Monday, October 29, 2007

Ultimate Defensive Depth Chart


Would you blame the injuries for how this season has turned out?


Sunday, October 28, 2007

LOL Toledo

First off, check out this...Huskie wearing a Toledo jersey? My head just exploded. He's obviously looking for our real Huskie mascot, Diesel.


Toledo's 812 total yards sets an all-time MAC record that was 53 yrs old and the most in FBS this year. Usually in dog racing, the Huskie leads the way.



#8 S Mark Reiter & #58 DT Mike Krause are just along for the Jalen Parmele train





Some have said that Toledo Tom may have run up the score on the Huskies. I just say we suck. He has been known for this trickery before though.


Photos taken by Jeremy Wadsworth of the Toledo Blade and Mark Myers of Rocket Report

Again inspired from LOL Jocks, one of my most favoritest sites ever

WHAT? 70-21?

There's only one picture to describe this game:


Yeah that's about it. We've given up. That's OK though. Basketball starts November 2nd...

Saturday, October 27, 2007

GAMEDAY!

TWO MAC POWERS CLASH TOGETHER FOR A SPOT IN THE MAC CHAMPIONSHIP!!!

Just kidding. What year is this?

But seriously, it would be awesome if we could beat Toledo today and finish in front of them in the MAC standings.

6PM Game time

We're not on normal TV, but we're on internet TV. If ya wanna burn $8, just click here for All-MACcess.

We're also on 105.9 FM http://www.wckg.com/

You can listen to the Toledo announcers online here: http://www.wspd.com/main.html

Monday, October 22, 2007

Toledo Hate Week

I apologize for lack of updates.

Which do I hate more...
The Toledo Rockets...or NIU Business School Midterms?
The answer is...


By a nosehair...I really don't think I did so well on that test...I feel like Dan Nicholson after the Wisconsin game. Ouch. Rather than reading articles on NIU, I've been studying and studying until my eyes bleed.

If there's one team that I despise in the Mid-American Conference, it's the pathetic team in Ohio called the Toledo Rockets.

Toledo is NIU's biggest rival in the Mid-American Conference. Do the Toledo Rockets see it as a rivalry? Not as much or not at all.

Joe Novak says it's a rivalry (Chronicle):

“Toledo, from at least our perspective, has turned into a big rival game,” Novak said. “The games have had such importance every year. When you are struggling, it's important to have a game like this.”


Transfer Chase Carter has also heard some stories:

"I've heard about Toledo and the rivalry but I don't personally know much about it. I do know that NIU and Toledo have a long history and we need to get this win. I could tell from our meetings this week that this is a big game and we need to get ready to play."


The Rockets are the opposite of the Huskies, ranking 4th in the conference scoring 30.4 ppg, whereas we are last with a PATHETIC 17.0 ppg. 114th nationally.

Toledo also has something we don't have which is tremendous depth at the quarterback position. Their top 2 QBs Aaron Opelt & Clint Cochran have gone down and have used Lenehan played 2 weeks ago. Opelt is back as their starter this week healed from his calf injury.

In the last game, UT forced 8 turnovers and RB Jalen Parmele ran the ball 38 times for 241 and garnered MAC player of the week.


Here's a little history of the rivalry (Game Notes)

ROCKETS 'N DOGS: The Huskies and Rockets meet for the 35th time and for the 19th time in Toledo. NIU is just 2-16 versus the Rockets in Toledo and has won only seven of the 34 meetings overall, but snapped an 11-game losing streak to UT the last time the teams played in the Glass Bowl with a 35-17 win in 2005 behind then back-up QB Dan Nichsolson. Toledo won the first four games between the teams (from 1967-71), and nine of the first 10 games, with Northern Illinois earning its first series win in 1972. Prior to the 2005 game, NIU's last win over the Rockets was in 1989.


Might we have a revenge factor? (
Weekly Quotes)


Joe hasn't forgotten the "fog game"

"Last year's loss was one of the tougher losses that I have had here. This is not a personal thing, it's a team thing, but personally it was one of the toughest that I have been through because of the way it ended. It is always so tight anyway and to lose like that was difficult."


THE LAST MEETING: Northern Illinois mis-fired on four tries from the Toledo two-yard line in the final moments of the game as the Huskies dropped a 17-13 decision to Toledo on a foggy Thursday night in DeKalb. The Rockets built a 17-10 halftime lead and made it stand as the two teams could manage just a field goal in the second half. Britt Davis caught nine passes for 163 yards and three NIU defenders registered double figures in tackles, led by Tim McCarthy with 16.

