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Gameday Buff Bites - Colorado Buffaloes vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers

irish1611 — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 16:30:38 -0000

Still a game to play today, hoping the guys come out and show us something. I believe Nebraska is beatable but Colorado's offensive line will have to play their best game of the year by far.

Hawkins will coach at CU in 2010 - The Denver Post
I love how "progress" and "competitive" are used by the powers at Colorado. Mike, here is the measure to determine progress, not "being" in games. The Toledo game must have been forgotten by Bohn as well:
2006: 2 - 10
2007: 6 - 7
2008: 5 -7
2009: 3 - 8

Bohn was asked what signs of progress he liked. "Our competitive spirit," he said. "Were there times that we were flat? Yes. But we never quit. We've been in every game. Did we make some mistakes? Yes. Did we make some coaching decisions that maybe could be easily criticized? Sure. "But Dan never lost the team, and we've actually improved as the season went on."

CU president: 'We're going to stay the course' with Dan Hawkins - Boulder Daily Camera
"Benson, chancellor back Hawkins; fans split on decision."

Trust me Vanessa, fans aren't split on the decision. If you want to get really, really pissed off, read the last few lines of this article and just take in some people who just don't really understand. My belief is if you want results in the classroom, hire an advisor, if you want choir boys, hire a life coach, if you want wins, hire a football coach who knows his X's and O's. We have said it before and will say it again, Dan Hawkins is the world's highest paid counselor and his bosses continue to evaluate him on him being a counselor and not a head coach.

Woelk: Start clock on CU`s 2010 season today - Boulder Daily Camera
This is the only reason Dan Hawkins is back, because of the extension given to him by Mike Bohn in 2008:

Remember, this is a school whose top officials have been preaching fiscal responsibility to every corner of every campus for months. Those same officials are in no mood to have one of those corners writing million-dollar checks to change football coaches. Neither are those officials excited at the prospect of going hat in hand to the legislature, pleading poverty and asking for more funding -- and then having those legislators read about a million-dollar check going to a former football coach.

CU says today’s game remains meaningful - The Longmont Times-Call

Turnover in Hawkins’ staff in recent seasons hasn’t been too frequent. But he did lose an offensive line coach in February and an offensive coordinator in May, changes that had an effect on the program’s continuity. The Buffs are last in the league in total yards and, barring a big day today, probably will end that way for the third time in four years.

CU sticks with Hawkins - The Longmont Times-Call

Hawkins, in his fourth season, has acknowledged that his team is younger than it should be at this point of his tenure. Attrition has been steady. Of the 28 players CU signed in February 2007, 13 aren’t on the roster today. Hawkins said he would like to have retained some who left, but not at the cost of sacrificing the program’s principles.

Asked if he was receiving offers from donors to help fund a buyout, Bohn said, "We received a lot of e-mails on both sides, positive and negative. Some expressed interest in helping if we go that direction (a buyout). "My position is we never raise money for such an effort. We put our efforts into capital projects and long-standing assets that help us with our competitive nature over the long term, like the practice bubble or the locker room or the meeting spaces."

So can we expect Dan Hawkins to be here until 2012 because of Bohn's refusal to raise money for such an effort? Such principles you have Mike, such noble principles. We only grant extensions for three more years on 11 - 19 efforts. Sorry guys, I know it is negative on the site right now but they are serving up volleyballs that need to be spiked.

Sizing up the storylines: Nebraska vs. Colorado

2. Sack attack? It’s been tough sledding for the Colorado offensive line. The Buffs are averaging 2.6 yards per rush and rank 117th in the country in sacks allowed, having given up 43. The Blackshirts, meanwhile, rank 14th in the country with 32 sacks. CU quarterback Tyler Hansen (there might be a Cody Hawkins sighting, too) has some mobility, but is similar to what Nebraska saw last week in K-State quarterback Grant Gregory. Expect the Huskers to be able to get consistent pressure.

Scout.com: Lots on the line for NU and CU...no, really

For Colorado, a win could help them sell more season tickets for next season, which might allow them to buy out Hawkins’ contract next time around, something they seem apparently unable to do right now, or how else could you justify bringing a coach back with a losing record each of his four years at the helm.

Omaha.com - The Omaha World-Herald: Big Red Today - 2-minute drill: NU vs. CU

CU PASS OFFENSE vs. NU PASS DEFENSE
Tyler Hansen has won the QB job over Cody Hawkins, though neither has been consistently productive. CU has a talented pass-catcher in Scotty McKnight, who has 69 receptions. He may not get the ball often today, though. Colorado allows an average of 3.91 sacks per game, ranking 117th nationally. Nebraska, the conference's best pass defense at 182.3 yards per game, has allowed four touchdowns through the air all year.

Omaha.com - The Omaha World-Herald: Big Red Today - Three things to watch: NU vs. CU

Nebraska has trailed for just nine minutes of action during this four-game winning streak. Who knows? If Colorado can grab and maintain an early lead, maybe this thing gets interesting.

Road ahead appears daunting for Buffaloes - The Denver Post

"You wonder what chance Hawkins has to keep his job next year against that schedule?" asked Buff Club member Mike Novick, owner of Buffalo River Clothing Co. in Boulder.

Omaha.com - The Omaha World-Herald: Big Red Today - Key matchup: Suh vs. the CU line

NEBRASKA DT NDAMUKONG SUH VS. COLORADO'S INTERIOR LINEMEN
For the Buffaloes’ offense to have any success, Nebraska defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh (above) can’t be creating havoc by bottling up interior runs and by pressuring the quarterback. Obviously, it’s easier said than done. Suh can erupt at any time. He had 1½ sacks and a pass breakup in the final quarter last week.

Three-point stance: All eyes on Texas - College Football Nation Blog - ESPN

3. It could be that Colorado decided to keep Dan Hawkins for a fifth season because the university doesn’t have the money to pay him what it owes him and his staff and hire a new coach and his staff. Or it could be that athletic director Mike Bohn refused to make a knee-jerk decision and wants to give Hawkins every opportunity to succeed. I hope it’s the latter, and that the win-now-if-not-sooner mentality will lose its momentum. But I fear it’s the former.

Brooks: Future Is Now For Hawkins, Buffs - CUBuffs.com
Dan Hawkins can now peer into 2010, but Friday morning will find him focused on the here-and-now of Nebraska, CU's opponent at Folsom Field (1:30 p.m., ABC).

