Five Questions: With a Northern Illinois writer
- Thread starter ChrisMWilliams
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CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
Very nice post...thanks for the leg work there. This really makes me feel much better. It'll be a good game, a competitive game, but I think it's a two touchdown win in the end.
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
Give "him" time. There will be somebody, and whoever it is will dominate our tailgating scene and rule our lives.
One thing I've learned on CF is that every fan base feels that they can prove themselves against us. Those idiot Huskers still think they can prove that we didn't beat them in Lincoln.
I've learned more about Baylor, South Dakota State and North Dakota State here than I ever thought possible.
So that should make us one of the most well-informed fanbases in college football, right?:wink:
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
I wasn't around these boards when ISU played SDSU. However, whatever was said, allow me to apologize on behalf of my dad.:biglaugh:
CycloneErik
Well-Known Member
That's when we met Superbunny, and honestly, all of us who were around for his visits really respect that guy. Still among the favorite visiting fan posters this site has.
The man didn't even say all that he could have after our infamous debacle MBB game against the Jackrabbits.
What a joke of a schedule. Five teams with a combined seven wins! Wow. I guess I knew the MAC was bad, but that is a whole different level of terrible.
Prior to learning this I had already been one of the people who thought everybody was worrying way too much about this game, but seeing that...if we lose this game, it will be a disaster almost on the level of losing to Kent in Chizik's first game.
We should win this by at least two touchdowns.
From the highlights I would say that ARob and AA could potentially have big games. As open as the middle was on these highlights, if we can spread them out it should be even more open.
Normally, I’m not big on who or what is being said elsewhere. Personally, I couldn’t care less about what is being said by Hawkeye fan or over at Hawkeye Nation. However, I did take a look at NIU’s board for ***** and giggles. Man, did I get a lot of giggles…
Yes, Iowa State’s wins are not spectacular. At the same time, if the teams each team beat are matched up, Iowa State still had the “tougher” opponents. North Dakota State beat Western Illinois later in ’09. Outside of that, each team’s worst win (win against team with worst record) would matchup Colorado against Eastern Michigan. I would put money on Colorado to win that game.
As for the Nebraska game, Iowa State beat them with a freshman quarterback and freshman running back starting that game AT Nebraska. Also, it was a freshman receiver that caught ISU’s only touchdown. Also, wasn’t it a freshman starting at left tackle that game protecting the freshman quarterback’s blind side? Call it whatever you want, Iowa State still won the game and the only luck in the world is being able to find your car in the parking lot after the game.
Oh, you mean when both programs had different coaching staffs and at this point, not a single player from either school remains on either roster that would have been playing in ’03 or ’04. Child please, quit living in the past. Way too many things have changed since then that what happened in ’03 and ’04 has no bearing on what is going to happen in 2010. You don’t have Michael Turner or Garrett Wolfe anymore.
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Hey guys,
NIU fan here. I'll be in Ames on that opening Thursday, looking forward to it, it will be my 1st trip as I was unable to attend in '04.
Couple of things:
Sorry to the fans who had a terrible experience in Dekalb in 2003. I think we have a good fan base but a lot of what you experienced was band-wagon fans that hadn't really been around a program that had any success for a long time. I was a Senior that year and have to leave in the middle of the 4th quarter to make my cousin's wedding reception! Went down to Tuscaloosa a couple weeks prior to that to watch us knock off Bama, that was great. You'll find that the Huskie fans that make the trip to Ames will be great. The ones who travel are the experienced fans that love to mingle and soak up that campuses atmosphere. NIU is probably the best traveling program in the MAC. We brought 8-10k to the big house in '05, there was a TON of red. Fortunately/unfortunately depending how you look at it, we probably won't travel extremely well to Ames b/c of the combination of weekday game and Minny and Illini on the schedule. We only get a crack at Illinois once in a great while, and I know we are bringing the house down there b/c that's a game we should win. Minny is also intriguing b/c of the new stadium. Plus, many fans have had a chance to make the trip to Ames in '04.
Regarding the game, we have a very solid squad coming back and we look at the ISU game as winnable. ISU will be the favorite and I think that will be right. To say that it's a definite win for NIU is complete homerism, but for Cyclone fans to say it's an easy 30-point victory is complete homerism as well. EVERY BCS opponent's fan base thinks they'll beat us by 30-40. In the last several years, Tenn did, Bama did, Iowa did, Purdue did, Minnesota did, Wisconsin did, Maryland did, Auburn did, Illinois did, etc. etc. All those games were won or decided by less than a posession. NIU plays BCS opponents tough, year after year, this one will be no different.
Regarding the break down of the schedule from last year. Can't argue with that. We were a young team the last 2 years that was re-building. We beat the teams we were supposed to and lost to the teams we were supposed to. My opinion, and I share it with many Huskie faithful, we were a large benefactor of a watered-down bowl system. I do think this year's team is anywhere from 8-4 to 11-1. Anything less then a trip to the MAC championship and a bowl win will be a disappointment, whereas the past 2 bowl games were a pleasant surprise.
