
Interceptions	Jamail Berry		.25
	Deshon Lawrence		.25
Punting (Min. 3.6 Punts/Game)	Ben Armer	73	37.89
Punt Returns (Min. 1.2 Ret./Game)
Kickoff Returns (Min. 1.2 Ret./Game)	Brandon West	36	26.07
Field Goals	John Potter	T-99	.50
Scoring	John Potter		4.50
	Brandon West		4.50
	Juan Nunez		4.50
All-Purpose Runners	Brandon West	4	192.50
	Juan Nunez		85.25
	Jordan White		76.33
Sacks	Cody Cielenski	T-30	.75
	Vernon Stewart		.25
	Austin Pritchard		.25
	Paul Hazel		.25
Tackles	Austin Pritchard	T-21	10.00
Tackles For Loss	Cody Cielenski		1.00
	Austin Pritchard		.88

Notes

The usual suspects in QB Tim Hiller and RB Brandon West are effective on offense. The deep threat at WR is Juan Nunez, who ~~is questionable~~ WILL NOT PLAY this week with a knee bruise. WR Jordan White sees a lot of grabs, but is more of a posession guy. Let's see here...Brandon West, Brandon West, hmm I think we should watch out for Brandon West. Our kicking game and special teams coverage has to be sharp this week.

The O-Line needs to watch out for Cielinski on the defensive line and make sure he doesn't get in to the backfield. Austin Pritchard is Mr. Productive at the weakside LB position. A huge loss for the Broncos on this side of the ball is nickelback Doug Wiggins, who remains suspended for disciplinary reasons. That brings their depth in the secondary down extremely as Wiggins is one of their most talented players and a transfer from THE U of Miami.

The Gameplan

Play physical both on defense and on offense. This game will be won in the trenches and on special teams play. Hold on to the ball. Make sure to get pressure on Hiller so he doesn't have all day to throw. Keep an eye on RB Brandon West at all times and make tackles. Fundamentals and execution were Coach Kill's words of the week and it's time for these Huskies to give a homecoming performance nobody will forget!

Northern Illinois preview

BoilerTMill — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 18:30:46 -0000

This is a homecoming game of sorts for Northern Illinois. The Huskies feature eight players from the state of Indiana on their roster, with seven of them playing key roles as starters or backups. They are led by Chandler Harnish, an Indiana player who wanted to come to Purdue and very well could be our current starting quarterback had he ended up here. What we will see is an interesting game. We are facing a team that is very similar to Oregon in terms of style of play, as well as one that is in the second year of building a program under coach Jerry Kill.

2008 Record: 6-7 (5-3 in MAC West)

2009 Record: 1-1

Bowl result: Lost 17-10 to Louisiana Tech in Independence Bowl

Blog Representation: Red and Black Attack

Series with Purdue: First Meeting

Red and Black Attack Preview

And for our next dual-threat quarterback...

Northern Illinois offense:

The Huskies have put up some interesting offensive numbers so far. They had a tight game with Wisconsin that came down to the final possession to start the year. In that game, they trailed 28-6 going into the 4^th quarter, but a pair of quick touchdowns and an onside kick meant they had a chance to tie in the final minutes. Against Western Illinois, the Huskies built a big lead and never looked back against their 1-AA foe. In both games, the Huskies have had a fairly balanced offense led by the versatility of Harnish.

As Mike Breese stated in the podcast last night, Harnish is a running quarterback that is attempting to stay in the pocket more this year. He had a better passing game against Wisconsin, but the Huskies ran more against the Leathernecks. So far he is 25 of 38 on the season for 317 yards and two touchdowns. Both touchdowns came last week against Western Illinois, but he has been sacked three times. After running for 539 yards and four scores last year he has not taken off as much. In two games he has just 31 yards rushing. His stats tell that he is an accurate passer. As a freshman last year he threw only nine interceptions, but he missed three games early in the season.

Northern Illinois is a run-first team out of the spread option, much like Oregon. Me'co Brown leads the team in yards with 181 yards and one score. He had a solid game against Western Illinois, going for 117 yards and a score. Chad Spann, an Indianapolis native, is the power back with 57 yards and four scores. He has two touchdowns in each game so far. All told, Northern Illinois has 325 yards passing against 344 yards rushing.

There is not really one main receiver that we must focus on. Ten different players have at least one reception so far, while none has more than Willie Clark's five. Spann has 3 catches for 50 yards and a score, while Clark (5-63-0) leads in yardage as well. Northern Illinois has not run many plays this year on offense, but they are experienced in playing from behind.

The offensive line may be one of the best in MAC. Eddie Adamski was a third-team all-MAC selection last season at center and makes few mistakes. Left guard Jason Onyebuagu joined him on the third team last year and has Big Ten size at 6'2", 305 pounds. Trevor Olsen, Panan Tense, and Kevin Skatrund were all starters last year at one point, making this line incredibly experienced. As mentioned, they have given up three sacks.

Northern Illinois defense:

The Husky defense has been particularly frisky so far. As a team, northern Illinois has 10 tackles for loss, four sacks, and has forced four turnovers. The strength is in the front seven, but Mike seemed to be terrified of the threat that Ralph Bolden represents. Their best defensive lineman, Brandon Bice, has yet to record a sack after having 6.5 sacks last year. Linebacker Alex Kube is a player to keep an eye on. He has played all over the defense in his career, and he notched a team high 111 tackles during his sophomore season.

I think it is a bad sign that Northern Illinois' two safeties currently lead them in tackles. Tracy Wilson (21 tackles) and Mike Sobol (15 tackles) have the most stops on the team. That means teams are getting into the secondary against them even if Northern Illinois has not given up many points. They have yet to face an offense as prolific as ours, so this will be their most difficult challenge to date.