Colorado memories special for Watson

Buffs leave Maui more confident - Boulder Daily Camera

And, more importantly, Higgins had help from Alec Burks, Casey Crawford, Marcus Relphorde, Dufault, Tomlinson and others during the tournament. "It`s completely different," Higgins said. "This team has flipped 180 degrees. Last year I think we would have come out hoping we could compete, hoping we could stay in the game, and just see what happens after 40 minutes. This year we stepped on the court expecting to win."

No shortage of drama in NU-Colorado rivalry
Another trip to Boulder, another day of mayhem.

Wrapping up the 2009 Season

BoilerTMill — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:04:41 -0000

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. I hope everyone out there has a safe and happy holiday. The posting will likely be scaled back slightly over the next few weeks before Christmas. The recent temp job I accepted is going to need me for some extra hours so that will cut into some of my writing time. I do have press access for the Wake Forest game next week, however, so that should be fun. If anyone finds any worthwhile news during the day feel free to post it via fanshot and I'll get it to the front page as soon as I can. Also, if you feel like doing a post of your own you can do it via Fanpost on the right. I haven't pushed these features too much in the past, but they are great ways to expand the community here. Now on with the football wrap up.

I am not quite sure what to think about this. When seeing some preseason predictions of 2-10, 1-11, 3-9 with maybe a pair of Big Ten wins, the 2009 Purdue football season looks pretty good. When you actually sat down and watched all 12 games, as I did (minus Northwestern) it is hard not to think that 10-2 was possible. That leaves me with mixed feelings. We were much better than advertised, but not as good as we could have been. Ultimately, 5-7 is probably about right based on the amount of inexperience we had on offense. Even then, those players overachieved.

That is what makes this season wrap up so hard. How do I put it in proper perspective? I guess we can look at each game individually.

Toledo W 52-31

This was the only game that one of the guys over at the Rivalry, Esq. Gave us coming into the season. It was with good reason too, as the Boilers were never seriously threatened and Ralph Bolden had a field day. The only major concern was poor tackling and poor coverage over the middle against Toledo's short drop passing attack. The tackling would be hit or miss all year long. Joey Elliott threw three interceptions, but two were tipped balls as we had the foreshadowing of turnovers. All told it was a good opener. We were in control throughout and never let Toledo get within two scores.

At Oregon L 36-38

And you thought the Ducks visit to Ross-Ade was letting one get away. Essentially, we handed Oregon 19 points in their home stadium. I called this as an upset Purdue win while everyone else predicted blowout and I was damn near right. We had a Duck team that would go on to steamroll USC beaten in their own house. An early interception deep in our own territory led to a field goal. Oregon later returned an interception and a bad snap for a score. We also had an extra point blocked, forcing us into a failed two point conversion attempt in the final minute. Still, this team didn't die when giving them those 19 points. We earned the respect of Oregon fans everyone, as they knew they were lucky to escape this one with a win. I know the guys over at Addicted to Quack have been big fans of Purdue all season because of this game. Unfortunately, "We had it," would become a theme for the season.

Northern Illinois L 21-28

Just an ugly game. If we played them 12 more times I would absolutely pick us 12 times. We had zero business losing this game and we know it, especially when Toledo would later beat Northern Illinois. Purdue got outclassed and outplayed in every phase, yet NIU still needed a late fake punt to hold us off. I am fully confident that we would have scored to tie if they had actually punted there. We should have never been in that position in the first place. Two fumbled punts and a penalty for roughing the kicker only allowed seven points, but they allowed NIU to dominate the time of possession. The offense never got on track until late in the third quarter. I said before the season that if we lost this game we had no business going to a bowl and I was right. It is the difference between a bowl and nothing right now. If we played this game today we win by three touchdowns, easy.

Notre Dame L 21-24

Another missed opportunity. After Jaycen Taylor gave us a late 21-17 lead we let Notre Dame drive down the field, converting a 3^rd and long and a 4^th and goal. The timeout called by Danny Hope before a late 3^rd and goal is unforgiveable. Even if they don't spike it they are running plays in the hurry-up. That means they are less likely to convert. I'll give Jimmy Montana credit though. His winning TD pass to Kyle Rudolph was a good one.

Northwestern L 21-27

This is the second worst game next to the Northern Illinois debacle. If we simply take a knee deep in our own territory late in the first half we save 13 points and three turnovers. Even with the mistakes we had a chance t win late but a pair of incompletions inside the 10 cost us the game. I am glad I was in Miami for this one. I thought ESPN's gametracker was stuck on repeat with all the fumbles. At least Northwestern had quite a season after this one.

At Minnesota L 20-35

This game was almost as bad as the Oregon game. Minnesota's offense was horrible all year, agaisnt us they barely tried to pass. One big pass completed to Eric Decker set up a game changing touchdown. From there the floodgates opened with more turnovers. This was capped by a backbreaking blocked field goal returned for a touchdown. It was almost identical to the figgie Chris Summers had blocked in 2007, only Minnesota actually held on to the ball for a score. This is yet another game I wih we could have back. If we could replay every loss I would predict wins in this order, from most likely to least likely:

Northern Illinois
Minnesota
Northwestern
Notre Dame
Michigan State
Oregon
Wisconsin

And of those, the only one I am sure we would lose is Wisconsin. I might pick Oregon, given how hot they can be. In the other five I would pick us right now.

Ohio State W 26-18

Quite simply, this is the biggest win the program has had in nine years since beating the Buckeyes in 2000. This was a better Ohio State team, but that win essentially sent us to the Rose Bowl, so it is bigger. Considering that three of our four Big Ten losses easily could have been wins, This could have sent us to the Rose Bowl as well, giving us a rematch with Oregon. With the way Ohio State has finished the season I am still shocked by this win. Without it, they would still be on a record Big Ten road winning streak. They would also be hoping for a miracle in the last two weeks for an outside shot at the national title. It was one of the most memorable games in Ross-Ade Stadium because it was completely unexpected. It also proved another preseason prediction of mine true: that we would end the losing streak against ranked teams. Ohio State was the only team that was ranked at the time we played them. Compare that to last year, where Oregon, Notre Dame, Penn State, Ohio State, Minnesota, Michigan State, and Iowa were all ranked at game time. If we win a conference championship in the next three years it will be because of this game.

