MAC Football > 2008 MAC Football Pigskin Preview > NIU football preview

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2008 Northern Illinois Huskies Football Preview

NIU's Strengths:

• RB Justin Anderson earned 2nd Team All-MAC honors last year rushing for 1,245 yards. He is the kind of workhorse RB the new coaching staff loves in their two-back offensive scheme. Montell Clanton also returns and had two starts a year ago as overall the Huskies are very deep and talented at the RB position. If Anderson stays healthy, he could rush for over 1,500 yards in this offense.
• NIU has 15 seniors listed along with 55 returning lettermen within Athlon Sports’ two-deep roster published. It’s extremely rare that a new coaching staff takes over and there is so much experience and so many impact players like DE Larry English (2007 MAC Defensive Player of the Year), CB Melvin Rice, QB Dan Nicholson and WR Brit Davis to work with.

NIU's Weaknesses:

The first thing the new coaching staff must do is immediately correct the turnover problems the Huskies had in 2007. Part of the problem was due to injuries, but for NIU to finish 117th nationally in turnover ratio was quite surprising for any Joe Novak coached team.

NIU was dreadful last season on defense giving up 434 yards per game (ranking 97th nationally) in total defense and 210 yards per game (ranking 111th) in rush defense. Having a healthy DE Larry English is a must - he has a real shot at earning the MAC Defensive Player of the Year Award if healthy.

Northern Illinois' Opportunities:

• SS Alex Cube has moved to OLB to take advantage of his speed and playmaking abilities. He had a 111 tackles last season and will make an immediate impact to the LB unit.
• The overall defense has much more experience entering into the season, meaning the nation’s 97th ranked team in total defense should be vastly improved. Starting with Larry English, the D-line may lack size but has much more speed and athleticism. The LB corps return six players who have at least five starts each. If the DBs can tighten up and limit the ‘big-plays’ they gave up last season, the overall defense will make great strides this season.

Northern Illinois' Threats:

• There is just one home game within the first five contests. When NIU hosts the Miami RedHawks on October 11th that will be only their second home game of the season and first since September 20 against Indiana State. Northern Illinois will be playing at Tennessee on October 4th - which could be painful.
• Quickly buying into the new coaching staff, learning their new systems and terminology is paramount to the success of Coach Kill’s first season in DeKalb.

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The Big Game(s) for NIU in 2008:

The new coaching staff has to be excited to get the season started so the August 30th contest is “big” in that regard alone. Considering the Golden Gophers were 1-11 last season, this is a game NIU has a shot to win. September 6th at Western Michigan will tell a lot about this team playing their first divisional game on the road and so very early in the season. NIU has lost two straight to the Broncos by a total of six points. The really “big” game though may be the Huskies Homecoming game - hosting Toledo on October 18. The Rockets pounded NIU last year in the Glass Bowl 70-21 and set a MAC record with 812 total yards of offense. UT is 13-1 against NIU since 1990 and this will be a major revenge game for the seniors.

Final Analysis of NIU in 2008:

NIU hit a home run hiring Jerry Kill from Southern Illinois, the 2007 FCS (formally I-AA) Coach of the Year. His Salukis defeated NIU last year 34-31. He is a solid coach and is quite familiar with the MAC and NIU’s prime recruiting market of greater Chicago. It’s a shame that former coach Joe Novak, who did such a marvelous job in DeKalb, retired after a 2-10 injury-riddled season. This year’s team has the talent to bounce back even though nearly 20 players missed some portion of spring football due to injuries. There are enough talented players returning and prior to last year the Huskies were 33-16 from 2003 through 2006. This is a program that knows how to win. Expect a big improvement this fall from NIU and going from 2-10 to 7-5 is a strong possibility.

By Nick Gerogosian
published 07.07.2008