Position Analysis - CMU Game

What went wrong?
Turnovers, Penalties, Dropped balls, Bad tackling, Bad Special Teams. No red-zone offense. Fundamentals.

Crowd/Tailgating - 8/10
CMU girls aren't very attractive I would say other than their cheerleaders. The other CMU fans were pretty cool. There were more jello-shots on the ground walking around the parking lot after the game than I had ever seen in my life!

Stadium - 8/10
I really liked Kelly/Shorts Stadium. They had a really good audio system and they actually play good music at the game.

Officiating - 0/10
The CMU refs were corrupt and we got shafted on many a calls. Especially the BS late hit calls.

QBs - N/A
We don't have any QBs. We have some dude throwin INTs and balls over WRs heads. And we have no other options.

RBs - 6/10
Justin Anderson had 28 rushes for 159 yds. BUT HE FUBMLED THE BALL in the redzone. It's weird that #4 David Bryant is his backup now. Chad Spann must be in Joe's doghouse. Anderson doesn't have a huge burst and doesn't have enough to power the ball in to the redzone (blame the o-line).

WRs - Icomplete/10
We only have one good WR. He is #85 Matt Simon. 9 catches for 205 yds and a TD. He has all the tools to be a decent receiver. The other guys? Not so much. Turner is slow and awkward and nobody else can catch a ball or run a route.

O-Line - 0/10
These guys can't help push the d-line enough so we can score a TD in the redzone.

Defense - N/A
Nope, didn't see a defense out there. Doorknob needs to go. It's a good thing I was sitting right by Mark Reiter's parents...

Special Teams - 0/10
So Patrick George fumbles the ball and we put Greg Turner & Matt Simon back there on KO returns. Turner has no speed. Another TD was given up on a KO return by the other team.

Joe Novak Quotes:

“We are not a very good football team right now,” said NIU coach Joe Novak. “We've got to work and coach on a lot of things. We've got to get back on track and get better. We didn't throw the ball well and had some dropped passes. Our mistakes definitely helped out (with CMU pulling away).”

“We didn't tackle well, especially in the first quarter,” Novak said. “We looked like we were playing in mud, offensively and defensively. We looked like we had no quickness at all.”

“That kick-off return was ridiculous,” Novak said. “Then that fumble knocked us out of it.”

"Our young guys have lousy ball security," Novak said. "We just gave it away. We don't get it done when we have opportunities."

“He's a tough kid,” Novak said of Simon. “He rolled his ankle last week and rolled it again today. He's a warrior. If we have 44 guys like him, we'd be all right.”

Players chime in:

"We put 500 yards of offense on the board," Simon said. "To come away with just 10 points is pretty disheartening."

"All day we were in a good rhythm," Nicholson said. "We had a good bead on what they were doing."

Ramblings on Central Michigan Eve

So I'm going to the game tomorrow @ Mt. Pleasant. I'm leaving @ 3 AM tomorrow!

I told some of my friends I was going to the game. Their responses:

"Why? What's the point?"
"You're crazy!"
"Where the hell is Mt. Pleasant?"
"Why don't you go watch a good game like Michigan against some Big 10 team?"



Rascal Flatts' new song "Take Me There" has to be one of my most favoritest songs in the world (and I'm not a big Rascal Flatts guy). Give it a listen:

Now watch this UF student get tasered protesting at a John Kerry speech. "Don't tase me bro!!!":




And in other Chicago news...

CUBS CLINCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oops! Bye bye Demetrius

The Demetrius Jones saga is OVER! (Thank goodness)

The former Notre Dame QB and Morgan Park HS standout has officially decided to transfer to Cincinnati!

It's kind of ironic because the head Bearcat Brian Kelly coached at CMU last year, which is the team we play this weekend.

Cincinnati Post Article.
ESPN Article.

So next year right now the QB spot will be a battle against current starter Dan Nicholson and ex-Illini transfer Paul Blalock.

FYI, Nicholson is currently ranked #20 for completion % in the nation completing 67.5% of his passes, despite his 5/8 TD/INT ratio. I think he is really improving. This week will be a huge test. A lot of those INTs weren't his fault.

CMU Game Preview

Well, first let's talk about CMU's secondary. The glaring spot where we can exploit on the Chippewa D.

From CMU's game notes:

Secondary Shake Up
CMU has seen eight different players start at least one game in the secondary already this season. The Chippewas have started four different quartets in the secondary in four games in 2007. Last week against North Dakota State, three sophomores (Tommy Mama, Tim Brazzel, Kirkston Edwards) all made their first career start. South Carolina is the only other Football Bowl Subdivision program to start a different foursome in the secondary each week this season.

Youth Movement
At least 12 true or redshirt freshman have played in every game this season for CMU, while more than half of the players to see action in each game have either been freshmen or sophomores. For the season, a total of 21 players (including kicker Andrew Aguila and long snappers Chris Starkey and Jake Ekkens) have either made their first career start or made their first start at a new position.

They've had to start 8 different players in the secondary so far! Great. So we'll probably throw a TON! Good time to develop the talent of our WRs (Hello Britt Davis). I also expect to see a lot of Justin Anderson catches out of the backfield.

Next, let's talk about the mental state of CMU's football team:

LETS PLAY FIREMAN!

There were people calling for Butch Davis' head after this incident:

Since the loss the reviews for the Chippewas have been critical. One of the issues that came out of Saturday's loss involved an incident on the sidelines where strength and conditioning coach Dave Lawson was seen spraying down a CMU football player with water on the sideline.

Fans in the crowd may have interpreted the incident as disrespectful, but it is actually something that the CMU team does during practice. "That is an inside thing with the team," Jones said. "We make reference to our guys being like fire fighters and Dave is there to help put out the fire and the guys get around and get the water sprayed on them. The players were laughing today at practice about it because to them it isn't a big deal and they were surprised at all the attention it got. I didn't even know it was causing so much discussion until today and we just can't worry about those things. We just need to stay focused on improving as a team and preparing for Northern Illinois."