Again, one of the happiest moments ever at Ross-Ade

Illinois W 24-14

This was kind of a boring game in retrospect. Everyone was still buzzing about the OSU upset. Illinois was awful before looking like a real football team the following two weeks. I would call this game the most dull of the season. We built a big lead and sat on it. That's what good teams do. It was nice not to have to hang on until the final seconds in a Big Ten win too.

Wisconsin L 0-37

Wisconsin Jumped Around all over us...

Did we show up in Madison? This was the worst game only surpassed by the NIU debacle. Yes, we were physically dominated in both games. At least you can expect it with Wisconsin. The Badgers played essentially a perfect game and we did not. There were absolutely no positives from this game, which made the next one that much more surprising.

Michigan W 38-36

Boiled Sports called the Ohio State game a sharpie loss. They were wrong. I called this a sharpie loss. I was wrong. The game will mostly be remembered for the simmering Danny Hope-Rich Rodriguez fued at the end, but I will remember it as HOLY CRAP WE JUST WON IN ANN ARBOR!!!! I don't care that it was over the first Michigan team to finish last in the Big Ten in over 45 years. Knowing our history since 1966 I thought we had no chance. It was stunning because we kept making big play after big play. We overcame yet another 14 point deficit to the Wolverines, and now we have a two game winning streak in a series where we have just 14 wins total. An alert reader is sending me a DVD copy of this game. They are awesome for that.

Michigan State L 37-40

This is the game where our bowl hopes officially died. It is probably about four games later than most people expected them to die. The play they died on was Michigan State's long TD pass after we had gone up 11. If the defense can force even a long scoring drive there the game is pretty secure. Instead, we gave up a long TD, had a figgie blocked, gave up another TD, got a figgie to tie, then promptly gave it back with a long kickoff return. This doesn't even account for the fact that we gave them seven points on the game's first play. It's a tough loss, but we had plenty of chances to make sure this one didn't matter in terms of getting to a bowl.

Indiana W 38-21

An important win because we shared the same record with IU coming in for the second straight year, but dominated the game. We showed that despite similar records, there is still a gap between Indiana and Purdue. It is now up to us to make sure it gets larger and not smaller.

There are tons of positives coming out of this year. We finished at .500 in the league after two straight seasons below. We were 4-2 in the last six games after being 1-5 in the previous six. We won a road game for the first time since 2007, and now have a two game road winning streak. We beat a ranked team for the first time since 2003. the next step is combining the two and beating a ranked team on the road. That is something we haven't done since winning at Wisconsin in 2003, and something we didn't do much under Tiller.

Offensively, we lose our quarterback, but we gain an experienced one in Robert Marve. If you go strictly by recruiting rankings, we can line up four star talent next year at guard (Ken Plue), running back (Al-Terek McBurse), receiver (O.J. Ross), Tight End (Jeff Lindsay, though he was a 4-star linebacker), and quarterback (Marve). Defensively we have to replace the entire secondary, but Josh Johnson, Chris Quinn, and Charlton Williams all have some playing experience. I think there is a certain guard on the basketball team that might be interested in a one year gridiron curtain call. At the very least, Kramer could provide much needed depth. It is safe to say he would be a fan favorite as well.

Just to show I am completely delusional, I think a 6-0 start next year is entirely possible. It is possible, maybe even likely, that Charlie Weis will be gone and Jimmy Montana and Golden Tate will both go pro. That evens the playing field in the season opener quite a bit. We have no excuse whatsoever for losing to Ball State, Western Illinois, and Toledo in the non-conference season. In conference play I believe we can beat Minnesota, Northwestern (our first two Big Ten games), Michigan (ignore this if they field a defense next year), and Indiana. Three of those games are at home, so they need to be wins (a sidebar, it absolutely sucks we beat the league champ, but still went 3-4 at Ross-Ade. WTF?). That leaves Ohio State (tough at home), Wisconsin (They tend to dominate us physically), Michigan State (toss-up road game), and Illinois (a wild card with their sheer talent) as tricky games. Notice three of those four are on the road. Michigan State should be better, while no one know what to expect from Illinois anymore. The Illini could just as easily win the entire Big Ten as they could finish dead last.

So what should we expect? In a down Big Ten everyone is looking to improve. I think we showed the most improvement over anyone as the season went along. If we keep it going into next year, I expect at least an 8 win season. We will return to a bowl unless we crap the bed in one of those three easy non-conference games. With a few breaks we might even challenge for the Big Ten title.

Yes, I have lost my mind.

NIU/MAC Bowl Projections Roundup: Week 12

Mike Breese — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 00:18:09 -0000

Basically, nobody has any clue who is going where in terms of MAC-affiliated Bowl games. We could be going to DC, New Mexico or even Detroit against Notre Dame! Would the Golden Domers ever accept an invitation to the Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl? Bruce Feldman seems to think so, and he doesn't even have the Ohio Bobcats going bowling. One ESPN pundit even has us in Boise against our old friends Idaho *shudders*.

Friday is a very important day for Bowl jockeying for position:

Temple Owls (9-2, 7-0) @ Ohio Bobcats (8-3, 6-1) - 10 AM CST on ESPNU

Northern Illinois Huskies (7-4, 5-2) @ Central Michigan Chippewas (9-2, 7-0) - 12 PM on ESPN 360

Toledo Rockets (5-6, 3-4) @ Bowling Green Falcons (6-5, 5-2) - 1 PM on ESPNU

Temple vs Ohio will be for the MAC East spot in the MAC Championship. The ideal situation would for Temple to win that, so Ohio stays at only 8 wins.

Toledo takes on Bowling Green in the most significant game of the day to NIU fans. If Toledo manages to beat Bowling Green, then the Falcons stay at only 6 wins and can't leapfrog the Huskies in bowl selection. There would be four 7+ win MAC teams going bowling in 3 MAC-affiliated bowl games and one fighting for an at-large.

The most important thing for Northern Illinois to do this weekend is just beat a CMU team that doesn't have anything to play for. That all but guarantees a bowl spot and puts us ahead of Bowling Green in terms of attractiveness. 8-wins will also match Ohio if they lose to Temple on Friday.

Here is the order of selection for the ~~four~~ three games associated with the MAC:

1. GMAC Bowl (Mobile)
2. Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl (Detroit)
3. International Bowl (Toronto)
~~4. EagleBank Bowl (DC, Backup)~~

[Note by Mike Breese, 11/23/09 12:12 AM CST ] John Sahly confirmed that the MAC has ZERO affiliation with the EagleBank Bowl this year.

