More photos » Chris Young - AP

Browse more photos »

Part II of an oh-so-early look at the themes that will mesmerize us when Northern Illinois Spring Practice starts March 23rd.

Running Back never used to be an issue at Northern Illinois.  When Thomas Hammock developed his heart condition in 2002, that just gave way to Michael Turner.  If not Turner, then there were a lot of capable backups to plug in there like Adrian Davis or A.J. Harris.  Then Turner handed his torch on to Garrett Wolfe in 2004, who at one time was 5th or 6th string RB on the depth chart.

The fun and games stopped soon afterwards as the Huskies put together a 2-10 season in 2007.  With the lack of any sort of balanced attack, Justin Anderson had a fine season with 1,245 yds on the ground and 45 catches for 263 yds through the air, 11 TDs total.  Montell Clanton went down his 2nd straight season with an ACL injury.  David Bryant was still in the backfield.  Maybe it was the O-Line or the new coordinator, but there just wasn't a sizzle with anybody toting the rock.

2008 was a lot of the same sort of thing: Coaching changes and transition of the offense.  QB Chandler Harnish was the leading rusher that season with 539 yds and 4 TDs.  The leading RBs were Me'co Brown with 510 and 2 TDs and Chad Spann with 429 yds and 8 TDs.

Last year was back to a bit of normalcy for the Huskies running game.  Chad Spann was the leading rusher for the Huskies toting the ball 179 times for 1,060 yds and 19 TDs.  However Kill's obsession with giving Me'co Brown the ball constantly despite being a less effective RB proved costly.  All you have to do is look at the stats:  In a 31-34 loss to Idaho, Spann had only 4 carries.  Against Toledo, we lose 19-20 and Spann only gets 6 carries??  We even put up a missing person report up around here!

This was best exemplified in the "Me'co up the middle on 2nd and 3rd down game" against Ohio.  Huskies are in opponent territory looking to complete their comeback against the Bobcats down 28-31 and then this happens:

(1st and 10) SPANN, Chad rush for 8 yards to the OHIO43 (MOORE, Gerald;WILLIAMSON, M.).

(2nd and 2) BROWN, Me'co rush for no gain to the OHIO43 (KELLER, Noah).

(3rd and 2) BROWN, Me'co rush for no gain to the OHIO43 (NOTESTINE, Dak;TAFUA, Patrick).

(4th and 2) Timeout Northern Illinois, clock 03:36.

(4th and 2) HARNISH, Chand rush for 1 yard to the OHIO42 (RENFRO, Lee;TAFUA, Patrick).

Seriously.  What.  The. Heck.

What completely tortured fans for an entire season won't even be an issue in 2010.  I wish Me'co the best on his future ventures, but for the sake of this team his departure was probably a positive.  No quibbling about whether he should get more carries should help some of the other unsung guys see extra time and prove their worth on the field.

Fortress of Solitude

Superman Spann (SR, 5'9" 198) is back with a vengeance.  19 touchdowns?  Peanuts.  Given the keys to the starting running back position, Spann will run wild in 2010.  The former walk-on has a blend of pure power and desire to get into the endzone that defenders fear.  He's not the fastest or most athletic person out there, but he sure gets the job done. We've only begun to see the surface of his potential in the backfield.

Spann was named Offensive & Team MVP and 1st Team All-MAC this past season.

Upperclassmen Infusion

Cameron Bell (JR, 6'2" 242) is a former Iowa State linebacker that had to sit out all of last year due to NCAA transfer rules.  In high school at Stony Point in Round Rock, TX he rushed for 3,000 yds in his career and scored 11 TDs as a senior.  He chose Iowa State over Michigan State, Central Michigan, New Mexico, New Mexico State & UTEP.  Was only 6'1" 215 lbs coming out of high school and played as a true freshman for the Cyclones.

With his size, there should be no hesitation on who gets the ball up the middle on 3rd and short anymore.

Closest comparison: Think A.J. Harris on steroids.  Or Brandon Jacobs (6'4" 260), who played under Coach Kill at SIU.

Jasmin Hopkins (JR, 5'9" 174, Youtube) led the JUCO ranks last year rushing for 1,931 yds and 16 TDs.  Also won the NJCAA Player of the Year award, which is like a mini-Heisman.  Hopkins is a tough, tough runner and will get the maximum yardage that he can get on every single play.  He's also got tremendous agility and cutting abilities, but lacks that top-end speed that some scat backs possess.  He's not going to be flashy, but he'll surprise a lot of opponents.

