Well, that didn't go as planned. You have to give Marshall a ton of credit. They're just better than NIU. With Cato and Shuler and that big ass RB they have, their offense is extremely dangerous. It would have been interesting to see them go up against a big boy in a New Years bowl. I'm not going to sit here and act like I enjoy losing 3 straight bowl games, but in two of those games NIU was completely overmatched, and I really don't think other than the New Years games these games mean anything. Yes, Carey being 0-3 in bowl games isn't fun, but I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.

That was really a bad matchup for NIU on defense. A really good senior QB and a really good senior WR going up against a secondary playing 5 freshman DBs, that's going to be tough to stop. I would have liked to see them do something different on Shuler, but I really kind of doubt it matters. That was the 11th time this year Marshall put up 40+, so NIU wasn't along in getting torn up.

When you're going up against an offense that's as good as Marshall's, you can't leave points on the field. I thought the offense moved the ball pretty well, especially in the first half, but you have to put up TDs on the boards in games like this. Then you add in the missed FG and KR TD Marshall had, and NIU just isn't good enough to overcome those against a team like Marshall.

I was disappointed in the offensive line. Marshall's defense was on the field for like 55 plays the first half, and for NIU's OL to get dominated as they were on the first drive in the second half was brtual. The OL certainly wasn't bad this season, but overall they were a letdown from expectations.

Sitting here and spending time being upset about this one is kind of dumb. NIU had a hell of a year. To win 11 games and the conference in a rebuilding year is nothing shy of fantastic. It was an amazing season. NIU just ran into a team that was flat out better than them today.

It really didn't make sense why in a game where NIU gave up 52 points, people were throwing Hare under the bus. Did he leave some plays on the field? Yes. Did he play poorly? No. He actually did a really nice job on third down hanging in the pocket and making throws. He ended the year completing 59% of his passes with 18 TD/2 INT and another 900 yards rushing and 8 TDs. Were high accuracy issues frustrating at times? Yes, especially on the deep ball. But something you have to keep in mind is not only was he's a first year starter, but he's never spent a camp as the starter before. In spring ball and fall ball last year, he was splitting reps with McIntosh and Maddie. His issues are fixable. You can improve deep ball accuracy. He's a great decision maker, has a strong arm, and is a good runner. I'm really excited to see what he looks like next year after a spring ball and fall ball repping with the ones. The fact he has room for improvement is a positive, not a negative. Improve the deep ball accuracy, maybe hang in the pocket a little longer rather than taking off right away, and I'll be interested to see if he changes his body at all. I think he could afford to drop some baby fat.

I can't begin to explain to you how excited I am about next year. How much fun is it going to be to line up Turner and Tommy in the slot on opposite sides of the field? Then you have two big bodied WRs in Canada and Golladay next to them. Then you have Beebe, Ezra, Glasper, Blake, and freshman behind them.

I have huge hopes for ACRB and Huff. ACRB averaged 5.8 in a pretty solid sample size of carries. Everyone here loves Huff, and I'm right there with you. Then you have KHJ as the third guy while he's healthy.

On defense, pretty much everyone is back but Durante, Meehan, and Santa. I'm really excited to see how the young DBs progress. Paris was a bonafide lock down corner the second half of the season, and the trio of true freshman so only improve. Rock/Boomer/Folliard is as good of a linebacking core there is in the conference, and with all the young DTs back as well as Perez, the defense should be better next season.

Everyone thought of this as a rebuilding year, and they still won 11 games and the conference. Assuming Hare progress with legit practice time, there's no reason to believe this team won't be better next year.

Go Huskies.

(12-24-2014 09:28 AM)7 Wrote:  Well, that didn't go as planned. You have to give Marshall a ton of credit. They're just better than NIU. With Cato and Shuler and that big ass RB they have, their offense is extremely dangerous. It would have been interesting to see them go up against a big boy in a New Years bowl. I'm not going to sit here and act like I enjoy losing 3 straight bowl games, but in two of those games NIU was completely overmatched, and I really don't think other than the New Years games these games mean anything. Yes, Carey being 0-3 in bowl games isn't fun, but I'm not going to lose any sleep over it.