This would be too literal an interpretation of "Fire Up Chips!"

Here's another question:
Will the Central Michigan fans stay the whole game?



"Bison over the Chippewas!"

INFIRMARY REPORT - CMU GAME

From the game notes. It's a long one:

OUCH!: Northern Illinois has been bit by the injury bug in 2007 as nine starters (or replacement starters) are now slated to miss at least one full game due to injury this season. In addition, 16 different players listed on the depth chart at some point this year have missed at least one game due to injury, while 14 of those injuries will result in multiple games missed. Four players - NG Adam Schroeder (shoulder surgery) and TB Montell Clanton, DT Craig Rusch and DE Anthony Antonacci (all rt. knees) - have been lost for the season. In addition, LB Tim McCarthy (rt. knee) will miss significant time and possibly the season. DT Mike Krause, FS Spencer Williamson and DT Zach Holycross each have already missed three of NIU's four games.

D-LINE D-MOLISHED: The Huskies have been especially hard-hit by injuries on the defensive line. Seven players listed on the NIU depth chart at the start of the season (Rusch, Antonacci, Schroeder, Holycross, Mike Krause, Brandon Bice and Jake Coffman) are now expected to be out for at least one game. The injuries have forced Huskie coaches to make several line-up adjustments, including the move of Dan Keller from offensive to defensive line. Last week, true freshmen John Hopkins and D.J. Pirkle saw their first collegiate action and this week, Ron Newcomb appears on the two-deep. Ed Jackson, a redshirt freshmen, made his first career start at tackle at Idaho; if Krause returns this week, he could be the one making his first start on the defensive line.

From the Chronicle:

The injury bug remained a big topic of discussion surrounding NIU's football team. Wide receiver Matt Simon, right guard Jason Onyebuagu, Brandon Bice and Jake Coffman all suffered injuries at Idaho. Bice and Coffman both had leg injuries and aren't expected to play at Central Michigan. Simon and Onyebuagu will be game-time decisions.

“We got on the bus pretty banged up after Saturday's game and I think we have been hit more at specific positions than I have ever seen,” Novak said. “We are beat up, but then again so is everybody else. We will get through it.”

In other news, Alex Kube takes over Mark Reiter for the SS spot. GOOD CHOICE!!!

DE Larry English is Nagurski Player of the Week

LARRY ENGLISH EATING THE IDAHO QB FOR DINNER

Here is the complete release:

DALLAS (FWAA) – Northern Illinois end Larry English has been named the FWAA/Bronko Nagurski Defensive Player of the Week for games the weekend of Sept. 22.

English, a 6-3, 254-pound junior from Aurora, Ill., had a school-record five sacks and five quarterback pressures in the Huskies' 42-35 victory at Idaho. He also caused a fumble that he recovered for a touchdown and registered a pass break up. Overall, he had 12 tackles, 10 unassisted and his sacks accounted for 34 yards in losses.

English already is on the 2007 Bronko Nagurski Trophy Watch List. The Bronko Nagurski Trophy will be presented to the best defensive player in college football on Dec. 3 by the FWAA and the Charlotte Touchdown Club at the Westin Hotel in Charlotte, N.C.

Each week during the 2007 season the FWAA All-America Committee will select a national defensive player of the week from nominations made by the 11 Division I Bowl Subdivision Conferences and major independents.

Last season Ohio State linebacker James Laurinaitis won the coveted Bronko Nagurski Trophy during the 12th season the FWAA has named a Defensive Player of the Year.

What's good Joe?

"He made a lot of big plays for us at Idaho," said head coach Joe Novak. "Sometimes you can have five sacks and they might be at garbage time, but Larry's were all big and at key times. It was an outstanding game for him."

English's performance vaulted him to the top of the MAC's sack rankings and placed him second nationally. His 19 career sacks are tied for third on NIU's all-time list.

Sam Hurd!

#17 doin what he does best:



Also had a catch for 25 yds. It just had to be against the Bears though...and where was Wolfe???

Oh and DE Larry English was named MAC West Defensive Player Of The Week as expected.



NOW CHECK OUT THIS MELVIN RICE-LARRY ENGLISH SANDWICH:



...and watch Chase Carter take it to the house

Spotlight on DE Jake Coffman

Jake Coffman is a 6'3" 240 lb 23 yr-old RS Freshman that plays on the Defensive Line.

Wait, he's 23? Yes, as the Idaho announcers liked to call him, Jake "Corporal" Coffman is an ex-Marine that served 2 tours in Iraq last year. He also played an excellent game yesterday causing a ton of pressure.

Where did he come from?

''We didn't know about him,'' defensive ends coach Mike Sabock said. ''He just showed up and wanted to play football. He was on the scout team and had no idea what he was doing. He'd just run around and hit people.''

''His motor runs,'' Sabock said. ''He's strong with his hands. He's got a chance to play some football in the future and contribute this year.''

"I was going against (current Dallas Cowboy) Doug Free all last year," said Coffman. "There were times he made me feel like a kid."

NIU running back Justin Anderson calls Coffman ''Rambo.'' Other teammates ''just make fun of me for being an old man,'' Coffman said, admitting he sometimes feels like it.

You can read more about Coffman's tremendous story in these articles:

Soldier's field (Beacon News)
Soldier of fortune (Sun-Times)

Position Analysis - Idaho Game (Pt. II)

DEFENSE



DEs (aka Larry English) - 10/10
#51 DE Larry English ate Idaho for lunch, plain and simple. He had 12 tackles (7 solo), 5 TFLs which were all sacks for a total 34 yds in losses. He also had a forced fumble, recovered it and scored a TD off that same play! He also had a pass breakup and a QB hurry. On the other side, 23-year old RS FR #54 Jake "Corporal" Coffman got 3 tackles (2 solo) and a QB hurry. He might have gotten playing time, because starter #56 Brandon Bice may have gotten injured. Rambo stopped an Idaho 4th down attempt in the 4th quarter.