Oh great Britt Davis & Tim McCarthy aren't even playing right now. What are we gonna do?

We're SO bad at so many things. The Chronicle sums it up:

The 1-7 record is just one of a series of ghoulish numbers for Northern Illinois In this week's FBS team statistics, the Huskies rank:

117th in kickoff returns (17.39 ypr),
116th in third down (28.6 percent) and fourth down offense efficiency (22.2) and turnover margin (minus-1.50),
114th in scoring offense (17.0 ppg),
113th in turnovers lost (23),
108th in passes had intercepted (14),
107th in time of possession (27:56),
106th in punt return yardage defense (14.06 ypr),
105th in total offense (322.13 ypg),
103rd in passing efficiency (108.32),
98th in net punting (32.42 ypp),
94th in turnovers gained (11) and fumbles lost (9),
93rd in rushing defense (191.5 ypg) and
91st in passing offense (188.9 ypg).


Our offense will make Toledo's 118th ranked D look like the Chicago Bears D circa 1985!

Sunday, October 21, 2007

The real reason why we lost to Wisconsin


Poor Spencer. Lance Smith's Wisconsin cheese flatulence blew his helmet straight off!

Saturday, October 20, 2007

It's a time to look forward

Same old, same old NIU on Saturday. This is getting boring.

It's time to look to the future and ask some questions:

Will Joe Novak leave after this year?
Who will our new coach be?
Will our entire coaching staff be turned over?
How's our basketball team looking?

Dan Nicholson Highlight Video

Straight from my taping of the Wisconsin game to youtube:



Same old, same old NIU on Saturday. This is getting boring.

It's time to look to the future and ask some questions:

Will Joe Novak leave after this year?
Who will our new coach be?
Will our entire coaching staff be turned over?
How's our basketball team looking?

EDIT: For my log of the game, check out the comments section of the post below.

GAMEDAY!!!



OK we play Wisconsin 2day. Last time we played them in '02 we had like 8 sacks and should have won the game. One of the first NIU games I watched. Hopefully this can be the same kinda game.

F*ck Bucky, go Victor E Huskie!

I don't even know if I get the Big 10 network, I just wanna watch the game tomorrow no matter what? Nope I'm not in Madison, I'm too drunk to go there anytime in the near future.

We always have a fighting chance in these games. 23 point underdogs? Please. We're NIU!

LET'S SEE SOME OFFENSE WHEN I WAKE UP PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!!

Thursday, October 18, 2007

Let's hire this guy!

I nominate this guy for our new Defensive Coordinator/HC:



We definitely could use the energy. Courtesy of The Wizard of Odds

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

INFIRMARY REPORT - Wisconsin Game

Nicholson could return against Badgers (Dekalb Chronicle)

QB Dan Nicholson - Probable (ankle)
“I assume Dan's going to start,” Novak said. “He practiced today. He did all the drills. He's not 100 percent, but Danny's our quarterback. I thought Ryan played well and did some positive things. He didn't make many mistakes or throw an interception.”
WR Britt Davis - Doubtful (Hammy)

WR Marcus Perez - Out (foot) Is this guy ever healthy (or productive)?

C Eddie Adamski - Questionable (shoulder)

TE Reed Cunningham - Doubtful again

CB Melvin Rice - Out 2 weeks (undisclosed suspension)

NG Mike Krause - Doubtful (not on depth chart)

NG DJ Pirkle - Questionable

RB David Bryant - Questionable


Notable Depth Chart Changes

Depending on whether Krause or Pirkle play, Ed Jackson could be our only NG left!

Jason Onyebuagu will probably start at C for Adamski, and Tim Mayerbock will fill in at his RG spot.

The secondary is a little shaken up with Rice gone, but Pruitt did a good job filling in last week and will start at CB again. Kube & Reiter @ the Safety spots.

Returning punts will be Matt Simon. Fielding kickoffs will most likely be Evans Adonis & Patrick George.

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Wisconsin giving us A LOT of credit!

Quote of the day per Wisconsin Head Coach Brett Bielema (Dekalb Chronicle):

“They've had, I think, seven straight bowl appearances, is that correct?,” Bielema said. “They've been winning there for a long time, unfortunately going through some bumps this year, but I know that they're a team that's going to come in ready to play on Saturday.”
Thanks Brett, but we're not in the Big 10. 7 straight winning seasons isn't gonna guarantee you a bowl every year in the MAC conference. We didn't even get a bowl game in 2003 when we were 10-2! 2 bowl games, but thanks for the props.