That was really a bad matchup for NIU on defense. A really good senior QB and a really good senior WR going up against a secondary playing 5 freshman DBs, that's going to be tough to stop. I would have liked to see them do something different on Shuler, but I really kind of doubt it matters. That was the 11th time this year Marshall put up 40+, so NIU wasn't along in getting torn up.

When you're going up against an offense that's as good as Marshall's, you can't leave points on the field. I thought the offense moved the ball pretty well, especially in the first half, but you have to put up TDs on the boards in games like this. Then you add in the missed FG and KR TD Marshall had, and NIU just isn't good enough to overcome those against a team like Marshall.

I was disappointed in the offensive line. Marshall's defense was on the field for like 55 plays the first half, and for NIU's OL to get dominated as they were on the first drive in the second half was brtual. The OL certainly wasn't bad this season, but overall they were a letdown from expectations.

Sitting here and spending time being upset about this one is kind of dumb. NIU had a hell of a year. To win 11 games and the conference in a rebuilding year is nothing shy of fantastic. It was an amazing season. NIU just ran into a team that was flat out better than them today.

It really didn't make sense why in a game where NIU gave up 52 points, people were throwing Hare under the bus. Did he leave some plays on the field? Yes. Did he play poorly? No. He actually did a really nice job on third down hanging in the pocket and making throws. He ended the year completing 59% of his passes with 18 TD/2 INT and another 900 yards rushing and 8 TDs. Were high accuracy issues frustrating at times? Yes, especially on the deep ball. But something you have to keep in mind is not only was he's a first year starter, but he's never spent a camp as the starter before. In spring ball and fall ball last year, he was splitting reps with McIntosh and Maddie. His issues are fixable. You can improve deep ball accuracy. He's a great decision maker, has a strong arm, and is a good runner. I'm really excited to see what he looks like next year after a spring ball and fall ball repping with the ones. The fact he has room for improvement is a positive, not a negative.

I can't begin to explain to you how excited I am about next year. How much fun is it going to be to line up Turner and Tommy in the slot on opposite sides of the field? Then you have two big bodied WRs in Canada and Golladay next to them. Then you have Beebe, Ezra, Glasper, Blake, and freshman behind them.

I have huge hopes for ACRB and Huff. ACRB averaged 5.8 in a pretty solid sample size of carries. Everyone here loves Huff, and I'm right there with you. Then you have KHJ as the third guy while he's healthy.

On defense, pretty much everyone is back but Durante, Meehan, and Santa. I'm really excited to see how the young DBs progress. Paris was a bonafide lock down corner the second half of the season, and the trio of true freshman so only improve. Rock/Boomer/Folliard is as good of a linebacking core there is in the conference, and with all the young DTs back as well as Perez, the defense should be better next season.

Everyone thought of this as a rebuilding year, and they still won 11 games and the conference. Assuming Hare progress with legit practice time, there's no reason to believe this team won't be better next year.

Go Huskies.

Nice work, youngster. Lots to be happy and appreciative about. Lots to look forward to. Another generation of Huskies learned on their own how to win. That will pay dividends down the road.

I agree on all points.

We always look like we're deep at WR, and then half of them get injured and we end up not deep at all.

Thought Folliard made some nice plays last night.

(12-24-2014 09:36 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  We always look like we're deep at WR, and then half of them get injured and we end up not deep at all.

It will take multiple plane crashes to destroy the depth @ receiver. LOADED.

(12-24-2014 09:43 AM)NIU05 Wrote:  

(12-24-2014 09:36 AM)NIU007 Wrote:  We always look like we're deep at WR, and then half of them get injured and we end up not deep at all.

It will take multiple plane crashes to destroy the depth @ receiver. LOADED.

Yeah, I've agreed before the last couple of years our depth at WR was vastily overrated, not next year.

(12-24-2014 09:41 AM)thxjoenovak Wrote:  Thought Folliard made some nice plays last night.

Folliard looked good in many games the 2nd half of the season. Especially last night and WMU. He is a good tackler and has some acceleration when closing in.

Give Marshall their props, especially Cato. Dude was lights out last night. He reminds me of Joe Montana. Same scrawny build, same ridiculous accuracy. Many of those completions were well-covered and he hit them anyway.

