Red And Black Attack

Week 2 BlogPoll Ballot

2010-09-07T15:07:03Z

Red and Black Attack Ballot - Week 2

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Ohio St. Buckeyes	1
2	Alabama Crimson Tide	1
3	TCU Horned Frogs	1
4	Boise St. Broncos	3
5	Oregon Ducks	4
6	Nebraska Cornhuskers	--
7	Texas Longhorns	1
8	Miami Hurricanes	2
9	Georgia Bulldogs	3
10	Iowa Hawkeyes	3
11	Florida St. Seminoles	4
12	Arkansas Razorbacks	4
13	Penn St. Nittany Lions	5
14	South Carolina Gamecocks	5
15	Arizona Wildcats	8
16	Virginia Tech Hokies	-5
17	Wisconsin Badgers	3
18	Auburn Tigers	4
19	LSU Tigers	2
20	Stanford Cardinal	4
21	USC Trojans	-7
22	Oklahoma Sooners	-21
23	Florida Gators	-18
24	Missouri Tigers	--
25	Notre Dame Fighting Irish	--
Dropouts: North Carolina Tar Heels, Oregon St. Beavers

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "

Not too many changes other than the under-performing teams I moved to the latter part of the poll. I still think that TCU is a better team than Boise St. It's going to until at least the Oregon State game to make my decision on which is going to be the better team, but at this point I like the Horned Frogs. There was just something about how much Oregon and Arizona dominated their games that I just had to move them up a couple spots. Your typical week 2 ballot I guess, there's not too much else to say. Next week is going to be a lot more interesting.

Anything you disagree with?

Iowa State completely isolated NIU's defensive line

2010-09-07T07:41:58Z

More photos » Charlie Neibergall - AP

6 days ago: Iowa State quarterback Austen Arnaud (4) runs from Northern Illinois defenders during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010, in Ames, Iowa. Iowa State won 27-10. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

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Chris Dertz of the Northern Star asks why we couldn't get any pressure on Austen Arnaud.

Arnaud had all day and all night to throw, which allowed him to pick apart NIU’s secondary to the tune of 265 passing yards.

I've watched the game a couple times since then and there wasn't any point in the game where I thought that we weren't getting good pressure on the QB. Iowa State runs a no-huddle spread offense and got the ball off QUICK almost every single play. Very few plays were basic runs out of the backfield or slow developing passing plays. Everything was about getting the ball to players right away in open space, away from where our defensive linemen can make an impact.

We only gave up 138 yds, which is not bad at all considering 63 of those yards were given up right away on that run by Alexander Robinson after the DeMarcus Grady INT at the beginning of the 2nd quarter.

There was fresh meat everywhere else on defense. Tyrone Clark played out of his mind on the weakside and was the obvious MVP finishing with 9 tackles, a TFL and an INT. This was his only his 2nd career start (started Independence bowl).

Devon Butler made his first start ever at MLB and did OK. He did have some trouble fighting off blocks and finished with only 5 tackles and tipped the pass that Tracy Wilson intercepted. Jordan Delegal took his lumps as well.

Alex Kube is supposed to be our senior stud at linebacker and he didn't come close to meeting expectations. Kube stuck out like a sore thumb on the defensive side of the ball. Missed tackle after missed tackle, bad pursuit angles. It was just ugly to watch. Definitely one of the worst defensive performances I have ever seen by an NIU player. He needs to start coming off the bench or something.

The secondary REALLY needed Patrick George to be successful. There was way too much pressure being put on Kiaree Daniels and everybody else with how many receivers they were tossing out there every single play. Not to mention it was Tommy Davis' first start at FS. It took him a while to get into the groove of the game.

The secondary would have played more press and man if PG was in the lineup.

On the defensive line, Sean Progar got a sack, D.J. Pirkle recovered a fumble. Arnaud wasn't comfortable. We pressured him into throwing two interceptions. We did have 3 roughing the passer penalties called.

The defensive line played OK. They weren't great by any sense of the means, but they were still the best defensive unit on the field. Let's do a re-evaluation of the D-Line once everybody else on that side of the ball wants to start playing like they're supposed to.

Grady's Throwing Mechanics

2010-09-07T06:16:20Z

"He was a guy that, overall, when you looked at it, you thought, 'Boy, this is easily correctible stuff,’" Limegrover said. "It's not mechanical. It's not structural, so to speak. He just kind of let the game get to him early and wasn't able to get into rhythm.

Offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover didn't have the blissful opportunity of watching the FSN announcers break down DeMarcus Grady's throwing motion as the 3rd quarter was winding down.

The top scribble is where a quarterback's elbow should be in order for the ball to not get tipped up at the line of scrimmage and get intercepted. If that's not mechanical, I don't know what is. Kudos to the announcing team for pointing that out. On the 2nd interception it was the same deal.

Maybe he adjusted his throwing motion because he didn't want to overthrow his receivers like he did numerous times earlier in the game. Especially after those two that would have been guaranteed touchdowns.

Dr. Kill or: How I learned to stop worrying and love DeMarcus Grady

2010-09-06T05:26:18Z

More photos » Charlie Neibergall - AP

6 days ago: Northern Illinois quarterback DeMarcus Grady (3) tries to break a tackle by Iowa State linebacker Jake Knott (20) during the second half of an NCAA college football game, Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010, in Ames, Iowa. Iowa State won 27-10. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

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Coach Jerry Kill is just messing with us. Right?

After this entire offseason, this entire battle royale for the starting quarterback positions and this is what ends up happening? What we witnessed on Thursday was not fun to watch by any sense of the means.

What does Kill want? Let's review the last time he commented about the quarterbacks:

"I’m not worried about that right now, to be honest with you," Kill said. "I got a lot of other concerns besides quarterback. That’s the least of my concerns right now."

...!

"We’ve evaluated every film, we know every pass they’ve made, every interception they’ve made, every mental breakdown they’ve made," he said. "You consider health, gametime and experience, who you feel like can lead your team to win."

DeMarcus Grady was truly the quarterback best fit to lead the team to victory on gameday vs. Iowa State?

Coach Kill truly believes this. Or does he?

All signs are pointing to Grady starting next week against North Dakota as well:

And despite Grady's three-interception performance during a 27-10 loss on Thursday night in the season opener, Kill sounds like a man standing by his choice.

"He did some awful good things," Kill said. "He had a couple balls tipped on the line of scrimmage. He doesn’t have an awful lot to do with that. …When you get the ball tipped at the line of scrimmage, I’m not going to throw him under the bus on that. I think he’d like to have one decision that he made (an interception over the head of Landon Cox) back."

And despite Grady’s less-than-stellar performance against a Big 12 Conference opponent, Kill doesn't appear ready to do things differently next week in preparation for NIU's Sept. 11 home opener against North Dakota.

"I’ll evaluate him when we get in and watch film and teach him some things," Kill said.

I'm not one to start any conspiracy theories. I know they're out there. I'm not one to believe that Coach Kill hates Harnish or is saving him up for conference play or some nonsense like that.

Give DeMarcus Grady a chance.

Kill left him in the game and he had a couple fluke interceptions. They were mistakes that never should have happened, but what had he done in games beforehand?

The idiotic stat floating around was the fact he was 5-0 as a starter. Did anybody even bother to look up his passing stats for those games? 7/12, 6/10, 10/18, 4/5, 4/5.

Against Iowa State was the first time Grady was given the reigns and was able to do his thing. He went 14 of 29 for 93 yds.

Was he nervous? Your damn right he was nervous and it showed. He rushed things early on. Later on in the game he got into a little groove was off on a couple passes. Then his delivery throwing the ball fell lower than usual and the defense intercepted two "fluke" interceptions as both balls doinked off linemen. All of these things can be fixed and I have faith that Grady can improve.

I got excited when I heard he was going to start the game. I got excited because he has the potential to put NIU over the top. That's something that Harnish didn't have the last two years. If Kill was going to put Harnish in at all this season he would have done it at some point in the 2nd half.

Can we beat Illinois with Grady as a starter?

Is there a method to Kill's madness, or are we in the beginning of a never-ending spiral?

Poll

What's up with Harnish?

Animated Drive Chart of NIU-Iowa State

2010-09-05T23:55:39Z

FULL SCREEN VERSION

Things of note:

We spend pretty much the entire game in ISU's territory

What was up with our punting?

And we really, really need a better field goal kicker

The Daily Diesel: Postgame Links

2010-09-04T16:03:27Z

Well that sucked...NIU 10, Iowa State 27

2010-09-03T03:54:25Z

More photos » Charlie Neibergall - AP

6 days ago: Iowa State running back Alexander Robinson, right, runs from Northern Illinois defensive back Chris Smith (5) during the first half of an NCAA college football game, Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010, in Ames, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

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The first half of this game was absolutely horrendous. It was like a hangover from the Independence Bowl. The offense couldn't convert a 3rd down to save its life. 3 for 13 the entire game is an embarrassment. With DeMarcus Grady starting at QB, they didn't even try to throw the ball over 5 yds down the field.

