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???

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

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.”

Breaking down SIU's Defense & Special Teams

IT LOOKS LIKE HE'S TRYING TO CUP HIS BALLS

Defense Line:

Defensive End
55 Jemere Gainer (6-0, 225, So.)
33 James Cloud (6-2, 215, Jr.)
58 Emmanuel Fuller (6-2, 225, So.)

Defensive Tackle
96 Larry Luster (6-0, 310, Sr.)
90 Chris Arthurs (6-0, 285, So.)
98 Duke Pfitzinger (6-0, 240, Jr.)

Defensive Tackle
99 Andre Tillman (6-0, 285, Sr.)•
60 Tony Colletti (6-3, 270, So

Defensive End
56 Devon Reese (6-3, 235, Jr.)
92 Dolapo Adubifa (6-2, 245, So.)

The first thing that strikes me is the weight of the DEs. They're pretty light at 230 avg. They're probably mostly speed-rushing guys and we should be able to push them around and run outside. The DTs are short (most of them are 6'0"), but big (297.5 lbs avg). Only 1 returning starter not a lot of experience.

Another thing that strikes me is looking at DT Chris Arthurs on the depth chart. Fear just went in to my heart. I grew up with him playing on the Wheaton Rams youth league. We grew up and he went to HS on the southside. I still have nightmares (and a sore neck) from trying to block this man-beast.

Linebackers:

Outside Linebacker
51 Justin Thurston (6-0, 200, Jr.)
3 Chauncey Mixon (6-1, 215, So.)
39 Weithley Leonord (5-10, 210, Sr.)



Middle Linebacker
10 Brandin Jordan (5-11, 215, So.)•
43 Ryan Patton (6-0, 215, So.)
41Matt Speed (5-9, 220, Fr.)

Outside Linebacker
53 Trevor Moe (6-1, 235, Sr.)•
52 Todd Moe (6-1, 215, So.)
11 Fred Wright (5-9, 195, So.)

One word: UNDERSIZED. MLB Brandin Jordan won freshman of the year last year and had 107 tackles in the Gateway Conference. Not worried here.

Defensive Backs:

Cornerback
9 Anthony Williams (5-9, 170, Sr.)
6 Brandon Williams (5-9, 180, So.)

Strong Safety
8 Marty Rodgers (5-10, 180, So.)
28 Derrick Belton (5-10, 175, Jr.)
16 Lance Caldwell (6-1, 195, So.)

Free Safety
36 Clayton Johnson (5-10, 190, Jr.)•
20 Blake Sims (6-1, 200, Jr.)

Cornerback
2 Craig Turner (5-10, 195, Sr.)
1 Larry Taylor (6-0, 190, Sr.)

Here's where we have some fun. Everybody isn't that tall and our WRs will pretty much own this secondary. They have no safety depth with the 2 injured Strong Safeties in Belton and Caldwell. Even SS Rodgers wasn't healthy last week and could get hurt again. So...utter Huskie domination. Hear that Danny? It's your game to win.

Special Teams:

Punt Returner
2 Craig Turner (5-10, 195, Sr.)

Kicker
97 Scott Ravanesi (6-0, 195, So.)
25 Kyle Dougherty (5-10, 185, Fr.)

Punter
97 Scott Ravanesi (6-1, 195, So.)•

New kicker. Watch out for Punt Returns by Craig Turner. In his career, Turner has returned three punts for touchdowns. He was ranked seventh in the nation in punt return average last season (14.9).

Breaking down SIU's Offenive Line

Left Tackle
77 Darren Marquez (6-4, 280, Sr.)•
62 Kevin Green (6-3, 355, Jr.)
72 Dave Shipula (6-5, 295, Sr.)

Left Guard
61 Aaron Lockwood (6-3, 305, Jr.)•
76 Blake Brunner (6-3, 255, So.)

Center
68 Mike Farrell (6-3, 300, Jr.)
54 Mike Nitti (6-4, 290, So.)
76 Blake Brunner (6-3, 255, So.)

Right Guard
75 Shawn Smith (6-4, 275, So.)•
50 Matt Ruth (6-2, 280, Sr.)