HOWEVER, the team that wins the MAC may opt out of their bowl game if they so may choose. Buffalo did this last year as they went to the International Bowl. CMU may choose to stay in Detroit to cut costs and to face a bigger opponent than they would in Mobile.

IF Bowling Green beats Toledo AND NIU loses to CMU then both 7-win teams will be fighting for an at-large spot at bowl games that couldn't be filled by another conference (ie New Mexico, Boise). I believe that our marquee win over Purdue will turn a lot of heads in the selection process.

Click through to see all the predictions.

CFN:

EagleBank Bowl
December 30th, Washington DC, 4:30 pm ESPN
ACC No. 8 vs. Army or C-USA
Projection: Northern Illinois* vs. East Carolina

*No ACC team projected available

GMAC Bowl
January 6, Mobile AL 7 pm ESPN
ACC vs. MAC
Projection: Middle Tennessee* vs. Temple
*No ACC team projected available

Little Caesars Pizza Bowl
December 26th, Detroit MI, 5 pm, ESPN
Big Ten No. 7 vs. MAC
Projection: Notre Dame* vs. Central Michigan
*No Big Ten team projected available

International Bowl
January 2, Toronto, Canada, Noon, ESPN2
Big East vs. MAC No. 4 or 5
Projection: Rutgers vs. Ohio

CBS:

New Mexico Bowl: Northern Illinois* vs. Nevada

*No MWC team projected available

GMAC Bowl: Temple vs. MTSU*

Pizza Bowl: Central Michigan vs. Notre Dame*

International Bowl: UConn vs. Ohio

EagleBank Bowl: UCF* vs. Bowling Green*

ESPN's Mark Schlabach

Roady's Humanitarian: Northern Illinois vs. Idaho

GMAC: Notre Dame* vs. Central Michigan

Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl: Temple vs. Middle Tennessee State*

International: Rutgers vs. Ohio

EagleBank Bowl: Bowling Green* vs. Southern Miss

ESPN's Bruce Feldman

Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl: Northern Illinois vs. Notre Dame*

GMAC: Southern Methodist* vs. Central Michigan

International: West Virginia vs. Temple

ESPN's Graham Watson

Little Caesars Pizza Bowl: Northern Illinois vs. ~~Big Ten~~

GMAC Bowl: Central Michigan vs. ~~ACC~~

International Bowl: Temple vs. Big East

EagleBank Bowl: Ohio vs. C-USA

Saturday Sound Offs:

EagleBank Bowl: Northern Illinois* vs. Marshall*

GMAC Bowl: Temple vs. Middle Tennessee State*

Little Caesars Pizza Bowl: Central Michigan vs. Notre Dame*

International Bowl: Rutgers vs. Ohio

SI's Stewart Mandel:

Eagle Bank: Northern Illinois (ACC*) vs. Marshall (C-USA)

GMAC: Temple (MAC) vs. Middle Tennessee (ACC*)

Little Caesars: Central Michigan (MAC) vs. Notre Dame (Big Ten No. 7*)

International: Rutgers (Big East) vs. Ohio (MAC)

Humanitarian: Bowling Green (MWC*) vs. Idaho (WAC)

Phil Steele:

EagleBank: Marshall vs. Northern Illinois*

GMAC: Middle Tenn* vs. Ohio

Pizza: Notre Dame* vs. Central Michigan

International: UConn vs. Temple

Sporting News' Dave Curtis

Humanitarian Bowl: Northern Illinois** vs. Idaho

GMAC Bowl: Boise State** vs. Central Michigan

Little Caesars Pizza Bowl: Louisiana-Monroe** vs. Temple

International Bowl: Rutgers vs. Bowling Green

Eagle Bank Bowl: Ohio** vs. Marshall**

What bowl do you want to go to?

The Sad Truth: 2009 Will Go Down As the Year the Colorado Buffaloes Blew It

irish1611 — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 23:02:02 -0000

As news came down today that Oklahoma State QB Zac Robinson potentially might not playing tonight, I got to thinking about how the Colorado Buffaloes blew a great chance to make a mark this season. It is truly amazing how the schedule and the weakness of the Big 12 North set the Buffs up perfectly to return to the spotlight in '09 but using part of a quote from head coach Dan Hawkins, the Buffs did not "sieze the day." Look at the schedule below. Doesn't that make you sick? Granted, we now know the Buffs are less than stellar themselves but think if the Buffs' offensive line performed up to expectations, WR Markques Simas was coached and prepared to play like he was now from game one (not suspended), if Tyler Hansen started the year at quarterback, if the Buffs weren't at the bottom of the nation in turnovers & penalties, and the defense started the season like they have been playing the past few weeks. Yes, I know the saying about using "ifs" and "buts". I know. But Colorado blew it this year, no "ifs" or "buts" about it:

Going into the preseason, there were four teams the Buffs could lose to and you wouldn't be totally surprised - at West Virginia, at Texas, Kansas and at Oklahoma State. West Virginia because it was a road game and we knew that would be a tough environment. We thought Kansas and Todd Reesing would be back to their normal abuse of the Buffs like the previous three years. Games at Texas and Oklahoma State were the hardest two on the schedule and were considered the two contests the Buffs would most likely lose preseason. But Kansas isn't who we thought they were as the Buffs' beat them sending the Jayhawks into a downfall. Tonight, Oklahoma State might be playing without two preseason All Big 12 players and their All American candidate runnining back Kendall Hunter has been hurt six games in 2009.

- Colorado St. Rams - no reason to lose to them considering the year they are having. AT FOLSOM FIELD! (L)
-@ Toledo Rockets - no reason to lose to them considering the year they are having. (L)
- Wyoming Cowboys - Buffs won (W)
-@ West Virginia Mountaineers- would accept a loss preseason and now. Tough place to play on the road (L)
-@ Texas Longhorns - would accept a loss preseason and now. Game on the road. (L)
- Kansas Jayhawks - Buffs won, was expected to be a preseason loss (W)
-@ Kansas St. Wildcats - very winnable game against a mediocre Big 12 North opponent (L)
- Missouri Tigers - very winnable game against a mediocre Big 12 North opponent at home. (L)
- Texas A&M Aggies - Buffs won (W)
-@ Iowa St. Cyclones - very winnable game against a mediocre Big 12 North opponent (L)
-@ Oklahoma St. Cowboys - Kendall Hunter returned two weeks ago and may not be 100% but think about this. Oklahoma State tonight will be playing without Zac Robinson and Dez Bryant and a less than 100% Kendall Hunter...unbelievable the luck if we had a mentally tough team.
- Nebraska Cornhuskers - very winnable game against a mediocre Big 12 North opponent at home.