Closest comparison: Garrett Wolfe with a bigger frame and less quickness (nobody's as fast as Wolfe is).

Could Surprise

Antione Kirkland (rFR, 5'11" 198) is a guy that could come out of nowhere and get a decent amount of carries.  The Florida native is the only underclassman RB that we really have on the roster, so it would be great to see him develop some skills for when he's ready to step into the spotlight.  He surprised a lot of people last spring, now it's time to do it again with the 1st and 2nd team offense.

Sidenote: Learn how to spell his name right: the I goes before the O instead of the other way around.

Ricky Crider (SR, 5'9" 190) struggled with a hamstring injury for the former part of last year, but eventually got to see some time later on in the season.  He is a special teams maven and will continue to be dominant in returning kickoffs.

Akeem Daniels (FR, 5'7" 180) is a speed demon and has enrolled early for spring ball.  The younger brother of Kiaree rushed for 845 yds and 9 TDs his senior year.  Also could see some time at the slot position.  He'll find the field somehow this fall.

Alan Smith (JR, 5'10" 208) and Barrington Scott (rFR 5'11" 200) will look to help out on the scout team this year.

An oh-so-early look at the themes that will mesmerize us when Northern Illinois Spring Practice starts March 23rd.  This is part I.

I know what you're all thinking Huskie fans.  Another year, another team without a quarterback.  Out of any position on the team, it truly has been the hardest to build depth at in recent years.  Unlike 2007 when we had Dan Nicholson and a pile of bricks on the bench, 2010's group of signal-callers actually is pretty deep.  I think we're back to the pre-2008 offseason where quarterback was anybody's position to take.  Only this time, Harnish takes the Nicholson spot as the banged up "veteran".

See you in the summer

Incumbent starter Chandler Harnish (6'2" 219) will not be participating in Spring Practice, because of a lingering right knee injury that is going to require surgery.  No word on whether the surgery already happened or not (I hope it has).  My question is why the heck are they waiting so long to have the surgery if it is going to take several months of rehab before Harnish can see the field again?

Let's review this schedule

• 10/17 - Toledo Rockets make Chandler's knee asplode
• 10/20 - Harnish has minor surgery on his knee
• 11/12 - Harnish returns in the 2nd half vs. Ball State
• 1/2 - Huskies lose International Bowl
• 2/3 - Kill says Harnish's knee isn't healing properly
• 3/5 - Kill announces Harnish will miss Spring Practice & have surgery

Shouldn't he have had surgery on Jan. 3rd?  What was the holdup here?  Something is very, very fishy about this whole situation.  Harnish has missed a significant amount of time in both 2008 and 2009 due to injuries.  Will he ever be able to last a full season again with the amount of carries our quarterbacks get?

Due to the uncertainty that Harnish brings to the situation, the Huskies decided to go out and get Casey Weston (6'2" 215) out of Northwest Mississippi C.C.  He was the leading passer in the junior college ranks this past year with 2,871 yds and a 27-12 TD to INT ratio.  The reason he was available to the Huskies was because of the fact that he wouldn't be available for the Spring as so many JUCO kids are.  Otherwise, I am confident he would have gone to a BCS school somewhere.

What about me coach?

Did you know that DeMarcus Grady (6'1" 203) is 5-1 as a starter?  And that his first start was against Tennessee in Knoxville?  And that he likes to spend time in South Beach hanging with Chad Ochocinco?

Well it's starting to sound like Kill is not endorsing Grady in any way as the starter.

"We recruited a junior college quarterback that’s very talented," Kill said. "Because if something happened with Chandler, I want to make sure we have a guy that’s been underneath center."

Oook.  Kill could have used his words a little better, but I think he's trying to say that Weston has two full years experience as a starter slinging the ball around and Grady has just been used in mop-up duty.  If Grady continues to develop at an accelerated rate this offseason, he could be a potential surprise.  As the season went on, fans were witness to his progression as a passer.  He has the arm strength, he just needs to work on his accuracy and decision making.

