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Game 8: Northern Illinois vs. Bowling Green
Oct. 21, 2008
Northern Illinois Football 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format HUSKIE FACTS
FALCONS' FACTS
NORTHERN ILLINOIS HEAD COACH Jerry Kill
HUSKIE NEWS & NOTES OctoberFest, Week 3: Northern Illinois completes its three-game October homestand with a match-up versus 2007 MAC East co-champ Bowling Green. The Huskies, who play five of their last seven games at home this season, defeated Miami (Ohio), 17-13, to open this three-game stretch, and claimed a 38-7 Homecoming win over Toledo last Saturday. Four of Five: Northern Illinois enters the Bowling Green contest with four wins in its last five contests. The Huskies' only loss since Sept. 20 came at Tennessee on Oct. 4 by a 13-9 margin. The Huskies are 3-0 at home during the current stretch with wins over Indiana State, Miami and Toledo as well as a road victory at Eastern Michigan. NIU's three losses this season have come by a total of 11 points. 25th Anniversary: Northern Illinois will welcome members of the 1983 Huskie football team back to campus Saturday in honor of the 25th anniversary of that Mid-American Conference championship team. Among those expected back is head coach Bill Mallory, who led the team to a 10-2 overall record, an 8-1 mark in league games and a 20-13 victory over Cal-State Fullerton in the California Bowl, the Huskies' first major college bowl game and bowl victory. Kill-er Credentials: The 20th head coach in Northern Illinois history, Jerry Kill is in his first season at NIU after seven years at Southern Illinois, where he led SIU to five straight appearances in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) playoffs. Southern Illinois advanced to the FCS semifinals in 2007 and the Salukis were ranked in the Top 20 for 64 straight weeks during his tenure. Kill owns a head coaching record of 108-60 (.643) in 15 seasons as the head coach at NIU, SIU, Emporia State and Saginaw Valley State. He was 55-32 at Southern Illinois and won the 2007 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year Award. Last Time Out: The Huskies enjoyed a 38-7 Homecoming victory over Toledo at Huskie Stadium behind three touchdown passes from Chandler Harnish. NIU scored touchdowns on each of its first three posssessions to take a 21-0 lead and the Northern Illinois defense allowed just one touchdown, 80 rushing yards and 229 total yards while collecting three sacks and three turnovers. Home Field Advantage: In 42 seasons and 225 games, Northern Illinois is 130-93-2 all-time at Huskie Stadium for a winning percentage of 58.2 percent. NIU has won 39 of its last 50 home contests (78 percent), including a 3-0 mark in 2008, and is 23-8 on Brigham Field since the beginning of the 2003 season. MAC Mark: With a 3-1 record so far in 2008, NIU has upped its all-time mark in Mid-American Conference play to 85-84-2 all-time. The Huskies have spent 20 total seasons as a member of the league. Since beginning its second stint in the MAC in 1997, NIU is 50-39 (.562) versus conference teams. Welcome MAC: At home, Northern Illinois is 48-37-1 (.564) in MAC games all-time and has a 27-18 mark versus league foes at Huskie Stadium since rejoining the MAC in 1997. The Huskies have won its first two MAC home games in 2008 after going just 1-3 versus its league foes at home a year ago, its first losing campaign versus conference teams at home since 1998. Hello, Stranger: Bowling Green and Northern Illinois have not played since 2004, a 34-17 NIU win in DeKalb; the Huskies have played every other MAC team at least once since that time. BGSU owns a 10-5 lead in the all-time series between the teams, which includes a 7-3 edge in MAC games. Northern Illinois is 2-3 against the Falcons since 1997, but has won two of the last three games, in 2002 and 2004. The two teams first played a three-game series from 1967-69, and met again in 1973 before competing as conference members beginning in 1981. The Last Time: Garrett Wolfe officially arrived on the scene, running for 202 yards on 31 carries, and Phil Horvath completed 16-of-23 passes, to lead the Huskies to a 34-17 win over Bowling Green in DeKalb on Sept. 24, 2004. Northern Illinois, behind three second-half TDs by Wolfe, broke a 7-7 tie with 17 points in the third quarter and 10 in the fourth. Wolfe scored on runs of 42, 31 and 8 yards and Sam Hurd caught seven passes for 79 yards. 107 and Counting: In its 107th season of intercollegiate football, Northern Illinois owns an all-time record of 492-447-51 in 990 games for a winning percentage of .523. The Huskies played their first game in 1899 and moved into the "major college" ranks in 1969. Back-to-Back-to-Back: Northern Illinois will play three straight games at Huskie Stadium for the first time since September 9-16-23, 2006 when NIU took on Ohio, Buffalo and Indiana State. The Huskies have not played three consecutive Mid-American Conference games at home since 1997. Back Above .500: After winning just two games, and one MAC contest, a year ago, Northern Illinois is back above the .500 mark for the first time since the end of the 2006 season. The Huskies started 2008 with an 0-2 record after road losses to Minnesota (31-27) and Western Michigan (29-26), but have rebounded to win four of their last five contests. Prior to 2007, NIU had recorded seven consecutive winning campaigns from 2000 to 2006. A Huskie High Five: Over the last five games, the NIU defense has played as well as it has during any stretch in the school's history as a major college program (since 1969). In games versus