A relatively easy out of conference schedule, a mediocre Big 12 North schedule with winnable road games against Kansas State and Iowa State, a down Kansas team, and an Oklahoma State squad that is missing a lot of offensive fire power with Robinson and Bryant out...

But once again, you have to look back at the slow start to begin the year and not getting these guys ready to play. Not having momentum and excitement on the road and "overlooking" Colorado State as Riar Geer said defines this team and the opportunity they left on the table.

If there is any reason for a change in Boulder, look at 2009, how the chips fell in place and the way the Buffs responded. "10 wins no excuses" was supposed to motivate the players, a change at offensive coordinator and a return to a pro-style offense was supposed to put players in a better position to be successful. A deep linebacker corp was supposed to bolster the defense with the emergence of CB Jimmy Smith. Of course, the defensive line was a preseason concern but they have certainly outperformed expectations.

Instead, the Buffs can't run the ball with any consistency and they can't keep a mobile quarterback from getting sacked eight times a game. A quarterback change was made too late, Colorado continues to suffer on the mental side of the game with turnovers and penalties, the defensive scheme was too complicated at the beginning of the year which cost the Buffs' games and Colorado continues to play unmovitated football especially on the road, something the players have admitted multiple times this year.

I think this is the only case you need to make. In a year that any improvement over the previous three years should have at least netted the Buffs a low level Bowl birth, Colorado has three wins.

Week 9 MAC Roundtable Roundup: Halloween Eve

Mike Breese — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 05:52:47 -0000

This week's MAC Roundtable Roundup takes a look at the different thoughts around the MAC Blogosphere, yo. These privileged fellows include: Temple Football Forever, ~~Fire Up Chips~~, Let's go Rockets, FalconBlog, Rasor on the Zips & Over The Pylon. OK, so maybe we don't have FUC's answers for this week yet. Man, do I love their acronym though.

Read on for some Q&A, a coach lookalike Halloween contest and the vaunted MAC Power Poll.

1. Both Ball State and NIU took an early 1900's approach to offense in winning their games this weekend primarily through the ground game. This brings the question: Are you satisfied with the balance of your offense currently? Would you like to see more passing or more rushing?

Toledo bloggers would like to see more of a running game because of the revolving door at QB and the deep talent that they have at the RB position. FalconBlog wants to run more and looks to NIU's attack from 2004-06 for inspiration.

I think you be balanced even if you are a predominant passing team, so long as you can effectively keep the defense honest and run the ball if there are seven in the box, and convert a third and one when you need it. Conversely, if you are a running team, you need to keep the safeties honest by going over the top. The best example I can remember is the Garrett Wolfe NIU teams. Very run heavy play selection, but the ability to go deep to really good receivers as your guys crept up to the line.

Temple FB Forever wants somebody else to touch the ball other than freshman stud RB Bernard Pierce. Ball State bloggers...well they're a little handcuffed at the moment:

For Ball State, I couldn’t care any less about balance. I only care about the win. I am bloodthirsty for victories, and frankly, I don’t care about the sort of statistical oddities needed to win. The first part of the season, our offense was very balanced…. both the passing and rushing games sucked something awful. That led to an 0-7 start. When we become unbalanced, not by choice but by circumstance, we win. Therefore, by the transitive property the more unbalanced we become the more likely we are to win. It’s science.

2. The two best teams in the MAC in Central Michigan & Temple take on non-conf opponents in Boston College and Navy respectively. What positives or negatives come from playing OOC opponents this late in to the season?

The consensus is that CMU needs this victory to boost themselves into the Top-25. LetsGoRockets fears for Danny LeFevour's health:

Unfortunately, CMU risks sustaining injuries to key players facing an undoubtedly bigger team than they’re used to facing with MAC opponents. An injury to LeFevour and CMU suffers a huge set back for the rest of the year.

Mike Rasor believes that Temple just needs to focus on the conference and OTP sees the Temple Owls falling back to reality losing to Navy this weekend.

3. For fun, predict the outcome of the impending doom the 0-7 Eastern Michigan Eagles face as they travel to Arkansas this weekend.

FalconBlog's description of this game is just dripping in smart metaphors:

This is a little like predicting the outcome of deer hunting from the perspective of the deer. I feel bad for Eastern. They are sorta like GM, turnaround plan after turnaround plan, yet all that ever transpires is another turn around plan.

TFF is a little more optimistic than most:

Eastern Michigan will cover the 36 1/2-point spread and lose something like 45-17, 42-21.

Resident SEC expert OTP (They cover both Ball State & Kentucky) sees the other side of the spectrum:

If this was the Houston Nutt led Arkansas Razorbacks, then I would say EMU actually had a shot. Since they are led now by King o the Dickbags Bobby Petrino, I fully expect an ass stomping. And one that isn’t stopped simply because they’re up by 40. Arkansas-52, EMU-7.

4. If your team/coach were to wear Halloween costume, what would they be?

LetsGoRockets pretty much stole our costumes, as they want to be Dr. Jeckll/Mr. Hyde. But what two players would wear those costumes? I pick Aaron Opelt & Austin Dantin.

FalconBlog sees Dave Clawson either metaphorically or physically looking like The Professor from Gilligan's Island.

TFF likes Temple coach Al Golden as Tom Cruise. Too easy:

As for OTP, sigh:

Let’s see… for Stan Parrish, it would have to be a character that has had great success in the past but has fallen on hard times now. It would need to be someone that is not necessarily the nicest guy in town. It would need to be someone who is age appropriate.Easy answer…

And Rasor's got some great stuff for Akron's coach:

There's no need to pile on poor J.D. Brookhart. I could say that his coaches could dress as a parole officer, paramedic and NCAA sleuth, but that would be over the top.

