NIU Preview

After a pretty solid start to the season, the Wildcats are home again this week to take on in-state rival Northern Illinois. OK, I'm just gonna say right here that every time I type "Northern," it comes out like this "Northwes(delete)(delete)(delete)ern." So I may as well just make a macro for that and go with it. Another disclaimer before we begin. Two of my relatives went to Northwes(delete)(delete)(delete)ern Illinois. But they root for NU anyway. Actually, if we got one of those A House Divided flags it would just be Northwestern with ISU, EIU, WIU and Northwes(delete)(delete)(delete)ern Illinois University in (purple) pencil on the tag on the back.

On with the show! Both the Cats and the Huskies had good offensive numbers last week. NU's 356 passing yards and 194 rushing yards were good for a win, while Northwes(delete)(delete)(delete)ern's 200 passing and 211 rushing didn't equal many points against Michigan in a loss. Both offenses will be concentrating on improving the lesser of those two numbers (rushing for the Cats, passing for the Huskies) without sacrificing anything. Northwestern has no major changes in its offensive lineup. Gerard Hamlett has moved past Omar Conteh to third on the RB and 1st on the kick return depth charts. Brandon Roberson is still listed as starting RB, but he is day-to-day with an ankle injury, as are Mark Filmore (ankle) and Kim Thompson (finger.) I expect all to play, with the possible exception of Roberson if Sutton is running well again.

On the other side of the ball, the stats from last week become less meaningful. Northwes(delete)(delete)(delete)ern went up against some quality offense and did not hold up well. The Wildcats contained (for the most part) a pretty bad offense from Ohio. I expect that both teams will improve some over last week. The numbers won't tell the story though. On defense, this week it will be about stopping big plays (particularly for the Cats D-line and LBs).Northwes(delete)(delete)(delete)ern RB duo of Garrett Wolfe and A.J. Harris cannot be allowed too many big broken runs.

So, I just mentioned the RB tandem from Northwes(delete)(delete)(delete)ern. They are QBed by Phil Horvath who throws to Wolfe and Harris as well as TE Jake Nordin about as often as the wideouts. The more you know. Here are some other guys to watch for.

* I highly doubt it: Evans Adonis (Fr, WR)
* Two first names: Josh Allen (Fr, CB), Ira Barry (So, LB), Tom Kelly (Fr, TE), Javan Lee (Sr, LB), Vincent Matthew (Fr, CB), Andre Morris (Jr, CB) It doesn't stop! Victor Scott, Cole Spencer, Martin Wilson!
* Not that Matt Biondi: Matt Biondi (So, OG)
* Girls names!: Tom Kelly
* So there was this guy in my high school and his name was hard to pronounce. We called him Alphabet Alphabet: Bill Ikegwuonwu, David Koronkiewicz.
* I hardly even know 'er!: Turner, Streeter, Spencer, Schroeder, Keller, Carter

Keys to a Cats win:
1. Keep up passing attack (6.5+ yds/att)
2. Hold Wolfe and Harris below 130 yds combined
3. Improve red-zone scoring percentage. 75% or higher

For entertainment purposes only:
The line this week is NU -2.5 with an O/U 57.5.


GO CATS!