Also, a very interesting (dumb) editorial in the Northern Star really caught my eye.

The article calling for Joe N's retirement can be found here
The (intelligent) counterpoint supporting our head ball coach can be found here

Some very interesting reads and comments by readers.

Monday, October 15, 2007

LOL Larry English

Here's a picture to lighten the mood:


Inspired from LOL Jocks

8.5 sacks and counting...

Saturday, October 13, 2007

As our record turns to 1-6

Why do I cover this team? I must have a sickness or a disease. Again I am a Cubs fan...

  • Crowd was 23K. So that means its a plus 4,000 to 5,000 fans if we actually have a good football team.
  • #33 Patrick George is a monster on special teams coverage. 2 huge tackles.
  • #15 QB Ryan Morris has no arm. He's a poor man's Phil Horvath. Not even that. I still heard "Nicholson Sucks" chants in the crowd when he wasn't even playing lol. There were men open that he couldn't even get the ball. Embarrassing.

There were some really interesting plays called in this game. Let's go over some of those.

  • Justin Anderson would line up at QB and Ryan Morris would line up at wideout. Very strange.
  • Pitch to Marcus Perez for a deep ball pass to a wide open Matt Simon for a TD!
  • Statue of liberty play for a bland 8 yd gain. It's sad we have to resort to these plays as normal plays in our offense and still lose games.

Joe talks about why the trick plays were put in:

“We felt we had to generate some offense without Nicholson and our two receivers,” Novak said. “When you are struggling to move the ball and score points, you have to figure a way to get it done.”


A look of frustration on RB Justin Anderson

Something's really wrong with our O-Line/Playcalling. We never seem to open enough holes for the running backs to run through. Again, I'm very surprised that Joe Novak seems to keep Justin Anderson in there for every play. He just doesn't have that breakaway speed or any other attributes that make him special like a Wolfe or a Turner. I would like to see the other speed backs get a look. Outside runs with Justin Anderson just aren't going to work because his speed isn't good enough.

It was so weird because the offense would open up with a bunch of passes, and then collapse in to 3 runs and a 4th down. I just cannot understand it.

  • Stat of the day that we were 1 for 13 on 3rd downs. Obviously that isn't going to win you a game.
  • Justin Anderson fumbled again (Garrett Wolfe never did this) and there were some killer holding calls on offense.
  • Nendick got ICED at the end of the first half by WMU calling a timeout and missed a FG. WTF.

Our defense is phenomenal. Our offense was god-awful in the 2nd half and they stood their ground being out there for the majority of the time.

  • I am SO proud of players like DT DJ Pirkle and DE Larry English playing their hearts out on defense. If only the offense could show up.
  • Melvin Rice didn't start @ CB for some reason. Weird. Word is he is suspended 3 games. For what?
  • C Eddie Adamski hurt his shoulder. No word on how long he is out.
  • The "Blackout" worked pretty well. My idiot friends actually heard about it and that is the litmus test for anything advertised.

The issues now are not about hard work or having character. The team has that desire to win so bad. It is about plain execution and X's and O's (on offense). Why we can't seem to overcome this downfall is beyond me.

Friday, October 12, 2007

101st Homecoming Preview - WMU




(Longest Preview Ever)

Injury Report (Dekalb Chronicle)

QB Dan Nicholson is questionable (day-to-day) for the game and he gets a vote of confidence from HC Joe Novak (or a low-blow @ backup QB Ryan Morris):

"No," he said. "I think Dan's our guy. I think we've got a pretty good dropoff between Dan and the next guy (former walkon Ryan Morris of West Chicago). I'm not being critical.

"If Dan can play, Dan's our guy. It's a total team thing. No, no thought (of replacing Nicholson) at all."

“[Nicholson] wasn’t 100 percent going in to the game,” Novak said. “If Morris is better at 100 percent than Dan at 70 percent, I’m gonna go with the guy that gives us a better chance to win.”

WR Greg Turner (R Shoulder Sprain) and backup RB David Bryant will both be back this week. WR Britt Davis is doubtful (R Hamstring Strain) and TE Reed Cunningham is questionable. It appeared on the game notes that RB Cas Prime is out for the season with a knee injury.