Right Tackle
73 Andrew Kernes (6-6, 310, Sr.)•
79 Craig Kombrink (6-5, 280, Sr.)
65 Jim Lawler (6-5, 290, Jr.)

They definitely have the size.

Both OT's have started 26 straight games. The LT Marquez was HM All-Gateway LY. Athletic player who excels at pass-blocking. RT Kernes played for NIU in '03 then transferred.

LG Lockwood may be the best O-Lineman in the entire conference, per OC Limegrover (now that's a cool name). He was HM All-Gateway LY.

The C is the lone new starter on this O-Line.

CONCLUSION:

This O-Line is a lot more experienced than Iowa's, which is a bad sign. If we can't stop the run, we are screwed.

2 Things

First of all off-shore gambling site 5Dimes lists NIU as only -7.5 favorites against SIU on Saturday. YIKES! They are one of the only sites I've seen that hand out I-AA lines, so it's pretty accurate. Still waiting on my transaction to Nicaragua...shhh

Second of all, here's a frightening Sun-Times article on the thought of Wisconsin playing NIU at Soldier Field next year:

When NIU hosts Wisconsin in 2009, Phillips might seek to play the game in Chicago because Wisconsin is another neighboring school that travels well. And because Iowa is an exceptional draw, Phillips said he is looking into scheduling NIU-Iowa games again starting in 2010.

Yeah I don't think so Lacy J Banks. Is this a woman covering football for the Sun-Times? 2 wrongs do not make a right in this situation. That is a horrible idea.

Soldier Field is not our home, Huskie Stadium is! Wisconsin will play in Dekalb and we will do our best to defend our home turf in front of thousands of Huskie fans that live and die with their team.

And Jim Phillips, don't get greedy now. I know the revenue is very nice, but we need more BCS teams to come to our hometown.

Breaking down SIU's Offensive Skill Positions

SIU likes to run. In fact they list this saying on like every single page of their media guide:

2007 SALUKI FOOTBALL — HARD HAT + LUNCH PAIL = CHAMPIONSHIPS

OK, we get it already!

QB - SIU has plenty of experience with 6'3" 210 SR #17 Nick Hill from DuQuoin, IL returning. Last season he was 121 for 196 for 1,721 yds. He also had a 15 TD - 4 INT ratio.



RB - SIU has a million RBs on their depth chart, but their main man is 5'11" 195 SR #34 John Randle from Wichita, KS. Wait...John Randle?



Yes, the former Viking is currently playing for the Salukis...

No its not the helmet-biting defensive phenom, but here is the equally controversial John Randle who plays RB:



OK, here's the dish on Randle:

Randle had 6 - count 'em - 6 run-ins with police during his time at Kansas!

The 6-foot, 185-pound junior from Wichita Southeast’s most recent skirmish came April 15, when he was given a citation for disorderly conduct and battery when he allegedly slapped a 19-year-old woman who tried to break up a fight between Randle and Jerome Kemp (who was not cited). Kemp and Randle were high school and KU teammates.

Randle was kicked off the KU squad March 14, 2004, after a series of arrests, including being charged with battery after allegedly hitting a man outside It’s Brothers Bar & Grill, 1105 Mass. Then, following another battery arrest on April 16, 2005, KU coach Mark Mangino promised to keep Randle on scholarship if the Wichita native chose to remain at Kansas and get his degree.

Great job SIU for accepting those great character guys on your I-AA football team!

Anyways, he was the 2nd leading rusher for the Salukis last year running for 496 yds on 96 carries and with 4 scored. That's a 5.1 ypc. His longest run was for 26 yds. He was also Kansas' feature back in '04 and led the team in multiple offensive categories.

Against Quincy (A Division II School) he went for 132 yds and 2 scores on 18 carries. That's 7.3 ypc and a long run of 47 yds. If we can't stop this man, we will have problems.

WRs/TEs

If the ugly dogs from down south ever decide to throw, it will be to 6'0" 210 SR #4 Alan Turner from El Paso, IL. Last year he caught 22 passes for 411 yds and 6 TDs. He's a deep threat averaging 18.7 ypc.