Indiana State, Eastern Michigan, Tennessee, Miami and Toledo, the Huskies have surrendered 36 total points (3, 0, 13, 13 and 7, respectively) for an average of 7.2 per game, and are allowing just 88.8 rushing yards and 232 yards of total offense per game. NIU has also forced 11 turnovers since the ISU game. Toledo's third-quarter touchdown was the first score given up by the NIU DEFENSE (Miami scored on a special teams play) in seven quarters. Remarkable Turnaround: The difference between the Northern Illinois defense of 2008 and the Huskie defense of a year ago is as drastic - in terms of numbers - as the points scored by Toledo versus NIU in 2007 (70) and 2008 (7). While the numbers put up by the 2008 "D" are different, the names are very similar, as the Huskies returned nine starters on defense this season, led by DE Larry English and including Josh Allen, Brandon Bice, Chase Carter, Alex Krutsch, Alex Kube, Bradley Pruitt and Melvin Rice. Below is a chart showing Northern Illinois' current MAC and NCAA defensive rankings and last year's end of the season numbers:
NIU has never finished a season as the MAC leader in scoring or total defense and last led the league in rushing defense in 2002. Comparable: The last time NIU enjoyed a comparable stretch of defensive dominance, in terms of points, was in 1963, the year that Northern Illinois went 10-0 and claimed the NCAA College Division Championship. In its last five games this season, NIU has given up 36 points. From Sept. 28 to Oct. 26, 1963, the Huskies gave up 32 points in wins over Northeast Missouri State (21-12), Nebraska-Omaha (18-7), Hillsdale (19-13), Illinois State (43-0) and Eastern Illinois (43-0). In 1963, Huskie opponents scored 9.7 points per game over nine games with three shutouts as Northern Illinois held opponents to 10 points or less five times. Familiar Face: Northern Illinois offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover will see a familiar face, and a good friend, across the field on Saturday in Bowling Green head coach Gregg Brandon. Limegrover was a graduate assistant at Northwestern from 1994-96, working for Brandon, who was the receivers coach on that staff. During their tenure at Northwestern, the Wildcats won the 1995 and 1996 Big Ten championships and played in the Rose (1995) and Citrus (1996) bowls. Kube Kudos: Huskie linebacker Alex Kube, who made his first start of the season and his first ever start at linebacker Saturday versus Toledo, earned Mid-American Conference West Division player of the week honors, the second NIU defender honored this year. The sophomore made a season-best six tackles (four solo) to rank second on the team while recording one of the biggest defensive plays on the day for NIU with a sack of Toledo QB Aaron Opelt. That play came in the second quarter with NIU holding a 14-0 lead and the Rockets facing third and six from the NIU 16 yard line. Kube's sack resulted in a 13-yard loss to the 29, UT missed the field goal try, and Northern Illinois went on to extend its lead to 21-0. It was Kube's first sack of the season although he ranks fourth on the team with 29 tackles. Balanced Attack: Through seven games, the Northern Illinois offense has defined the term "balanced". The Huskies have gained 1,241 yards on the ground (50.7 percent of their total) and 1,207 yards (49.3 percent) through the air, a difference of just 34 yards. No other school in the MAC nears the 50 percent mark in both categories with Eastern Michigan the next closest (1,410 rush/1,651 pass). While throwing only 156 passes on the season compared to 271 rushes, NIU is averaging 4.6 yards per rush and 7.7 per pass attempt for an average of 5.7 yards per play. After recording three passing and two rushing touchdowns versus Toledo, NIU has scored 13 touchdowns rushing and 10 passing. Point Distribution: A year ago, Northern Illinois scored a total of 229 points in 12 games, with 157 of those points - 62 in the first quarter and 95 in the second - scored in the first half. So far in 2008, the scoring has been spread nearly equally across all four quarters as NIU has scored 50 or more points in the first (51), second (55) and fourth (50) quarters and added 46 points in the third. NIU needs just 27 more points this year to match its entire 2007 total. Team Effort: Shutting down the Huskies' top offensive player has been no easy task this season - primarily because neither opponents, nor NIU's own coaches, know who will turn out to be Northern Illinois' leader from week to week. NIU has had four different players lead the team in rushing - freshman Me'co Brown (3 games), Chad Spann (2), Justin Anderson (1) and quarterback DeMarcus Grady (1). Four different receivers have led the Huskies in receiving this season, led by Marcus Perez (3 games) along with Nathan Palmer (2) and seniors Greg Turner (1) and Matt Simon (1). NIU has even been led by three different quarterbacks as Chandler Harnish and Dan Nicholson each have three starts to go with Grady's one and each has thrown at least two touchdown passes. In all, 13 different players have scored touchdowns for NIU in 2008, the fifth-highest number among NCAA FBS schools. Spann's the Man: Tailback Chad Spann had a career day versus Toledo as the sophomore from Indianapolis rushed for 82 yards on 15 carries with two touchdowns (of 12 and two yards) to pace the Huskie rushing attack. Spann, who gained just 61 yards on 11 carries in 10 games a year ago, now leads Northern Illinois in touchdowns with four and is NIU's second leading rusher with 216 yards on 30 carries for a 7.2-yard average. Earlier this year, Spann blocked a punt