In terms of numbers, Northern Illinois has given up an average of 117 yards rushing and 211 yards passing. Those numbers are very respectable, but again, they have come against offenses that aren't exactly lighting up the scoreboard. I think you can throw out the 1-AA result because they did what 1-A teams should do against 1-AA teams. Wisconsin used a rushing by committee approach, while Isaac Anderson had a 100 yard day as a receiver. We will need to keep an eye on linebacker Cory Hanson, who already has two interceptions.

Honestly, this is a game in which our offensive line should continue its dominance. The defensive line has not done a whole lot yet, and they are already shorthanded because projected starter Mike Krouse is out for the season with a heart ailment. Since our running game has been very successful so far I think we can expect another good day from Ralph Bolden. I say we run it until they prove they can stop us, keeping things held back some for Notre Dame next week.

Northern Illinois Special Teams:

This area has been a major strength for the Huskies so far. Mike Salerno has shown why he is one of the best kickers in the nation by going 4 for 4 on field goal attempts with a long of 40 yards. He has also been solid on kickoffs, limiting teams to 18 yards per return. Josh Wilber is averaging 39 yards per punt on seven attempts. No one has managed to break a big punt return against them yet, either.

Northern Illinois' return game has not done much yet. Tommy Davis pulls double duty on returns, with a long of 25 yards on a kickoff return. This area will be of special concern for us, as our coverage on kickoffs has been spotty at best. We cannot afford to give up a quick return for a score.

Intangibles:

With all respect to our visitors from the MAC, this is a MAC vs. Big Ten game. We have not lost one of these games in 6 years, despite having two awful seasons in that time. The Northern Illinois defense is without a doubt better than Toledo's, but I am just not convinced their offense can keep pace with us. Defensively, we gave up just 21 points last week to a similar type of offense with much better athletes. That was on the road as well. Harnish might be a better passer than Masoli was, but Masoli was a much bigger running threat. That is more dangerous against us.

I must say, I have a good vibe about this game. I feel like our defense is going to come together and have its best performance of the season. To me, Northern Illinois is a good team, but they are still about a year away from being really good. Many people are still talking about us being vulnerable, about how we will have this hangover from Oregon, how this is a trap game before Notre Dame, but I think differently.

I don't think coach Hope is going to allow any letdowns this year. I know Boilerdowd and J Money were talking about this earlier this week, but this is a good measuring stick to see how we recover from a rough loss. In recent years, it has started a deep spiral. I think we will now come out and have a convincing performance against a team we should dominate. I think we also do it without showing too much heading into the Notre Dame game:

Keys for Purdue:

Run until they stop us
Continue improving on tackling
Keep an eye on Harnish for runs
Watch defensive coverage on short passes over the middle
Do not let them back in it if we build a big lead early

I think it will be a very good sign if we win this game without too much effort. Those who don't respect us are still expecting a struggle. We can begin by making a statement in this game with a comfortable win before facing the Irish next week.

Hangover from the 4th Quarter Fury in Madison

Mike Breese — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 06:53:45 -0000

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I find it interesting that the Wisconsin Blog on SB Nation is named Bucky's 5th Quarter, because it seemed like that's what we were playing for Saturday night: A 5th Quarter. I have one thing to say though: TGINC. Thank God It's Non Conference. It took a while for these Huskies to wake up.

This game was just crazy. I was beginning to think it was over circa a typical 2007 game, but then things just came out of nowhere to surprise you. My sentiments to John Sahly's post-game remarks:

How it got there was paint-by-numbers with all the wrong colors. I'm still trying to piece it together.

I don't know what I just saw, but I know it was fun to watch...A game like this leaves a lot to dissect. But, for an opening-night game, I'm going to enjoy this scenic route to madness.

Yes, madness.

Let's take a look back at my keys to the game: Did we bring the heat? Not nearly enough. Tolzein had a clean jersey at the end of the game, and our pass rush was as responsible as anybody for the yards Wisconsin got through the air. Did we hold on to the ball? Mostly, except for a fumble given up by Me'co Brown late in the 2nd quarter. Brown apparently got hurt on that play as well and didn't see any more action for the rest of the game. Did we establish the run? Nope, 47 of NIU's 100 total yards rushing was by Brown's highlight in the 1st. Did we get rattled? Yes we were, until the 4th quarter of course. Everybody just looked out of place early on and nobody could find any sort of rhythm. That's 0.5/4 in case anybody was keeping score. Time for the positional breakdown:

Quarterbacks

Chandler Harnish looked pretty confident and was a successful game manager. Made plays when he needed to. Trouble was that his run game wasn't working (see below) and he wasn't getting enough time to throw (more on that later as well). 15 of 24 for 174 yds, no touchdowns, but zero INTs. Rushed 13 times for 37 yds, but then you have to takeaway the 21 yards lost because of sacks. Somehow you end up with 10 net for the game. Nice two-point conversion to put the Huskies in game contention there at the end. He could have probably made a couple more plays on his feet earlier in the game, but then again there was barely any room for him. Needs to work on the option if we are going to run that more this season. Surprised we didn't see any DeMarcus Grady.

Running Backs

Less than average with the exception of Me'co Brown's 47-yd scamper. Brown helped in both of the drives that scored field goals for us. Chad Spann was a beast in the 4th quarter, continuing his reign as red-zone demon scoring two touchdowns. Spann also caught 2 passes for 30 yds. Not to mention he also recovered the onside late. Brown had a great 5.8 ypc, but combined? 2.9 ypc...yuck.

