Northern
Illinois Huskies
Preview 2007
By
Pete Fiutak
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2007 NIU Offense Preview
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2007 NIU Defense Preview
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2007 NIU Depth Chart
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2006 CFN Northern
Illinois Preview
The bridesmaid of the MAC for several years under head coach Joe
Novak, now there’s a chance Northern Illinois might have an even
worse tag: also-ran.
After coming within a miraculous Akron touchdown from being the 2005
MAC champion, NIU basically bowed out of the ace right off the bat
with losses to Ohio and Western Michigan before mid-October. With
the West getting far tougher than in past seasons, it wasn’t just
Toledo the Huskies had to contend with. Now there has to be a big
concern the program has hit a ceiling.
Head coach: Joe Novak
12th year: 62-66
Returning Lettermen:
Off. 20, Def. 19, ST 2
Lettermen Lost: 15 |
Ten
Best Huskie Players
1. DE Larry English, Jr.
2. LB Tim McCarthy, Jr.
3. WR Britt Davis, Jr.
4. C Eddie Adamski, Soph.
5. TE Brandon Davis, Sr.
6. DT Craig Rusch, Jr.
7. QB Dan Nicholson, Jr.
8. PK Chris Nendick, Sr.
9. WR/KR Marcus Perez, Jr.
10. CB Melvin Rice, Jr. |
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2007 Schedule
CFN Prediction: 6-6 |
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Sept. 1 |
Iowa
(in
Chicago) |
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Sept. 8 |
Southern Illinois |
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Sept. 15 |
Eastern Michigan |
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Sept. 22 |
at Idaho |
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Sept. 29 |
at Central Mich |
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Oct. 6 |
at Temple |
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Oct. 13 |
Western Michigan |
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Oct. 20 |
at Wisconsin |
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Oct. 27 |
at Toledo |
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Nov. 10 |
Kent State |
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Nov. 17 |
at Navy |
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Nov. 24 |
Ball State |
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2006
Schedule
CFN
Prediction:
9-3
2006 Record:
7-6
Preview
2006 predicted wins |
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9/2 |
at Ohio State L 35-12 |
| 9/9 |
Ohio
L 35-23 |
| 9/16 |
Buffalo
W 31-13 |
| 9/23 |
Indiana State
W 48-14 |
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9/30 |
at Ball State
W 40-28 |
| 10/7 |
at Miami Univ W 28-25 |
| 10/14 |
at Western Mich
L 16-14 |
| 10/21 |
Temple
W 45-21 |
| 10/28 |
at Iowa L 24-14 |
| 11/7 |
Toledo
L 17-13 |
| 11/17 |
Central Mich
W 31-10 |
| 11/24 |
at Eastern Mich
W 27-0 |
| 12/19 |
Poinsettia Bowl
TCU L 37-7 |
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It’s one
thing to always come agonizingly close to getting over the hump and not
getting the right break, but it’s another to go seven straight years
without being able to pull out a championship. While no one deserves a
title more than Novak and the program he resurrected from total
disaster, and he might finally have the team to end streak of MAC title
futility.
Losing RB Garrett Wolfe and star OT Doug Free isn’t a good start, but
the offense should turn out to be fine even after an inconsistent
season. The attack became way too reliant on Wolfe and forgot about
throwing the ball at times. That won’t happen this season if QB Dan
Nicholson plays like he did two years ago when he stepped in as a
freshman and was tremendous. Now the defense has to learn how to slow
down someone’s passing game.
The attacking style and a slew of good veteran mixed with young talent
was supposed to mean a big year for the defense, but the secondary
turned out to be miserable, the front seven didn’t do enough to get into
the backfield even with pass rusher extraordinaire Larry English having
a monster year, and there weren’t enough takeaway. Even so, this was a
relatively young group that should blossom, especially up front.
If nothing else, NIU has become the most popular MAC program getting
plenty of television time and a slew of national attention thanks to
Wolfe. Now the team has to start winning more big games to get even more
of the spotlight.
What to watch for on offense:
The running game, even without Wolfe, won’t dip much, if at all. Novak
and his staff have created a factory for productive runners, and that
won’t stop this year. Montell Clanton and Justin Anderson might not be
Wolfe, but they can run. The offensive line should reload without a
problem even after losing two starters. Helping the cause will be a good
passing attack to keep defenses honest, with Britt Davis and Marcus
Perez quickly turning into one of the MAC’s premier receiving tandems.
What to watch for on defense: The emphasis on getting to the ball
will still allow for too many big plays. The secondary has been ripped
up too often on the deep plays, but that’s part of the deal when you’re
as aggressive as NIU is. With a good overall nucleus returning led by
two likely All-MAC stars in English and LB Tim McCarthy, the positive
momentum from the end of the regular season should continue.
The team will be far better if … the special teams improve. Chris
Nendick is an elite kicker and Marcus Perez leads a fantastic group of
punt returners, but there has to be more on kickoff returns after
averaging just 17.33 yards per try. Andy Dittbenner has to get more
blast out of the punting game after netting just 32.9 yards per boot.
The Schedule: It’s reasonably decent, but two of the three big
showdowns for the West title, against Central Michigan and Toledo, are
on the road. Fortunately, the Western Michigan game is at home as an
oasis in a stretch of five road games. Getting Temple as the one game
against the East is a monster break. The non-conference schedule is the
MAC’s quirkiest with nasty dates with Iowa (to be played in Chicago) and
Wisconsin along with a layup against Southern Illinois, a trip to Idaho,
and a date at Navy.
Best Offensive Player:
Junior WR Britt Davis. The offense didn't do enough to take advantage of
all the good receivers last season (having a back like Garrett Wolfe
would do that), but Davis still have a nice year as the team's number
one target catching 57 passes for 731 yards and three scores. He'll do
even more this year to make deep plays.
Best Defensive Player: Junior DE Larry English. One of the
league's best defensive players, if not the best, he's an unstoppable
pass rusher who's also a steady run defender. The only question is a
knee injury that kept him out of spring ball, but he's expected to be
100% by the fall.
Key player to a successful season: Junior QB Dan Nicholson. With
no viable options behind him, it'll be sink or swim with Nicholson. The
passing game wasn't bad last year, but it didn't do enough to push the
ball deep. That'll change this year, and Nicholson, who had an average
year after doing a great job as a freshman, has to keep the mistakes in
check and has to be a steady decision maker.
The season will be a
success if
... NIU wins the MAC title. Expectations will still be high, but for the
first time in a while, NIU won’t be the favorite. That might be a good
thing. No, this isn’t likely to be the league’s best team, but the
coaching staff is great at patching holes and cranking out winners.
There can’t be any slips at home and there has to be at least a split of
the Central Michigan/Toledo showdowns.
Key game: Sept. 29 at Central Michigan. NIU throttled the
eventual MAC champs last year 31-10, but it was too late; the Chippewas
had already done what it needed to do to get to the title game. This
year, the showdown is the second game in the conference season and a
must-win to take the lead in the West race. A loss to CMU would mean NIU
would likely have to win out in conference play.
2006 Fun Stats:
- First quarter scoring: Northern Illinois 115 – Opponents 61
- Fumbles: Opponents 23 (lost 14) – Northern Illinois 11 (lost 4)
- Field goals: Northern Illinois 20 of 27 – Opponents 9 of 17