Five Questions: With a Northern Illinois writer

[IowaHuskiesFan]

First off .. I am one of the few Iowa located NIU Fans. I live in the heart of CyHawk land. I endure every season the Iowa annual least productive week of the year.. that would be the week leading up to the Iowa-ISU game. Being one that has to hear about Iowa football teams on a regular basis and a NIU fa .. Here is my breakdown.

Also I agree with the statements in my other Huskie fans post...

ISU State from an outsider ... Coach still needs to prove himself, rebuilding .. see first comment coach needs to prove he recruited the right players. This season is going to go bad whether you beat the huskies or not. The season schedule is tough. lastly the most controversial -- If the Big 12 broke up ISU would be just another mid-major.

NIU State - Decent coach but also needs to prove himself. He in his 3rd year even though they been to 2 bowls it been a mix of Novak recruits and his. Still needs to prove to huskie faithful that he gonna move us in the right direction.. This is a pivital year in huskie land.. 3 winnable BCS teams in ISU, Illinois and Minnesota. Good for you guys is NIU rather beat a Big 10 school then a Big 12 school, especially Illinois. NIU regularly fights over recruits in the Chicago area with the illini.

So on to the game...

Everyone seem to look at the strengths .. which will wash each other out... The Huskie Defense will be able to hold your Offensive in check. This is leave your Defense on the field for more then you will want them to be. The Huskies will run the ball and grind it out. Our O-line will stand firm against you young defense and the one of the RB will break out and have a game. If NIU gets a passing game going early it will be a long day for the clones. If not it will be a boring game as both teams will run alot.


How ISU wins .. NIU can't stop that big RB. They lost the Bowl game last year in my opinion to 1 player. Hope they learned a lesson about how to tackle a monster RB.

How NIU Wins .. shows that they are not just a running team. They get both pieces moving somewhat and your defense is going to be doing who . what .. where I did see it. But it still won't be a blow out. The passing game all comes down to the QB.. and that is a question in the huskie camp who will it be?

Huskies play tough and against BCS teams, BCS teams all do think it just a MAC team. We will tear them up, and that is not the case mostly.

got to run but my score on the game would be Huskie by minor margin in a low scoring game. 14-10. Boring game as well.

 

[Al_4_State]

First off .. I am one of the few Iowa located NIU Fans. I live in the heart of CyHawk land. I endure every season the Iowa annual least productive week of the year.. that would be the week leading up to the Iowa-ISU game. Being one that has to hear about Iowa football teams on a regular basis and a NIU fa .. Here is my breakdown.

Also I agree with the statements in my other Huskie fans post...

ISU State from an outsider ... Coach still needs to prove himself, rebuilding .. see first comment coach needs to prove he recruited the right players. This season is going to go bad whether you beat the huskies or not. The season schedule is tough. lastly the most controversial -- If the Big 12 broke up ISU would be just another mid-major.

NIU State - Decent coach but also needs to prove himself. He in his 3rd year even though they been to 2 bowls it been a mix of Novak recruits and his. Still needs to prove to huskie faithful that he gonna move us in the right direction.. This is a pivital year in huskie land.. 3 winnable BCS teams in ISU, Illinois and Minnesota. Good for you guys is NIU rather beat a Big 10 school then a Big 12 school, especially Illinois. NIU regularly fights over recruits in the Chicago area with the illini.

So on to the game...

Everyone seem to look at the strengths .. which will wash each other out... The Huskie Defense will be able to hold your Offensive in check. This is leave your Defense on the field for more then you will want them to be. The Huskies will run the ball and grind it out. Our O-line will stand firm against you young defense and the one of the RB will break out and have a game. If NIU gets a passing game going early it will be a long day for the clones. If not it will be a boring game as both teams will run alot.


How ISU wins .. NIU can't stop that big RB. They lost the Bowl game last year in my opinion to 1 player. Hope they learned a lesson about how to tackle a monster RB.

How NIU Wins .. shows that they are not just a running team. They get both pieces moving somewhat and your defense is going to be doing who . what .. where I did see it. But it still won't be a blow out. The passing game all comes down to the QB.. and that is a question in the huskie camp who will it be?

Huskies play tough and against BCS teams, BCS teams all do think it just a MAC team. We will tear them up, and that is not the case mostly.

got to run but my score on the game would be Huskie by minor margin in a low scoring game. 14-10. Boring game as well.

I guarantee you that is not how the ISU team is approaching this game. This is a must win for ISU.

 

[IowaHuskiesFan]

I guarantee you that is not how the ISU team is approaching this game. This is a must win for ISU.

This really is a must win game for ISU since you look at the schedule and mark games that are winnable this would be one that would be. Looking at it with honesty some of those games are not winable without luck.

I did have one more comment on that schedule winning percentage. Yes we had a pretty weak schedule. and yes we beat the teams that we should beat.

What did we do in the losts... 3 of those 6 lose were really close games which could have gone either way in the 4th quarter. The others... we played tough against USF and Wisconsin for a half or so... And the Central Mich Game they just beat us.

From the NIU camp I think we think all three of our BCS games this year are winable but we won't win all but should win 1 or 2..will the one be ISU. I hope so ..that way I am not eating crow in the office for a while...