5. MAC Power Poll Time

CMU (unanimous)
Temple (unanimous)
NIU
Ohio
WMU
Toledo
Kent
Bowling Green
Buffalo
Ball State
Akron
Miami
EMU

The top-2 spots seem to be solid at least for a week or so because both of these teams play OOC, as noted above. Ohio is still 4th after losing to Kent State? OK...And also I feel Miami OH is very underrated and will get their first win this weekend against Toledo.

Week 9 MAC Roundtable: Halloween Edition

Mike Breese — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 00:02:57 -0000

Here we are again hosting the MAC Blogger Roundtable for what could be the last time this season. This is where I ask questions to the various MAC blogs out there as they answer them throughout the week on their respected sites. These privileged fellows include: Temple Football Forever, Fire Up Chips, Let's go Rockets, FalconBlog, Rasor on the Zips & Over The Pylon. Commence.

I'd definitely like to see a bit more passing for the Huskies. Sure, our starting QB is out in Chandler Harnish but without more of a balanced offense I don't think we'll be able to get better as a team. Sure, running the ball only will work against winless teams like Miami and the like, but what about when we face a team like Central Michigan. I'd like to see Coach Kill take the training wheels off a little.

CMU has slowly been creeping in to the Top-25 and winning @ BC will cement their spot on the national radar. It's only on ESPNU, but I think that a couple more people will jump on the LeFevour-for-heisman campaign after this one. Temple-Navy is a good litmus test for the Owls and should be a great matchup of styles. The only negative I can see from these games is a potential for injures, which would hinder the only thing that really matters: A MAC Championship.

3. For fun, predict the outcome of the impending doom the 0-7 Eastern Michigan Eagles face as they travel to Arkansas this weekend.

The spread is 38 points, but I think that's being generous. 63-3 PIg Soohie.

4. If your team/coach were to wear Halloween costume, what would they be?

The Huskies would have to dress up as Two-Face from Batman fame. NIU is a shady, shady team that can look great against Purdue & WMU and then go ahead and look ugly losing to Idaho, Toledo and even winning @ Miami.

This week I hope to see a more stable Harvey Dent.

5. MAC Power Poll Time

1. CMU - nearing top-25 status

2. Temple - made statement @ Toledo

3. NIU - underrated win @ Miami

4. WMU - held off Buffalo in OT

5. Kent State - very impressive win @ Ohio

6. Ohio - fell victim to the Flashes

7. BGSU - tough loss to CMU

8. Buffalo - OT loss @ WMU

9. Toledo - suffering without their 1st and 2nd string QBs

10. Ball State - won cripple fight @ EMU

11. Miami OH - very underrated passing game and defense

12. Akron - Bad, but not as bad as...

13. EMU

Final thoughts on the Toledo game

Mike Breese — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 18:28:40 -0000

The best defensive player in the MAC (via media.scout.com)

View full size photo »

It's hard to sift through all the coach-speak and the message board babble to find out what the real problems with this team are. There are certain things that not even the coaches have control of at this point.

Team Mentalities

Let's face it, the Toledo Rockets simply had more to play for on Saturday. They were already behind the 8-ball having already one conference loss after getting blown out by Western Michigan on their homecoming nonetheless. Just a flat-out embarrassing performance the week before, the Rockets had to dig deep and find a victory this week. Somehow, someway they achieved this goal.

Let's also not forget last year when we embarrassed the Rockets 38-7 on our own homecoming. That victory combined with the 58-26 drubbing by the Broncos the week before gave Toledo the mental advantage.

But the Huskies had 2 weeks to prepare for Toledo!

Again, a very valid point being brought up by a lot of fans. We had the bye week and we took advantage of it to get ourselves healthy to play. We weren't in a rhythm with all the time off, that was apparent. It's just so much different going against an opponent than your own guys. Another thing that hurt slightly was that the WMU game was such a huge blowout and it wasn't even close. I mean there were a couple things here and there to look at, but it wasn't something like a close or ugly win that you can build off of. Here, let me simplify things

Toledo's blowout loss vs WMU + Revenge for last year's blowout loss vs NIU + NIU's blowout win over WMU + bye week = 19-20 loss for the Huskies.

This team is manic depressive. When is it going to stop? W vs Purdue, L vs Idaho, W vs WMU, L vs Toledo Here's to things smoothing out after this. ESPN's Pat Forde calls us one of the most dramatic teams in the nation with the likes of Notre Dame & Washington.

Experience

Mood swings are not fun and they happen with young teams. Our team is extremely young and we can't change the fact that they will be having letdowns from big wins and look off after bye weeks. We only have 14 seniors, 5 of which see significant playing time. And our kicker, who nobody seems to want to block for. This is only going to be an excuse for this year, but as teams get more experienced, these types of up and down swings tends to lessen. Combined with a bunch of freshmen running around is the fact that this team just isn't there in talent level yet to overcome any dips in playing sloppy. This team needs to start playing awake every single game, because there is no margin for error now.

Keep in mind that Coach Kill's first real recruiting class are all true freshman right now!

Talent Differential & Play-calling

Toledo is not a bad team by any stretch of the word, offensively. Sure they had a true freshman at the reigns with Austin Dantin, and he did great before going out of the game with an ankle injury. Even the 3rd stringer Alex Pettee is pretty good as well, a JUCO transfer out of California. The QB is part of a system at Toledo, and he has got a great offensive line and an array of super-talented in fellow freshman Eric Page and Stephen Williams. As Phil Steele points out, the loss would have been by a much larger margin had the Huskies not forced three separate turnovers on defense.

Toledo's defense is not that great. They're the worst in the MAC, but we made them look like the best. Part of this has to do with our ignorant offensive playcalling. We just can't continue to be stubborn just running the ball when there are opportunities in the passing game. Even John Bond of all people would just throw out his playbook occasionally and start launching the ball over the field. UT had two freshmen at the CB positions and we did not take advantage of that fact.

We didn't account for Barry Church at all. Sure he's their best player, but if we isolate him enough then it shouldn't have been a problem on the offensive side of things. But we let him get to us and that proved to be our downfall.

Penalties

These definitely killed the momentum multiple times. The Huskies finished with 9 yellow flags for 67 yds.

1Q 3:02, 1D and 10: Chad Spann rush for no gain, Reed Cunningham 10 yd holding penalty. 1st and 20. Just digging ourselves in to a hole here. After that, Eric Page has a 41 yd punt return to the NIU 32, setting up a Rocket TD.