versus Minnesota to set up an NIU field goal. He scored the game-winning TD versus Miami on a two-yard rush and has the longest rush of the season for the Huskies, a 55-yard score versus Indiana State. He's Back: After missing three complete games and parts of two others with a foot injury, freshman Chandler Harnish returned to lead the Huskie offense versus Toledo and led NIU to five touchdowns and its highest point total versus FBS competition this year. Harnish passed for a team season-high three touchdowns, hitting Marcus Perez on throws of 45 and 15 yards, and Reed Cunningham with a 10-yard touchdown toss. He also ran for a career-best 60 yards on eight carries with a key 32-yard run setting up Northern Illinois' third-quarter field goal. MP-Z: Senior Marcus Perez, one of the most productive Huskies on the 2008 team in terms of career all-purpose yards, has re-asserted himself as a top threat in the NIU passing game. After catching just eight passes for 89 yards in an injury-plagued 2007 campaign, Perez leads Northern Illinois in catches with 18 so far this year and has 243 receiving yards. He caught his first touchdown pass since the 2006 Eastern Michigan game with a 45-yard grab versus Toledo and added a 15-yard score later in the game. Earlier this year, Perez scored the first rushing touchdown of his career on a two-yard carry on the reverse versus Eastern Michigan. He now owns seven career receiving, one rushing and two passing touchdowns and has 1,525 career all-purpose yards. Right Place, Right Times: Defensive end Jake Coffman recovered a pair of fumbles versus Toledo to become the first NIU defender to pick up two fumbles in the same game since Ken West versus Ohio in 2006. A sophomore, Coffman made the first two fumble recoveries of his career as the Huskies have now recovered eight fumbles to match last year's season total, while picking off six passes on the year. Coffman made three tackles and recorded his first career tackle for loss in addition to the fumble recoveries against Toledo. Another Big Play for English: NIU defensive end Larry English continues to add to his Huskie legacy as he tallied the 28th sack of his collegiate career versus Toledo, forcing a fumble on the play that NIU recovered. English's 28 career sacks, including a team-leading 4.5 this season, rank second among all active NCAA FBS players, while his 206 sack yards are first. He has forced seven fumbles, including two in 2008. His 55 career tackles for loss are currently second in the country and he has thrown opponents for 259 yards in losses to rank as the nation's current career leader in that category. The senior from Aurora ranks second all-time at NIU in quarterback sacks, just three behind Cary Caliendo (1987-90), and is tied for sixth on the league charts. He also holds the Northern Illinois record for career tackles for loss with 55, which is tied for 10th in the MAC record book. English has eight tackles for loss in 2008 to lead NIU. Breaking Through: After losing eight games by margins of seven points or less over the last two seasons, including all three of their 2008 defeats, Northern Illinois broke through in a close game with its 17-13 win over Miami Oct. 11. The Huskie offense came from behind with a third-quarter touchdown drive, while the defense stymied the RedHawks' final drive by breaking up two passes in the end zone. Prior to that, the Huskies' suffered a three-point loss to Western Michigan and fell by four points at both Minnesota and Tennessee. A year ago, Northern Illinois lost by seven, two, one, four and six points. The Rookie Rusher Rocks: Me'co Brown has risen to the top of the Huskie rushing list with two 100-yard games as the true freshman leads Northern Illinois in rushing (383 yards on 74 carries), kickoff returns (20.1 yard average), punt returns (9.4 yard average) and all-purpose yards (111.6 yards/game). He has 781 all-purpose yards on the season with a career-best 160 versus Miami, which included a career-long 19-yard punt return. His 100-yard rushing days have come against Eastern Michigan (111 yards) and Miami (123) and he compiled 108 all-purpose yards at Tennessee with a career-long 29-yard kickoff return. In Any League: Larry English proved that he would be a force in any league with his performance versus the huge offensive line of Tennessee. In that game, English had a season-high 2.5 sacks for losses totaling 26 yards to earn MAC West Defensive Player of the Week honors. He made one of the biggest defensive plays of the game when he sacked UT QB Nick Stephens in the third quarter to force a fumble that NIU recovered on the Tennessee nine yard line and later converted into a field goal. Along the Line: The Huskie offensive line has continued to improve throughout the season and came through with its best performance of 2008 Saturday against Toledo, earning its highest group grade of the year with a mark of 81 percent, zero sacks allowed and only three "mental errors" by the group. Guard Jason Onyebuagu's return to form after a preseason knee injury has bolstered the overall line play, and senior tackle Jon Brost, who has started 42 games for the Huskies during his NIU career, has been the most consistent linemen from games one through seven this season. Onyebuagu received his season best grade versus the Rockets and was one of two linemen of the week, along with tight end Reed Cunningham. Get Ready: Following this game, Northern Illinois embarks on the weekday portion of its 2008 schedule with four November games on Wednesday (2) and Tuesday (2). The Huskies' next contest is Weds., Nov. 5 versus No. 20 Ball State.
