Lembo's Weekly Email
I still get these weekly emails from Pete Lembo. Here is this week's:
Dear Alumni and Friends,
We will depart campus on Friday after lunch to begin our trip to DeKalb, IL to take on MAC West favorite Northern Illinois University. Kickoff is set for 2:30pm CT/3:30pm EST on Saturday. We will stop at Valparaiso University in Northwest Indiana on Friday afternoon to break up the lengthy travel with a walk through practice. Meetings with take place following dinner at the team hotel in Naperville, IL. Temperatures in the low to mid 60’s are expected on Saturday with partly cloudy skies. The game is being televised on ESPN3.
Northern Illinois has been the premier program in the Mid-American Conference over the last several years. The Huskies have won five consecutive MAC West titles and have gone to seven straight bowl games. They have won three MAC championship games over the last five years and also played in the 2005 conference finale. A strong infrastructure on campus, state-of-the-art athletic facilities and a large metropolitan area as a recruiting base nearby in Chicago have helped the Huskies sustain success through four head coaching changes since 2007. Current head coach Rod Carey is 25-9 since taking over for Dave Doeren following the 2012 regular season.
Much like our own team, the 2015 version of the Huskies has played a challenging out of conference schedule and currently has a 2-3 record. After opening up with wins at home over UNLV and Murray State, NIU suffered close road losses at #1 Ohio State (21-14) and at Boston College (17-14). The NIU defense matched up extremely well against these two Power Five opponents. Last week, the Huskies were defeated in dismal weather conditions at Central Michigan University. Four turnovers, mostly on exchanges, assisted the Chippewas in their second straight win over NIU. The Huskies, however, held run-oriented CMU to just 91 yards on the ground.
NIU’s defense is led by a physical, deep and talented defensive line. The Huskies play nine defensive linemen regularly in games, allowing starters to remain fresh for the fourth quarter. NIU is based out of a four down front, but moves to three down looks with some frequency. Senior rush end #44 Perez Ford (6’0, 227) is particularly disruptive on the boundary side. Ford is powerful and has quick feet and hands. The three top interior linemen return from last year, including two 300 pounders in #69 Corey Thomas and #90 William Lee.
Senior middle linebacker #45 Boomer Mays (6’0, 244) packs a punch and sophomore cornerback Shawun Lurry (5’8, 178) has five interceptions so far this season. Fellow corner back Paris Logan (5’9, 195) is a senior and returning all-conference performer. NIU is among the top defensive units in the MAC and is giving up just 3.4 per rush, 353 total yards per game and 36 percent on third down conversions this season.
On offense, the Huskies return several experienced performers from last year’s team. Red-shirt junior quarterback #12 Drew Hare (6’1, 218) is an athletic runner and does an excellent job overseeing NIU’s offensive unit. Hare’s rushing and passing numbers are down a bit from last season, mostly because of the quality of the competition. Junior tailback #28 Joel Bougnon (6’2, 228) is averaging 88.4 yards per game and is very hard to bring down once he gets downhill.
Hare, Bougnon and NIU’s other ball carriers benefit from running behind a big and experienced offensive line with two fifth year seniors and two fourth year juniors. The Huskies utilize two tight ends, often using one on the ball and the other in a fullback or wing position. Red-shirt junior transfer #19 Kenny Golladay (6’4, 200) has become NIU’s leading receiver this season (28 catches) and is a deep threat on the outside. Speedsters #10 Tommylee Lewis and #22 Aregeros Turner are dangerous on speed sweeps, bubble screens, reverses and shorter throws.
Turner has showed game changing ability returning kickoffs for the Huskies this season. The junior had an 86 yard return for a touchdown against Boston College and another long return against CMU last weekend. Fellow junior receiver #82 Chad Beebe is a shifty punt returner who often makes the first defender miss. Beebe is averaging an impressive 12.4 yards per return with a long of 40 yards earlier this season. Junior transfer punter #15 Jake Ambrose is averaging 40.6 per punt this fall. Sophomore kicker #34 Christian Hagan is 6 of 8 on field goals and is consistent with his directional kickoffs.
We have had a good week of practice so far and need to polish up our preparation with a highly focused effort this afternoon. We are looking forward to the challenge at Huskie Stadium this Saturday as we battle NIU for the coveted Bronze Stalk trophy.
Thank you for your ongoing interest and support of the Ball State football program.
Sincerely,
Pete
Pete Lembo
Head Football Coach
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