DTs - 6/10
At NT/NG, 6'4" 278 RS FR #90 (#92) Ed Jackson took up a bunch of space. The other Tackle spot was taken up by both 6'2" 258 #69 Alex Krutsch & 6'1" 295 True FR #98 D.J. Pirkle. Not to mention 6'4" 300 #78 Dan Keller who switched over from the O-Line. Keller looked like crap on this early rushing TD by Idaho. Problem was starting RB for Idaho Jackson ran 20 times for 113 yds and 2 TDs with a 5.6 ypc. Backup RB Bird ran 8 times for 52 yds and a 6.5 ypc. Not very good numbers at all. But a surprisingly good performance, considering the disparaging injuries. A whole new beefy look had a good debut.

LBs - 9/10
Solid as usual. Nice pressure on the QB, great assignments. Nice pick by Tranch. #26 (#10) Cory Hanson with another solid game with 10 tackles (5 solo). Again, there were way too many rushing yds given up.



Secondary - 6/10
Secondary Coaching - 0/10
#8 SS Mark Reiter gets owned on this 3rd quarter score by Idaho. Reiter sucks in coverage as well. Nice INT return for a TD by #36 CB Chase Carter for 95 yds. Pick by #24 FS Bradley Pruitt from the pressure from a Tranch blitz. #37 SS Alex Kube (god I love this guy) had 11 tackles (8 solo) as Reiter's backup!!! #32 backup FS Jeff Fontana SUCKAGE ALERT!!! His horrible coverage strikes again and he gave up the last TD scored by Idaho. He has to be the worst player on this defense.

Now it's time to breakdown the "Huskie Prevent Defense"

The "Huskie Prevent D" is one of the worst ideas ever conjured up in the history of me following NIU Football. We're up 35-7 going in to the 2nd half and then we do a couple things. We run the ball...a lot. We also play WAY WAY WAY off of the receivers. Even the Idaho announcers were saying "This secondary is playing SOOOOO off the WRs."

It's why we lose games at the end. It's why we can't win the "big one". Whose fault is this monstrosity? HC Joe Novak? Doubt it. DC Denny "Doorknob" Doornbos? Very possibly. Secondary coach John "Doogie" Hauser? He's just implementing the system that Doorknob puts in.

Idaho QB Nathan Enderle passed for 332 of his 423 yds in the 2nd half. Our "Huskie Prevent D" lets the opposing QBs to complete 15-25 yd passes at ease.

Special Teams - 7/10
True FR #33 Patrick George dropped 2 returns and lolly-gagged on another return. He also hit a guy before he even touched the ball (HUGE HIT though). And on the last punt in the 1st half he over-pursued the ball carrier and the guy returned it for a TD. Not a good day for the True Freshman. Oh well he has the rest of this season and 3 more years. Matt Simon also blocked a punt and Fontana recovered the ball for a TD. About the only good thing Jeff Fontana has done this season.

Oh yeah, and please take Britt Davis off the hands team! Watch the botched onside kick return for a laugh.

Position Analysis - Idaho Game (Pt. I)

OFFENSE

Mostly a good Dan day (New Unis!)

QBs - 8/10
Dan Nicholson was 10 for 17 for 168 yds, 2 TDs and 1 INT. He was very un-Dan like and made GREAT decisions when there were no WRs open. He didn't try forcing things, and I am still awaiting his explanation for the INT he threw. Great improvement by Nicholson. Only 17 attempts throwing? Big plays early and success of the running game. Ultra conservative approach by HC Joe Novak in the 2nd half. A lot of run, run and then a pass on 3rd down, run, run, run in the 4th quarter.

RBs - 9/10
Justin Anderson had 173 yds rushing and 1 TD on 35 carries. That was sure a workload for JA. He looked better than I have ever seen him play. He was gassed towards the end of the game. What confuses me is that Chad Spann only got 2 carries in the game. Is he hurt? I hope not. RS Freshman Ricky Crider made his collegiate debut in the 4th quarter and showed some power running for 20 yds on 5 carries.

WRs/TEs - 7/10
Matt Simon had a career game catching 4 balls for 115 yds and a TD. The TD was on a 59 yd strike from Dan N. Britt Davis showed nice hands and athletic ability in the back of the endzone for a TD. David Koronkiewicz was back at TE for the first time this season (elbow injury) and had a catch for 15 yds. Simon stumbled and fell on some one play that could have been another TD. WRs Could get open a little bit more. Britt needs to make more plays.

OL - 8/10
This is the hardest thing to judge. Dan only got sacked 1 time. Our rushing game was good, but there's still room for improvement I still think. Still worried about #70 LT Chris Acevedo.

Jersey-Gate

There's so many ways to break down this game, I'm just gonna start with this.

The first thing you would have noticed about the game if you had watched it is that NIU adorned new away jerseys for this game.

I can't show you pictures of the jerseys, because there are no pictures available to show. The Daily Chronicle sucks at posting pictures with their writeups. The official athletic site just shows pics from previous weeks. It's garbage and needs to be changed.

EDIT: HERE IS A SCREENSHOT OF THE NEW JERSEYS



Problem with some of the jerseys...they didn't fit! Therefore, some players had to wear different numbers during the game deeming it confusing to announcers and fans. Justin Anderson's was too small. They wore the jerseys of hurt players or ones that weren't on the team any more.

#21 TB Justin Anderson wore #43 (LB TJ Griffin)
#90 DE Ed Jackson wore #92 (DT Adam Schroeder)
#26 LB Cory Hanson wore #10 (WR Willie Clark)
#17 WR Greg Turner wore #83 (TE Reed Cunningham)
#85 WR Matt Simon wore #99 (DT Craig Rusch)

It's sorta like MJ when he had #45



WR Matt Simon better hang that #99 jersey on his wall. He had a career day with 4 catches for 115 yds and a TD.

From the Chronicle:

The uniform change played havoc on Idaho's final statistics. According to the final stat sheet, Chase Carter, Saul Ibarra, Melvin Rice, D.J. Pirkle and Andy Dittbenner were the six ball carriers for the Huskies. Also, Dittbenner was listed as the quarterback instead of Nicholson.

