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Game 10: Central Michigan at Northern Illinois
Nov. 9, 2008
Northern Illinois Football 2008
Complete Release in PDF Format
HUSKIE FACTS
CHIPPEWAS' FACTS
HEAD COACH Jerry Kill NEWS & NOTES MAC West Battle: Northern Illinois returns home to play host to MAC West foe Central Michigan in its final 2008 Huskie Stadium game versus Mid-American Conference competition. The Chippewas, preseason league favorites, come to DeKalb with a perfect 5-0 league record so far this year while NIU is coming off its first loss in four games, a 45-14 road defeat at the hands of Ball State. Winning Ways: After winning just two games, and one MAC contest, a year ago, Northern Illinois is looking to return to the winning ways it enjoyed from 2000 to 2006, when the Huskies recorded seven consecutive winning campaigns. NIU started 2008 with an 0-2 record after road losses to Minnesota (31-27) and Western Michigan (29-26), but have won five of their last seven contests, including all four of its 2008 home games. 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 109-61 (.641) 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: Northern Illinois suffered its worst loss of the season, a 45-14 defeat at the hands of No. 16 Ball State in Muncie on Nov. 5. The Huskies fell behind 21-0 in the first half and never got closer than 21-7 the rest of the game. BSU QB Nate Davis completed 18-of-22 passes for 300 yards, MiQuale Lewis ran for 119 yards on 19 carries and Louis Johnson caught six passes for 165 yards to pace the Cardinals. Home Field Advantage: In 42 seasons and 226 games, Northern Illinois is 131-93-2 all-time at Huskie Stadium for a winning percentage of 58.4 percent. NIU has won 40 of its last 51 home contests (78.4 percent), including a 4-0 mark in 2008, and is 24-8 on Brigham Field since the beginning of the 2003 season. MAC Mark: With a 4-2 record so far in 2008, NIU is 86-85-2 all-time in Mid-American Conference play. 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 51-40 (.560) versus conference teams. Frequent Foe: Northern Illinois and Central Michigan meet for the 44th time since 1939, with the Chips claiming a 22-20-1 series lead. NIU has played CMU more times than any other current FBS opponent, and owns a 12-8-1 series lead in games played in DeKalb. Prior to last year's 35-10 loss to Central Michigan in Mt. Pleasant, Northern Illinois had won nine straight games in the series dating back to 1998, when NIU broke a 23-game losing streak with a 16-6 win over CMU in DeKalb. In MAC play, Northern Illinois holds a 12-10 series lead over the Chippewas. Welcome MAC: At home, Northern Illinois is 49-37-1 (.569) in MAC games all-time and has a 28-18 mark versus league foes at Huskie Stadium since rejoining the MAC in 1997. The Huskies have won each of its three 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. The last time Northern Illinois finished the year undefeated at home in league play was 2003. The Last Meeting: In last year's 35-10 loss to Central Michigan in Mt. Pleasant, Northern Illinois tallied a season-high 521 yards and 28 first downs, but turned the ball over six times with four interceptions and two fumbles as the teams played a scoreless second half. The Huskies drove to the CMU four-yard line on the game's opening drive but missed a field goal, then lost a fumble on the CMU one-yard line on their next possession. Central Michigan responded with a 99-yard drive for its second score and a 14-0 lead. After NIU narrowed the lead to seven on a 92-yard Dan Nicholson to Matt Simon hook-up, the Chippewas responded immediately when Antonio Brown brough back the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a score. Simon collected 205 receiving yards on nine catches and Anderson carried 28 times for 157 yards for the mistake-plagued Huskies. 