3Q 4:46: Perez Ashford gets called for holding and then Marcus Lewis gets called for a substitution infraction. 2nd and 18 and we don't convert.

The Daily Diesel gets taken to Church

Mike Breese — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 06:49:17 -0000

Couple things I noticed as I was going through all the articles from this weekend

1. Losses = more stuff to talk about. I think we barely acknowledged much of what happened during the WMU game, because it was such a flawless performance all-around. Of course this isn't good for my fan side, but it is positive for my blogging side.

2. Barry Church is an absolute monster. I completely ignored him this week previewing Toledo. I think he took offense, as he was ALL over the place on defense. 12 tackles & 2 blocked kicks...are you kidding me?

"The Machine is self-aware." At least Kill is recognizes that he's inconsistent

"We've seen some defensive kids play well at times," Kill said. "We're just like any team in America. To get people to play on a consistent basis all the time and to get them where you're not up and down in your play, that's part of coaching young people."

Consistency was the word of the day on the teleconference and Kill expounded on that topic.

"It's hard to get that consistent level of play," Kill said. "I think if you look at the teams that are playing good consistent football, they're teams that are veteran, that are older, guys that have been through it, those kinds of things.

"When you've got a young team you've got to keep pushing them, practicing hard and hopefully you'll develop that consistency."

How is Harnish after seeing limp around towards the end of the game?

Finally, asked if quarterback Chandler Harnish was fine after getting hit by safety Barry Church late in the fourth quarter, Kill said "We'll see." Harnish declared himself to be 100 percent and ready for Miami (Ohio) while speaking with reporters about 20 minutes after the game.

Barry Church is just ridiculous. The Special Teams was flat out-coached on Saturday.

Toledo coach Tim Beckman said he noticed something in Northern Illinois' blocking scheme on field goals against Idaho and a subsequent block installation paid off in the Rockets' 20-19 victory against the Huskies this past Saturday at Toledo.

Toledo safety Barry Church went through the middle of NIU's protection twice, blocking a Mike Salerno extra point and then a 42-yard field goal in the final minute to clinch the victory.

"We installed a middle block," Beckman said during Monday's Mid-American Conference coaches teleconference. "I think the first one definitely caught them off guard. The field goal was a max block."

Paranormal Activity: Glass Bowl Edition

Mike Breese — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 22:47:51 -0000

Has anybody seen that movie yet? I think I might if it's scary enough.

I've wondered about this before and now I'm fully convinced: The Glass Bowl is a portal to an alternate dimension. You know, the one where all the ghosts come from in the Ghostbusters movies. Since 1967, we're 2-18 against the Rockets in Toledo. Not to mention that since 2008, we're 2-9 in night games. Something has to be up with that combination:

I mean, just look at the place:

Something's not right here.

First of all, you can clearly see that Scooter "POINT SHAVER EXTRAORDINAIRE" McDougle snacking on food in the crowd.

And what's that in the background?

Oh dear God, Toledo Tom is still around and he's going to crush us with his delicious marshmallow exterior!!!!

And if that isn't enough...

Barry "Blocker of Field Goals" Church

aka Barry the Cruel, Barry the Torturer, Barry the Despised has been All-MAC ever since the 16th Century. I like the blond extensions though.

Looks like Coach Kill's gotta stop calling recruits for a second and call these guys:

I ain't afraid of no ghosts.

My apologies, this post sounded so much more cooler late, late on Saturday night as I was trying to chase away the sorrow.

The 6 Elements of NIU vs Toledo

Mike Breese — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:26:50 -0000

More photos » by J.D. Pooley - AP

Coach Beckman's WTF look. Something we hope to see a lot of tomorrow.

Browse more photos »

Wind blows... Fire Burns... Water Falls... Earth Quakes... Huskies Attack... Rockets Explode

Head Coaching: Jerry Kill vs Tim Beckman

After various assistant coaching positions at smaller schools, Beckman latched on as Bowling Green's defensive coordinator in 1998 until he left to be Ohio State's secondary coach in 2005. From 2007-08 he was Oklahoma State's defensive coordinator. So if he's a defensive guy, where did this crazy offense come from?

That goes to credit Toledo OC Matt Campbell who championed two D-III Mount Union national title teams from 2004-05. The two of them met up as he was an offensive line coach at Bowling Green soon after. Then they've got something called a "Passing Coordinator" and his name is Scott Satterfield. You saw Appalachian State's upset over Michigan right? All him. Well he at least coached the QBs.

You all know Coach Kill's story. He still has yet to lose a game that he was "supposed to have won" and the Rockets come in with a .500 record and losses to 2 teams that we have beaten. Here's one stat that I think really stands out between the two of them:

Record as a Head Coach

Kill: 110-64. Beckman: 3-3

Advantage: NIU

Team Mentalities

Toledo has to be extremely pissed off after losing badly to Western Michigan on their own turf on homecoming nevertheless. NIU is coming in after a bye week. The Rockets may jump out early and have some success, but the extra rest and preparation the Huskies have put in during their week off will seem to have the advantage. But who knows as both of these teams are inconsistent as hell.

Advantage: Push

NIU's Rushing attack vs. Toledo's "Defense"

The Huskies host two of the more quality Running Backs out there in Me'co "UPS" Brown & Chad "Superman" Spann in a Lightning and Thunder type of situation. All of this success on the ground equates to a running attack that ranks 21st in the Nation and 1st in the MAC.

To quote OTP, "To call Toledo’s defense "dog shit" would be an insult to dog shit."

I'm just going to list the numbers, they speak for themselves:

Rushing Defense: 105th in the country, 11th in the MAC

Total Defense: 113th in the country, 13th in the MAC

Scoring Defense: 119th in the country, 13th in the MAC

It's not like they've been playing Ohio State every game. Ball State's 116th ranked offense put up 30, FIU's 82nd ranked O put up 31 and CU's 104th ranked O put up 38.

BTW, Toledo's D-Line is ridiculously tiny. Check out the size of these guys:

DE         40 Alex Johnson 6-2      244     Jr.
89 Skylaar Constant 6-4      285     Sr.

DT         56 Derrick Summers 6-2      258     Sr.
97 Malcolm Riley 6-3      267     So.

DT         98 Maurice Hill 6-2      286     Sr.
               97 Malcolm Riley 6-3      267     So.

