Well, that was a weird game. Watching the game it felt like NIU never had the ball. NIU was also moving the ball pretty well all game, but they really stalled out once they crossed midfield. Credit Kent State for coming to play.

I just don't think Drew Hare is very good. Yes, he's only a Sophomore and he's not awful, but I don't think he's ever going to be more than a game manager. He just doesn't have a great skill set. He has a pretty good arm, but he's not an overly accurate passer. He's not quick in his decision and he's not overly fast. 8/15 for 93 yards and none of his drives ended in points. I didn't want it to be under those circumstances, but it was really good to see Maddie get in an actually run the offense. The pick he threw was bad, but I think he was trying to force one on third and long. Certainly a ball that shouldn't have been thrown. 7/10, 105 yards, 8 carries for 48 yards, and he led all three scoring drives I believe. It's going to be very interesting to see who starts next week and how the situation is handled. CMU is a team NIU should beat, but if the offense doesn't play better it's a loseable game.

The running game has been disappointing this year. It's still very good, but after averaging over 6 yards a carry as a team last year, returning the entire offensive line as well as Cam and Akeem, I expected it not to take a step back. Last year against Kent, NIU ran for 454 yards and averaged 7.2 YPC. This year, only 181 yards and 4.6 YPC. Again, that's not awful or anything, but it certainly doesn't live up to the high standards we all have for the NIU running game.

Nice to see Canada have a big game. Da'Ron seemed to have a case of the drops today.

How nice is it to have a defense this year? NIU's defensive line isn't big by any means, but man they defend the run well. 37 carries, 83 yards for only 2.2 YPC for Kent State today. Kent was only 3-16 on third down as well. Going to win a lot of games with those numbers on defense.

Jordan Huff is going to be really good. He has a really nice combination of size and speed. While NIU loses Cam and Akeem after this year, ACRB and Huff should make a nice backfield combo for the future.

It was ugly, but a wins a win a win a win. Beat CMU.

OL certainly has been a dissapointment

I've said since the start that I wish Carey wouldn't have rotated QBS, but based on how all 3 have played, we're probably not 4-1 at the moment if not for the rotation. Hare coming in won us the NU game and without Maddie, we probably don't beat Kent.

My big hope is that someone finally reaches up and grabs the position for their own. None of these guys are Harnish or Lynch caliber players at the moment, but NIU just needs some type of consistency at the position.

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Huff deserves more carries this year, he has earned them in his brief appearances to date.

Oline is disappointing. Don't know how I can say this, but Lynch did more than I even realized. He made the line better, the backs better, and the play calling better. I know we had games where we looked bad the last 4 years, but the offense usually carried us. Don't think we would have won if Reardon doesn't get hurt. They were on a roll the whole 4th qtr. our D looks a lot better than last few years. But a good passing team with a decent run game to keep us honest, does give us fits. Our D inside the 20 won us the game. I like Maddie more than Hare. He is a decent passer and good athlete. His % of drives that scores points has to be better than Hare's. Our offense the last 4 years plays into his hands. I think Hare makes better decisions with the ball, but hopefully Maddie can learn that. When to hand off, when to pass or throw it away, etc. Either our offense changes to Hare's strengths or you go with Maddie.

This is a good Huskie team, maybe not yet a great Huskie team. There are several young, inexperienced players in key positions. The challenge will be to win games while gaining experience. You don't get bonus points for W's with huge margins of victory. Continuing the program's recent track record of unprecedented success will not be easy; the bar has been raised and expectations are high. NU, yea that NU...the team we beat in week 2 in Evanston, has figured out a way to right the ship and get younger players to step up. We are 4-1, with a loss against a solid SEC team, and a win against a Big 10 team who is undefeated in conference with wins against 2 of the upper echelon teams in that conference. Not bad for a team, whose coaches suck, QBs blow, an overrated OLine, suspect special teams and a defense who is ...let's see...vulnerable to a well balanced running and passing attack. Gotta love our loyal fan base!