“I'm 99 percent sure Britt's not going to play this week,” Novak said. “It will be a miracle. He got it in the Central (Michigan) game running a deep cut and pulled it. Hopefully, one more week, but I doubt this week. I would be amazed.”

Subsequent changes to the depth chart:

WR Greg Turner starts this week with Marcus Lewis backing him up.

LE Brandon Bice is back from injury, with RS FR Jason Cruikshank backing him up.

DJ Pirkle has taken over the backup NG spot from Ed Jackson.

FR John Hopkins will be backing up Larry English

The LB situation is weird. The top 2 MLBs are Zach Larsen & Phil Brown. And the top 2 WLBs are Cory Hanson and John Tranchitella. Why are Tranch & Phil Brown backups? Beats me.

FS Spencer Williamson is FINALLY back from his whatever was keeping him out. Yay no more Jeff Fontana!

Back on returns are Marcus Perez & Evans Adonis for KO returns. Perez on punt returns.


Hey Joe, what is wrong with this team? (Weekly Press Conference)

"The obvious thing right now is that we are simply not making the plays to win. We are also missing some speed, especially on the offensive side of the ball, and that is hurting us. We are getting in the red zone, but we are not getting the ball in the end zone. Turnovers have killed us as well; we are minus-11. Penalties; We are holding too much. Those are things a good football team cannot do. Those are the things that are keeping us from being a good team right now. It is being addressed, we are working on it, we just need to do it on the field and we are not."


Wait...what speed are we missing on offense? I'm very confused. Is he just talking about Britt "Stone Hands" Davis?

Strong quotes by Joe N for the future of this team:

"We've got six games to play and 95 percent of this team is coming back. I owe it to these seniors; I owe it to the rest of the kids. If you are looking towards next year, next year starts Saturday. I told the captains, all of which are juniors, and the team. You know what we could start seeing next year, but if we are going to do that, next year starts right now. We need to get that winning taste in our mouths that we once had and it is not there right now. That will help us next year. Right now we are just focused on what we can still get out of this year. Is it going to be a great year? Obviously not. Is it going to be a winning season? It is going to be awful tough. But we can still come out of this thing with a more positive taste and feeling than we have right now."


Hey Chris Nendick, you gonna miss any more kicks this week?

“Everybody looks at the extra point as a chipshot, but there's a science to it and if you don't get that science down, you won't hit it,” Nendick said. “That was Jeff's first week holding. I thought he did a pretty good job.”

The two misses cost Northern Illinois a victory, and forced the studious Nendick to watch some extra gamefilm.

“I kicked well today, only missed once,” he said. “I'm feeling pretty good. The misses motivates me more. I was excited to get to practice today. I saw some stuff on film that I had to correct. I corrected it. I feel like I'm hitting the ball a lot better now.”

The WMU defensive coordinator is familiar with NIU's offensive scheme (NStar, Kalamazoo Gazette):

Saturday won’t be the first time NIU’s offensive coordinator Roy Wittke and WMU’s defensive coordinator Bill Miller have met. Both are familiar with each other as they were offensive and defensive coordinators, respectively, last year at Arizona State.

Looking back on the non-existence of the 2003 recruiting class as current seniors (Dekalb Chronicle, Kalamazoo Gazette):

Not helping matters is that the 2003 recruiting class didn't pan out, with several players leaving the program. An overlooked aspect in NIU's downfall is the revolving door of assistant coaches. Potential recruits like to build relationships with coaches. Is it a coincidence that ever since Scott Shafer and Matt Canada left following the 2003 season the program has taken a drop in recruiting? Not likely.

"I'm not sure this program is quite as hungry as it was then,'' the Huskies' 12th-year coach said. "I hope that's not the case.''

Novak's crew is 1-5 this season (0-2 in division play), off to its worst start since 1998, when Northern Illinois was wrapping up a 3-win, 30-loss stretch.

"We're going through a nonexistent senior class,'' Novak said. "We have nine seniors, three of whom see the field. We're lacking in maturity and leadership. It's a (class) of attrition and bad recruiting decisions, and we're struggling because of it a little bit.''

"The class started at 19 or 20, we had a couple academic (casualties), three or four others didn't want to work ... ''

The list goes on, according to Novak, including several players who can no longer play for medical reasons.

"I think going into this year we really felt we had a chance to be a very good football team next year,'' Novak said. ``We didn't think it'd be like this.''