HUSKIE MULTIMEDIA TELEVISION The Northern Illinois-Bowling Green game is the last of four home games that will be broadcast by Comcast SportsNet Chicago in 2008. Tom Dore joins the broadcast team to call play-by-play while Dave Kaplan and Bob Chmiel will serve as color analysts and Jim Blaney handles sideline reporting duties. The game will also be available nationally through ESPN GamePlan and online at www.ESPN360.com, but will not be available via GamePlan in the CSN coverage area. 2008 marks the fifth season of Northern Illinois' football game broadcasts on Comcast SportsNet Chicago, which reaches most of Illinois, Iowa and Indiana. RADIO The Huskie Sports Radio Network will carry the Toledo game beginning with the pregame show at 2:30 p.m. (Central). Bill Baker is in his 29th year as the play-by-play voice of the Huskies and he is joined in the booth by 24-year veteran Mark Lindo and third-year sideline reporter Casey Kahler. The 2008 Huskie Radio line-up includes WSCR-AM 670 (Chicago), WTMJ-AM 1380 (Beloit, Wisc.) and the flagship station, WLBK-AM (1360) in DeKalb. The Score also is the home of "NIU Live," the weekly 30-minute radio show that is all about Huskie Sports. NIU Director of Athletics Jeff Compher joins host Andy Garcia and Huskie coaches for the show, which airs Wednesday nights at 8:30 p.m. on WSCR 670 AM. ON LINE To hear every Huskie Radio Network broadcast and SEE live video of select NIU games, sign up for the Huskie All Access package at www.niuhuskies.com. Purchase the monthly package for $6.95 or a year-long pass for $49.95. Fans can also enjoy more FREE video content than ever before including Inside Huskie Sports, Jerry Kill's weekly and post-game press conferences and other special events. Also go to www.niuhuskies.com for the latest statistics, feature stories, player Q&As as well as weekly and daily updates.
WEEKLY TV For complete game highlights as well as commentary from Head Coach Jerry Kill and special features, watch "Inside Huskie Sports" weekly on Comcast SportsNet Chicago and on my Network TV in Rockford. The 30-minute highlight show airs on Comcast at 4 p.m.
Thursdays in September and October. In Rockford, catch IHS at 10:30 a.m.
Saturdays on myNetworkTV. Fans are also invited to the live taping of the show Mondays at 5:30 p.m. at Fatty's Pub and Grille, 1312 West Lincoln Highway in DeKalb.
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• 2012 NIU Football Camps • 2011 Huskie Football: A Championship Season • 2011 NIU Football Weekly Release  • Interactive Guide • Football Depth Chart • Printable Season Statistics • Statistics • NIU Football Media Supplement • Huskies in the NFL • Huskie Stadium 360º • Yordon Center 360º • Game-Day Information • 2011 NIU Football Promotions • Archives • Football History • All Letterwinners • Visiting Team Guide 02/02/2012 - Football Uremovich Named to Huskie Coaching Staff02/01/2012 - Football Northern Illinois' 31-Man Class Includes 16 In-State Players01/31/2012 - Football NIUHuskies.com Has 2012 Signing Day Covered02/01/2012 - Football FOLLOW THE HUSKIES: Week of January 30-February 501/26/2012 - Football NIU Signing Day Reception to be Held Prior to Huskie Men's Basketball Game01/18/2012 - Football Huskies to Celebrate 2011 Champions with Commemorative Book01/17/2012 - Football Frisman Jackson Joins Huskie Coaching Staff01/13/2012 - Football Nine Football Huskies Honored with Academic All-MAC Recognition01/11/2012 - Football Four Huskies to Play in Postseason Games01/09/2012 - Football Huskies Win GoDaddy.com Bowl Over Arkansas State, 38-20
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