Fullbacks/Tight Ends

Is it bad when 2 out of your top 3 pass-catchers in a given game come from this group? FB Kyle Skarb had 3 catches for 42 yds that included a sweet 31 yd gainer down the sidelines. TE Bryan Beckner stepped up big catching 2 passes for 41 yds.

Wide Receivers

Just blah all around. Nobody really stood out. Harnish went deep to Martel Moore and got a pass interference call. Moore also had a nice catch late in the game. Perez Ashford actually dropped a pass if I'm not mistaken, but then rebounded nicely picking up a few yards to set up Spann's last TD. My suggestion: Keep playing the freshmen and get them ready for MAC play. They deserve it and have the talent to dominate games. Both of them started the first game of their respective careers.

Offensive Line

Just look at how the drives ended in the 1st quarter: 3rd and 2 - Brown only gets one yard. 3rd and 6 - Harnish sacked for 7 yd loss. 3rd and 9 - Harnish sacked for 9 yd loss. I think LG Jason Onyebuagu overslept or something, as he looked nowhere near the All-MAC performer that he is supposed to be with some whiffs that will make a long film session for JO. Wisconsin's DEs J.J. Watt & O'Brien Schofield were having field days with our tackles. RT Adam Kiel/Panan Tense had some trouble containing Schofield on his side. On the left side, Trevor Olson couldn't stop Watt, who is a physical freak at 6'6" 285...yikes.

There was a bright side, however, as the line came together late allowing Chad Spann to get both of his TDs in goal-line situations. Not bad run blocking at times.

Defensive Line

Definitely a mixed bag. The pass-rush was virtually non-existent by these guys, but they did manage to keep Wisconsin to only 152 yds on the ground. Zach Brown and John Clay's ypc were only 3.6 and 2.9 respectively. Guys that made their debut yesterday: True Freshman DE Alan Baxter - 2 tackles, RS Freshman DT Brian Lawson - 1.5 tackles, RS Freshman DE Sean Progar - 1 tackle. Need I remind you that Wisconsin's O-Line averages 6'6" 325 per guy!

Linebackers

WLB Cory Hanson was a game-changer grabbing 2 interceptions. Other than that, these guys were pretty pedestrian. Alex Kube & Pat Schiller had 3.5 tackles a piece. Sophomore Jordan Delegal made his debut on the outside blitzing a little bit. NOBODY could cover TE Garrett Graham as he caught 6 passes for 82 yds.

Defensive Backs

A mess and the low point of the game. Starting off the game, who's fault was it giving up that long bomb: FS Mike Sobol or CB Patrick George? First of all, Sobol's natural position is SS and George was making his big debut as the starting CB. George was all over the place, but he learned as the game went on. One blitz he made set up one of Hanson's interceptions. SS Tracy Wilson led the team with 8.5 tackles and CB Kiaree Daniels made some nice plays. Obviously, its gonna be tough working all these new guys in like Chris Smith and everybody else but this game was just ridiculous. Didn't help there was zero pass rush. David Bryant didn't play much and there was no sign of Garrett Barnas anywhere.

Special Teams

OK, Kicker Mike Salerno is the best onside kicker in the world. I didn't even know you could be good at such a thing as usually luck comes in to play. Plus 2 great field goals to keep us in the game early. Salerno does weird things sometimes when he kickoffs, its not always hard enough even though he has the power. Punter Josh Wilber was a bit inconsistent and had a shankapotamus in the 3rd. Not bad though.

Coaching

I would have liked for NIU to open up their playbook a bit more early a la Minnesota last year, but that wasn't the case until (sensing a theme here?) the 4th quarter. Too much conservatism after trying to rush against Wisconsin's big D wasn't working. Definitely need to see more deep passes and stuff on the perimeter. Would like to have seen a lot more blitzing on defense, but that's hard to do with so many inexperienced players.

Random Notes

Wisconsin had a habit of passing for it on 1st down. They opened the game with that 70 yd bomb and then Cory Hanson got interceptions on the first play of two separate drives by the Badgers.

3 and outs were devastating to NIU, especially in the 3rd quarter. The first drive in that quarter, WR Marcus Lewis had a catch to make it 2nd down and 2, but then we couldn't convert. RB Chad Spann rushed for no gain and then there was that tipped pass.

On the next 3rd quarter drive, we did nothing on offense after that run by WR Nathan Palmer. Spann rush for 3 yds, incomplete to Skarb because of a QB hurry. Then there was that pass where Clark trapped the ball and they had to review it to see that it wasn't a catch.

The time of possession was 12:11 to 2:49 and this game was won by the Badgers in the 3rd.

Infirmary Report

RB Me'co Brown has some sort of arm injury. Don't know if its too serious as of now. We could have used his athleticism for the whole game, not just part of the 1st half:

"I asked him 'Is it broke?' He said it wasn't but it was all wrapped up," Kill said. "I don't know what his status is. I think that's the biggest concern we have coming out of playing a physical football team."

Also apparently FB Kyle Skarb has some sort of injury. We'll know the results Monday about both these guys.

Next up on our path to redemption: The Western Illinois Leathernecks

Poll

Who is your player of the game?