Don't they sorta look like the Texans away jerseys?:



Except the blue on that jersey should be replaced by black instead. And the red on NIU's jerseys was a darker red I thought. A dark Cardinal red.

Deja Vu

42-35 NIU

• Did I just watch a replay of the Eastern Michigan game right up there until the end?

• Another onside kick recovered by the other team. Hahahaha why is Britt Davis on the hands team??? Very ironic his hands suck!!! He did catch a TD though.

• Typical "Huskie Prevent Defense" towards the end of the game, which is the worst defense on the face of the earth.

• In the running game, where was Chad Spann? Justin Anderson was the workhorse. Crider got some time.

• Larry English > Idaho

• We were up 35-7 and the game comes down to the wire? Something is wrong with the coaching.

• More crap later. Players better have a LONG film session tomorrow!!! We did get a W but it was a very ugly W.
  

Complete wrap-up tomorrow. I am Designated Driver tonight until 2. Anybody need a ride around Dekalb? Just tip me for gas money!

I thought Moscow was in Russia...

The game is showing on Comcast in Dekalb & Sycamore @ 4 PM tomorrow. It will also be on ESPN Gameplan if you have that.

Also on radio WSCR 670 in Chicago, WLBK 1360 in Dekalb

If we're ever going to get a win, this would be a good one. Backs against the wall, perennial top MAC team against a WAC doormat...


And now with the gratuitous Charlie Weis pic of the day (courtesy of EDSBS):

THIS…IS…SPARTAAAAAA!!!!!!! Uh…


The new Cheesy Beefy Melt from Taco Bell can be hazardous to your health!!!

DJones Update: He has options and doesn't have to go to NIU if he doesn't want to. Blah blah blah he's coming here.

Sorting through the Notre Dame mess

I missed a lot last night with the Jones saga (busy with classes & drinking). I am very hungover today and trying to sort all this out is giving me a headache. There's a million articles on this crap!

Here's the articles:


To sum it up it's much ado about nothing. Kevin White the ND AD is a complete dickhead and we're not on his "approved schools" list for Jones to transfer to. What a load of BS! So...has he been released? I'm going to go scratch my head in the corner.

Sun-Times excerpt:

One day after athletic director Kevin White announced he would not release Jones this season -- saying he didn't ''believe his departure was handled appropriately'' -- White released another statement Thursday that the school has ''reached out'' to Jones to help with his academic future.

The three-paragraph statement never mentions NIU, where the former Morgan Park quarterback is enrolled in classes, but it did say Notre Dame is ''helping Demetrius compile a list of prospective schools that are not on our immediate future football schedules.''

The Huskies are not on any of Notre Dame's future schedules; however, senior associate AD John Heisler said NIU will not be on the list of approved schools.

When asked for a reason, Heisler said: ''We're not in a position to elaborate on that.''

''I don't know of any reason why we wouldn't be included,'' a source within the NIU athletic department said. ''We're not on their schedule, and there would be no discussions about playing Notre Dame at Soldier Field or anywhere else.

''The X-factor is we've got two kids from his high school team playing for us [linebacker Phil Brown and cornerback Melvin Rice]. I guess they think we lured the kid away or offered him something, and that's as far from the truth as can be.

''I would question how much they're helping him.''

Charlie Weis - Arrogant & Winless

Ah, the Jones saga continues...

So, the Daily Chronicle reports Notre Dame will NOT release Demetrius Jones from his scholarship.

What does that mean? It means Jones will have to pay for 1-years tuition by himself, and will essentially be a walk-on practicing with the football team once some paperwork clears.

Wait Joe doesn't have any scholarships left to give out? Nope, not after his last one might have been given to true frosh walk-on RB Chad Spann, who is currently our backup for starter Justin Anderson.

Let's hear it Joe:

“All a release does is gives us opportunity to give him a scholarship,” Novak said. “Unfortunately, we do not have one to give him right now. They (Notre Dame) can't keep him from going anywhere. If he sits out this year, he can play next year according to what I've been told. I've worked hard to keep my nose out of this. I would love to have him here, but he won't be a factor for this year's team.”

OK. Now that is a little messed up. What really is crazy is this article in the Tribune:

Weiss & ND screwing over Demetrius may bite the Golden-Domers right back in the ass. Jones' transfer is big news within the Chicago Public League, a place that Notre Dame wants to keep recruiting at.

Weis talks out of his ass:

"Anything that anyone wants to know, I have one of the greatest resources going, one of the most respected people to come out of the Chicago Public League," Weis said Wednesday. "I don't think we'll have any problems with the Chicago Public League."

This is not positive PR for Notre Dame in the CPL. Hopefully this improves the Huskies chances in recruiting players from the area (which would be HUGE).

Weekly Press Conference Notes

I've been too hard on Danny, I should blame the WRs more:

"On the interception, he threw a great ball and the guy ran the wrong route. He still probably shouldn't have thrown that ball, but we had a guy run the wrong route, and it should have been cleared."

"He also had the TD pass to Brit Davis and that was right on the money. He was 20 for 28 the week before and completed 15 in a row. You sure want to eliminate those interceptions and I'm not going to make excuses for him and he doesn't either. He has shown a lot of positive things too."

Our D-Line is worse off than I thought. Geez check out what Joe has to say about the injuries!:

"We have been hit real hard at the tight end spot and the defensive tackle spot. We have lost five of our top six defensive tackles. We moved Dan Keller from offensive guard to defensive tackle, so that is one of the big switches we have made. He played defensive line a little bit as a freshman, but then we asked him to move back to guard, where he played in high school.

The big problem with losing all of these tackles is four out of the five are out for the year. Adam Schroeder is done, Rusch is done, Antonacci is done, and Holycross is barely hanging in there. I don't know if he will play Saturday. He could be done because of some shoulder issues. It seems like we have had more injuries in 12 years than ever. Many of these knee injuries were non-contact and it's a freak of nature. I guess the football gods have not been our side. Perez has a sprain in his shoulder and should be back in another week."