Next season's senior class is 25 players deep. Novak hopes that group will make Northern Illinois' dip from the MAC's elite a one-year deal.

Novak provides Justin Anderson and the other RBs some motivation:

"He's still a work in progress,'' Novak said of Anderson, one of four NIU running backs averaging better than 5 yards per carry. "Our tailbacks should have a lot of yards. We give them the ball a lot.

"They're not Garrett Wolfe or Mike Turner.''

Entering this season, Northern Illinois was one of 18 Division I-A teams with at least seven winning seasons in a row, according to Novak. That's a streak he admits will "be awful tough'' to continue. In fact, if the Huskies don't win Saturday, it won't.

Prediction:

Western Michigan should be a little out of this game emotionally, because of the way they lost last week to Akron on the last play of the game. The players in Kalamazoo may have said that they are over what happened, but I believe that is still going to be in the back of their minds. Here is a video of the above-mentioned play:




WMU has the 113th ranked run D in the nation. RB Justin Anderson will have a field day. We should be able to get some deep passes in against their secondary who is giving up 13.96 yds per pass which is good for 114th in the nation. If we win the turnover margin (biggest "if" ever), we win this game. Our defense is playing pretty good, and the amount of emotion for homecoming will be a tremendous boost. WMU will be emotionally drained form last week's loss and will not be able to match up. BTW, WMU is 113th in the nation giving up 38.7 ppg. If we can ever get our offense going, it will be against these guys.

Huskies with the upset, 30-28

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Attendance #'s Over 18,000 since 2000

What will our homecoming attendance be like with this 1-5 team?

2000
9/11 - Illinois State: 24,682 W
10/7 - UCF (HC): 18,148 (2-2 record coming in) W

2001
10/20 - WMU (HC): 18,150 (2-4 record) W

2002
8/29 - Wake Forest: 19,653 W
9/21 - WIU: 23,598 L
10/19 - CMU (HC): 20,186 (4-3 record) W
11/9 - BGSU: 25,822 W
11/23 - Toledo: 20,154 L

2003
8/28 - Maryland: 28,018 W
9/6 - Tennessee Tech: 18,123 W
9/27 - Iowa State: 28,218 W
10/4 - Ohio: 21,736 W
10/18 - WMU (HC): 28,221 (6-0 record) W
11/1 - Ball St: 24,121 W

2004
9/11 - SIU: 28,071 W
9/24 - BGSU: 25,819 W
10/2 - Akron: 26,266 W
10/16 - CMU (HC): 27,385 (4-2 record) W
11/9 - Toledo: 27,719 L

2005
9/17 - Tennessee Tech: 26,123 W
10/15 - EMU (HC): 27,641 (2-3 record) W
10/5 - Miami OH: 20,023 W
10/29 - Ball St: 18,732 L
11/23 - WMU: 18,361 W

2006
9/9 - Ohio: 19,341 L
9/16 - Buffalo: 21,117 W
9/23 - Indiana St: 19,720 W
10/21 - Temple (HC): 27,039 (4-3 record) W
11/7 - Toledo: 19,267 L
11/17 - CMU: 18,139 W

2007
9/8 - SIU: 24,182 L
9/15 - EMU: 20,012 L
10/13 - WMU (HC): ?????

I really feel like that our record won't matter this year and our dedicated fans/alumni come out in droves for this game. We're almost guaranteed 27k or more.

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

2 Huskies Garner MAC POY Awards

Irene Johnson Earns MAC West Player Of The Week Honors



Irene Johnson has totaled 196 kills and 160 digs for NIU in 2007.

Oct. 8, 2007

DeKalb, Ill. - Junior outside hitter Irene Johnson (Schaumburg, Ill. / Schaumburg) became the second NIU volleyball player this season to earn the Mid-American Conference West Division Player of the Week for her efforts in the Huskies' two road wins over the weekend.

Johnson joins freshman Dani D'Ambrose (Addison, Ill. / Addison Trail) as the only two Huskies to garner MAC West Player of the Week honors and has notched a personal best three straight double-doubles. On Friday, Johnson led the way for NIU with 14 kills and 12 digs in the Huskies' 3-1 win over Toledo on the road. On Saturday, Johnson also helped spark NIU's comeback from a 2-0 deficit to Ball State, leading the Huskies with 16 kills and 12 digs in the 3-2 NIU triumph over Ball State. Johnson finished the weekend with 30 kills, 24 digs, five blocks and 35 points while helping the Huskies post their third consecutive MAC win and second win in 15 years at Ball State's John E. Worthen Arena.