Take it as whatever but during warm ups it seemed to me that Kent St was fired up and we were going thru the motions.

Lots of Maxwell formations out wide...guessing that is because TLL and Beebe were out.

DL has been great...they are the biggest reason we have 3 of these 4 wins.

Wish the guy who caught the short field goal knew the rules...either run it or let the ball go.

The refs were bad, missed obvious calls on both sides that impacted the play. There was a huge hold right in front of the Ref on the Huff run that was right when Huff was running by.

(10-05-2014 08:58 AM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  Take it as whatever but during warm ups it seemed to me that Kent St was fired up and we were going thru the motions.

Lots of Maxwell formations out wide...guessing that is because TLL and Beebe were out.

DL has been great...they are the biggest reason we have 3 of these 4 wins.

Wish the guy who caught the short field goal knew the rules...either run it or let the ball go.

The refs were bad, missed obvious calls on both sides that impacted the play. There was a huge hold right in front of the Ref on the Huff run that was right when Huff was running by.

Moore probably should have just let it go, but I wouldn't return that with the lead and that much time left, too much can go wrong.

Send him back there since the kick is so deep or if there is a potential fake, but if you know it's short, just let it hit the ground in that situation. Had it been tied, run that bad boy out.

You don't run that ball out and risk a fumble. No way.

Three touchdown favorites and you pooch punt! Crazy! Go for it>

GO HUSKIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(10-05-2014 09:08 AM)HuskieJWN Wrote:  

(10-05-2014 08:58 AM)HuskieJohn Wrote:  Take it as whatever but during warm ups it seemed to me that Kent St was fired up and we were going thru the motions.

Lots of Maxwell formations out wide...guessing that is because TLL and Beebe were out.

DL has been great...they are the biggest reason we have 3 of these 4 wins.

Wish the guy who caught the short field goal knew the rules...either run it or let the ball go.

The refs were bad, missed obvious calls on both sides that impacted the play. There was a huge hold right in front of the Ref on the Huff run that was right when Huff was running by.

Moore probably should have just let it go, but I wouldn't return that with the lead and that much time left, too much can go wrong.

Send him back there since the kick is so deep or if there is a potential fake, but if you know it's short, just let it hit the ground in that situation. Had it been tied, run that bad boy out.

My point is I don't think he knew he could run it out. The NIU players were yelling at him both to run and take a knee. He had no clue...I would have much rather seen the ball let go and we get the ball on the 40 something instead of the 20.

The QB situation seems to be becoming a farce. I still don't think Drew Hare has done anything to lose the job. Its not his fault that in the first quarter Wedel missed a FG and then on 4th and 3rd from the 36-yard line the coaching staff decided to punt rather than go for it.

The 2nd and 3rd quarters were Hare one series then Maddie next series and kept going back and forth. Seems rather odd when the game is still close that you would keep switching them in and out and no one can get in a groove. Then they give it to just Maddie in the 4th quarter and he throws an INT when the game is still undecided.

The reason everyone is all over Maddie is because of his running capabilities. Well, he averaged 6 ypc as opposed to Hare's 5 ypc. Big deal, especially considering the way people seem to knock Hare's running capabilities. If he's getting 5 ypc that's pretty good.

This is getting frustrating, we are almost halfway through the season and the coaching staff still playing musical QB's. The offense has now put up 14 points and 17 points in the last two games. The offense is regressing.

People criticizing the pooch punt are dumb. That plays worked to perfection by NIU many times the last couple years. Don't rip a coach for a game not being executed.

(10-05-2014 03:37 AM)7 Wrote:  Well, that was a weird game. Watching the game it felt like NIU never had the ball. NIU was also moving the ball pretty well all game, but they really stalled out once they crossed midfield. Credit Kent State for coming to play.