107 and Counting: In its 107th season of intercollegiate football, Northern Illinois owns an all-time record of 493-448-51 in 992 games for a winning percentage of .523. The Huskies played their first game in 1899 and moved into the "major college" ranks in 1969. ESPN2 Time: Northern Illinois will make its second of three appearances on ESPN2 this week as the Ball State, Central Michigan and Navy contests will all air on that network. This game will mark the Huskies 29th appearance on an ESPN broadcast and NIU is 15-13 all-time in those games. Overall, the Huskies are 57-59-1 in 40 seasons of televised games. Ten Northern Illinois games are scheduled for television in 2008, which will make 54 Northern Illinois games televised in the last five seasons. In addition to the ESPN2 and ESPN Regional appearances, six NIU games, including all four of its home contests, have been available nationwide through the ESPN GamePlan package. The last time ESPN2 came to DeKalb was Nov. 7, 2006 as the Huskies took on Toledo in the infamous "fog bowl" game. Friends as Foes: Northern Illinois offensive coordinator and line coach Matt Limegrover will once again be across the field from a friend in CMU Head Coach Butch Jones. Jones and Limegrover coached together at Ferris State (Mich.) in 1997 and Jones was a member of Limegrover's wedding party. Limegrover also coached with current CMU defensive coordinator Tim Banks on that Ferris State staff. Finally, Limegrover competed against CMU offensive line coach Don Mahoney as prep stars in the Pittsburgh area at Pitt Central Catholic (Limegrover) and Hempfield Area (Mahoney). 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. Successful Stretch: Between the Western Michigan game on Sept. 6 (a 29-26 loss) and the win over Bowling Green on Oct. 25, no Northern Illinois opponent scored more than one touchdown against the Huskies. That defensive run included games versus Indiana State, Eastern Michigan, Tennessee, Miami, Toledo and Bowling Green. In three contests (Indiana State, Eastern Michigan, Miami), the NIU defense did not give up a touchdown, although Miami scored on a punt return. In those six games, the Huskies surrendered just 49 total points (3, 0, 13, 13, 7 and 13, respectively) for an average of 8.2 per game. Block Party: Northern Illinois blocked a pair of punts versus Bowling Green and now has a school-record five punt blocks this season with each of the blocks by a different player. The Huskies' two punt blocks versus the Falcons was also a school single-game record. Wide receiver Landon Cox' fourth-quarter block set up the Huskies' game-winning field goal versus BGSU and earlier in the game, safety Spencer Williamson got his hand on a Falcon punt. Cox and Williamson joined tailback Chad Spann (Minnesota), cornerback Patrick George (Tennessee) and receiver Willie Clark (Indiana State) on the 2008 blocked punts list. Cox' block came on a play when a return was called. In a Rush: Northern Illinois has a new head coach and a tailback by committee approach, but the Huskies have not abandoned their rushing roots. Against Bowling Green, quarterback Chandler Harnish recorded his first career 100-yard rushing game, and the first by a Huskie signal caller since 1990. He netted 113 yards on 19 carries to post the third 100-yard day by an NIU player this year, and the first by a QB since Nov. 10, 1990, when Stacey Robinson rushed for 109 yards versus East Carolina. Northern Illinois' 57 rushing plays in the BG win were the most by a Huskie team since Nov. 20, 2004, when NIU ran the ball 62 times in a 34-16 win over Eastern Michigan. Harnish also led the team against Ball State with 59 yards on 12 attempts and a 25-yard touchdown run. He ranks third on the team in rushing with 266 yards on 55 carries, a 4.8-yards per carry average. By Committee: With back-up tailbacks Ricky Crider, who scored a late TD on a 40-yard run, and Justin Anderson, who carried four times for 31 yards, each contributing to the run game at Ball State, Northern Illinois now has seven players who have rushed for at least 100 yards on the season. The group is led by freshman tailback Me'co Brown, who has 481 net yards on 97 carries, and includes Chad Spann (274 on 54), Harnish (266 on 55), Justin Anderson (208 on 49), back-up QB DeMarcus Grady (187 on 37), senior Montell Clanton (111 on 18) and Crider (104 on 19). Those seven have tallied 1,631 rushing yards to average 181.6 per game with 15 scores. That is already more rushing yards and more rushing TDs than the Huskies' totaled in all of 2007. In The Zone: Chandler Harnish and Ricky Crider added their names to the list of Huskie players who have reached the end zone this season with rushing touchdowns of 25 and 40 yards, respectively, versus Ball State. They became the 14th and 15th Huskie players to score touchdowns this season as NIU ranks tied for third nationally in number of different players who have scored. Miami (Fla.) leads the country with 17 different TD scorers, followed by USC