"It's great for Irene and the program for her success this past week," said NIU head coach Ray Gooden. She has done a good job offensively and defensively for us. It's great to see her rewarded by the conference. We're fortunate now to have multiple kids win the award."

On the season, Johnson ranks third on the Huskies and sixth in the MAC with an average of 4.18 kills per MAC contest. Johnson also ranks sixth in the MAC and second on NIU with 4.73 digs per MAC contest.

The Huskies face Akron on Friday, October 12 at 5 p.m. in Akron, Ohio.


Not to be outdone...


Van Buren's Shutouts Earn MAC Accolades



Brian Van Buren recorded the first and second shutouts of his NIU career last weekend.

Oct. 8, 2007

CLEVELAND, Ohio - The Mid-American Conference has named Northern Illinois goalkeeper Brian Van Buren its Men's Soccer Player of The Week, the conference announced Monday.

Van Buren (Sycamore, Ill./Sycamore) recorded three saves in two shutout victories for the Huskies, the first and second shutouts of his career. To open the weekend, Northern Illinois defeated MAC opponent Western Michigan 4-0 in a game in which Van Buren faced four shots. Two days later, the senior keeper recorded three saves and assisted the game-winning goal in the Huskies' 1-0 victory over Western Illinois.

"Brian has trained hard his entire NIU career to be at his peak when called upon, and that hard work paid off last weekend," Huskie head coach Steve Simmons said.

Van Buren has now allowed only one goal in 270 minutes between the pipes.


The Huskies return to action Saturday at 6:30 p.m. (CST) to face No. 28 Akron in Akron, Ohio.



BTW, it was just announced that the NIU @ Wisconsin game will be played Saturday October 20 @ 11 AM and will be shown on the Big 10 Network

Monday, October 8, 2007

NIU Football, Joe Novak, and Close Games

This post is inspired (stolen from) by Dog Pound member NIUtrav09 and this thread he posted. The guy really should write for this site no doubt in my mind if he has any free time (away from his girlfriend). Hahaha jk Trav. I did update a couple things. Writer invite sent out...


2005:
wk. 2 @ Northwestern L 37-38
-The infamous 2 point conversion play. Let's not forget NIU had a 14-3 lead in this game.

wk. 4 @ Akron L 42-48
-Lost in overtime

wk 9. @ CMU W 31-28
-Huge win.. got NIU back into the MAC title hunt

MACC vs. Akron L 30-31
-Does anything really need to be said?

2006:
wk. 2 vs. Ohio L 23-35
-In my opinion, we overlooked Ohio. Yes, they went on to have a good season but the Huskies should not have lost this game.

wk. 6 @ Miami OH W 28-25
-Boring game against a winless Miami OH squad. NIU really could never get things going and escaped with a win.

wk. 7 @ WMU L 14-16
-Had several chances to win this game but simply could not. The O-Line decided not to show up today and Wolfe could never get going.

wk. 9 @ Iowa L 14-24
-NIU played tough against a very good team. Another coulda, shoulda, woulda game.

wk 10 vs. Toledo L 13-17
-The infamous Fog Bowl game. 1st and goal and they couldn't punch it in. Questionable play calling.

2007:
wk 2 vs SIU L 31-34
-Choke job. Late recovered onside kick & TD.

wk 3 vs EMU L 19-21
-Choke job pt 2. Penalties hurt the huskies and late FG gets blocked.

wk 4 vs Idaho W 42-35
-Barely win this one, with Idaho recovering a late onside kick and almost scoring. We once led 35-7.

wk 5 vs Temple L 15-16
-We lose because of 2 botched extra points, which Nendick always usually makes.


Since 2005, our record in close games is 4-10



They say a good indicator of coaching strength is W/L record in close games...

Trav's thoughts:
Novak made us a good team. He brought us out of the lowest of the lows and gained NIU respect. Without him there is no Wolfe, no AAPC, no MACC, no Nationally televised games, no SI articles, no Silicon Vally Bowl, no Poinsettia Bowl, no 20,000+ ave attendance, etc.

However, Joe is not the guy to take NIU to the next level - whatever that may be.

Your turn. Is this 4-10 record the result of bad coaching? Bad players? Bad luck?