The defense all night was sub-par. Iowa State clearly won the battle over our offensive line. They were pretty much able to move at will all night long.

In the 2nd half, the offense opened up, but Grady and the offense was still off. Some of the offensive playcalling was just stupid. Give Chad Spann the ball in the redzone. Good thing Cameron Bell will be eligible next week.

Michael Cklamovski terrible at kicking field goals. Just awful. Just keep him on kickoffs.

DeMarcus Grady's goofy low passing motion led to two throws tipped and picked off by Iowa State. That needs to change. Keeping Grady in the game was an interesting choice. His confidence at QB may improve, but why do that when there are clearly better options behind center?

The worst part of this game was the fact that we were so close so many times, but failed to execute when we had the chance. Kudos to the defense for forcing 2 INTs and keeping the Huskies in this one.

This was just a stupid, stupid game that NIU was fully capable of winning. Hopefully, Iowa State will be the toughest BCS team that the Huskies have to face all season long. These next two weeks will be dedicated to sealing all of the creases for when we play the Illini.

This game didn't matter all that much, but it leaves a terrible taste in my mouth as how we could have EASILY won it.

Will Grady improve? Is Harnish even an option? Lynch?

That's all for now. More analysis later.

What other thoughts do you have on this game?

NIU @ Iowa State Game Thread

2010-09-02T23:00:33Z

Gametime: 7:00 PM

TV: Comcast Sporstnet/Fox Sports Net

Opposing blog: Clone Chronicles

Line: Iowa State -4, O/U 51

Northern Illinois @ Iowa State Preview

2010-09-02T14:13:07Z

More photos » L.G. Patterson - AP

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Offensive Gameplan

Just continue what you are used to doing and run the ball. Run left, run right and throw in some screens there. Iowa State's defense isn't very experienced at all. The Cyclones front seven is almost completely new. They lost all threee of their linebackers and their top-2 players on the DL. This is all from a team that finished 111th in getting to the QB last season.

Secondary is supposed to be their strength, as Leonard Johnson (64 tkls, 2 ints LY) is going to be the best player on that side of the ball when it comes to gametime. SS David Sims is still going to be suspended for the opener. The other corner Ter'Ran Benton recovered from a broken leg to start in the Insight Bowl.

We are breaking in 3 new starters in offensive line, so this may not be so easy. Whoever the quarterback may be (I'm picking Grady) needs to step it up when need be and keep this defense honest. A WR needs to step it up and make some serious plays downfield.

Defensive Gameplan

This is supposed to be the best defensive line in history and they have to play to their maximum potential if we want to get the victory. There is just so much talent and experience headlined by Jake Coffman that I am sure they will be able to keep the Huskies in the game. RB Alexander Robinson (1,195 yds, 6 TDs) is their main weapon and I'm sure the defense can take care of him.

Linebackers need to step it up from being mediocre last year to defend the spread attack that ISU is going to throw at us. We face mobile QBs in practice every day, so defending Austen Arnaud shouldn't be a problem. The secondary needs to not give up the big play, as they did so much last year. Remember the beginning of the Wisconsin game? Yeah, that can't happen again.

History in the Making

It's not like we haven't beaten the Cyclones before. In 2003 we defeated them at home 24-16. Chad Spann, like Michael Turner needs to have a good game on the ground. Grady/Harnish needs to play like Josh Haldi, not Phil Horvath. That means keep turnovers to a minimum. Don't make the dumb play, just play to your abilities and be a game manager.

It's been a while, but we've been in this spot before. This team should be the best since that 2004 squad, maybe even better.

GO HUSKIES!!!

Poll

Who wins?

NIU

51 votes

ISU

38 votes

89 votes | Poll has closed

The Daily Diesel: GAMEDAY EDITION

2010-09-02T13:04:06Z

Huskie Wire | 5 keys to today's game

Huskie Wire | TAKE 2: Who will start at quarterback for NIU?