EVERY GANG NEEDS A WILDCARD

Grady was in at QB a lot last year as the backup.  Thank goodness he (and Ryan Morris) stayed healthy, because otherwise we would have to had to pull a redshirt off of one of the freshman QBs.

Jordan Lynch (6'1" 212) was designated 4th string last year, making the trip to Miami after Harnish got hurt.  He threw for 1,221 yds and 16 TDs for Joliet Catholic and added 848 yds and 15 TDs on the ground.  If he doesn't fit into the QB situation, he could also play on the other side of the ball at the safety position (USA! USA!).  Most of the schools recruiting him just wanted him to play defense, but NIU liked him in the pocket.

A.J. Hill (6'2" 206, Youtube) has the bloodlines as his older brother Nick Hill played for Coach Kill at Southern Illinois.  Threw for 2,119 yds (31-4 TD to INT) and rushed for 751 yds and 18 TDs.  May have played against softer competition against DuQuoin, but after redshirting should be ready for the big time.  3-star prospect and the #25 player in 2009's state of IL class.

Tommy Coughlin (6'2" 180) hopefully learned what a weight room was this past offseason.  I wonder when the player weights are going to update?  Apparently today.  Way to gain 20 lbs in the offseason!!  I'm rooting for Tommy, I really am.  Maybe he can take up Ryan Morris' spot at the holder position.

More photos » Steve Pope - AP

According to Kill, there's only one game on the schedule right now: IOWA STATE IOWA STATE IOWA STATE

Browse more photos »

OOC scheduling has been a topic of much debate these past few years.  When is a BCS team going to visit DeKalb?  Why are we playing these Soldier Field "home games"?  Why are we scheduling these crapola I-AA opponents?

Well, Kansas will be coming to Dekalb in 2012.  We play the Soldier Field games to generate $$$$ which is so valuable in these times especially with a school like ours.  The next SF game will be against Wisconsin in 2011 and it's looking like Iowa in 2012, unless Notre Dame swoops in for the kill.

That's all fine and dandy, but what about NOW?  Spring Practice is going to start up March 23rd and the Kill-isms will be out in full-force.  "One game at a time" will start ringing through our ears ad nauseum.

To break down the schedule, we are going to take the Sagarin ranking of these teams from 2009 and also insert info about how many starters will be returning in 2010 provided by Phil Steele.  I'm not counting FCS/I-AA teams in the rankings, because our new philosophy is to schedule patsies and then steamroll them as a break in the non-conf (excl. SIU 2007, WIU 2002).

2010

66 Iowa State (7-6)

Returning Starters: O: 8 / D: 4 / ST: 2 / Total: 14

148 North Dakota (6-5)

94 Illinois (3-9)

Returning Starters: O: 5 / D: 7 / ST: 1 / Total: 13

64 Minnesota (6-7)

Returning Starters: O: 9 / D: 2 / ST: 1 / Total: 12

Avg Sagarin: 75

Initial thoughts

Even though all 3 of these games will be on the road, it's not like we have to travel very far to get to any of these stadiums (5 hrs, 3 hrs, 6.5 hrs).  It's not like we're facing any unbeatable force either.  All of these teams will have trouble this year breaking the top-50, much less the top-60.

Iowa State's defense was REALLY BAD last year.  We're talking 99th in ypg, 106th DFEI & 110th S&P.  The fact that they lose so much from that horrible defense could be a good thing for them, but most likely it's a bad thing.  If we develop even something resembling an offense this offseason, we should cut through them like butter.

Illinois loses whatever semblance of an offense (aka Rejus Benn) they had with only 5 starters returning.  Their 91st ranked defense might be a little better, but this team is also coached by Ron Zook.  Last-ditch efforts to bring in new coordinators on both sides of the ball is going to prove costly as systems take time to implement.

Minnesota's defense was actually their strength (compared to their offense) last year, but they will be returning only 2 (TWO!) starters on that side of the ball in 2010.  On offense they were 109th in the nation in ypg, so they dumped their offensive coordinator.  Their new hire?  Jeff Horton, the same guy that was QB coach for Wisconsin when we sacked Brooks Bollinger 10 times as the refs stole the game away from us back in 2002.  This is their 4th OC in 4 years, so yeah they may have some issues, especially with WR Eric Decker gone.

Comparison to previous years

After the jump, we'll compare 2010's non-conference schedule to those of the past and see how they stack up.