WLB Cory Hanson - 2 ints, 1.5 tackles

13 votes

RB Chad Spann - 9 rushes for 20 yds and 2 tds, 2 catches for 30 yds, onside kick recovery

9 votes

K Mike Salerno - 2 for 2 on FGs of 40 & 29, kicked onside

35 votes

57 votes | Poll has closed

The NIU Huskies Football Depth Chart is out

Mike Breese — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 00:46:22 -0000

The depth chart just got released per John Sahly's Huskie Wire. A lot of differences from the vague chart from the media guide. Youth is served to say the least for Northern Illinois with 8 freshmen (4 true) and 16 sophomores listed under the two-deeps. 15 juniors and 9 seniors make up the upperclassmen. Here is the breakdown by position:

The Offense

WR (X) 10 Willie Clark ...................................... 6-1, 196, So.-R
11 Marcus Lewis .......................................6-3, 210, Sr.
OR 1 Martel Moore ....................................... 6-2, 168, Fr.

WR (V) 81 Nathan Palmer .............................5-11, 190, So.-R
82 Preston Williams ...........................5-11, 180, Sr.-R
OR 80 Landon Cox ...........................................6-3, 213, Jr.

WR (Z) 80 Landon Cox ...........................................6-3, 213, Jr.
7 Perez Ashford ....................................5-10, 168, Fr.
OR 81 Nathan Palmer .............................5-11, 190, So.-R

I'm not an expert on NIU's current offensive system, so I can only assume that the X is on the left, V is the slot and Z is on the right. Realistically, guys can be switched all over the field so who knows. I bet you the ladies that went to Football 101 could probably explain this to me. Moving on, we always knew that the main three (Clark, Palmer & Cox) were the top guys coming in. We just didn't know where they were going to fit. Lewis & Williams look to fit in nicely as veteran reserve role-players. True freshmen Ashford & Moore look to creep in to the lineup as deep threats.

TE (Y) 87 Jason Schepler ...................................6-3, 255, So.
83 Reed Cunningham .......................... 6-5, 255, Sr.-R

TE (H) 96 Bryan Beckner .................................. 6-4, 240, Jr.-R
97 Jack Marks ...................................... 6-6, 232, So.-R

More algebra numbers that confuse me. Schepler & Beckner beat out Cunningham in an epic battle throughout all of the off-season. As our offense evolves, all of these players will see extensive playing time. Marks is the 4th guy in and surprised not to see Nick Groeniger anywhere.

LT 62 Trevor Olson .................................... 6-6, 294, So.-R
68 Keith Otis ........................................ 6-4, 314, So.-R

The only line position that has not changed since the Spring. A good sign, because left tackle is one of the most important positions on the field.

LG 65 Jason Onyebuagu ................................6-2, 307, Sr.
60 Ed Jackson ........................................ 6-3, 297, Jr.-R

I'm extremely excited that Ed Jackson is able to claim a backup job on the offensive side of the ball after becoming too big to play on the D-Line.

C 50 Eddie Adamski ................................. 6-3, 284, Sr.-R
71 Scott Wedige................................... 6-4, 296, So.-R
OR 77 Jared Volk ............................................6-3, 302, Fr.

Wedige had mono throughout camp, so Volk saw a ton of snaps. Hope we don't have to see them, because Adamski is one of the better linemen in the conference.

RG 72 Joe Pawlak ...................................... 6-5, 281, So.-R
70 Logan Pegram ................................. 6-3, 293, Fr.-R

Pawlak moves up to the starting spot, because of Kevin Skatrud's season-ending knee injury and Tense's switch to RT. Pegram switched over to the right side from the left.

RT 61 Panan Tense .....................................6-4, 300, Jr.-R
OR 74 Adam Kiel ........................................ 6-5, 305, So-R

Tense has good size, so he switched from starting RG to the starting RT as stated above. The coaching staff was high on Tense to have a spot starting on the right side even before Skatrud got hurt.

QB 12 Chandler Harnish ........................... 6-2, 213, So.-R
3 DeMarcus Grady............................. 6-1, 202, So.-R
OR 15 Ryan Morris ..................................... 6-3, 196, Sr.-R

Pretty much expected. Looks like we'll be redshirting all our freshmen QBs. Is the OR necessary or simply a formality for the 5th year senior in Morris?

FB 34 Kyle Skarb ............................................ 6-2, 226, Jr.
47 Connor Flahive ................................. 6-0, 240, Jr.-R
88 Nick Groeniger ......................................6-5, 242, Jr.

Top-2 were expected. Hey, I found him! Groeniger will play an H-Back role shifting and lining up in the backfield and all over the field.

TB 8 Me’co Brown .......................................5-7, 185, So.
OR 28 Chad Spann ..........................................5-9, 197, Jr.
21 Justin Anderson ............................... 6-0, 234, Sr.-R

Nice to see Anderson as the 3rd guy in again. Ricky Crider is struggling with a hamstring right now, but should be OK for Saturday.

The Defense

LE 56 Brandon Bice ................................... 6-4, 250, Sr.-R
90 Alan Baxter .......................................... 6-0, 241, Fr.
OR 44 Darnell Bolding ................................. 6-2, 224, Jr.-R

Pretty much expected if you've followed the epic rise of freshman Baxter. Both Bice and him provide huge bodies capable of stopping the run and stopping the QB. Bolding looks to be a situational pass-rusher.

NG 92 Brian Lawson ....................................6-3, 272, Fr.-R
93 Adam Coleman ...................................6-3, 266, So.
99 Nabal Jefferson .................................5-11, 270, Fr.

Lawson is starting as a freshman now due to Mike Krause's condition. Coleman provides tremendous depth as well. Marist grad Nabal Jefferson is the surprise winner of the true freshman most likely to see action in the middle of the line. Noseguard is just the defensive tackle left of the defensive tackle, if that makes any sense.