Huskie Wire | GAMEDAY

Huskie Wire | NIU-ISU position breakdown, prediction

Huskie Wire | One last tour

Huskie Wire | Marine couldn't leave his Huskie comrades behind

Huskie Wire | Klein shapes Huskies for grueling season

Huskie Wire | Cox an underrated wide receiver

Huskie Wire | Mallory’s squad claimed program’s only MAC title on way to 1st major bowl

NIU vs. Iowa State: Key Players - Northern Star Online: News

Iowa State breakdown - Northern Star Online: Sports

Northern Illinois football preview - Chicago Tribune

NIU opens football season at Big 12 foe Iowa State - Rockford, IL - Rockford Register Star

Northern Illinois at Iowa State: Game Data

First road test: Iowa State :: Beacon News :: Local Sports

A storm is brewing: NIU set to open season against Cyclones - Northern Star Online: Sports

Northern Illinois at Iowa State - chicagotribune.com

Iowa State football: Steps toward meeting season goals begin Thursday | desmoinesregister.com | The Des Moines Register

Iowa State Opens Tough 2010 Schedule Against NIU - cbs2chicago.com

ISU defense braces for test in opener

Northern Illinois-Iowa State Capsule - cbs2chicago.com

Iowa State vs. Northern Illinois Preview - Clone Chronicles

Change of heart brings Coffman back to Huskies :: Beacon News :: Local Sports

Around the MAC and beyond

Week #1 MAC Football Picks 2010

Seven MAC Football Teams To Compete On TV This Weekend - MAC-Sports.com—Official Web Site of the Mid-American Conference

MAC Gameday Central: Week 1 (Thurs., Sept. 2) - MAC-Sports.com—Official Web Site of the Mid-American Conference

Northern Illinois vs. Iowa State: Q&A with Clone Chronicles

2010-09-01T13:46:18Z

More photos » Steve Pope - AP

Browse more photos »

What better way to find about the Iowa State Cyclones other than to interview Mark Kieffer from Clone Chronicles, SBN's own Iowa State blog.

What will the Cyclones offensive gameplan be against the Huskies?

Offensive Gameplan: Ball Control. They run a no-huddle spread with 4 Wide (sometimes 5 with the RB motioning out wide as well), but tend to run the ball and execute short passes. The strength of the offense is the O-Line and running back position with Alexander Robinson leading the way. The O-Line was one of the best in the league, and the running back position is 4 deep with talented guys.

Robinson is a smart back and has good hands out of the backfield. He's been known to wheel route it out of the backfield, and usually defense don't pick up on it, with Robinson going for 6, or at least a huge gain.

ISU runs the zone-read quite a bit, and Arnaud is not a shabby runner either.

If we are able to stop the run, how confident are you with your quarterback (Austen Arnaud) and the passing game?

If NIU can stop the run, ISU is in trouble. The big disappointment last year was Arnaud never getting a full grasp of the offense (first year running it), and the Wide Receivers underachiving big time. I am in "wait and see" mode with the passing game. I expect it to be improved, but am not sure how much it will be. In my opinion, wide receivers are overhyped. In the Big 12, guys that are 6-2 and run a 4.5-4.6 40 are a dime-a-dozen, and ISU doesn't have WRs that stand out in comparison with the league.

If ISU is going to win games this year, they will need to pass well, to avoid having opponents stacking 8-9 in the box. That's pretty much the storyline with the offense.

The key for the defense last season was to force the turnover. What will have to happen this year for that side of the ball to be successful?

Defense: This team will continue to have to be turnover minded. The front 7 are a total wildcard but weakness on the team. If they can get a pass rush without having to sell out on the blitz, they will be fine. The secondary is very good, but when the QB has all day to throw, it makes them look much worse than they are. The defensive line has been horrible for a few years, and I expect them to be the worst in the league again.

Honestly, if ISU wins games, it will be with the defense allowing 21-24, and the offense scoring 27 and up. The coaches on that side of the ball are great, but even good coaching can't make up for lack of athleticism at times, especially on the D-Line.

How are is the Cyclone fanbase feeling about the game this weekend? Where are the expectations for this year?

Fanbase's feelings for Thursday: must win. ISU fans know if they lose this one, a bowl is not happening. We've been told all summer by the local media NIU will be tough, and I think most fans know it will be a close, grind it out type of a game. They'd be disappointed with a loss, but not completly shocked.

Expectations for the year from fans: all over the map. The analytical ones point out the #1 toughest schedule ranking by Phil Steele. The gut-feel type say "come on man, Paul Rhoads did big things last year, and that will continue.", and arrive at the conclusion that the team will win 6 games somehow.

