The 2010 NIU Football Schedule is a mixed bag

by Mike Breese on Mar 1, 2010 11:30 PM CST in Football Comment 11 comments

Date	Opponent / Event	Location	Time

09/02/10 (Thurs)	at Iowa State	Ames, Iowa	TBA
09/11/10	vs. North Dakota	DeKalb, Ill.	TBA
09/18/10	at Illinois	Champaign, Ill.	TBA
09/25/10	at Minnesota	Minneapolis, Minn.	TBA
10/02/10	at Akron #	Akron, Ohio	TBA
10/09/10	vs. Temple #	DeKalb, Ill.	TBA
10/16/10	vs. Buffalo #	DeKalb, Ill.	TBA
10/23/10	vs. Central Michigan #	DeKalb, Ill.	TBA
10/30/10	at Western Michigan #	Kalamazoo, Mich.	TBA
11/09/10 (Tues)	vs. Toledo # (ESPN2)	DeKalb, Ill.	6:00 p.m. CT
11/20/10	at Ball State #	Muncie, Ind.	TBA
11/26/10 (Fri)	at Eastern Michigan # (ESPNU)	Ypsilanti, Mich.	TBA

Initial Thoughts

We'll go in to more detail about the non-conference part of the schedule later this week, but here's a summary: We already know how to beat Iowa State, the Fighting Illini are a program in shambles and Minnesota is beating on Ron Zook's door to become part of the Big 10 cellar. North Dakota is a nice home re-tooling game to give us have to get us through three straight road games. Also, we don't have to travel very far to any of our OOC sites.

Road Trippin'

The hardest part of the schedule is the 3-game road trip to Illinois, Minnesota & Akron. These three games will shape the season for the Huskies. It's scary because even though the first two opponents are exciting to play, the third game is the only one that matters in the entire scheme of things. Akron has a new coach and everything, but MAC road games are always tough. If we beat Illinois, Minnesota could be a trap game. If we beat Minnesota, Akron could be a trap game. Here's hoping to go at least 2-1 with that loss not being to the Zips.

One cool thing for the team and Huskie Road Crew members is that they get to visit two brand new stadiums in Minnesota's TCF Bank and Akron's InfoCision.

Seeing Triple

The biggest eyesore on the schedule is the 3-game homestand against Temple, Buffalo & Central Michigan. It's the same thing they did in 2008 with the Toledo homecoming beatdown sandwiched in between Miami and BGSU. It not only lessens the aura of homecoming (which will likely be Buffalo), three games in a row at home is just overkill for fans. It's basically a pick and choose one or two to attend if you work weekends or have prior commitments.

Temple will be hugely attended not only because they will be a great team next year, but also the fact that not seeing the Huskies play live for three straight weeks is like delaying an orgasm. UB will get a boost because of homecoming...CMU gets by on name recognition alone, despite the fact LeFevour and friends have passed on to greener pastures.

The season will come down to...

Early season: MAC East favorites Temple at home.

Late season: Toledo at home, on a Tues on ESPN2. I'm actually scared what might happen to the Rockets in this one. Kill owns the Rockets at home, despite the small sample size (1-0).

Surrounding that Toledo game is a whole mess of off-days for the Huskies so that they can heal up for their last two road games and the MAC Championship. But then again if the MAC West is wrapped up by then, we'll have nothing to worry about.

This is the schedule of a MAC Champion

I'm not saying the Huskies will win the MAC in 2010 (even though I think they will), but judging by schedule alone they have a winner. Their toughest few games will be in Huskie Stadium: Temple, Buffalo, Toledo and even a deconstructed Central Michigan who we usually own anyways. Akron, WMU and Ball State will be tricky opponents on the road, but these teams will be nothing like the Toledo's and the Bowling Green's of 2002-04.

The non-conference schedule is just mediocre enough for the Huskies to find that mid-range of getting enough experience for conference, while also not getting to beat up on the football field.

I speak for every fan when I say it's about time the Huskies get their sh*t together and win the MAC for once. This schedule gives the Huskies their best chance since the 2004 season. Hey, we played Iowa State that season as well. Hmm...and we only had 5 home games that year too.