Here's a Beacon News article on the Injuries:
NIU hurting in more ways than one

Central Michigan Breaks Record

Mark Mangino
Tom Amstutz

Joe Tiller

The coaches of CMU's first 3 opponents have a combined weight of 2,000 lbs, which sets an NCAA record.

Mangino: 800 lbs
Toledo Tom: 900 lbs
Joe Tiller: 300 lbs

All Demetrius Jones all the time

More and more Demetrius here we go...

Departing from my local news scene, D-Jones tells ESPN that he was misled by ND Coach Charlie Weiss coming in to this season.

Throughout the summer, Jones was told by Weiss that he believed that he could obtain the starting job. Now the season starts, and Weiss has said that QB Jimmy Clausen was the #1 guy all along. Way to commit to your players, coach!

Quote: "I thought I was getting a chance because coach Weis believed in me. Then I didn't know what to believe anymore.''

ESPN & The South Bend Tribune also report that DJ has not been in contact with the NIU coaching staff at all!

He says he still has not had contact with the Northern Illinois coaching staff and has no idea when he'll begin practicing his new team.

"If they even know I'm here, it's because of rumors and nothing I told them," he said. "My plan is to practice with them this year and be eligible to play next fall. I'd then have three years of eligibility. That's how I hope it works out."

"Everything so far has taken place outside the athletic department," NIU's spokeswoman Donna Turner has said.

Strange how this is turning out. Definitely a unique situation. Ballsy move by Demetrius Jones. Expects to come in and take the starting QB spot away from incumbent Dan Nicholson and Paul Blalock, a highly touted transfer from Illinois who is sitting out this year.

More quotage:

"I thought I'd be a good fit for this team, with my mobility and a young offensive line. But when I found that out that Jimmy was going to be the quarterback no matter what, I thought to myself, 'Do I wait for my opportunity or do I go out and make my opportunity?' "

On the Basketball Recruitin' Trail

Tyler Storm commits to NIU for '08

Recruit hopes to take NIU by storm (Daily Chronicle)
Tons of more info on this guy here: http://stormsites.net/TStorm.html



6'7" 200 lbs
Geneso, IL (Geneso)
AAU: Martin Brothers Select

3-star recruit and #14 in IL on Rivals.com
Ranked #20 in IL on illinoishsbasketball.com
Ranked #13 in Illinois on Hoop Evals
Ranked #32 at his position nationally on Scout.com
Ranked one of the top-10 players in IL on MidStateHoops.com


From MidStateHoops:

At 6-7, Tyler can play positions 2-4 and figures to be a 3 at the collegiate level. He can pound with post players inside and he can step outside and hold his own with quick and agile guards. Storm has improved his shooting over the years and is now a full force from the outside. On the next level he figures to add to what NIU is trying to build. His skills make him a player who can contribute immediately. He is such a hard worker who can bring so many different things to the table, it is hard to imagine him not making an impact at NIU.

Many schools were in on Storm. Albany, DePaul, and Illinois State were three big time players.

"He had received nine Div-I scholarship offers and had some other schools still interested as well. But, one proved that they wanted him the most and the fit was too comfortable to pass up for him."

From IP Bulls-Eye:

Quite a few factors entered into Storm's decision and were influential in helping him to close his recruitment out. Right at the top of the list were Northern Illinois' facilities, which made a huge impression on Storm from the get-go, as well as the opportunity for immediate playing time and being able to stay close to home at a state school.

Not only that, but both Tyler and his father Brad firmly believe that NIU is on the verge of something big basketball-wise and both indicated that they are excited to be a part of that. Storm's commitment becomes the third commitment that the Huskies have landed under the new Patton regime. Also in the fold for NIU are 6'0 class of 2008 point guard Mike Dinunno from Von Steuben High School in Chicago and 6'6 class of 2009 forward Steve Walker from Simeon High School in Chicago.

Storm is a wing forward whose greatest assets are his shooting range and ability to put the ball on the floor. While he still needs to work on getting stronger, he has also shown that he can defend in the post against physical opponents. Storm competes on the AAU circuit with Martin Brothers, which is based in Parkersburg, IA.

From Hoop Evals:

13. Tyler Storm 6'7" 200 lbs SF Geneseo (Martin Brothers Select) - A skilled swingman that has the height of a mid major combo forward and the skills of a 2/3. Shoots it very well from the outside and midrange area. Rebounds well and plays hard. Handles it well for his size and plays smart. Considering Albany (offer), Eastern Illinois (offer), Illinois State, DePaul (offer), Northern Iowa, Iowa State, and others.

Great get for Ricardo Patton. Big props for beating out Depaul for this guy!

0-3 Fallout

I don't even know where to start...

• Dropped balls by Matt Simon and Britt Davis. The Britt Davis drop was a sure TD. KO return dropped by Matt Simon. Punt return dropped by Greg Turner.
  
• Patrick George made an appearance on KO returns, which was nice to see. That man has speed.
• EMU's kicker was awful. They should have won by even more points.
• Dan Nicholson throwing for that 2-point conversion was so off. He almost threw in to the stands! Give your receivers a chance at least.
• The "NIU Immaculate Reception" by OG Jason Onyebuagu was one of the most ridiculous things I have ever seen. He would have been a legend if we had won. Dan does his typical throw to a crowd of people and the ball hits off 4 or 5 players and ends up with the ball. Happened right in front of my face 20 yds away.
• 2 Holding penalties at the end of the game hurt so much. Especially by WR Greg Turner.
• OK, so how the hell do you give up 378 offensive yards to EMU? 189 yds on the ground? Uncacceptable.
• Something is seriously wrong with our defense. How come we NEVER cause any turnovers or get any interceptions? Our system is garbage and needs to be revamped.
• #24 Bradley Pruitt is AWFUL at FS. He just keeps getting burnt by the same stupid slant play over and over again!
• Hey Melvin Rice...TURN AROUND!!!
  