Continue reading this post »

Per NIUHuskies.com:

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?

More photos » Chris Young - AP

Harnish's knee injury was just one of the many roadblocks in recent NIU quarterback history.

Browse more photos »

aka the first of many quarterback polls

Haldi.  Oh how we miss you Josh Haldi.  Let's just review his stats from his first 3 years. In 2004, he injured his foot in and missed the first 4 games, but went on to finish the season.

• 2002: 134 of 261 (51.3%) passing for 2,087 yds, 15-6 TD-INT ratio and 132.98 passing efficiency, 173.9 ypg
  
• 2003:  199 of 336 (59.2%) passing for 2,544 yds, 25-9 TD-INT ratio and 142.02 passing efficiency, 212 ypg
• 2004:  94 of  179 (52.5%) passing for 1,384 yds, 15-4 TD-INT ratio and 140.64 passing efficiency, 173 ypg
  

What stat do we miss the most?  His 26-6 record as a starter.  He even managed to do this under 3 different offensive coordinators (Roushar, Canada, Bond).

Let's review the quarterback position the last few years for the Huskies:

2005: Phil Horvath vs. Dan Nicholson

Horvath went from spot starter to statistical stud in 2005 until he broke his arm vs. CMU.  Dan Nicholson came in and led the Huskies to their first win in Toledo in over 30 years.  Nicholson's inexperience caught up to him as the Huskies fell victim to Akron in the MAC Championship and failed to make a bowl game.  Horvath never passed the eye test, but seemed to get it done consistently throughout the of the season.

Final Stats:

2006: Phil Horvath vs. Dan Nicholson II

Horvath's lack of pure passing ability was magnified with the graduation of Sam Hurd and Shatone Powers.  As his stats started to rapidly regress, the fans called-for and got Dan Nicholson towards the end of the season.  Both starters split time in the eerie "fog game" against Toledo, but the Huskies lost 13-17 as winning the conference flew out the window and our punishment was to head to San Diego and get destroyed by TCU.

Final Stats:

2007: Dan Nicholson vs. Interceptions/Injuries/RYAN MORRIS

People want to completely blame injuries on the 2-10 2007 season.  I blame the fact that we didn't have a scholarship QB to backup Dan Nicholson.  Enough said.  The reason?  The transfer of Billy Lowe (+ others) and the fact Novak didn't want to burn the redshirts of Chandler Harnish or DeMarcus Grady.  Very similar to how we didn't trot out Jordan Lynch or A.J. Hill this past year.

Final Stats:

2008: Dan Nicholson vs. Injuries/Chandler Harnish

The grizzled veteran with his arm falling off vs. the young gun redshirt freshman.  It was drama until the first series against Minnesota, where the world met Harnish as he dazzled them with 326 yds and 2 TDs.  The next game, #12 went down with an ankle injury against WMU that kept him out of four games.  That combined with the lack of experience Harnish had as a starter caused him to falter down the stretch.

Final Stats:

2009: Chandler Harnish vs. Injuries

As a whole, Harnish was putting together quite the season.  That is, until Barry Church and the dastardly Toledo Rockets crashed in to his knee in Game 6.  He came back, but never looked the same as the Huskies finished their final 3 games with losses against Ohio, CMU and finally USF in the International Bowl.  Grady finally looked like a capable player behind center, but Harnish, when healthy, had a much firmer grip on running the offense.

Final Stats:

So what does it all mean?

Success for the Huskies is congruent to having a capable QB play at his maximum ability throughout the majority of the season.  Now, he doesn't have to do anything special, just be efficient and do his job.  For quarterbacks, arguably the most important stat is the efficiency rating.  Haldi never even had a completion % over 56, but his 140+ efficiency passing the ball hasn't been matched since the ridiculous offense of 2005.  The all-time leader in passing efficiency?  Tim Tebow's 170.8 from 2006-09.  Yeah.

I'm empathetic for Chandler Harnish's 2009 season.  He was on his way there to becoming good, but the knee injury + inexperience at WR really hurt him down the stretch.  Magnified in the bowl games were the inaccuracies that he had throwing the ball.  It was either just a little to far or a just a little too short for the skill players to catch, which is unacceptable in division I football.