DT 98 D.J. Pirkle ............................................. 6-0, 285, Jr.
89 Ron Newcomb ................................ 6-3, 265, So.-R

Pirkle is the man and Newcomb jumps up to the backup spot as Coleman heads over to NG.

RE 54 Jake Coffman....................................6-5, 255, Jr.-R
95 Sean Progar ..................................... 6-3, 255, Fr.-R

Solid as a rock on Larry English's old position.

SLB 37 Alex Kube .......................................... 6-0, 212, Jr.-R
36 Tyrone Clark .......................................5-11, 202, Fr.
OR 27 Spencer Williamson ........................ 6-4, 218, Sr.-R

True freshman (I'm sensing a theme here) Clark frog-jumps Williamson to be the backup to the most-feared player on the defense.

MLB 53 Pat Schiller...................................... 6-2, 229, So.-R
9 Devon Butler ......................................5-11, 209, Fr.
OR 52 Phil Brown ........................................ 6-0, 225, Sr.-R

A shock here. Where the heck did Victor Jacques go? He went from Schiller's backup to not even making the top-3. Something is definitely awry here. Phil Brown continues to be in Kill's doghouse.

WLB 26 Cory Hanson .................................... 6-2, 220, Sr.-R
42 John Tranchitella .................................6-1, 236, Sr.
29 Jordan Delegal ....................................6-1, 203, So.

Two solid veterans anchor the weakside with potential speed-rushing specialist Delegal to probably see some time.

LCB 33 Patrick George ................................... 5-11, 190, Jr.
20 Tommy Davis ................................. 5-11, 190, Fr.-R
OR 2 Sean Evans ........................................5-11, 167, Fr.

Davis to play nickelback, but it looks like the smallish Evans is pushing him.

SS 25 Tracy Wilson .................................... 6-2, 204, So.-R
39 Garrett Barnas ..................................... 6-1, 205, Jr.

Nice to see Barnas get that 4th safety spot. Wilson has been a terror since the end of last season, beating out incumbent Mike Sobol.

FS 4 David Bryant .................................. 5-11, 210, Sr.-R
38 Mike Sobol ........................................6-0, 198, Jr.-R

Sobol switches over to free safety to provide depth because Jody Van Laanen has been banged up this off-season and just returned to practice.

RCB 23 Kiaree Daniels ................................... 5-10, 193, Jr.
5 Chris Smith ........................................ 5-10, 185, Jr.

Finally looking at the depth chart has me a little more comfortable with our depth chart depth as long as Smith and the rest of these guys stay healthy.

Specialists

K 16 Mike Salerno ................................. 5-11, 170, Sr.-R
3 Ryan Fillingim .......................................6-0, 191, Jr.

P 49 Josh Wilber ........................................ 5-11, 235, Jr.
OR 6 Ryan Neir ..........................................6-3, 195, Fr.-R

DS 55 Nolan Owen ....................................... 5-10, 203, Jr.
93 Adam Coleman ...................................6-3, 266, So.

HO 15 Ryan Morris ..................................... 6-3, 196, Sr.-R
38 Mike Sobol ........................................6-0, 198, Jr.-R

The usual suspects here. Walk-on Fillingim is emergency backup. Nice spot for Morris to see more time on the field.

PR 20 Tommy Davis ................................. 5-11, 190, Fr.-R
OR 8 Me’co Brown .......................................5-7, 185, So.

KOR 20 Tommy Davis ................................. 5-11, 190, Fr.-R
AND 4 David Bryant .................................. 5-11, 210, Sr.-R

Well it looks like we'll be seeing a lot of Tommy Davis! Me'co will probably only field punts in critical situations. Don't know about using our best player on defense on kickoff returns in Bryant. Should be interesting to see how that works out. These spots will be open all year.

Fan Day Scrimmage a success, O-Line Shuffles

Mike Breese — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 22:48:10 -0000

Harumph harumph

Finally made my way to Dekalb for Fan Day and the scrimmage this morning. Sorry for the late report, my internet transformed into a less than 56k modem somehow.

Practice started at 9:50 and it was HOT out there under the sun. Luckily there was a nice breeze and some spots where you could get some shade right under the stands. I picked up a schedule poster as I left, which I am really excited about hanging in my room. They also had "Experience it Live" yard signs, which I thought about taking a bunch and randomly placing in peoples yards. But I decided against that plan.

Met up with some message board lurkers and I apparently I'm famous because Huskie beat writer John Sahly said hi as well before I got the chance to introduce myself to the true celebrity. He told me he loves his job and plans on doing a podcast in the near future (awesome). Sahly went double duty today posting both scrimmage stats AND a report on the scrimmage.

My head was spinning trying to get a read on the depth chart and who wore what number on the field, so I live-blogged just some generic stuff. The offense looked good early on in the scrimmage:

Harnish and the No. 1 offense had no trouble moving the ball down the field on the first drive with a mix of runs and passes that resulted in a Chad Spann 7-yard touchdown run. Harnish led the offense to three scores in four drives on Saturday.

Harnish was efficient in his throws, completing 9 of 12 passes and didn't put himself or the offense in any danger. There were some issues with clock management in the two-minute drill, with the offense taking 20 seconds to get a play off at one point, but that was the only negative for the No. 1 offense today.

He's on the Lou Groza Award watch list for a reason. The most impressive thing I saw on the offense (don't know if this is good or bad) was that K Mike Salerno just has a ridiculous leg. He made all three of his field goals, including 47 and a 52 yarders. The 52 yd one hit the crossbar and bounced over. During kickoffs he was booting it so hard the returners barely had a chance to return the ball. Tryouts for that spot are still open with the depth chart seeming like Me'co Brown/Tommy Davis and then Martel Moore/Daniel Rodriguez/Perez Ashford/David Bryant.