with 16. NIU is in a group of five schools with 15 touchdown scorers. With four freshmen having reached the end zone (Harnish, DeMarcus Grady, Me'co Brown and Nathan Palmer), NIU ranks fourth nationally in number of freshmen to score a TD in 2008. Turnover Turnaround: In Northern Illinois' five wins in 2008, its opponents have turned the ball over 10 times with four fumbles and six interceptions. In its four losses, opponents have lost five fumbles but have not thrown an interception. The Huskies are 3-1 this year when committing less turnovers than its opponents, are 1-1 when turning the ball over more than their foes and are 1-2 when turnovers are equal. The Huskies' turnovers are distributed evenly in their wins and losses with five turnovers (two fumbles, three INTs) in its victories and six (3, 3) in its losses. NIU has not had an interception since the Toledo game and has just one pickoff in its last five games. Full of Surprises: In nine games in 2008, Northern Illinois has been led in receptions by eight different players, with the latest player to add his name to that list probably the most surprising. Walk-on fullback Connor Flahive had a career-best four catches for 24 yards at Ball State in his first career start after coming into the game with just one catch for one yard on the season. The Niles, Ill. and Notre Dame HS product was playing in place of the injured Kyle Skarb. In NIU's previous game, tight end Brandon Beal entered the Bowling Green contest with just five career catches before leading NIU with three versus the Falcons. Wide receivers Britt Davis, Matt Simon, Greg Turner, Nate Palmer and Willie Clark have also each led the Huskies in catches in one game this season while Marcus Perez has been the top pass catcher in three games. Receivers Rebound: After NIU wide receivers did not catch a pass in a game for the first time since Nov. 11, 1995 (a 28-21 loss to Arkansas State) versus Bowling Green, Northern Illinois receivers rebounded by catching 10 of the 14 passes thrown at Ball State. In the BG game, NIU's five pass completions went to a tight end (3), tailback (1) and fullback (1). Versus Ball State, Marcus Perez, Britt Davis and Landon Cox made their first catches since the Toledo game, while Simon's grab was his first since the Indiana State contest Gotta Get Me'co: Me'co Brown has risen to the top of the Huskie rushing list with a pair of 100-yard games this season and added 95 yards on 20 carries versus Bowling Green. The true freshman leads Northern Illinois in rushing (481 yards on 97 carries), kickoff returns (21.4 yard average), punt returns (9.4 yard average) and all-purpose yards (119.9 yards/game). After totaling a season-high 185 kickoff return yards on seven returns, including a career-long 44-yard effort and returns of 34, 29 and 26 yards, Brown has 1,079 all-purpose yards and 492 kickoff return yards on the season. His 100-yard rushing days have come against Eastern Michigan (111 yards) and Miami (123). Brown got a special treat following the Bowling Green game when the 5-7 tailback met legendary Huskie 5-7 tailback Garrett Wolfe, who led the FBS in rushing in 2006 and now plays for the Chicago Bears. The 50s: 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. Through nine games in 2008, NIU has already surpassed its 2007 total with 232 points. The scoring has been evenly distributed by quarter with 60 scored in the third quarter, 54 in the first, 55 in period two and 63 in the fourth. English Lessons: 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 56 career tackles for loss are third in the country among active players, and he has thrown opponents for 261 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 56, which is tied for ninth in the MAC record book. English has nine tackles for loss in 2008 to lead NIU. In Any League: Larry English proved that he would be a force in any league with his performance versus the 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. The Best Defense...: ...is a good offense? How about an offense that holds the ball for more than 23 minutes in the second half? That is how the Huskie offense helped the NIU defense versus Bowling Green as Northern Illinois had scoring drives of 10:06, 8:05 and 4:43 in the second half en route to the 16-13 win. Bowling Green ran just 14 offensive plays in the half and gained 77 yards as the NIU defense enjoyed long stretches on the sidelines. The