 

[Ace000087]

If the Big 12 broke up ISU would be just another mid-major.

Iowa State has played major college athletics since 1928, and is 22-4 against the MAC. 3 of those 4 losses were some of ISU's worst teams in school history. The Big12(10) hasn't broken up yet, and I don't think it will.

That said, NIU will put up a fight, but I don't think ISU can afford to lose this one, I bet the coaches know it, and so do the players. Should be a fun game, I'll be there.

 

[RING4CY]

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.

I want to emphasize that I didn't say I expect ISU to win by 30-plus points, I just won't be surprised if they do.

I mean, the Huskies don't even know who they're starting quarterback is going to be. That gives me confidence that ISU will win the season opener convincingly. If you have 2 or 3 quarterbacks, then you don't have a quarterback.

 

[06Panther]

i'm shakin in my boots after that interview. The MAC's best running back, haha. We have A-rob and I am willing to bet he is 5 times the running back he is. Strength, D line? That's great and all if your Alabama, Texas, Florida, but a MAC conference D line should be no better than ours.

I really hope you are not that ignorant.

 

[el tornado]

NIU is ranked ahead of ISU in the magazines... Sporting News has them at 49 and us at 85. Coach Jerry Kill is a proven winner, he was at Southern Illinois for many years and they (along with UNI) were powerhouses at that level.

 

[tazclone]

First off .. I am one of the few Iowa located NIU Fans. I live in the heart of CyHawk land. I endure every season the Iowa annual least productive week of the year.. that would be the week leading up to the Iowa-ISU game. Being one that has to hear about Iowa football teams on a regular basis and a NIU fa .. Here is my breakdown.

Also I agree with the statements in my other Huskie fans post...

ISU State from an outsider ... Coach still needs to prove himself, rebuilding .. see first comment coach needs to prove he recruited the right players. This season is going to go bad whether you beat the huskies or not. The season schedule is tough. lastly the most controversial -- If the Big 12 broke up ISU would be just another mid-major.

NIU State - Decent coach but also needs to prove himself. He in his 3rd year even though they been to 2 bowls it been a mix of Novak recruits and his. Still needs to prove to huskie faithful that he gonna move us in the right direction.. This is a pivital year in huskie land.. 3 winnable BCS teams in ISU, Illinois and Minnesota. Good for you guys is NIU rather beat a Big 10 school then a Big 12 school, especially Illinois. NIU regularly fights over recruits in the Chicago area with the illini.

So on to the game...

Everyone seem to look at the strengths .. which will wash each other out... The Huskie Defense will be able to hold your Offensive in check. This is leave your Defense on the field for more then you will want them to be. The Huskies will run the ball and grind it out. Our O-line will stand firm against you young defense and the one of the RB will break out and have a game. If NIU gets a passing game going early it will be a long day for the clones. If not it will be a boring game as both teams will run alot.


How ISU wins .. NIU can't stop that big RB. They lost the Bowl game last year in my opinion to 1 player. Hope they learned a lesson about how to tackle a monster RB.

How NIU Wins .. shows that they are not just a running team. They get both pieces moving somewhat and your defense is going to be doing who . what .. where I did see it. But it still won't be a blow out. The passing game all comes down to the QB.. and that is a question in the huskie camp who will it be?

Huskies play tough and against BCS teams, BCS teams all do think it just a MAC team. We will tear them up, and that is not the case mostly.

got to run but my score on the game would be Huskie by minor margin in a low scoring game. 14-10. Boring game as well.

You lost all credibility when you stated the bolded parts.

1. ISU would have ended up in the Big East if the Big 12 would have broken up. And it is a moot point because last I checked, the Big 12 didn't break up.
2. ARob is not a big back. He is 5'9" and 186#. Quick, hits the hole, smart, and somewhat elusive. He is not a big monster back
3. ISU wins if Arnaud has a decent day. That is the key and will be the key in every single game. ARob will get his yards that much is proven. If Arnaud can be consistent then our offense will be great

I see this game as a 3-10 point win for ISU. I love that their weaknesses are interior OL, secondary and WR. That really fits us well.

 

[istater7]

@iowahuskiesfan..we were a few games away from actually winning the b12 north. we let a game against kstate slip away and couldn't make extra points against KU that would have won us the game. we also played a pretty good first half against mizzou until that stud reciever started burning us. looking back, we couldve had at 7-8 regular season wins

 

[RING4CY]

NIU is ranked ahead of ISU in the magazines... Sporting News has them at 49 and us at 85. Coach Jerry Kill is a proven winner, he was at Southern Illinois for many years and they (along with UNI) were powerhouses at that level.

Yeah, because all games are played on paper and in magazines.

 

[benjay]

NIU is a team that we should beat. More than likely, we will.

 

[indiana]

Whats wrong with him and where did you hear this?

Nothing wrong with him, graduated in Summer.

 

[WalkingCY]

I expect at least a 2 TD victory for ISU.

 

[jamesfnb]

i'm shakin in my boots after that interview. The MAC's best running back, haha. We have A-rob and I am willing to bet he is 5 times the running back he is. Strength, D line? That's great and all if your Alabama, Texas, Florida, but a MAC conference D line should be no better than ours.

you sound like a Hawkeye fan