Unheralded running backs. Me'co & Chad were their usual selves, didn't see Crider anywhere. Justin Anderson had some vintage runs. Apparently his problem were his shoes:

Running back Justin Anderson has been in-and-out of practice so far, but turned in a nice day complete with a touchdown run and he looked smoother on his footwork than he had been in previous practices. NIU coach Jerry Kill said Anderson has been dealing with toe issues and now has a wider shoe that should negate those troubles.

Antione Kirkland looked great in "Rookie Ball", rushing for 62 yds and a TD including a breakaway 33 yd run.

Wide Receivers stepping up. The word is that Nathan Palmer has an MCL strain that will keep him out for who knows how long. Taking his place admirably was Willie Clark, who had some nice grabs including a diving catch over the middle.

Daniel Rodriguez saw time with the first team, but didn't get too many looks. Perez Ashford saw a good amount of action as well.

O-Line mish-mash. This is where I spent most of my time figuring out who was who and what was happening where. C Eddie Adamski sat out this practice because of a concussion that he suffered last week, but should be back Monday. Preliminary reports are saying projected starting RT Adam Skatrud is out for the season with an ACL tear. Bad things come in threes, I guess. I saw him on the sidelines with crutches, so the O-Line had to mix it up in this practice with some guys at different positions. Kill talked about why he was doing this on Friday:

"We're creating some depth there because we're having people learn two or three positions which I think will be good for us in the long run," Kill said. "We haven't done that before but the NFL does it so we're doing some of that in camp."

I think these are right...lemme know if you have any changes

The first string entailed:

LT Trevor Olson LG Logan Pegram C Jason Onyebuagu RG Joe Pawlak RT Panan Tense

Second string was:

LT Keith Otis LG Ed Jackson C Jared Volk RG ? RT Adam Kiel

On the D. I saw that LE Alan Baxter was getting a ton of time out there. I predict that he'll see a good amount of playing time as a true freshman. WLB Cory Hanson made a good amount of plays out there tipping passes and making tackles. DB Tommy Smith looks like he will be the main nickelback on this team right now.

Overall I thought it was a pretty good practice. Our defense definitely kept our offense in check. I saw a lot of pressure on some of the quarterbacks, so our offensive line is going to have to step up big especially if Skat is out for the year. Didn't see too many downfield passes, which was a little disappointing. I'm happy they are giving a lot of the young guys some looks, because who knows when they will have to step in and play right away.

NIUHuskies.com has some video and an interview with Coach Kill:

NIU Football preseason practice starts this week!

Mike Breese — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:15:48 -0000

Fall camp is starting up as the team reports at 2 PM today and I'm excited as ever for the upcoming season and preparation for the season opener against the Wisconsin Badgers. The tenative schedule for the preseason practices is located here and will also be posted on the right toolbar of this website. The Chicago Media Day for NIU was at Harry Caray's restaurant on Monday. Here are the highlights from the last couple days:

Good things come in threes. Comcast SportsNet announces they will show three Huskie home football games this upcoming season as well as extend the agreement three years:

Northern Illinois' first three 2009 home games - Sept. 12 versus Western Illinois at 6:30 p.m. (CT), Sept. 26 versus Idaho at 2:30 p.m. and Oct. 3 versus Western Michigan at 2:30 p.m. - will air live on CSN Chicago as the network continues a long tradition of bringing Northern Illinois football contests to its coverage area, which includes millions of homes in Illinois, Iowa, northwestern Indiana and southern Wisconsin.

Thanks to the agreement with CSN Chicago and its string of on-the-field success this decade, Northern Illinois has become the most televised program in the Mid-American Conference. Since the beginning of 2004, every Northern Illinois home game has been televised. Overall, the Huskies have had 53 games broadcast in the last five seasons with a school-record 13 broadcast in 2006 and 11 last year.

That leaves us with only 3 games yet to be picked up by a television network: 10/17 @ Toledo, 10/24 @ Miami OH & 11/21 @ Ohio. Here's hoping for FSN Ohio to maybe pick these up, because I don't want to be forced to subscribe to All-MACcess.

670 the Score to broadcast football & basketball games for the next three years:

In addition to all Northern Illinois football games (except those which directly conflict with White Sox games), WSCR-AM will air 20 Huskie men's basketball games each year and will carry the school's weekly 30-minute athletics update show "NIU Live" on Thursday nights from August through March.

Dual coverage. Both the Chicago Tribune and the Daily Chronicle put up some great articles about the Huskie offseason in the past few days:

Just before spring practice let out, NIU coach Jerry Kill passed out an article he found on the Boise State football team's offseason work.

The Broncos get together, without coaches, and do 11-on-11 drills on their own throughout the offseason. Then when they arrive at fall practice, they already have been working on the scheme for two months.

Harnish and his teammates took the not-so-subtle hint to heart.

Throughout June and July, at least twice a week, NIU's football team has gotten together for 7-on-7 drills.

Harnish organized the offense, senior safety David Bryant led the defense and senior guard Jason Onyebuagu led the offensive line.

Progess. Coach Kill likes it:

"This summer, Chandler and our quarterbacks took the next step for our program," Kill said. "Maybe the Boise State article had to do with it, maybe it was because Chandler was a year older.

"We're so far ahead of what we were a year ago. We're going to be able to work faster on the fundamentals and move forward."

Some "Uncommon" reading material provided for the entire team (Tribune, Chronicle). In one year's time, its changed the entire life of OLB Alex Kube:

The junior linebacker from north suburban Cary didn’t have the trust of his teammates or the coaching staff of the Northern Illinois football team.