I just don't think Drew Hare is very good. Yes, he's only a Sophomore and he's not awful, but I don't think he's ever going to be more than a game manager. He just doesn't have a great skill set. He has a pretty good arm, but he's not an overly accurate passer. He's not quick in his decision and he's not overly fast. 8/15 for 93 yards and none of his drives ended in points. I didn't want it to be under those circumstances, but it was really good to see Maddie get in an actually run the offense. The pick he threw was bad, but I think he was trying to force one on third and long. Certainly a ball that shouldn't have been thrown. 7/10, 105 yards, 8 carries for 48 yards, and he led all three scoring drives I believe. It's going to be very interesting to see who starts next week and how the situation is handled. CMU is a team NIU should beat, but if the offense doesn't play better it's a loseable game.

The running game has been disappointing this year. It's still very good, but after averaging over 6 yards a carry as a team last year, returning the entire offensive line as well as Cam and Akeem, I expected it not to take a step back. Last year against Kent, NIU ran for 454 yards and averaged 7.2 YPC. This year, only 181 yards and 4.6 YPC. Again, that's not awful or anything, but it certainly doesn't live up to the high standards we all have for the NIU running game.

Nice to see Canada have a big game. Da'Ron seemed to have a case of the drops today.

How nice is it to have a defense this year? NIU's defensive line isn't big by any means, but man they defend the run well. 37 carries, 83 yards for only 2.2 YPC for Kent State today. Kent was only 3-16 on third down as well. Going to win a lot of games with those numbers on defense.

Jordan Huff is going to be really good. He has a really nice combination of size and speed. While NIU loses Cam and Akeem after this year, ACRB and Huff should make a nice backfield combo for the future.

It was ugly, but a wins a win a win a win. Beat CMU.

Not saying Hare is the guy of the future as I don't think there either of the 3 QBs will be starting next year, but Maddie's lack of the ability to throw really disqualifies him from the argument. There is no way Maddie would ever win you a championship being prone to that big mistake in passing situations. Your comment about feeling like NIU's offense never being on the field is how I feel about the whole year, this not being decisive and just sticking with one guy has pretty much ended the season. Carey is terrified of choosing the wrong post-Lynch QB and it has had a crippling effect. Players know he has no confidence in any QB, and thus it just bring downs everyone. This was a completely self-inflicted situation and a failure of coaching this year. If you are dealing with 2 top notch , highly recruited, 4 star QBs and can't decide who to play its one thing, but when you do this to your team trying to decide between these two players, wow, you are losing site of the big picture.

Having said all this, I think next week Maddie starts based on Carey's post game comments. Sounded like he made his decision which I think will be a poor one. Do you realize NIU probably just made its QB decision based on a game against #105 Kent State Golden Flashes, good grief.

(10-05-2014 10:57 AM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  Not saying Hare is the guy of the future as I don't think there either of the 3 QBs will be starting next year, but Maddie's lack of the ability to throw really disqualifies him from the argument. There is no way Maddie would ever win you a championship being prone to that big mistake in passing situations. Your comment about feeling like NIU's offense never being on the field is how I feel about the whole year, this not being decisive and just sticking with one guy has pretty much ended the season. Carey is terrified of choosing the wrong post-Lynch QB and it has had a crippling effect. Players know he has no confidence in any QB, and thus it just bring downs everyone. This was a completely self-inflicted situation and a failure of coaching this year. If you are dealing with 2 top notch , highly recruited, 4 star QBs and can't decide who to play its one thing, but when you do this to your team trying to decide between these two players, wow, you are losing site of the big picture.

Having said all this, I think next week Maddie starts based on Carey's post game comments. Sounded like he made his decision which I think will be a poor one. Do you realize NIU probably just made its QB decision based on a game against #105 Kent State Golden Flashes, good grief.

Maddie was throwing much better in warm ups than Hare. Deep balls and shorter passes.

The balls Maddie seems to have the biggest problem with are the sideways passes.

(10-05-2014 10:48 AM)7 Wrote:  People criticizing the pooch punt are dumb. That plays worked to perfection by NIU many times the last couple years. Don't rip a coach for a game not being executed.