• I apologize to Rex Grossman for comparing him to Dan Nicholson.
• Nicholson, please stop talking:

• “They were giving us a lot of stuff underneath, but the interception was because of a miscommunication and a good defensive play,” Nicholson said. Nicholson, who completed 20-of-28 passes for 160 yards, redeemed himself by piloting a four-play scoring drive. He drilled a 7-yard touchdown pass to tight end Brandon Davis. The Huskies elected to attempt a two-point play to tie the score. Nicholson rolled to his right, staring down Turner from the snap of the ball. Nicholson's pass sailed over Turner's head, as Anderson stood wide open on the opposite side.
  
  “I had to move around and readjust my throw,” Nicholson said. “I just didn't put the ball on him.”

• Demetrius Jones was in the stands, and told reporters he was Phil Brown's cuz. Also that a plane may fly him to Michigan. Ha.
• NIU has been outscored 44-16 in the 2nd half of games. We need to be a better 2nd half team.

Shaun we hardly knew thee

Freshman walk-on #14 QB Shaun Ratay has reportedly quit the team. In lieu of the Jones transfer? Me thinks so. He was really tall (6'7")

INFIRMARY REPORT

Per Joe Novak on the radio:


My favorite player #99 DT/DE Craig Rusch - Out for the year with a torn ACL


#49 DE Anthony Antonacci - Out for the year with torn ACL & MCL

THAT'S 4 SEASON-ENDING INJURIES IN 2 GAMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Players I saw that didn't dress:
#5 WR Marcus Perez
#6 CB Vincent Matthew
#27 SS Spencer Williamson
#38 SS Mike Sobol (hurt before the year)
#58 DT Mike Krause
#67 C Jon Ellison
#81 WR Nathan Palmer
#83 TE Reed Cunningham

Screw Recaps

Let's compare a couple QBs:

vs

THEIR ARMS:


ROCKETS

THEIR BRAINS:



And here's a picture of NIU's defense (unlike the Bears D):

GAMEDAY!

So my friend was facebook creepin'. Sent D-Jones a message on facebook welcoming him to NIU. He gave the best response he could give:

time to do da damn thing

YES!!!

Daily Herald is facebook creepin' as well!

HUGE NEWS!!!

EDIT: The following post has since been deemed irrelevant. D-Jones did come here until he again transferred to Cincinnati.

Former Golden-Domer QB Demetrius Jones has transferred to NIU!!!

Confirmed by members of the Dog Pound here.

He is already registered in the Northern Illinois student directory here.

Demetrius Jones
6'4 215
Chicago, IL (Morgan Park)

HIGH SCHOOL AND PERSONAL DATA: Graduated from Morgan Park High School in Chicago, Ill. ... one of seven quarterbacks on Parade prep All-America team ... rated 33rd on list of top 100 prep players nationally by USA Today ... rated 39th on list of top 100 players nationally by Chicago Sun-Times ... rated third on list of top 20 players in Midwest on Detroit Free-Press Best in the Midwest team ... Gatorade Player of the Year for 2005 in Illinois ... rated 55th on list of top 100 players in the nation by Dallas Morning News ... rated 105th on list of top 150 players nationally by CollegeFootballNews.com ... MVP of Chicago Prep Bowl after catching game-winning TD pass for Morgan Park High School in Chicago, Ill., in 14-13 overtime win over Brother Rice ... threw 23-yard TD pass on final play of game to beat Simeon 18-14 ... selected for U.S. Army All-American Bowl prep all-star game ... only quarterback on 25-member 2005 Illinois large-school (5A, 6A, 7A, 8A) all-state team by Chicago Sun-Times ... rated top senior player in Illinois by Chicago Tribune ... second-team all-state quarterback by Chicago Tribune ... 12-2 season mark helped earn him mention on Illinois all-state team for `05 by Champaign News-Gazette... threw for 2,000 yards and 25 TDs as senior in '05 ... listed 99th on '05 preseason list of top players in the country (and 14th among quarterbacks) by The Sporting News ... one of 50 players overall and seven quarterbacks on '05 preseason prep All-America team by Street & Smith's ... one of 10 quarterbacks on '05 preseason top 100 list by Lindy's ... one of nine quarterbacks on '05 national preseason top 100 by CBS SportsLine.com ... Chicago Tribune honorable mention all-state selection as junior ... threw for 2,300 yards and 21 TDs with only three interceptions as junior in '04 when he helped Morgan Park to state playoff semifinal ... rushed for another 1,000 yards and 16 TDs on the ground ... from same high school as `05 senior Irish linebacker and current New England Patriot Corey Mays ... born Jan. 3, 1988 ... high school coach was Lexie Spurlock ... enrolled in College of Arts and Letters.

NIU hasn't ever had this type of talent!!!

He was rated the #2 dual-threat QB from the 2006 class.

He is eligible to play in 2008 because he enrolled before the 12th day of classes.

Wait...there's a game tomorrow?

vs

The #6 Eastern Michigan Green Turds @ The #8 Northern Illinois Huskies

(The numbers are Bottom 10 team rankings)

All that is important is that Fatty's Pub and Grill is giving away free food @ 7:30 AM for tailgating!!! Note that the tailgating will be Sig Ep free! Hell yeah.

Game starts at 11 AM

Projected attendance by EMU fans: -26

Percentage of Michigan fans that should start following EMU after Michigan loses Saturday: All of them.

The Funniest Thing You'll See All Day

Intro to the NIU Public Safety webpage.

NIU Fan Rules

From the NIU vs. EMU Facebook Event:


HEED TO THESE RULES!!!

WHEN TO CHEER:

1) Only cheer loudly when OUR defense is on the field, especially on 3rd and 4th downs. DO NOT cheer while our offense is on the field because then the NIU players cannot hear the QB and snap count.

2) When NIU gets a 1st down, the announcer will announce it and then in unison we all point in the direction our offense is driving down the field and say, "And that's another Huskie first down!"

3) After NIU touchdowns and other big plays. Once NIU lines up on offense for the next play though it needs to quiet down.