But then Kube read Tony Dungy’s book, "Uncommon: Finding your path to significance," and his life changed.

"I wasn’t concerned with my performance in the classroom," Kube said. "It was football, football and more football. The book told me what I need to do to be a better person. This year I had a 3.0 grade-point average; I’ve never had a 3.0 before."

Compher also had no idea he would field an unusual request for additional funds from Kill, who proposed each member of the team should have a copy of the book that helped Kube find his direction in life.

"We didn’t budget for the book," said Compher, who like Kill is an avid reader. "But I knew we would find a way to figure it out. I love the proactive approach to leadership and thought it was a great idea."

"When you read the book you realize this is what you are supposed to be doing," Kill said.

"You are supposed to be doing the right thing, not what other people want you to do."

"Coach is always on us for school work," Onyebuagu said. "Football is just a bonus we are here for school. We’ve got to take pride in how we handle ourselves as people. Coach always stresses for us to be good people."

Potential surprise players for the Huskies this year?

Two NIU players have been consistently picked by teammates as Huskies who could surprise this season. On defense it has been middle linebacker Pat Schiller and on offense it has been wide receiver Marcus Lewis.

Quotable on athleticism:

Cory Hanson on who has the best athletic talent on the team outside of football:

"Besides me, I’d have to say either Patrick George (Chicago, Ill./Gordon Tech) or Landon Cox (Calumet City, Ill./Thornton Fractional North). Those two can do some pretty good things off the football field. There’s a lot though. We have a lot of good athletes on this team."

Umm, somebody might want to tell them...

The NIU kickers/punters have not yet been told about the rugby punt rule change for this season. For those of you wondering what it is, basically, the rule change is that If a punter carries the ball outside the tackle box before he kicks on a rugby-style kick, there will be no roughing the kicker violation. Obviously if the punter gets decked after the punt there will be a flag, but there is less protection for punters on the rugby kick. We'll explore in fall camp if that means fewer rugby punts for the Huskies.

...and The Daily Chronicle gets a tour of the Yordon Center.

Video from Chicago Media Day after the jump

Know thy Opponent 2009: Northern Illinois Huskies

BoilerTMill — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 02:17:43 -0000

We should really be afraid of our next opponent on the schedule. Northern Illinois is one of the better MAC teams, yet it is a critical game for our bowl chances in 2009. Going into the Northern Illinois game most people expect us to be 1-1. Anything less and we can forget a bowl game. It is a must-have game because we're expected to lose to Notre Dame the following week. We absolutely have to have at least a 2-2 finish in non-conference play to have any hope of a 6-6 finish and possible bowl bid.

Our fans have become spoiled by facing the MAC, however. Sure, we've been tested by a very good central Michigan team and we got shocked at home by Bowling Green in 2003, but we're used to blowing out MAC team du jour. It may happen against Toledo, but it will not happen against Northern Illinois. As Mike said in last week's Q&A, this is a focused team that will be looking at us as a chance to grab a pelt for themselves from a BCS conference.

2008 Record: 6-7 (5-3 in MAC West)

Bowl result: Lost 17-10 to Louisiana Tech in Independence Bowl

Blog Representation: Red and Black Attack

Series with Purdue: First Meeting

Last season for the Huskies:

Last year was a bowl year for Northern Illinois, though it is most likely because of a glut of bowls on the calendar. The Huskies finished just 6-6 on the year, but grabbed a bid to play in the Independence Bowl against Louisiana Tech. They did well in what was a virtual home game for Tech, but lost 17-10 after both teams played a virtually scoreless second half. It was Tech's first bowl win since 1977.

That is not to say the Huskies were a bad team last year. They had plenty of moments that could have vastly improved their record. Four of the six regular season losses were by less than a touchdown. They were not against your typical run of the mill MAC opponents either. They led Minnesota with 30 seconds left before a late touchdown saved the Gophers. They lost by three the following week at a very good Western Michigan team that would later beat Illinois. They went into SEC country and played Tennessee to a 13-9 game without their starting quarterback. Finally, they had a 33-30 overtime loss to Central Michigan, which has been the most consistent MAC team in recent years. They may not have had a notable win, but they know how to play good teams tough.

As far as this year's schedule looks, they are not afraid to play BCS teams. The Huskies open the season in a night game at Wisconsin. In addition to coming to Purdue, they have non-conference home games against Western Illinois and Idaho. Toledo and Central Michigan make appearances later in the MAC schedule, as does Ball State.

Northern Illinois offense:

As Mike said, second year coach Jerry Kill likes to run a spread offense that is weighted towards running the football. This is where the game against Oregon should be an advantage. I am sure that Northern Illinois is good at this offense, but few teams in the country are better at running out of the spread than Oregon. If we're fortunate enough to beat the Ducks, or at least hold our own defensively against their offense, it should be a good sign for the Northern Illinois game.

Chandler Harnish is a dual threat quarterback in the mold of many others, but NIU would not mind him to be more like Dan Lefevour. We have seen enough of Lefevour

Quarterback Chandler Harnish will be returning to run the show. He was a redshirt freshman last season and performed admirably in ten starts. He didn't play in the Tennessee game, and was the starter from day 1 against Minnesota. In a way, we're probably lucky to be facing him now instead of in two years when he becomes the experienced senior MAC quarterback the NFL desperately wants. He threw for just over 1,500 yards with eight TD"s and nine interceptions during his rookie season. More importantly, he finished as the Huskies leading rusher with 539 yards and four touchdowns on the ground. He's not quite the dual threat that Oregon's Jeremiah Moseli is, but he is still good.