For me, I expect the team to be better, but record to be worse compared to last year 3 or 4 wins. I will say I predicted 6-6 last year and was dead on. Last year the schedule was the 71st most difficult by Sagarin. The team was mediocre and barely got in a bowl game. It's going to take a few years before we know if Rhoads can take ISU to the proverbial next level when they are competitive week in and week out in the Big 12.

Predictions?

Predictions: ISU wins 20-16 in a slugfest. NIU will force ISU into their weaker areas, but I think ISU has more depth, which will help, in a grinder like this one.

Thank you so much to Mark for answering these questions and good luck on gameday!

Notes from Kill's pre-Iowa State presser

2010-08-31T13:17:38Z

Excerpts from the Kill's Presser (bold emphasis added):

On the Cyclones:

On Iowa State's defensive strengths
"Well, I think their strength is, number one, is they are so well-disciplined. They're not going to give you a big play. They are very strong in the secondary...with two strong corners who are very gifted. Their coach does a great job at coaching; he's been coaching for 40 years. You don't coach 40 years and not know anything about football. I think the big thing I see in Iowa State's whole program is that they've got discipline. They're not going to make a lot of mistakes. They were number two in the red zone defense a year ago. They're just very, very solid at discipline, very aggressive, very good tacklers. I've got nothing but compliments for what I've seen from film and that's all I can go by: what I've seen on film from a year ago."

On Iowa State's quarterback and their offense
"He's a great player. They have a great running back. Seven or eight starters are returning. Offensively they will be very good. It will be a big challenge for us. It really will be. Running backs, they know how to run the football. That's really the number one goal: we have to stop the run. There isn't any question about that on defense. If we don't do that, it will be a long day."

On Position Battles:

On the number of quarterbacks that will play Thursday
"We won't see three quarterbacks. I'm not going to name the starter until game time, it's not anything against anybody in this room. It's just like anything: you try to go into game, you don't want to let a coordinator prepare anything different. Whoever it's going to be, we don't want to reveal that. We don't plan on playing three or anything to that nature."

On possibly seeing two quarterbacks Thursday
"Don't know that either, probably not. We'll just have to see if the situation arises. I hate to say anything. If you interviewed me two or three years ago it wouldn't have been a problem. But when I went to University of Tennessee, I think we were on our fourth quarterback at that time, I never thought that would happen. We'll probably travel four quarterbacks because of that situation. In my career, I've never had anybody get hurt at quarterback as much as we've had here."

On what level our offense and defense are on
"I think they're about the same. I feel good about both sides of the ball; as good as you can feel practicing against each other. I think each side of the ball has had success. I think we've been offensively up-front. Our offensive line, I think we're a more physical unit than we were a year ago...defensive line has probably made us that way. I think both sides of the ball have helped each other. We've seen a lot of things from each other and I think hopefully it has prepared us for not only this game but for the season.

On naming a kicker
"Again, I don't think you can answer that til game day. If you ask me that question again on Thursday night I'll be able to give you a lot better of an answer. I mean I could go out and make a field goal right now and I'm pretty old, but I could put one through those uprights from between 15 or 20 yards. But could I do it against Iowa State in a game situation? Probably not. I haven't had the repetition to do it. Game situations are totally different. That's why I think sooner or later you have to throw your team out there and let them play to see where you truly really are. You can predict, you can do all those types of things, but until you play, you don't know what you have. That's what in college football is unique because we don't have a pre-season like NFL does."

On the kicking situation
"I don't know yet. I have time to make a decision on that situation. There's a couple of guys in there. It may be a situational thing too. We very well may kick somebody off and have somebody do field goals. We may kick two. That is a possibility."

HAHAHAHAHAHA

Game Strategy:

On whether a low scoring game might help win the game
"If it's low scoring, high scoring, if it's 2-0 and it's a safety, as long as the outcome is in our end I really don't care. I don't know, being the first game, it will be the team. Just like anything you look at the first games in college football, it'll be the team that doesn't turn over the football. It will be the team that plays the best in special teams. Usually the first game, for whatever reason, is determined a lot by special teams, field position, turnovers, and other people's mistakes. I think the team that makes the least mistakes will win the game. It really comes down to that. And certainly in the first week, sometimes you have enough talent to overcome some of those mistakes. But in the first week, sometimes you don't see that as much."