What do you guys think about the schedule?

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Comments

Schedule

That U of I game is going to be the most hyped up game of the season. I know i will be there as will many other die hard huskie fans and i hate to say it but that is going to be a huge game. Conference games should be the biggest and hopefully we can win the MAC but i look forward to the illini game i know plenty of people who go there and im tired of u of i always being ahead of us it is time for NIU to take over and shine. If we win that game maybe people will start to realize there is another team besides the u of i and northwestern in the state of illinois and the fact that recruits will take notice too

by jcsportsfan21 on Mar 2, 2010 12:32 AM CST reply actions

Seven Road games seems like a lot. Is that similar to what we have seen in past years? Does Kill have a former Iowa State RB on the roster that at one time was highly touted.

Thanks for the optimism about the schedule, when I first saw this, my initial thought that it was a killer for our MAC chances. Who are the toughest teams in the MAC West next year!!

by sox71 on Mar 2, 2010 7:31 AM CST reply actions

I want to win the MAC of course, but beating the Illness is almost equal. We need to start beating the BCS boys regularly, especially the lower tier ones. We’ve done OK, even beating Purdue (the first over a B10 in 21 freakin’ years), but we need to be more consistent.

by MiamiHuskie on Mar 2, 2010 9:12 AM CST reply actions

Big fan of the schedule

Would rather have a Soldier field game and two road games here instead of 3 big road games, but I’ll take it. It’s 3 very winnable games against teams in the region. This is the type of schedule I’d like to see every year, but w/ one change. One of the 3 “big” games is at Soldier Field or Huskie stadium, alternating on a yearly basis. If we are 2 – 0 going into the UofI game, and Spann is putting up monster numbers again, we could have a very big group at the UofI game.

No excuses to not have a big year. Kill has been here long enough, has enough talent, and has his own system in place. He needs a 10 – 2 or better type season going into our game at Soldier field next year. The MAC is down, LeFevour is gone, the Big 10 teams we play suck, ISU is bad.

Kill needs to step it up this year. Can’t lose games a better coach would win any more (Tennessee, Minnesota, Toledo, Idaho all come to mind). This is his third year on the job, he should be ready to coach at this level now.

by Grinder in Training on Mar 2, 2010 9:47 AM CST reply actions

Agree 100% on the SF game. Money and exposure, especially with the U of I game. NIU needs to step up this year, no excuses. We should have a deep bench on QB’s this year, unlike other years.

by MiamiHuskie on Mar 2, 2010 10:20 AM CST up reply actions

Schedule

I always like to see a game against a top ten ranked football team just to see how we compare with the best…….How bout a florida or Texas vs. NIU matchup???? I’d pay to see that even if NIU would have no chance of winning. Definitely will be at Memorial Stadium to see the Illini get embarassed.

by SRprepfootball on Mar 2, 2010 1:01 PM CST reply actions

like that

i would like that idea of playing a top team like a texas or florida. I dont know if thats possible to work into schedule but we did play vs alabama a few years back. I dont know any NIU fan that would not pay to see a game vs a top team of that calibur.
But for now i will definitely settle for this game vs the illini. Im pumped for that game already

by jcsportsfan21 on Mar 2, 2010 1:15 PM CST up reply actions

We used to do that a lot back when I was in school.

I remember playing at Penn State, Kansas State, NC State, and Florida. We got absolutely embarrassed in those games. Granted, we weren’t as good of a team as we are now, but I’m not realy positive that getting your ass handed to you by Florida is ever a good thing.

Btw, none of those teams types of teams will come to NIU. Maryland did a couple of years ago and they weren’t exactly in the Florida ranks. Nevertheless, they simply won’t do it because they can always pay some other doormat to come into their home for the big paycheck.

Unless, you’re not talking about playing home games against these teams.

Btw, that year we won at Alabama was the last for a while when NIU could schedule some BCS teams. Most were concerned we’d beat them. There is a drawback to beating those big schools either at home or on the road. After a while, a lot of them will stop scheduling you.

Life is tough, but it's tougher if you're stupid.

- John Wayne

by Tackle Box on Mar 2, 2010 3:41 PM CST up reply actions