Well, chalk up another moral victory for NIU. We have too many of them and this is what keeps us from just being a very good non-BCS program to a great program (Boise State).

Should NIU have taken the safety and made Iowa try to score again after holding them to 12 points for 58 mins of the game? It's debatable.

We lost this game because 1) when we scored our last TD and took an 8-point lead we became conservative (how many passes did we attempt the whole game?) and 2) we didn't put the ball in our playmakers hands (our WRs). When you lose five starting OL, QB, and RB, and your WRs are your greatest asset why would you not try to get the ball to them? Jordan Lynch did not need to throw deep passes. Let him throw quick slants, bubble screens, or whatever happened to the jet sweep we utilized a lot the last few years?

Certainly the bad snap that gave Iowa great field position and an easy FG didn't help or the fumble that also gave Iowa great field position. Too many dropped passes by our RBs too.

As for Iowa, Vandenberg did not look good and their WRs dropped so many passes. Pass game was supposed to be Iowa's strength. What are Iowa fans thoughts?

So now let me get to the positives. Our run game in the first half was pretty decent for returning no OL or RB starters. Lynch is a beast at running the ball. Our WRs are PLAYMAKERS (see Martel Moore's sweet catch on ESPN top 10 plays later today). And our defense is going to be phenomenal this year. They didn't let Iowa run the ball until their RB popped a couple 20-yarders in the 4th quarter, we had six or seven sacks, and held Iowa to 280 total yards despite them having the ball for 40 mins on offense.

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

Sorry, Spany.

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No moral victory. Step up or step off.

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

Agreed, i'm tired of them. We've had too many games we've lost at the end with very little time left. See 2005 and 2010 MAC Championship games, Kansas (last year), Minnesota (2008?), Maryland and Iowa State (2004), Tennessee (2008?), and now Iowa this year.

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

They should have won today. They shit their pants after that punt was downed inside the 2. They are better than that.

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

Do you take the safety and make Iowa score again?

Afterall, Iowa would have only needed a FG to tie. I think it's a no-brainer if we were up by six points or more to take the safety then Iowa has to score a TD, which they failed to do all game.

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

Yes...after seeing how they handled 1st and 2nd down...yes.

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

I actually would have split the punter out next to the QB in a shotgun on 3rd down and if they didnt drop anyone back I would have let him quick punt it Randall Cunningham style hoping for a good bounce with no return.

NIU was rattled more than any team I have ever seen during that series so drastic measures would have been ok.

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

Well, maybe Doeren and staff will use it as an opportunity to learn so it doesn't happen again.

I hope they also learned that playing conservatively (and not getting the ball to your playmakers) when only up by 8 points for 1.5 qtrs to end the game is not good strategy.

That's one of the things i liked about Jerry Kill. Even if we were up we didn't let off.

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

Quick thoughts....

NIU impressed me with their speed on defense. Their front 7 were all over the place. Their OLine did a good job in the first half but seemed to wear down as the game went on. They won't have to deal with that big of a dline in the MAC so that will be a benefit for them. The other thing that was a head scratcher for me was Iowa started to creep the safety in run support in the 3rd quarter and I think Lynch threw a handful of passes before the final drive. That;'s why Harnish was so effective - he could make plays with the arms and legs.

The offensive output of Iowa didn't shock me for two reasons....1) New OC and 2) They probably were holding back a bit before Iowa State next week. I was disappointed that they did not go down the field more. 90% of the passes were within 10 yards of the line and that's not going to help get the ball int eh end zone. The run game was a pleasant surprise. Bullock was impressive.

For a brand new starting five on our O-Line i thought we did alright. We started two redshirt freshmen in the middle of our OL. I was surprised by them committing only one false start. The bad snap forced us to have to punt and give Iowa excellent field position but there will be growing pains with them.

Our secondary is the strength of the defense (defensive line is a close second) so maybe that was why Iowa chose not to go downfield much. The DBs made some good plays on the few long attempts Vandenburg took.

I expect Iowa will still be at least a middle-of-the-pack Big Ten team with the potential for more if they progress throughout the season.

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

Doeren explains his thoughts about giving up the safety and making Iowa have to score again:

http://www.huskiewire.com/articles/2012 ... /index.xml

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

If Iowa's defense plays as well as they did in the second half, they will be better than I expected but I still got them in the range of 6-6 to 8-4. This is a very young Iowa team that doesn't have the playmakers as the last few years.

I see them 6-6 if the RB carousel continues, maybe 8-4 if not. Not bad for a rebuilding year, but no sure thing.

Vince, sig bet on next week?

Since it's all in fun - I'm down with that.