Tracy Wilson's legs are as valuable as gold:

On the defense being prepared for the schedule
"We are ready for the stretch that we have coming up. Coach Kill and the coaching staff do a good job at us getting our legs back. The stretch isn't gong to be too difficult as long as we have our legs. As long as we have our legs we're going to be good and Coach Kill does a good job with getting our legs back."

Newsflash: This NIU team is really young

2010-08-31T13:36:28Z

via the Iowa State preview on NIUHuskies.com

An introduction to new faces:

Youth is Served
Northern Illinois lists 30 freshmen and sophomores on its current depth chart on offense and defense with 19 of those on the defensive side of the ball. There are five first-year Huskies on the offensive two-deep - receivers Da'Ron Brown and Akeem Daniels, offensive linemen Matt Battaglia and Tyler Loos, and tailback Jasmin Hopkins (a junior). The NIU defensive depth chart includes seven 2010 newcomers, with four linebackers (Greg Barksdale, Jamaal Bass, Cameron Stingily, Mike Hellams), joined by defensive end Joe Windsor, and safeties Jimmie Ward and Demetrius Stone (a sophomore). In addition to the newcomers, eight redshirt freshmen - four on offense and four on defense - are set to make their NIU debuts versus Iowa State.

New Look Line
The Huskies' offensive line features a new look for 2010 with 50-game starter Eddie Adamski (center) and 38-game starter Jason Onyebuagu (guard), who played in every NIU game over the last four years, lost to graduation and 2009 starter at tackle Adam Kiel currently working with the second team. Three players - center Scott Wedige, left guard Logan Pegram and right tackle Keith Otis - are expected to make their first career starts at Iowa State. They will be joined by left tackle Trevor Olson, who has started every Huskie game over the past two seasons, and Joe Pawlak, who started every game last season.

Reality is setting in that we will have 3 new starters on the offensive line when we face the Iowa State Cyclones. I'm hoping that the defensive line got this team ready for battle.

Here's to hoping that the young backup players won't have to play a significant amount of time until the home opener against North Dakota.

These guys are still around?

Experience Counts
On the other end of the spectrum are eight Huskies who have played in 30-plus games for Northern Illinois, with senior long snapper Nolan Owen leading the list with 38 games played. Cornerback Patrick George is next on the experience list with appearances in 37 games, followed by Landon Cox, Alex Kube and Chad Spann with 36 games apiece. Tailback Ricky Crider (33), fullback Kyle Skarb (32) and defensive tackle D.J. Pirkle (32) are the other 30-game guys on the 2010 roster. Another six Huskies have played in 25 or more games.

Not having George for the opener is going to hurt, as he is the most experienced player in the secondary by far.

Kill names anywhere from 7-12 captains

2010-08-31T12:43:55Z

Here is your leadership council per HuskieWire and Northern Star:

Offense

RB Ricky Crider, WR Landon Cox, TE Jason Schepler & LT Trevor Olson

Defense

LB Alex Kube, DE Jake Coffman, SS Tracy Wilson

But wait, there's more:

The five NIU quarterbacks - juniors DeMarcus Grady, Chandler Harnish and Casey Weston and redshirt freshmen Jordan Lynch and A.J. Hill - also were named to the Leadership Council because "every quarterback needs to be a leader," Kill said.

I'd hate to be one of the QBs getting the "token" captaincy, but hey why not. Somebody needs to put those guys through the ringer and who knows, they may come out the other side as diamond. I'm really digging the fact he's putting these signal callers under as much pressure as possible. So for now, let's just enjoy the fact we have so many "leaders" on the team. Only 4 seniors though, which is a little unusual.

Leadership seems like something that needs to be firmly established this year. Who has truly been a leader on this team in Kill's first 2 years here?

Northern Illinois and preseason hype

2010-08-30T14:01:15Z

The media has spoken and they like Northern Illinois to win the MAC West this year. What does that mean? Probably not a whole lot, but what other times have the Huskies been picked to win their division?