Wear RED and be LOUD!

So Clanton's out...now who? (Part II)

Now is the moment you've all been waiting for...THE LEGEND OF CHAD SPANN!!!

Wait...who is Chad Spann?

The casual NIU fan may not know about C-SPANN, but he already is a hardcore NIU fan cult favorite.

He's a True Freshman Walk-On that has already earned a scholarship. Joe Novak wanted to offer this guy a scholarship out of high school, but didn't have any left to give. He made a good choice to come here.


Chad Spann
5'10" 189 FR
Indianapolis, IN (North Central)

Here's his bio. Interesting note that he was a 3-time state qualifier for long jump. Also qualified for the 200. Set numerous school records and was 1st team all state after earning 2nd team his JR year.

On to the youtube videos:



and



Now check out this facebook picture:



EPIC!

Dare I say...the Wolfe to JA's Turner?

Updated Injury Report

Who's Out

TE David Koronkiewicz (elbow injury)
TE Reed Cunningham (high ankle sprain - out this week or longer)
TE Brandon Davis (undisclosed)

Yeah that's our top 3 TEs. This sucks.

WR Marcus Perez (shoulder - out this week)
FS Spencer Williamson (undisclosed)

Serious Injuries:
RB Montell Clanton (ACL - probably season-ending)
LB Tim McCarthy (partially torn PCL & MCL - probably season-ending)

Who's In

LB Cory Hanson (had concussion last week)

Uh...

We have a spot in ESPN's Bottom 10

Spotlight on NIU's Volleyball team

First of all I would like to congratulate Freshman Dani D'Ambrose on obtaining MAC West Player Of The Week this week.



I'm no volleyball expert, so I'll let the article describe what she did:

DeKalb, Ill. - Northern Illinois freshman outside hitter Dani D'Ambrose (Addison Trail, Ill. / Addison Trail) was selected as the women's volleyball Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week after her dominating play in the week of September 1. The last Huskie freshman to earn MAC Player of the Week honors was Tera Lobdell in 2004 for the week of October 5.

D'Ambrose posted a .455 attack percentage along with 21 kills in NIU's effort against DePaul on Tuesday. She had a Huskie season-high 29 kills against Texas Pan-American on Friday. At the Texas A&M Corpus Christi Invitational, she notched 20 or more kills in two of the three matches and did so in three of the four matches last week. D'Ambrose finished the week with an average of 5.93 kills per game, totaling 95 points and 89 kills.

"Dani winning MAC West Player of the Week is great," said NIU head coach Ray Gooden. "She had a great week. She was arguable the top scorer at the Texas A&M Corpus Christi Invitational. It was nice to see."

On the season, D'Ambrose has a team-high average of 4.58 kills per game while appearing in only 24 of NIU's 42 games. She has totaled 110 kills and 117.5 points for the Huskies in 2007.

Northern Illinois takes on Illinois-Chicago on Tuesday, September 11 at 7 p.m. in Chicago, Ill.

Please welcome our volleyball team coming off a 2-1 stint at a tournament in Texas A&M Corpus Christi (SE Texas). They are 6-5 overall.

EDIT: Oops I'm an idiot. The next home game is next Tuesday @ the Convo. Tonight's game is in @ UIC!


Dani's a cutie. Go for her! (Love the hair)

So Clanton's out...now who? (Part I)

#20 Montell Clanton had great potential. He always had his best game before he got hurt. Last year it was Buffalo giving Wolfe some rest and BOOM he goes down with a knee injury. Last year he tore his left meniscus and this year he tore his right ACL. With 2 bum knees, you have to assume the worst for Montell. We wish him the best in his 2nd rehab stint in as many years. He did redshirt his freshman year and could take a medical redshirt this year (correct me if I'm wrong). Hopefully he can come back and be a great story some day.

Now to what we have left:



#21 Justin Anderson
5'11" 222 RS Soph

Justin is already a star. If you watched either the spring game or the SIU game you would know this. Against SIU he had 21 carries for 84 yds and 1 TD. He also led in receiving catching 8 passes for 87 yds and 2 more TDs!!!

Apart from such players as Britt Davis & Melvin Rice (and Phil Brown), Justin Anderson is one of the best players we have ever brought to Dekalb. From his bio:

High School: Ranked No. 29 among Illinois prospects, No. 65 in the nation and a three-star recruit by Rivals.com. Entered final prep season at No. 67 among Midwest Top 100 Players by The Sporting News, and No. 80 among Midwest Hot 100 by Score.com.

His facebook group says it all (461 members & counting):

Justin Has the Power of Michael Turner with the moves and speed of Garrett Wolfe.

I'm really not going to argue with that. Wolfe is in the group so you know its legit.

I like this comment posted from the group:

I say they switch him back 2 QB and let him do his thing and be an option QB

I agree!

I like this comment too just for the grammar (posted by "Brandon Wutthefuckyoulookingat Blake":

this nigga!!!! i remember when we used to play football in st.angela parkin lot on lunch (dog) damn you done cam a long way to having fuckin face book group dedicated to yo punk ass lol but thts wuts up (dog) do ya thizang ima be rootin for you my (dog)!

Next up: The Legend of Chad Spann

The "Doorknob Awards"

Doorknob is a nickname for Denny Doornbos our defensive coordinator who is infamous for our "NIU Prevent D" which has to be one of the worst defenses ever and has cost us several games in the past including our MAC Championship.

Re-watching some of the highlights (lowlights) courtesy of http://www.godawgz.com of the game I thought that these players weren't up to snuff:

#60 RT Jon Brost - Completely whiffed the guy rushing on Dan's first INT for a pick-6. He also didn't block anybody on this screen pass to JA for a TD.
#70 LT Chris Acevedo - I don't know what kind of block that was in Dan's first INT. He looked like he was playing patty-cake. Doesn't show a lot of effort in his blocking attempts.

#96 TE Bryan Beckner - WTF kind of block is this???