DE         58 Douglas Westbrook 6-3      233     Jr.
(Leo)      23 T.J. Fatinikun 6-2      230     Fr.

Advantage: NIU

Special Teams

If you look at NIU's stats the only thing we lack in is that we rank 114th in the country in Net Punting. That's surprisingly only 10th in the MAC. Toledo averages only 4.22 yds per return, good for 106th in the nation and last in the MAC. So those cancel out each other. Toledos' Net Punting? Somehow worse than us at 119th in the country.

NIU ranks 20th in the nation in Kickoff Return Defense and Toledo only ranks 103rd in the nation in Kickoff Returns. In comparison, Toledo's KOR D is 57th and NIU's KORs rank a surprising 39th overall.

Advantage: NIU

NIU's D-Line vs Toledo's O-Line

Toledo's got some big boys on the offensive line and they rank 16th in the nation in sacks given up averaging only 1 per game. NIU only ranks 88th in the nation in getting to the QB.

LT          74 Mike VanDerMeulen , 6-7      315     So.

LG         68 Jared DeWalt, 6-4      318     Sr.

C          69 Kevin Kowalski, 6-4      290     Jr.

RG         65 Nate Cole, 6-2      305     Jr.

RT          72 John Morookian, 6-5      291     So.

versus

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

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

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

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

Advantage: UT

Stephen Williams vs the entire NIU Secondary

WR-X 88 Stephen Williams 6-5 199 Sr.

Holy crap this guy has some size. How are we going to stop him?

Here's what Tracy Wilson has to say about this subject:

"Big wide receivers are usually hard to guard because corners are usually smaller. The main thing is just don't let them get into our bodies. We have to get on them before they get on us. We can't let them get on our bodies, and stay over the top and don't let them throw jump balls."

So here's our secondary:

LCB 33        Patrick George ................................... 5-11, 190, Jr.
20        Tommy Davis ................................. 5-11, 190, Fr.-R

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

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

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

I sure hope PG or somebody can stop this guy somehow, otherwise we're in for a long, long day.

Advantage: UT

Bonus: Mascots

OK, so they've upgraded the costume on the left, but still have the inflatable blue penis as an extra on the sidelines.

Don't know about how much of an upgrade that was...Victor E. Huskie trumps all of these atrocities

Advantage: NIU

So there you have it. Of a random list of matchups between both of the teams, NIU has the advantage 4-2. Go Huskies.

SB Nation - Toledo Rockets

Gameday Buff Bites - Colorado Buffaloes vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers

Wrapping up the 2009 Season

NIU/MAC Bowl Projections Roundup: Week 12

EagleBank Bowl
December 30th, Washington DC, 4:30 pm ESPN
ACC No. 8 vs. Army or C-USA
Projection: **Northern Illinois* vs. East Carolina**

New Mexico Bowl: Northern Illinois* vs. Nevada

Roady's Humanitarian: Northern Illinois vs. Idaho

Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl: Northern Illinois vs. Notre Dame*

Little Caesars Pizza Bowl: Northern Illinois vs. Big Ten

EagleBank Bowl: Northern Illinois* vs. Marshall*

Eagle Bank: Northern Illinois (ACC*) vs. Marshall (C-USA)

EagleBank: Marshall vs. Northern Illinois*

Humanitarian Bowl: Northern Illinois** vs. Idaho

The Sad Truth: 2009 Will Go Down As the Year the Colorado Buffaloes Blew It

Week 9 MAC Roundtable Roundup: Halloween Eve

Week 9 MAC Roundtable: Halloween Edition

Final thoughts on the Toledo game

Team Mentalities

But the Huskies had 2 weeks to prepare for Toledo!

Experience

Talent Differential & Play-calling

Penalties

The Daily Diesel gets taken to Church

Scouting Miami

Huskie Golf

Huskie Soccer

Huskie Volleyball

Former Huskies

Recruitin'

Seriously, who wants to get tatted up?

Paranormal Activity: Glass Bowl Edition

The 6 Elements of NIU vs Toledo

Head Coaching: Jerry Kill vs Tim Beckman

Team Mentalities

NIU's Rushing attack vs. Toledo's "Defense"

Special Teams

NIU's D-Line vs Toledo's O-Line

Stephen Williams vs the entire NIU Secondary

Bonus: Mascots

SB Nation - Toledo Rockets

Gameday Buff Bites - Colorado Buffaloes vs. Nebraska Cornhuskers

Wrapping up the 2009 Season

NIU/MAC Bowl Projections Roundup: Week 12

EagleBank Bowl December 30th, Washington DC, 4:30 pm ESPN ACC No. 8 vs. Army or C-USA Projection: Northern Illinois* vs. East Carolina

New Mexico Bowl: Northern Illinois* vs. Nevada

Roady's Humanitarian: Northern Illinois vs. Idaho

Little Caesar's Pizza Bowl: Northern Illinois vs. Notre Dame*

Little Caesars Pizza Bowl: Northern Illinois vs. Big Ten

EagleBank Bowl: Northern Illinois* vs. Marshall*

Eagle Bank: Northern Illinois (ACC*) vs. Marshall (C-USA)

EagleBank: Marshall vs. Northern Illinois*

Humanitarian Bowl: Northern Illinois** vs. Idaho

The Sad Truth: 2009 Will Go Down As the Year the Colorado Buffaloes Blew It

Week 9 MAC Roundtable Roundup: Halloween Eve

Week 9 MAC Roundtable: Halloween Edition

Final thoughts on the Toledo game

Team Mentalities

But the Huskies had 2 weeks to prepare for Toledo!

Experience

Talent Differential & Play-calling

Penalties

The Daily Diesel gets taken to Church

Scouting Miami

Huskie Golf

Huskie Soccer

Huskie Volleyball

Former Huskies

Recruitin'

Seriously, who wants to get tatted up?

Paranormal Activity: Glass Bowl Edition

The 6 Elements of NIU vs Toledo

Head Coaching: Jerry Kill vs Tim Beckman

Team Mentalities

NIU's Rushing attack vs. Toledo's "Defense"

Special Teams

NIU's D-Line vs Toledo's O-Line

Stephen Williams vs the entire NIU Secondary

Bonus: Mascots

EagleBank Bowl
December 30th, Washington DC, 4:30 pm ESPN
ACC No. 8 vs. Army or C-USA
Projection: **Northern Illinois* vs. East Carolina**