2009 prediction: 5th

Actual finish: 2nd (7-6, 5-3)

2008 prediction: 5th

Actual finish: 4th (6-7, 5-3)

2007 prediction: 5th

Actual finish: 6th (2-10, 1-6)

2006 prediction: 1st

Actual finish: 3rd (7-6, 5-3)

2005 prediction: 2nd

Actual finish: 1st (7-5, 6-2)

2004 prediction: 2nd

Actual finish: 1st (9-3, 7-1)

2003 prediction: 1st

Actual finish: 2nd (10-2, 6-2)

2002 prediction: 3rd

Actual finish: 1st (8-4, 7-1)

2003 as we all know was that year we beat a couple ranked teams, but in-conference the Huskies struggled against talented Bowling Green and Toledo teams. This was mostly due to injuries and lack of depth for a team that put NIU on the map, but couldn't capture that elusive MAC Championship. Or even make a bowl game nonetheless. To this day, even though the Huskies didn't meet all of their goals that season will always be a success. I'm damn tired of talking about something that happened 7 years ago though.

2006 was just an absolute disaster right from the start. Garrett Wolfe and Doug Free couldn't do it all for this team. They struggled right out of the gate against eventual East winners Ohio. Later on Western Michigan completely shut down our offense and Toledo came out on top in the infamous "Fog Game". Our defense under Novak was always a bit suspect when they weren't forcing a bunch of turnovers, so this season's downfall could be put on the lack of production on the offensive side of the ball.

When Phil Horvath at QB, Britt Davis and Marcus Perez at WR are your other offensive threats, you know you are going to be in trouble (hindsight 20/20). Everybody knew our offensive gameplan was going to be getting Wolfe the ball and we had no other options on offense. Check out this snippet of an ESPN preview from 2006:

NIU has won games over the years with a strong running game and good defense. That figures to be the recipe again this season, but a decent passing game will be needed to keep opponents off Wolfe's back. Nicholson appears to have more flash, and his cannon arm could really take pressure off the run, provided the young receivers can separate from defenders.

This year our defense is going to be light years ahead of what we had in 2006. On offense, we return pretty much everybody that was involved in the passing game. But the same questions remain: will our passing game be enough? Will the WR corps develop enough to take the pressure off what could be an extremely strong running game? We didn't lose a Sam Hurd or Shatone Powers, but who is going to step it up downfield? We all know what Landon Cox can do, but what about Nathan Palmer, Willie Clark or Martel Moore? Does it matter who is going to start at QB?

Our fullbacks are better than your fullbacks

2010-08-28T14:39:37Z

Whether it's Kyle Skarb catching a sideline pass downfield or Connor Flahive blocking for a Chad Spann touchdown, their badassery reigns supreme.

Northern Illinois to play Ohio State in 2015

2010-08-27T13:41:49Z

The 2010 Football Interactive Guide revealed that the Huskies would play the Ohio State Buckeyes (again) five seasons from now. Sidenote: The interactive guide is nice, but where is my real media guide? I want to look at stats and records all day.

HuskieWire went ahead and confirmed the date against the Buckeyes would be Sep 12, 2015. The payout will also be 900,000 for playing in The Horseshoe.

If you looked at the future schedules page, we already knew that the Huskies were going to play Wake Forest in 2014. But now the date has been set for Sep 14th. We play the Demon Deacons in 2001, 2002 and 2015. The years in that agreement were really close together. That was 2 ADs ago.

As you may remember NIU played Ohio State in 2006 to open the season and this happened:

Oh and we lost that game 12-35.

Depth Charting - 7 days till Iowa State

2010-08-26T14:14:15Z

The Northern Illinois Football depth chart has been released via HuskieWire and via NIUHuskies.com.

Here is just some random food for thought:

Quarterback, as expected, still hasn't been decided and the three remaining candidates are Chandler Harnish OR DeMarcus Grady OR Jordan Lynch. I can't see Lynch going out there with zero experience under his belt, so it has to be one of the former two.
Kicker is going to either be true freshman Matthew Simms or Illinois transfer Michael Cklamovski. I see Simms tackling just field goals and Cklamovski as kickoff specialist.
It also looks like we'll be able to catch a decent amount of Jasmin Hopkins on kickoff return this year, as Tommy Davis will now just return punts and play free safety.
The secondary is a little beat up with our best CB Patrick George hurt, but Kiaree Daniels has a good amount of experience and should be able to fill in at least for a little while until George comes back and plays.
All four freshman we recruited at linebacker are on the depth chart!
Offensive line is thin. Only one backup offensive lineman has seen any playing time before. Logan Pegram looks like he's our new LG and Keith Otis is going to be at RT until Adam Kiel can work his way back into the lineup.

What are your thoughts on the depth chart?