WE'RE 9 POINTS AWAY FROM BEING 4-2 THIS YEAR

And we outgained CMU significantly yardage-wise and were -5 in turnovers. Turnover margin was -3 in the Iowa game.

Saturday, October 6, 2007

We just lost to...Temple

Disclaimer: this post has been edited 3 times because of my own stupidity.

Per Merriam-Webster Dictionary:

Main Entry: Murphy's Law
Function: noun
Etymology: probably from Edward A. Murphy died 1990 American engineer

: an observation: anything that can go wrong will go wrong


OK where do I start?

WRs Britt Davis & Greg Turner were both out for this game for some reason. So was backup RB David Bryant.

Apparently the absence of Greg Turner was a huge one, considering he is our holder for the field goals. WE MISSED 2 EXTRA POINTS?!!! WTF? Nendick is the NIU record holder for most XPs made consecutively (I'm pretty sure). Guess who the holder was...

JEFF FONTANA


Is he smiling or not smiling? The NIU FB Picture Bio's Mona Lisa

WERE THE MISSED XP's HIS FAULT?


“The first one was a high snap, a real high snap. [Jeff] Fontana did a great job getting it down and Chris just couldn’t get a really good kick on it,” Novak said.

“The second one, I don’t know what happened. It looked good, but I don’t know what happened. It’s a shame two missed extra points were the difference in the game.”

I mean seriously. He cost us the SIU game & almost the Idaho game. He is the bane of my existence.

Anyways, where was I?

QB Dan Nicholson SUCKED going 12 for 25 for 101 yds? Hahaha you have to be kidding me! He also fumbled the ball that was taken back for a TD and hurt his ankle in the 4th quarter. I bet you he just wanted to get out of the game because he was playing SO bad.

Is Ryan Morris the answer @ QB? I seriously doubt it. He wasn't a scholarship recruit and takes FOREVER in the pocket to throw the ball (from what I've seen). In this game he got sacked twice.

There were positives:

RB Justin Anderson again proved his worth rushing 29 times for 168 yds and 2 TDs. He is now a top-10 rusher in the nation.

WR Marcus Perez was back and he caught 5 passes for 63 yds.

On the Defense this could be a good or bad thing depending how you look at it.
SS Alex Kube
had 14 tackles (6 solo) and CB Melvin Rice had 12 tackles (8 solo). Our secondary guys shouldn't have that many tackles.

#10 LB Cory Hanson continues his tear with 10 tackles (4 solo) and another secondary guy FS Bradley Pruitt had 9 tackles (6 solo).

True frosh Defensive Tackle DJ Pirkle had 2 sacks for a total loss of 28 yds. Also CB Chase Carter had a pick, which is his 2nd of the year.

Thursday, October 4, 2007

Thoughts on the Temple game






Watch out for Larry English, he had 4.5 sacks against Temple last year.

Temple is the only MAC team with a grass field.

It's Temple's homecoming game (CMU's was last week & ours is next week)

WE AREN'T ON TV!: Although Saturday's game can be seen as part of the Mid-American Conference All-MACcess package on-line, the NIU-Temple game will mark the first time in 21 games - since Nov. 5, 2005 when Northern Illinois faced Central Michigan in Mt. Pleasant - that a Huskie football game will NOT be available via an over-the-air telecast. The final three games of the 2005 campaign were televised along with every game last season (13) and each of the first five games this year. During that span, NIU appeared on ESPN or ESPN2 six times, on ABC once, was part of an ESPN Plus or ESPN GamePlan package four times, played on ESPNU on three occasions, and had seven games televised by Comcast SportsNet.

HOW BAD WE SUCK: The 35 points surrendered by Northern Illinois in the first half at Central Michigan were the most since Kansas State scored 59 points in the opening half on Sept. 12, 1998 in Manhattan. In addition, NIU's six turnovers (four INTs, two fumbles) were the most by a Huskie team in 101 games, since a 16-3 loss to Toledo on Oct. 31, 1998 when Northern Illinois committed seven turnovers.

BOTH TEAMS HAVE BUTTER FINGERS: The Owls have fumbled 15 times this season, losing eight of those. The Huskies have fumbled eight times, losing five. "Whoever can get [their turnovers] rectified the quickest, will probably win on Saturday," Novak said.

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Just how young is this team?

