So what's the outlook for the state's football programs this year?

Here's my breakdown on NIU:

Schedule:

8/30 @ Minnesota 6 pm (Television: Big Ten Network)
9/6 @ Western Michigan 6 pm
9/20 vs. Indiana State 2 pm (Television: Comcast SportsNet Chicago)
9/27 @ Eastern Michigan 11 am (Television: ESPN+/WPWR Channel 50 in Chicago)
10/4 @ Tennessee 6 pm
10/11 vs. Miami 3 pm (Television: Comcast SportsNet Chicago)
10/18 vs. Toledo 3 pm (Television: Comcast SportsNet Chicago)
10/25 vs. Bowling Green 3 pm (Television: Comcast SportsNet Chicago)
11/5 @ Ball State 7 pm (Television: ESPN2 or ESPNU)
11/12 vs. Central Michigan 7 pm (Television: ESPN2 or ESPN360)
11/18 @ Kent State 6 pm
11/25 vs. Navy 6 pm (Television: ESPN2)


We should be much improved over last season. My guess would be a 6-6 or 7-5 season. We lost many (and i do mean MANY) players to injuries last season. Many of them were starters and backups. Phil Steele had us ranked #6 in the nation, i believe, in starts lost due to injury. To further illustrate how serious most of these injuries were, we had 25 players missing from spring camp but most of them have returned and were healthy for summer camp. We lost five games last season by a total of 16 points.

We return 20 starters (10 on each side). We have a lot of depth and experience at DL, LB, RB, and CB. Offensive line returns four starters and should be good with only one underclassman projected to start.

Our defense will be very good. Senior DE Larry English (has 23 total sacks in the last two seasons) won the MAC MVP award last season, first time in a long time it was given to a defensive player. Senior Craig Rusch was moved from DT to DE to man opposite of English. He's a very good player. Both are great at getting to the QB. We have two talented seniors manning the CB positions. The LB position easily goes six deep. Lots of juniors and seniors in the two deep. We moved freshman All-American Safety Alex Kube to LB. He bulked up to 220 lbs for the position switch. Senior MLB Tim McCarthy who was lost in the 3rd game of last season (torn MCL) returns. He had over 220 total tackles his freshman and sophomore seasons. Our unknown will be our safeties since both projected to start have zero playing experience at that position. Sophomore Mike Sobol is said to be very good and junior David Bryant moved from RB (due to depth) to safety and has impressed so much they will most likely make him the other starting safety.

Our weaknesses on offense are QB's and WR's. We have four seniors at WR. We have a lot of talent there but two senior players in particular (Britt Davis and Marcus Perez) have not lived up to their talent and expectations. Perez always seems to be injured. Coaching staff said Davis has had a great summer camp so maybe he can have a breakout year like Sam Hurd (now a Dallas Cowboy) had for us in 2005. Senior WR Matt Simon had a big year last season for us, catching for nearly 1,000 yards. If Davis can do well that would make a nice tandem at WR. QB is basically a flip of the coin right now and is what scares everyone the most. Coach Kill has not named a starter and doesn't plan on doing so until near the game. Maybe he already has chosen the starter but doesn't want to make it public. Though, he very well could be waiting to find out the news for senior QB Dan Nicholson and the health of his shoulder. Nicholson had offseason surgery in February and was not able to play in the spring. He missed a week recently with a "sore" shoulder. So most of us are wondering if his shoulder is healthy. Shoulder injuries seem to be hit or miss for QB's. If he isn't healthy we'll be starting RS Freshman Chandler Harnish who gives us the best dual-threat combination for Kill's spread offense. He has struggled in practice throwing INT's and making lots of dumb freshmen mistakes. Typical inconsistency should be expected from a freshman QB. We are very deep at RB. I don't see all these RB's finishing their careers at NIU due to the fact so many of them could make a legitimate case to start. Our leading rusher, junior Justin Anderson, returns. He rushed for 1,245 yards and 8 TD's and caught for 263 yards and 3 TD's. Coaching staff made him drop his weight down to 220 lbs to gain more speed. He was our workhorse last season when we lost four RB's to season-ending injuries, including our starter Montell Clanton (tore his ACL) in the 2nd game of the season. True Freshman RB Me'co Brown has impressed the staff so much that he will be the starting PR and KR. Many have compared him to former NIU RB and current Chicago Bear Garrett Wolfe.

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Go Huskies!!!