Here is my preseason blogpoll ballot

2010-08-24T16:17:23Z

Red and Black Attack Ballot - Week 1

Rank	Team	Delta
1	Oklahoma Sooners	--
2	Ohio St. Buckeyes	--
3	Alabama Crimson Tide	--
4	TCU Horned Frogs	--
5	Florida Gators	--
6	Nebraska Cornhuskers	--
7	Boise St. Broncos	--
8	Texas Longhorns	--
9	Oregon Ducks	--
10	Miami Hurricanes	--
11	Virginia Tech Hokies	--
12	Georgia Bulldogs	--
13	Iowa Hawkeyes	--
14	USC Trojans	--
15	Florida St. Seminoles	--
16	Arkansas Razorbacks	--
17	North Carolina Tar Heels	--
18	Penn St. Nittany Lions	--
19	South Carolina Gamecocks	--
20	Wisconsin Badgers	--
21	LSU Tigers	--
22	Auburn Tigers	--
23	Arizona Wildcats	--
24	Stanford Cardinal	--
25	Oregon St. Beavers	--

SB Nation BlogPoll College Football Top 25 Rankings "

Look familiar?

It's the exact same thing as Phil Steele's preseason power poll. He knows a lot more about these teams than I do and his predicting power is uncanny. I agree wholeheartedly with his bold choice of Oklahoma at the #1 spot. They were thrown the the fire last season, but still managed to achieve a 8-5 record. They were one of the unluckiest teams in the nation last season and should be able to turn it around with a much more seasoned group of players on offense especially. OSU is loaded with talent. Bama will be a step down from last year on defense, but still could be a contender. Mid-majors will continue to have a label attached to them, Texas and Florida have new QBs and is Nebraska ready for that breakthrough season?

I would have switched things around it if I saw a team like Illinois in the top-25 somewhere, but they aren't. I truly believe that the top 8 teams in the poll are all national championship contenders. After Texas, that is where things get dicey. There are way too many unreliable teams that could completely fizzle out as soon as the season starts.

I'll wait until I see some games to make judgment calls, but for now Steele is my word.

Thoughts?

"It’d be bad if you had three bad quarterbacks and you had to make a decision," Kill said. "We’re fo...

2010-08-20T13:42:36Z

"It’d be bad if you had three bad quarterbacks and you had to make a decision," Kill said. "We’re fortunate we have good quarterbacks and have to make a decision. I’m blessed with that."

-Coach Kill on how QB is the least of his concerns at this point

Red And Black Attack

Week 2 BlogPoll Ballot

Red and Black Attack Ballot - Week 2

Iowa State completely isolated NIU's defensive line

Grady's Throwing Mechanics

Dr. Kill or: How I learned to stop worrying and love DeMarcus Grady

Give DeMarcus Grady a chance.

What's up with Harnish?

Animated Drive Chart of NIU-Iowa State

The Daily Diesel: Postgame Links

Huskie Nation

Non-rev

Around the MAC and beyond

Well that sucked...NIU 10, Iowa State 27

NIU @ Iowa State Game Thread

Gametime: 7:00 PM

TV: Comcast Sporstnet/Fox Sports Net

Opposing blog: Clone Chronicles

Line: Iowa State -4, O/U 51

Northern Illinois @ Iowa State Preview

Offensive Gameplan

Defensive Gameplan

History in the Making

GO HUSKIES!!!

Who wins?

NIU

ISU

The Daily Diesel: GAMEDAY EDITION

Northern Illinois vs. Iowa State: Q&A with Clone Chronicles

What will the Cyclones offensive gameplan be against the Huskies?

If we are able to stop the run, how confident are you with your quarterback (Austen Arnaud) and the passing game?

The key for the defense last season was to force the turnover. What will have to happen this year for that side of the ball to be successful?

How are is the Cyclone fanbase feeling about the game this weekend? Where are the expectations for this year?

Predictions?

Notes from Kill's pre-Iowa State presser

On the Cyclones:

On Position Battles:

Game Strategy:

Tracy Wilson's legs are as valuable as gold:

Newsflash: This NIU team is really young

An introduction to new faces:

These guys are still around?

Kill names anywhere from 7-12 captains

Offense

Defense

Northern Illinois and preseason hype

Our fullbacks are better than your fullbacks

Northern Illinois to play Ohio State in 2015

Depth Charting - 7 days till Iowa State

Here is my preseason blogpoll ballot

Red and Black Attack Ballot - Week 1

"It’d be bad if you had three bad quarterbacks and you had to make a decision," Kill said. "We’re fo...