Huskies' had scoring drives of 17 and 16 plays versus BGSU, the longest drives, in terms of plays, since an 18-play, 84-yard drive in the NIU win over Maryland on August 28, 2003. On the year, Northern Illinois is hanging onto the ball nearly four minutes more per game than their opponents, 31:57 to 28:03. Grounded: Through seven games, Northern Illinois gained 1,241 yards on the ground and 1,207 yards through the air, a difference of just 34 yards. But that balance was upset versus Bowling Green as the Huskies gained 233 yards on the ground, while Chandler Harnish completed just five-of-12 passes for 45 yards. It was the fewest passes attempted in a game by Northern Illinois since Sept. 6, 1997 when Frisman Jackson threw only 10 times, completing four for 67 yards, versus Kansas State in a 47-7 loss. In the second half versus BGSU, NIU went almost exclusively to the ground game as Harnish completed only two-of-three passes after halftime. It was the fewest passes attempted by NIU in a half since Oct. 10, 1998 versus Central Florida when the Huskies threw just two passes, completing both. Middle Man: Huskie center Eddie Adamski is playing his best football of the season right now, according to NIU offensive line coach Matt Limegrover, and that has resulted in the junior from Carmel HS earning the nod as Northern's offensive linemen of the week in each of the last two games. Adamski graded out at 89 and 88 percent, respectively, versus Bowling Green and Ball State to record his highest numbers of the year. He has earned the offensive lineman of the week award a team-high three times as he also earned the honor for his play versus Minnesota. Adamski has started 33 consecutive games - every game of his Huskie career - at center for Northern Illinois. In The Trenches: The Huskie offensive line found its stride in October as the quintet of tackles Jon Brost and Trevor Olson, guards Jason Onyebuagu and Dan Keller and center Eddie Adamski have come together since the return to form of Onyebuagu after a preseason knee injury. J.O. returned to the starting line-up versus Eastern Michigan and the unit has remained intact since. The o-line has collectively earned its three highest grades of the year in the last three games with an 86 percent mark versus Bowling Green and a grade of 81 versus both Toledo and Ball State. Brost, one of two senior offensive line starters, has started 44 games for the Huskies during his NIU career. He was a semifinalist for the Draddy Award with a 3.5 GPA in electrical engineering. Going Long: There was certainly no lack of big plays in last week's Northern Illinois-Ball State game as the teams combined for 16 plays that traveled 25 yards or longer in the game. Entering the contest, NIU had 19 long plays on the season, but added eight (8) versus the Cardinals on four kickoff returns by Me'co Brown, two 25-yard rushes by Chandler Harnish, a 40-yard run by Ricky Crider and a 25-yard pass from Harnish to Simon. Entering the game, Brown had just two 25-plus yard kickoff returns on the season, but he doubled that total versus Ball State alone with his 44-yard KOR the longest by an NIU player since 2005. Ball State added eight long plays, six on passes, as NIU opponents have now tallied 24 on the season . Veteran's Day: 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 24-year-old sophomore who walked on to the Huskie team after completing two tours of duty in Iraq as a United States Marine, Coffman recorded his first career tackle for loss in addition to the fumble recoveries against Toledo. He followed that performance with another stellar outing versus BG with two solo tackles, including one on third down that forced a Falcons' punt. Spann's the Man: Indianapolis native Chad Spann made his first career start at Ball State to become the fourth different tailback to start a game for NIU this season. Spann, who ranks second on the team in rushing with 274 yards and leads the Huskies in touchdowns with five, had a career day versus Toledo with 82 yards on 15 carries and two touchdowns. He gained just 61 yards on 11 carries in 10 games a year ago, but scored the game-winning TD versus Miami on a two-yard rush and has the longest run of the season for NIU, a 55-yard score versus Indiana State. Earlier this year, Spann blocked a punt versus Minnesota to set up an NIU field goal. Team Effort: Forty-two different players have started at least one game for Northern