Maybe he was coming around before the injury, maybe he wasn't.  The fact is that his knee is still messed up and we may never know exactly what he will have to offer for the 2010 Huskies. The huge difference between Harnish and Haldi is the fact that Haldi returned to 100% in 2004 and was a pocket passer, not a spread/running QB.

The other fact is that when we find a capable QB that can play the whole season, then we will have a successful season.  The running backs and the offensive line can't do it all.  They certainly helped, but there were times that Turner, Wolfe, etc could be stopped and the quarterback had to step up and win games.

Courtesy of the Daily Herald

He did see 6-foot-7 Ryan Brown, headed to Northern Illinois as a preferred football walk-on, display nice first-quarter touch around the net for 6 of his 14 points, and center Kyle Nelson scored half his 10 points in that opening quarter.

OT Ryan Brown | St. Charles North HS (St. Charles, IL)

6'7" 260 lbs Rivals Profile: 2-stars, 5.4 Recruited by: Matt Limegrover Notes: Older brother Patrick Brown played at UCF and signed on as a free agent with the Carolina Panthers/Patriots/Vikings last year.  Seems to be a project, but a 6'7" frame leaves you a lot of leeway to build a player.  Just the fact that he's a basketball player tells you something.  Exactly the type of athletic lineman that Coach Kill is looking for on this football team.

Don't forget that Joe Pawlak was a former walk-on that became a full-time starter at Right Guard this past season.  Can't wait to see this guy in a year or two after hitting the weight room.

I can write about this or something the basketball team (GASP).  By the way, where did our new basketball writer go?

Anyways, the new Kansas head coach Turner Gill is removing the player names from the back of jerseys heading in to his first season at the helm of the Jayhawks.

His reasoning:

"The reasoning behind not having the individual’s names is to support what we are expecting from our team and program," coach Turner Gill said. "Our program is about team. We are representing the University of Kansas. You will see that name on the front of our jerseys."

I've heard many different sides of this argument.  The casual fan may have a tough time recognizing who is on the field at any given time.  This leads to embarrassing predicaments like yelling "NICHOLSON YOU SUCK" when clearly Ryan Morris was behind center.

Just go up to some chick tailgating (casualest of all casual fans) and ask them to name a player on the team.  They'll probably tell you about the media darling Chandler Harnish.  If you ask a 5th or 6th year senior, they will probably think Garrett Wolfe is still on the team.  70-yr old alums: "Is that George Bork out there?"

But what about the unsung defensive guys or the offensive line?  Shouldn't we know their names too?  I think people knew about Larry English the past couple years, but that's about it.

It's called a program and I suggest you pick one up and study it more than you biology homework.  It'll do more for you in the future*

I'm all for team unity and the old school look, so no names for me.  What say you Huskie nation?

*If you want to impress people with your Huskie fandom, not if you want to graduate

Mad props to NIU1981 on his analysis of recruiting rankings of the 2009 1st Team All-MAC squad.  It's interesting to note that only two recruits were ranked 3-stars or higher coming out of high school (not counting the Michigan transfer in Mixon).

As a whole, recruiting rankings DO matter.  Just see Dr. Saturday for statistical inspiration....and Brian Cook while you're at it.  The problem is that most of the focus by recruiting websites is on catering to the BCS schools who have the most fans and shell out the most $$$$$ for subscriptions.

On the entire landscape of the Mid-American Conference, there are less 3-star recruits period coming to the conference.  A LOT less.  If you look from 2003 to 2008, less than 7% of players in the entire MAC were 3-star recruits. 

Currently that number is creeping up to 9%, but still that is a very low number.  So take out the specialist awards and the transfer and you have 26 named to 1st Team All-MAC.  2 out of 26 is almost 8%.  This isn't bad considering well over 90% of the players being recruited to MAC programs are 2-star recruits or lower.  Just check out these results from the Rivals database:

I would have been a little worried if that large percentage of 2-star recruits coming in weren't taking up most of the 2009 1st Team All-MAC squad.  So where does that leave us?  The initial SHOCK AND AWE turns out to be a Huh, that mildly favors against the recruiting services. You don't say  /monotone voice.

I decided to expand the amount of recruits to a span of six years, while correlating them to the All-MAC classes from 2006 to 2009.  Then I used simple math to figure out the ratios between star rankings and being named All-MAC.  The results are pretty interesting.

Continue reading this post »