No 7 I was disagreeing with it before it happened. Even said to my son, if the pooch kick here I'll .... With the field position (inside the 40) the way out d was playing. The yards needed, it made total sense to go for it. Second on the list was to try and draw them off Take a penalty if not and kick normal. The pooch was a horrible call in that situation at that moment. (The third down play was suspect too but that one I'll admit to possibly liking if it worked. )


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Maddie completed 70% of his passes yesterday and they weren't all screens either. Still not sure how everyone has drawn the conclusion that he can't throw.

Maddie can't read the option to save his life.

(10-05-2014 11:12 AM)Michael James Wrote:  Maddie can't read the option to save his life.

Have to disagree. To me he looks the MOST comfortable in the option and just needs the experience to make it hum


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Lots of mistakes in execution yesterday. We looked like a team that was playing their first home game in a month. It seems weird, but when you adopt that "road warrior" mentality, a lot of times the first game back home is sluggish. It happens in other sports after long road trips all the time. You don't notice it much in football because rarely is a schedule as ass-backwards as ours has been. Not really an excuse, but I think a lot of the sluggishness yesterday was due to that change in what's become the routine.

A lot of NIU's stuff on offense are package plays, where there are several options for the QB. Up front, the line blocks, let's say "power", the base play (double team the DT, kick out the DE, pull a guard for the playside LBer), the RB expects the ball and is running power. But the QB (if he gets the look he wants) can just sling it out to the WR who's running a bubble screen. Since it's a screen behind the LOS, it doesn't matter if the O line ends up downfield. It's a simple concept that works really well. I run it with my guys at the sophomore level in HS occasionally and they love it. Right now, our timing seems way off with that. I could be wrong about some of this stuff, but I've seen way too many bubbles thrown at the WRs knees. Either he drops the ball, or our timing as we tunnel back through the blockers is thrown off by the bad pass. It's one of those things where we got the look we wanted, the call was sound, the decision was sound, but then the execution makes everyone wonder "what the hell was up with that call? That looked like s&*t and had no chance."

Not really the case at all, but in the end, it didn't work.

I disagree that we need to choose one QB and go with him, because I don't think there's been a case of a "main guy's" rhythm being thrown off by it. In fact, I was more pissed when I saw Hare go back in after Maddie led them down the field on the first TD drive (and then again in the 2nd half). To me, that was being unnecessarily devoted to "the starter". Unfortunately, we don't have that guy right now. At least, I haven't seen him yet. I saw Hare get the job based on his play at NU & Macintosh's injury. Yet Maddie is still hanging around and generally executing more efficiently than Hare is. Yesterday, Maddie was, without a doubt, the better QB. Where to go from there? I don't know.

Now, I do agree that we need to cut down the touches for the various RBs and let a couple of guys carry the load. Stingily has his value as a downhill A gap runner. He's a former LBer who plays running back like a former LBer. I'm not sold on Bouagnon. Akeem is not as fast as he was pre-injury. Watch him run the jet way back in 2010 as a true freshman compared to how he does it now. No comparison. I'm intrigued by Huff, but haven't seen enough of him to say.

Somebody mentioned it a week or so ago: It seems like right now we have a lot of offensive parts that are one-trick ponies... guys who do one thing really well, but don't adjust very well beyond that. I'm starting to feel that way, too. Could be just me overreacting to yesterday. though, too. I haven't re-watched the game yet. You're never as good or as bad as you thought you were.

I love the way the defense is playing. Our safeties gave up the inside too much (at least in the first half) yesterday.

But, I'm not going to apologize for a win, especially after all the crazy crap we saw in CFB yesterday. It needs to get better, but I have no doubt it will. I remember us throwing up a clunker vs EMU on Black Friday in 2011 at HS. That was an awesome offense, things just weren't clicking that day. A week later we were MAC Champs (I could have done without the damn 20-0 halftime deficit, but we do things The Hard Way).

Hopefully, they'll have a great week of practice and be ready to get after it next Saturday. There won't be any smoke and mirrors with CMU. They'll come looking to hit us in the f*^&ing mouth. Our guys will need to be ready. It'll be a physical game.