#32 FS Jeff Fontana - Completely blew his assignments and gave up 2 late TDs. Owned for TDs here and here. Can somebody tell me why a guy not even on our 2-deep is playing at that point in the game???

More on the trail of death and destruction

Joe say it ain't so! (Trib)

"If I could cry, I would, but I'm too old to cry."

QB Dan Nicholson ironically breaks consecutive completions record (Courier)

During a span covering most of the second and part of the third quarter, Nicholson completed a school-record 15 straight passes for 166 yards and two touchdowns. He would finish 21 of 27 for 223 yards and two TDs but threw three interceptions for the second straight week.

Dan Nicholson only threw 3 incomplete passes yesterday. But then 3 were thrown to the other team!



#20 RB Montell Clanton out for the year with an ACL injury.

RB Justin Anderson sounds off (Chronicle)

“Montell, that's my boy,” Anderson said. “I'm kind of sad because of his injury. He said to me, ‘it's on you now, you have to carry the team.'”

Dan - Still Inconsistent (Chronicle)

“The second one should've been thrown to the inside,” Novak said of Nicholson's second interception return for a touchdown. “He's a good player, a gunslinger, but he needs to make better decisions.”

MORE INJURIES:

LB Tim McCarthy - out for a while with a torn MCL and PCL in his knee. I could hear his yelling from the stands he was in a lot of pain.

WR Marcus Perez - apparently had a shoulder sprain and was in a sling yesterday

LB Cory Hanson - didn't play yesterday because of concussion from the Iowa game

TE Reed Cunningham - sprained ankle

RB Justin Anderson - limped off the field yesterday but was OK

SIU - Future MAC Champs? Pt II

Come join us (Beacon News)

Northern Illinois coach Joe Novak enjoys the rivalry with SIU and has a lot of respect for Saluki coach Jerry Kill.

With the Mid-American Conference sitting at 11 teams, would he welcome Southern into the league to help balance it with two, six-team divisions? You bet.

"It's all hearsay, but it is stuff I've heard. That there's feelers out to Illinois State and Southern (from the MAC)," said Novak.

"I don't think they jumped on it that heavily because it would take a money commitment (to move up from FCS to FBS status). I'm not sure they're prepared to do that at those places." NIU Notebook

Leading tacklers...

Anybody else see a problem with this?

Position Analysis

Drunken off the cuff position analysis:

Crowd 9.5/10
Hands down the best crowd I've ever seen attend an NIU game.

Crowd Drunkenness 8/10
Cops were all over patrolling so the underages couldn't have gotten intoxicated as they could have!

Crowd Attractiveness 3/10
Due to Sorority rush weekend, there were some fuglies running around Huskie Stadium.

QBs -2,800/10
Fuckin Danny Nicholson threw 2 INTs returned for TDs right to the men in the other colored jerseys. WTF Dan. Asshole. Overthrown Britt Davis for a sure-fire TD.

RBs 9/10
These guys could improve a little bit, but #21 Justin Anderson had 3 TDs! #20 Montell Clanton had one as well. Nice out of the backfield catches!

TEs/WRs 7/10
Very average. Of course if Dan Nicholson could throw them the ball they would look a ton better!

O-Line 7/10
Average again. Definitely room for improvement. No room for the RBs.

Defense MAC Championship flashback/10
Bend but don't break defense like usual, but then the broke right there at the end. One of the most talented secondaries we've ever had can't cover a I-AA team? WTF. Of the offense didn't do much to help.

Special Teams 6/10
Chris Nendick destroyed his 46-yarder. Could have made that from 60+!
Returns sucked (especially that stupid shit at the end!) wasted precious time. Hands team couldn't recover?

Positive:
We're not Michigan

INJURY REPORT: LB Tim McCarthy - MCL and/or PCL injury to his knee. May not be too serious. Montell Clanton - ACL possibly. MPZ was in a sling.

GAMEDAY!

Week 2 MAC Game of the Week

TURDLEDO @ CENTRAL MICHIGAN (-6)

I really didn't expect MAC games to get this important this early. 2 of the top MAC West team have a showdown on Saturday. Is it on TV? No, but 3 other MAC vs Big 10 games will be shown on the B10 network.

Toledo's not making any friends in the MAC:

"We hate Toledo just as much as we hate Western Michigan," said junior running back Ontario Sneed. "This game means a lot. We've got to have this win."

"We've beat (Toledo) two in a row," LB Red Keith said. "I think they're going to come in here after us, because we've got something they want."

Injury report: Toledo Senior FS Tyrrell Herbert is out with an injury. Another Senior in Toledo's secondary is out, but the article doesn't even list his name (WHY?) OK I looked it up. Senior CB Nigel Morris is also out for Toledo. CMU Senior WR Justin Gardner is questionable with an ankle injury.

Stadium Notes: Chips finally got a video scoreboard put up, which is pretty cool.

Cheerleaders will actually do stuff (unlike the NIU cheerleaders)

"We'll actually try to rally the crowd from inside the stands more often," Beirne said. The cheerleaders also will stick to traditional chants rather than learn dozens of routines at once.

"So instead of doing 30 things, we're going to do less, but we'll work a lot harder to get the students to yell it with us," Beirne said.

My prediction: Both teams got blown out last week, but I believe that Toledo has the stable coach in Toledo Tom Amstutz and stable running back in Jalen Parmele. Not to mention the revenge factor from last year's 42-20 loss at home. 35-23 Toledo.

SIU - Future MAC Champs?

NIU not looking to be the next Michigan (Northern Star)

Novak also said that FCS schools are helped by talented football players transferring from FBS schools who are immediately eligible to play.

“They’ve got some big-time talent on those [FCS] teams,” Novak said. “They’re pretty darn talented, and people need to understand that.”

Novak said he believes teams like SIU and the aforementioned Mountaineers would compete for championships in FBS conferences.

“[SIU] would compete in our conference very well,” he said. “I think they’d be right in the chase to win the championship. Appalachian State would probably be in the top 50 of the IA teams in the country, they’re that good.”