Joining him in the ground attack will be sophomore Me'co Brown (510 yards, 2 TD's) and junior Chad Spann (429 yards, 8 TD's). Spann is built a little bit like former Northern Illinois back Garrett Wolfe, who ran for more than 5,000 yards and is now on the Chicago Bears roster. Spann is the quicker of the two backs, but Brown is pretty quick as well. Look for Brown and Spann to run more as Northern Illinois tries to keep Chandler from running as much.

The Huskies didn't have a great passing attack last year, so they will need more of one in order to free up the running game. Marcus Perez was the leading receiver with only 34 catches for 480 yards and two TD's, but he was lost to graduation. The same is true for number two receiver Matt Simon (24-377-2). That leaves Reed Cunningham (22-252-3), a 6'5" target, as the team's top returning receiver. Nathan Palmer (12-278-2) should be a quality slot receiver for them, but he was injured for a good portion of last year. We also need to look out for Justin Anderson. Anderson was a 1,200 yard receiver with eight touchdowns in 2007, but a knee injury caused him to miss all of last season. Our secondary needs to take away the passing game and make the Huskies as one dimensional as possible. We should be able to do it with the experience we have versus their lack of experience.

The offensive line is one of the best in MAC. Eddie Adamski was a third-team all-Mac selection last season at center and makes few mistakes. Left guard Jason Onyebuagu joined him on the third team last year and has Big Ten size at 6'2", 305 pounds. Trevor Olsen, Panan Tense, and Kevin Skatrund were all starters last year at one point, making this line incredibly experienced. They should give Harnish plenty of time to throw, but they are not particularly skilled at run blocking. Our defensive line will have to cause havoc in the running game at the same time our secondary is shutting down the receivers. If both things happen, the Northern Illinois offense will struggle.

You can't beat snow highlights of Harnish

Northern Illinois defense:

This was by far the strength of the team last year, but as Mike said, they lose seven starters. One of those starters was defensive end Larry English who was the 16^th overall pick in the NFL draft. English was a terror in the backfield with eight sacks and 16 tackles for loss, but he is the problem of the AFC West now with the Chargers. Brandon Bice was almost as good on the other end of the line with 6.5 sacks and 12 tackles for loss. He returns for his senior season as the top pass rusher and will attempt to replicate English's numbers. Mike Krause and D.J. Pirkle look to be the starting tackles, but they weren't especially good at getting into the backfield and disrupting offenses. If our offensive line can play well we should be able to create holes for the running game.

Pat Schiller, Alex Kube, and Cory Hanson are the starting linebackers that have a decent amount of experience. Kube was the team's leading tackler in 2007 with 111 and has moved all around the defense from safety to linebacker. He also had seven tackles for loss a season ago. Hanson had six tackles for loss as well, so they can get in the backfield if necessary.

The secondary is not one that caused turnovers, which is good for our inexperienced receivers. Last season Northern Illinois had only six interceptions, and only one of those came from a projected starter in the back four. Schiller and Hanson each had one as linebackers, while cornerback Patrick George had just one. The team did have 13 fumble recoveries, however, so we will need to hold on to the ball once we have it. Safety David Bryant led the team in tackles with 83 and has played all over the field on both sides of the ball in his career. He forced three of those fumbles and simply likes to hit people. This secondary is young and though they have talent, it will likely be the weakest secondary we face in the first half of the season.

Northern Illinois Special Teams:

Mike Salerno is one of the best kickers in the MAC and maybe in the country. The kid has range with a long of 52 last year and he hit on 18 of 24 total field goal attempts. He was also a perfect 34 of 34 on PAT's and had 16 touchbacks on kickoffs. This helped the Huskies to have a very good kick coverage team that allowed only 23 yards per return. Salerno may punt as well, as they must find a new punter. They gave up 10.7 yards per punt return last season and a touchdown with an experienced punter.

The return game will likely be handled by Me'co Brown on both sides. He averaged 21.4 yards on kick returns and 7.9 yards on punt returns a season ago.

Intangibles:

Northern Illinois is not going to be afraid of us. If anything, they are looking at this game as a chance to grab another win over a BCS program. They came agonizingly close in two games last year, and they will have already cut their teeth against Wisconsin. The Quad ranks them as 80^th overall, which is still ahead of us in that countdown. Their coach is in just his second season, but he has them believing they can beat anyone.

Still, this will be a young team especially on defense. It is another chance for our passing game to get going with our own inexperience issues. As a senior laden team last year they finished under .500 and lost three of there last four games.

Game Outlook:

This is a must win for us. I was a little scared of them at first, but I don't think their offense is strong enough to move the ball regularly against our experienced defense. Our secondary should dominate their receivers and shut down the passing game. If we can get into the backfield a few times my only fear is that Harnish can create something out of nothing with his legs. How many times have we struggled with that? Of course, with this game coming immediately after Oregon we should be used to their offensive style.

Defensively, I think this will be a very good team in time, but they are awfully young. It is a perfect chance for our offense to mature and show we can actually score this year. Let's face it, if we can't move the ball and score against Northern Illinois and an awful Toledo defense we're not going to suddenly figure it out in Big Ten play.

Prediction:

This is a must win game for us. If we lose to Toledo, it could be the only game standing between us and a winless season. As good as Northern Illinois is on paper they aren't as good as at least eight other teams in the Big Ten. Let them get their big upset at Wisconsin (thus improving our chances of winning in Madison). For now, I think we win a game that is close for a half, but we pull away in the end. Purdue 34, Northern Illinois 21