Illinois in 2008 with one sixth of those (seven different starters) at the wide receiver positions. Landon Cox (five starts) and Greg Turner (4) have the most starts at WR this year with Nathan Palmer, Marcus Perez, Matt Simon, Willie Clark and Britt Davis also on the list. By contrast, Northern Illinois has used just 10 starters at nine positions on the offensive and defensive lines. On the D-Line, the same four players - Larry English, Mike Krause, Alex Krutsch and Craig Rusch- have started every game in 2008, while the o-line has featured just six starters for five positions with Eddie Adamski, Jon Brost, Trevor Olson and Dan Keller making nine straight starts each. Aside from the lines on both side of the ball, only strong side linebacker Josh Allen has started every game. Good Hands and Good Works: During his NIU career, receiver Matt Simon has displayed both good hands and good works, making the senior a perfect choice for the 2008 Allstate AFCA Good Works Team. Members of the Good Works team are selected based on their commitment to community service, which Simon displayed in leading his teammates, and organizing their participation with outside groups like Hope Haven Homeless Shelter, the American Red Cross and the Special Olympics, as well as at on-campus events like the April 16 Virginia Tech Vigil at NIU. Simon, a Farmington, Minn. native who led Northern Illinois in receiving a year ago, was one of just 11 NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) players selected to the 2008 Allstate Good Works Team. 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 and continued the winning trend with Mike Salerno's game-winning field goal against Bowling Green with 12 seconds left. Versus Miami, 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. Making a Play: Former running back David Bryant leads the Huskie defense in tackles with 49 on the season, but the Northern Illinois defensive stats go deep as the Huskies have rotated players throughout the defense. NIU boasts 20 players with at least 10 tackles and 20 defenders have recorded at least one tackle for loss on the year. Bryant leads the way with 49 total stops; fellow safety Mike Sobol has the most solo tackles with 28 and Larry English leads in tackles for loss. Thirteen different Huskies have broken up at least one pass this year. Here's the Kicker: Mike Salerno, who transferred to NIU from Winona State and is in his first season as the Huskies' kicker, has made 14-of-20 field goals in 2008. He tied the school record with a 52-yard field goal versus Bowling Green and added two fourth-quarter threes, including the game-winner. He also made three field goals at Tennessee. Salerno has scored 68 points on the year and is 26-of-26 on PATs. He has made 11 of 13 threes from inside 40 yards and has 15 touchbacks on 49 kickoffs this year. On average, opponents are starting on their own 21-yard line. More MAC Honors: Defensive end Craig Rusch and kicker Mike Salerno became the latest Huskies to be honored by the Mid-American Conference when they were named the MAC West defensive player and specialist of the week following the win over Bowling Green. Rusch had three solo tackles and a quarterback sack to lead NIU's defensive effort versus the Falcons, while Salerno hit the game-winning field goal with 11.9 seconds on the clock, one of three field goals on the day. Rusch and Salerno were the fifth and sixth Northern Illinois players selected as MAC West players of the week so far this year, joining three defenders (Rusch, LB Alex Kube, DE Larry English), punter Andy Dittbenner and quarterback Chandler Harnish. HUSKIE MULTIMEDIA TELEVISION The Northern Illinois-Central Michigan is the second of three of the Huskies' November games that will air nationally on ESPN2. The team of Chicagoan Eric Collins and former Tulane and Tampa Bay Buc quarterback Shaun King will call the NIU-CMU clash. RADIO The Huskie Sports Radio Network will carry the Central Michigan game beginning with the pregame show at 6:30 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 next Wednesday (Nov. 12) at 4 p.m. on Comcast SportsNet Chicago and will move to a Tuesday afternoon showing on November 18 and November 25. In Rockford, catch IHS at 10:30 a.m. Saturdays on myNetworkTV. Check www.niuhuskies.com under "Huskie Multimedia" for the most up-to-date list of IHS taping and air dates.
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