My final thoughts on the Bowling Green game is that there were hardly any "highlights" from that game.  I think every hit was hard on defense and that every run was hard on offense, but nothing was too spectacular.  And that's fine with me as long as we keep winning games.

The last QB to run for 100 yds before Chandler Harnish ran for 113 on Saturday?  Stacey Robinson in 1990 ran for 109 against East Carolina in the season finale.

Both DE Craig Rusch and K Mike Salerno earned MAC West Player of the Week honors.  I get Salerno getting the award being the hero at the end, but NIU's defensive performance against BGSU was a complete team effort.  I guess you get special recognition when one person gets a sack on this team and it isn't Larry English.  Surprisingly, not one player on NIU's D had more than 4 tackles.

Shutting the Falcons down offensively also improved our defensive rankings to Top-10 national prominence unseen in recent years:

• #10 Total Defense
• #9 Scoring Defense
• #20 Rush Defense
• #7 Pass Defense

It's not a bye week, but I'm sure the coaching staff is making sure these extra 4 days before Wednesday's game against Ball State are used effectively:

Recruiting - With an extra couple of days, some of the coaches can focus on getting commitments to the recruits that attended at least one of the last 3 home games.

Injuries - We are going to need anybody even a little banged up 100% going in to the game against Ball State.  NIU can't hold anything back and we need our best players out there performing to their fullest.

Gameplan - Hopefully a couple new wrinkles can be added to our gameplan for Ball State, especially on offense.  I have a feeling this may come down to just a couple plays and we have to be ready for anything.

Kill has limited concern about the break

"I don't think that you make a big deal about it, and you just keep going. I am a routine guy though. The exposure on Wednesday night, being on ESPN2, playing Ball State, No. 18th in the country, it doesn't get any better than that. The tough thing is playing four week night games in one month, and I worry about the academic part of it. That's the tough thing. We will get back at five in the morning and the kids have to get to class at eight in the morning. That's a concern when you play four of these."

So bring on the #16/#18/#19 ranked Ball State Cardinals already!