Our D-line is tough and experienced and about as deep as it can get at a "mid-major" b/c that is by far the hardest position to recruit if you are not an elite program. It's crazy b/c that ALWAYS our biggest concern going up against BCS opponents. Our o-line is actually pretty solid, especially at the tackle spot, interior we are replacing 2 4-year starters, but the back-ups are pretty highly acclaimed.
Defensively we are going to be very, very solid this year. Offensively we will be fine too, but the difference b/w this team and the team you saw in '03 and '04 is we don't have some absolute game-breaker lining up for us. We have a stable of nice players but no real all-american types like we've had in the past.
I expect this one to go down to the wire. My heart says Huskies, my brain says take the Cyclones b/c of the 3 pt. home field advantage. 23-20 ISU.
NIU fan here. I'll be in Ames on that opening Thursday, looking forward to it, it will be my 1st trip as I was unable to attend in '04.
Couple of things:
Sorry to the fans who had a terrible experience in Dekalb in 2003. I think we have a good fan base but a lot of what you experienced was band-wagon fans that hadn't really been around a program that had any success for a long time. I was a Senior that year and have to leave in the middle of the 4th quarter to make my cousin's wedding reception! Went down to Tuscaloosa a couple weeks prior to that to watch us knock off Bama, that was great. You'll find that the Huskie fans that make the trip to Ames will be great. The ones who travel are the experienced fans that love to mingle and soak up that campuses atmosphere. NIU is probably the best traveling program in the MAC. We brought 8-10k to the big house in '05, there was a TON of red. Fortunately/unfortunately depending how you look at it, we probably won't travel extremely well to Ames b/c of the combination of weekday game and Minny and Illini on the schedule. We only get a crack at Illinois once in a great while, and I know we are bringing the house down there b/c that's a game we should win. Minny is also intriguing b/c of the new stadium. Plus, many fans have had a chance to make the trip to Ames in '04.
Regarding the game, we have a very solid squad coming back and we look at the ISU game as winnable. ISU will be the favorite and I think that will be right. To say that it's a definite win for NIU is complete homerism, but for Cyclone fans to say it's an easy 30-point victory is complete homerism as well. EVERY BCS opponent's fan base thinks they'll beat us by 30-40. In the last several years, Tenn did, Bama did, Iowa did, Purdue did, Minnesota did, Wisconsin did, Maryland did, Auburn did, Illinois did, etc. etc. All those games were won or decided by less than a posession. NIU plays BCS opponents tough, year after year, this one will be no different.
Regarding the break down of the schedule from last year. Can't argue with that. We were a young team the last 2 years that was re-building. We beat the teams we were supposed to and lost to the teams we were supposed to. My opinion, and I share it with many Huskie faithful, we were a large benefactor of a watered-down bowl system. I do think this year's team is anywhere from 8-4 to 11-1. Anything less then a trip to the MAC championship and a bowl win will be a disappointment, whereas the past 2 bowl games were a pleasant surprise.
Our D-line is tough and experienced and about as deep as it can get at a "mid-major" b/c that is by far the hardest position to recruit if you are not an elite program. It's crazy b/c that ALWAYS our biggest concern going up against BCS opponents. Our o-line is actually pretty solid, especially at the tackle spot, interior we are replacing 2 4-year starters, but the back-ups are pretty highly acclaimed.
Defensively we are going to be very, very solid this year. Offensively we will be fine too, but the difference b/w this team and the team you saw in '03 and '04 is we don't have some absolute game-breaker lining up for us. We have a stable of nice players but no real all-american types like we've had in the past.
I expect this one to go down to the wire. My heart says Huskies, my brain says take the Cyclones b/c of the 3 pt. home field advantage. 23-20 ISU.
Nice to see you on the board, I agree with homerish comments, but this board is very known for drinking the cool-aid. Along with that note at this juncture in the season everyone gets very excited for the season and tends to go into 'higher-hopes' mode, preseason predictions and ranking are not very well research which makes everyone want to prove the disrespect wrong... Which as an Iowa State fan is every pre-season....
I personally did not think that the 2003 trip was that bad, accept for a few mishapes with motel manager, one which included climbing a fence and jumping into bunch of rusted nails. The other thing was the whole fun tailgating atmosphere. We made it fun though....
I personally did not think that the 2003 trip was that bad, accept for a few mishapes with motel manager, one which included climbing a fence and jumping into bunch of rusted nails. The other thing was the whole fun tailgating atmosphere. We made it fun though....
I think the biggest difference between NIU now and in '03-'04 is that Jerry Kill is now at DeKalb. He is a great coach. I remember his teams at Southern Illinois when he made them into a I-AA power; very physical and punishing on both sides of the ball. His NIU teams are playing the same way.
This will be an extremely tough game for us. Northern Illinois could beat some Big 12 teams, and I hope we're not one on them.
This game will come down to turnovers IMO. If our D can create 1-2 more TOs than we give up then I think we win by 10 or so. If AA throws a couple pick or fumbles at key times we could easily lose by 14. With our young LBs and suspect DL we need to keep the D off the field as much as possible. If we sustain long drives and keep the D fresh we should be able to pull away late, but I don't see us winning by any more than 17.
Good barometer of where we are as a program with this being the first game.
Good barometer of where we are as a program with this being the first game.