Here are some halftime stats from last night. NIU leads in first downs 17 to 9, total yards 275 to 217, time of possession 20:03 to 9:57 and we're 7 for 13 on third down. Score: Marshall 24 NIU 13. The kickoff return and ineptitude in the red zone did us in. We probably should have been up something like 24 to 17 at half.

I felt like our guys played without passion last night and I kind of expected that. After playing 8 do-or-die games in a row to win the conference championship it was natural for there to be a little letdown. We had to play at our max to beat an excellent team like Marshall and we did not.

But, I love this team and thoroughly enjoyed the season. Great job by everyone and thanks very much to the seniors who brought us so many thrills over the years. Our team has a chance to be awesome next year, really looking forward to spring ball. Go Huskies!!

(12-24-2014 10:02 AM)NIU1981 Wrote:  Give Marshall their props, especially Cato. Dude was lights out last night. He reminds me of Joe Montana. Same scrawny build, same ridiculous accuracy. Many of those completions were well-covered and he hit them anyway.

Here are some halftime stats from last night. NIU leads in first downs 17 to 9, total yards 275 to 217, time of possession 20:03 to 9:57 and we're 7 for 13 on third down. Score: Marshall 24 NIU 13. The kickoff return and ineptitude in the red zone did us in. We probably should have been up something like 24 to 17 at half.

I felt like our guys played without passion last night and I kind of expected that. After playing 8 do-or-die games in a row to win the conference championship it was natural for there to be a little letdown. We had to play at our max to beat an excellent team like Marshall and we did not.

But, I love this team and thoroughly enjoyed the season. Great job by everyone and thanks very much to the seniors who brought us so many thrills over the years. Our team has a chance to be awesome next year, really looking forward to spring ball. Go Huskies!!

Nice post. Next year should be exciting.

(12-24-2014 10:02 AM)NIU1981 Wrote:  Give Marshall their props, especially Cato. Dude was lights out last night. He reminds me of Joe Montana. Same scrawny build, same ridiculous accuracy. Many of those completions were well-covered and he hit them anyway.

Here are some halftime stats from last night. NIU leads in first downs 17 to 9, total yards 275 to 217, time of possession 20:03 to 9:57 and we're 7 for 13 on third down. Score: Marshall 24 NIU 13. The kickoff return and ineptitude in the red zone did us in. We probably should have been up something like 24 to 17 at half.

I felt like our guys played without passion last night and I kind of expected that. After playing 8 do-or-die games in a row to win the conference championship it was natural for there to be a little letdown. We had to play at our max to beat an excellent team like Marshall and we did not.

But, I love this team and thoroughly enjoyed the season. Great job by everyone and thanks very much to the seniors who brought us so many thrills over the years. Our team has a chance to be awesome next year, really looking forward to spring ball. Go Huskies!!

Had not really considered that before, but that is a great point.

Great post 7... Agree indeed. Yes a congrats to the team is in order, exceeded my expectations had had a fun and great year! I am also excited to see the WR core in action next year. Saw Golladay in action a bit last spring... Was very impressed with his look, tight routes, and hands from what I saw. My first impression when telling a few friends some of the highlights was this guy just looks pro standing out there lined up waiting to pick apart DBs, or out jump them for any deep ball... Ala Randy Moss. We'll see how it pans out, but our WR core with TLL, Canada, Beebe, etc are
Going to be a ton of fun to watch next year! Again thanks to the whole team and program for a great season!
GO HUSKIES!!!!

How does the offensive line look next year? Doesn't NIU lose a lot of seniors on that front? Replacing most of the OL could prove to be tough, and put a small dent on Hare's development if he has no time in the pocket to throw and is running for his life due to an inexperienced OL. It can also be the opposite, with the new guys sliding in and being more effective in run and pass pro. Who knows

This whole season just seemed to have a weird vibe to it for me as a fan and season ticket holder. We started off with a (God knows why) Thursday night game and then didn't play at home again for a full month. The weather with the exception of homecoming, basically sucked for all of our home games. Then we get to the inevitable November weekday games played on national television in empty stadiums, but that's life in the MAC. And yet, despite all of this (and only playing 5 home games), we went 10-2 in the regular season.

