...I'lll say it again....

There is just NO WAY NIU could possibly be a middle of the road Big Ten team. It's just not possible.


I can't wait for the Big Ten puppets to tell me again how 10 years ago NIU's record was really bad.

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I can't wait for them to be 2 for 2 after the Purdue game.....hopefully.

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That's my purse! I don't know you!

Didn't they only win by 3? If I understand college football, then that doesn't count, because they barely won, and barely winning is practically losing. Now, had they won by 33, I understand that would also not count, for they would have beaten a team they had no business playing in the first place. But if they had won by between 9 and 22 points, I'd give them all the credit in the world.

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NIU is better than 7 or 8 Big Ten teams.

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

"Hopefully"..........I agree.........that new Purdue regime is definitely on the upswing.

There is just no way. NIU couldn't hang. At least 10-11 of those Big Ten teams are far superior to NIU.

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As much as of an Illini fan as I am. After seeing U of I beat SIU by 8 today. I wouldn't like their chances against the Huskies.

no

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

You really think it's 9 or more?

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no.

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"He is a loathsome, offensive brute
--yet I can't look away."

I was thinking that Maryland & Rutgers joined the Big 10 this year, but they join in 2014. Upon further review, NIU is probably better than 6 or 7 big 10 teams, with the obvious teams being: Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Purdue, Iowa, & maybe Penn State & Northwestern.

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CSFMB 2014 Nascar Pick 'em Champion

We don’t have a trillion-dollar debt because we haven’t taxed enough; we have a trillion-dollar debt because we spend too much. — Ronald Reagan

Purdue still looks awful. I saw in the middle of the 3rd quarter they only had 97 yards of total offense. I hope they stick with Rob Henry against us. He's terrible.

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NIU Football:
2011, 2012, & 2014 MAC Football Champions

I would consider "middle of the road" Big Ten teams to end with the teams that make a bowl game since that at least requires a .500 season and 2-4 Big Ten wins. NIU has never beaten a Big Ten bowl eligible team. They beat a really bad Iowa team and should beat a really bad Purdue team. Iowa may turn it around and sneak into a bowl game but it's really hard to find 6 more wins on their schedule. I watched the game yesterday and I'm not convinced that NIU is actually better than Iowa. It seemed pretty even to me with the major difference being one play by a QB playing his first game. Iowa is widely predicted to be the 11th best team in the Big Ten. I guess we'll see as the season goes on.

Now, in fairness, I think this year that NIU could be a middle of the road Big Ten team. This would be the first year that I would say that. The Iowa game does not prove that at all though. I just think Jordan Lynch is good enough to give them a chance against a team like Northwestern or Penn State. I just wish you didn't have to have MAC syndrome and every time your team wins a game you immediately treat it like it is anything more than a good win for your program.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I'd be shocked if he's still playing by then. Henry got the nod to start the season because he is a senior but the future is backing him up. That was one of the worst performances I've seen at QB though he wasn't the only reason they got blown out.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

It is still too early to know how teams will fair the rest of the season. I understand Iowa wasn't predicted to be in the top half of the Big Ten but anytime you have teams like Illinois, Minnesota, Indiana, and Purdue you always have the opportunity for a win. I'm not sure what their schedule is with regards to those teams but i'm sure they are playing Iowa St (lost to 1-AA) and a 1-AA opponent.



I know you are talking to spanky in this reference, but these are games that i expect NIU to win so i don't look at an Iowa win as any different. I'm sure Iowa fans looked at this game in the same light. If we don't run through our non-conference schedule 4-0 then i will be disappointed.

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NIU Football:
2011, 2012, & 2014 MAC Football Champions

Hey now!

Just kidding. By the way, I'm incredibly happy that we didn't schedule NIU. Jim Phillips is smart enough to know that NIU is a legit good football program and only getting better. Congrats to the Huskies... bright future ahead.

But a middle of the road Big Ten team doesn't celebrate beating Iowa as if it just won a national championship.

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The Court will accord substantial deference to the government's immigration policies, particularly those that implicate matters of national security.

I didn't watch the game. The reporters who did say NIU got lucky to win. Congratulations on beating a team that doesn't have a directional indicator in its name.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

The classism of college football fandom doesn't really jibe with what football actually is.

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So first off, I enjoyed that football game for the most part (until the bad pick at the end of the game). It was a much better football game than the game at Soldier Field last year. Both teams played well enough to win and NIU took advantage of 3 turnovers to win.

My general thoughts:
- Iowa is much improved on offense over last year. They should be able to run on most teams (and probably should have ran more late in that game).
- NIU's defense is opportunistic but will struggle against bigger, more physical teams. (Which they likely would not see in the MAC)
- The player that impressed me most on NIU's offense was actually the RB Stingley - that dude runs hard.
- Lynch had a good game with his arm but you could see from the 3rd quarter on, he wasn't keeping very much on the read option. He was slow to get up on many of them. He was getting rolled up by 3-4 Hawkeyes every time.

BR is right - Iowa will struggle to get to 6 wins. They could win out in NC against ISU, Mizzou St and a directional Michigan school, but their big ten schedule looks like this:
@Minny
vs MSU
@ tOSU
vs. NU
vs. Wisky
@Purdue
vs Michigan
@Nebby

Their best shots at wins are road games (Minny/Purdue). They got shots in MSU and Wisky. NU and Nebby are low probability and I see no way they can knock off OSU and Michigan.

This is setting up to get the hot seat very hot for Kirk Ferentz. 5-7 will not make the natives happy even if they can continue to put up points like they did Saturday.

Rudock certainly looks the part... much more than JVB did, in my opinion. I think you have many good years of Hawkeye football ahead with Rudock as he gets better.

I can't fully blame JVB for how he played last year. It was obvious in the stands that this offense is much different than last year. Iowa screwed the pooch by bringing in an OC right before camp last year and then basically crippling him by not letting him fully implement the system he runs.

As for Ruddock, he reminds me of Stanzi, even down to the pick at the end of the game. He's got a good arm, not great. He made decent decisions but most of his success was on trick/play action plays. He seems to have the right makeup to be successful and the line will help.

Revsine from BTN was on with Mac and said NIU would finish .500 in the Big 10

I think it would depend on their schedule but it would not be out of the realm of possibility.

I'm interested to see how Iowa does and whether they have improved on offense or their offensive success was more due to us only returning 4 starters on defense and it being the first game of the season. I hope its the first one. Last year we were in Iowa's backfield a lot and recorded 5 (?) sacks.

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NIU Football:
2011, 2012, & 2014 MAC Football Champions

Revsine and Hawkeye Vince must have "MAC Syndrome".

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How many points you think you'll beat Purdue by?

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I would guarantee that Purdue will cover whatever that spread is.

Purdue (sorry, Rick) will be coming off 2 beatings from ND and WISC while NIU will have likely just routed Idaho and EIU. Exuberance and recency are the enemy.

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My Maserati does 186.

Yup. It will be a rough start to the season. The only thing that gives me hope is they kept it close with Notre Dame somehow last year.

I'm already working on my late season "Reasons for optimism because we finished 2-2" post.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

You're playing Illinois at home so you might have a chance at that one too.

But, it's likely a Rose Bowl-eligible game for us so I think we'll be up for it.

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My Maserati does 186.

One week in and we both seem jacked up about our chances.

Good thing I'm a NIU subway alum just as they are pronounced as a middle of the pack Big Team.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!