Northern Illinois Huskies Season Preview

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The Huskies had a tumultuous off-season involving their star running back graduating, their star LB forced to redshirt after getting shot, as well as losing head coach Jerry Kill.

Kill is now the head coach at Minnesota, so starting a new era of Northern Illinois football will be Dave Doeren.

Doeren was the defensive coach at Wisconsin for the past three seasons and will now take over a program that is coming off an 11-3 season which includes the 40-17 obliteration of Fresno State in the Humanitarian Bowl.  

Husky Beef

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Jasmin Hopkins will attempt to replace Chad Spann’s 1,388 yards and his 22 TDs. He was 1^st Team All-MAC and it will be next to impossible to have a better replacement, but remember that the Huskies still have the best offensive line in the MAC.

Olsen, Pawlak, and Wedige are three stud linemen that should pave the way for whoever is running.

The receivers are all back and are led by Willie Clark (6’1, 210) and Nathan Palmer (5’11, 197) who are both shifty targets that can stretch the field against MAC competition. Their production will be based on returning QB Chandler Harnish’s play. He has been dinged up in the past, so he must stay healthy.

Senior Leadership

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Now a senior, Chandler has a ton of momentum going into the 2011 season as he totaled 3,300 yards along with 28 TDs. Harnish was 32^nd last year in total offense averaging 258 YPG. Harnish had 372 yards and 3 TDs in the bowl victory over a disinterested Bulldogs team.

Capping an improbable 10-2 (8-0) MAC regular season where their only loss was in the MAC Championship Game had to be considered a solid season. Maybe it would have been an improbable season had they not squandered a conference title to Miami Ohio. 

Step Up Not Down

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Defensively, they may be down a few notches, especially with only two starters back. The biggest loss was their star LB Devon Butler who was forced to redshirt after getting shot in the spring. Butler was the number two tackler on the team with 80 tackles and he also had 4.5 sacks and 3 tackle for losses.

Sean Progar returns from a 1^st Team All-MAC season and will need to play like the best defensive player in the conference for this front four to continue to kick some tail. Everybody else up front is not experienced, so it really comes down to how much Progar has improved.

The back four is also known as the secondary and it was 44^th against the pass last year allowing 208 YPG. Only FS Tommy Davis returns which means the corners better be able to tackle in open space and to avoid getting burnt deep against the MAC's elite in Jordan White (WM) and Eric Page (Toledo). 

Drama's Forecast

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The schedule is manageable though their non-conference slate will certainly test them as they have two bowl teams from last year which include the Big Ten/Rose Bowl champion Wisconsin Badgers at Soldier Field.

A road game in Lawrence against the Kansas Jayhawks is easily the biggest trap game of the non-conference slate since they may be looking ahead to Wisconsin. They also open the season against a decent Army team that can run the ball down their throats.

They should avoid getting shut out against those three teams and will have some momentum going into conference play after they demolish Cal Poly.

The game to circle which will be for the division and a crack at the MAC Title will be Tuesday, November 1^st at Toledo. The winner will likely win the MAC East Division as well as the entire MAC! I like the Huskies this season, just not nearly as much as I did a season ago.

Predicted Finish: 8-5, 6-2

Predicted Bowl: Little Ceasers Bowl 

Predicted order of finish in MAC: Third overall, Second in West Division