The game notes pretty much sums up the youth on this team better than anybody could:

HUSKIE DEBUTANTES: Nineteen different players have made their Huskie debuts in 2007, including nine redshirt freshmen, seven true freshmen, transfers Anthony Mason and Chase Carter, and junior Vincent Matthew. Redshirt freshman Mike Lepper is the latest to join the list as he saw action on special teams at CMU. True freshmen John Hopkins, D.J. Pirkle, Chad Spann, Patrick George, Nolan Owen, Landon Cox and Kyle Skarb have now all seen playing time. In addition to Lepper, the redshirt rookies are Alex Kube, Ed Jackson, Bryan Beckner, Ricky Crider, Justin Stewart, Jake Coffman, Mike Krause and Vernon Sims with Kube (S), Jackson (DT), Beckner (TE) and Krause (NG) all starting at least one game.

SENIOR STARTERS: Only three seniors have started games for Northern Illinois in 2007 - LT Chris Acevedo (5 starts), TE Brandon Davis (2) and SS Mark Reiter (3). Acevedo and Davis started the season opener versus Iowa, while Acevedo was the lone senior in the line-up in the SIU game. Reiter has joined Acevedo in the starting line-up in the last three games. Kicker Chris Nendick is the only other NIU senior starter as the Huskies feature only nine seniors on the roster this year.

MOST-EXPERIENCED: The Huskies feature only three players - all juniors - who entered the 2007 campaign with more than one year of starting experience. Offensive lineman Jon Brost (28 starts), wide receiver Britt Davis (27) and defensive end Larry English (27) own more starts than any other players on the NIU team. While Brost leads the way in total number of starts, Davis has started 22 straight games and English has been in the starting line-up in 21 consecutive contests. LUCKY 13: Thirteen NIU players have made their first career starts this season, with Mike Krause (NG) and Kevin Skatrud (OG) getting their first starting nods at Central Michigan. The first-timers include seven offensive players and six defenders: tight ends Reed Cunningham and Bryan Beckner, linemen Tim Mayerbock and Kevin Skatrud, wide receiver Greg Turner and tailbacks Montell Clanton and Justin Anderson on offense and linemen Brandon Bice, Ed Jackson and Mike Krause, linebacker John Tranchitella, safety Alex Kube and cornerback Chase Carter on defense.

Tuesday, October 2, 2007

Joe Novak Quote of the Day

Novak sees similarities between NIU, Temple (Chronicle)

“Turnovers has been our big bugaboo,” Novak said. “In the past we've been good. This year we've been awful. We've not been able to generate any on defense.”

INFIRMARY REPORT - Temple Game

NIU has been hit by the injury bug:

OUCH!: Northern Illinois has been bit by the injury bug in 2007 as nine starters (or replacement starters) have now missed at least one full game (and in most cases, multiple games) due to injury. In addition, 16 different players listed on the depth chart at some point this year have missed at least one game due to injury, with all but three of those likely to result in multiple games missed.

Many of them are season-ending injuries:

Five players - NG Adam Schroeder (shoulder surgery), TB Montell Clanton, DT Craig Rusch and DE Anthony Antonacci (all rt. knees) and DE Jake Coffman (foot) - have been lost for the season. In addition, LB Tim McCarthy (rt. knee) will miss significant time and possibly the season.

We are getting some guys back though:

DT Mike Krause, FS Spencer Williamson and DT Zach Holycross each returned from injury to play in the Central Michigan game.

The D-Line has been hurt the worst:

Seven players listed on the NIU depth chart at the start of the season (Rusch, Antonacci, Schroeder, Holycross, Krause, Coffman and Brandon Bice) have missed at least one game with Rusch, Antonacci, Schroeder and Coffman done for the season.

How we are countering the D-Line injuries:

To compensate, Huskie coaches have moved Dan Keller from offensive to defensive line and Phil Brown to defensive end from linebacker. Four freshmen have played on the defensive line this year, including first-year players John Hopkins and D.J. Pirkle, who saw their first collegiate action at Idaho. Ed Jackson, a redshirt freshmen, made his first career start at Idaho and Krause started for the first time at Central Michigan.

Monday, October 1, 2007

Notable National Statistical Rankings for NIU

Turnover Margin - 117th (-2.2 per game, -11 ovr)
Red Zone Conversions - 118th (7 of 14 attempts 50%)

Net Punting - 98th (31.88 net avg)
Kickoff Returns - 118th (15.33 avg)
Punt Return Yardage Defense - 112th (17.07 yds per return)
Kickoff Return Yardage Defense - 97th (24.12 yds per return)