Highlight of the year for me was the victory at NW and the vast improvements made by Fraiser to our upcoming schedule.

Props to the team and coaches for winning every week that they had to after the Central loss. I think that alone made many of our young player grow up faster than they might have otherwise.

Its hard to believe after watching so much bad football in the past in DeKalb that 11 wins now seems to be a new minimum standard for this team. We have been very lucky to be able to have watched what has unfolded in the past few years. Very few programs have achieved what NIU has and for that I am thankful.

I expect another 11-12 win season again next year and look forward to another MAC Championship!

(12-24-2014 09:28 AM)7 Wrote:  Well, that didn't go as planned. You have to give Marshall a ton of credit. They're just better than NIU. With Cato and Shuler and that big ass RB they have, their offense is extremely dangerous.

First half reminded me of the Orange Bowl as I was thinking "Hey, we're hanging with these guys/we SHOULD be winning.."

Second half reminded me of playing Russel Wilson led Wisconsin in 2011, where I was thinking only "Damn! That kid is good!"

(12-24-2014 10:52 AM)Flying Corn Wrote:  

(12-24-2014 09:28 AM)7 Wrote:  Well, that didn't go as planned. You have to give Marshall a ton of credit. They're just better than NIU. With Cato and Shuler and that big ass RB they have, their offense is extremely dangerous.

First half reminded me of the Orange Bowl as I was thinking "Hey, we're hanging with these guys/we SHOULD be winning.."

Second half reminded me of playing Russel Wilson led Wisconsin in 2011, where I was thinking only "Damn! That kid is good!"

Excellent comparisons.

(12-24-2014 10:52 AM)Flying Corn Wrote:  

(12-24-2014 09:28 AM)7 Wrote:  Well, that didn't go as planned. You have to give Marshall a ton of credit. They're just better than NIU. With Cato and Shuler and that big ass RB they have, their offense is extremely dangerous.

First half reminded me of the Orange Bowl as I was thinking "Hey, we're hanging with these guys/we SHOULD be winning.."

Second half reminded me of playing Russel Wilson led Wisconsin in 2011, where I was thinking only "Damn! That kid is good!"

Good analogy

7 great post as always.

Your point on Hare never having full reps is HUGE. All this kids issues are solved by more drills, reps and film study. Once the game slows down for him he has real potential. He has the physical skillset which is the more limiting piece from an upside standpoint. It could get nutty if he makes huge strides.

1) footwork drills...set, plant and throw. Needs to get out of the crow hop.

2) eye drills...gotta train the brain to look off wr's and move through the progression. More reps and film study should help.

3) accuracy. More reps will be huge here. Gotta Learn how to throw guys into out routes and digs. Gotta learn how to put more air under the ball and give his a chance to run underneath it.

4) eyes down field. If and when he can get comfortable sitting in the pocket and/or escaping the pocket we could become unstoppable with our weapons on secondary routes. Think about TLL and Duecee breaking off routes...not a DB in the country to handle that. Scramble drill, scramble drill, scramble drill.

(12-24-2014 10:43 AM)IHateDuke32 Wrote:  How does the offensive line look next year? Doesn't NIU lose a lot of seniors on that front? Replacing most of the OL could prove to be tough, and put a small dent on Hare's development if he has no time in the pocket to throw and is running for his life due to an inexperienced OL. It can also be the opposite, with the new guys sliding in and being more effective in run and pass pro. Who knows

Brown, Pitt, and Loos all graduate but both Myers and Rukka played a ton this year. They return 4 guys who were basically starters. They'll be fine.

(12-24-2014 11:34 AM)7 Wrote:  

(12-24-2014 10:43 AM)IHateDuke32 Wrote:  How does the offensive line look next year? Doesn't NIU lose a lot of seniors on that front? Replacing most of the OL could prove to be tough, and put a small dent on Hare's development if he has no time in the pocket to throw and is running for his life due to an inexperienced OL. It can also be the opposite, with the new guys sliding in and being more effective in run and pass pro. Who knows

Brown, Pitt, and Loos all graduate but both Myers and Rukka played a ton this year. They return 4 guys who were basically starters. They'll be fine.

Did evans redshirt?