Next week might decide the MAC West and even MAC Champion.
The only two undefeated conference teams.

Flat out stole one we had no business winning. Wow.

Ohio lost to CMU, and will most likely lose to Toledo.
They will likely win the East, unless they lose to Akron.
The Ohio(6-2) and Akron (4-4) will most likely decide the MAC East.

(10-26-2017 11:25 PM)DiehardHuskie Wrote:  Flat out stole one we had no business winning. Wow.

So did WMU against EMU.

Better to be a lucky winner than an unlucky loser.

(10-26-2017 11:25 PM)DiehardHuskie Wrote:  Flat out stole one we had no business winning. Wow.

I still can't believe emu essentially went into victory formation mode with 9 minutes left

WMU lost to Akron and still have to face Toledo and NIU.
I doubt that they will repeat as MAC Champions or even MAC West Champions.
Clearly the MAC Championship flows through Toledo.

(10-26-2017 11:30 PM)sterling1man Wrote:  WMU lost to Akron and still have to face Toledo and NIU.
I doubt that they will repeat as MAC Champions or even MAC West Champions.
Clearly the MAC Championship flows through Toledo.

This is probably the biggest gap I can remember in awhile between the top team in the conference and the rest of the conference

(10-26-2017 11:29 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(10-26-2017 11:25 PM)DiehardHuskie Wrote:  Flat out stole one we had no business winning. Wow.

I still can't believe emu essentially went into victory formation mode with 9 minutes left

They had dominated us.
We needed to score 2 TD's and had only managed to score one.

Most board members had called the game in favor of EMU.

Yet MD you are correct. When you play scared instead of putting the team away
You might lose.
EMU coaches have done an incredible job, but in the last 9 minutes they made more wrong calls, while NIU coaching made more correct ones.

(10-26-2017 11:31 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(10-26-2017 11:30 PM)sterling1man Wrote:  WMU lost to Akron and still have to face Toledo and NIU.
I doubt that they will repeat as MAC Champions or even MAC West Champions.
Clearly the MAC Championship flows through Toledo.

This is probably the biggest gap I can remember in awhile between the top team in the conference and the rest of the conference

I would respectively disagree MD.

EMU (2-6) is clearly as good, if not better than NIU.
Buffalo (3-5) almost beat us and arguably outplayed us.
Miami (3-5) smoked Buffalo but lost to Kent State.
Akron(4-4) beat WMU, but got smoked by Toledo.

Either Toledo who only beat EMU by a score of 20-15, are the best team in the MAC
by far and the EMU game was an anomaly or the parity in the MAC is perhaps the tightest in maybe the last 13 years.

(10-26-2017 11:43 PM)sterling1man Wrote:  

(10-26-2017 11:31 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(10-26-2017 11:30 PM)sterling1man Wrote:  WMU lost to Akron and still have to face Toledo and NIU.
I doubt that they will repeat as MAC Champions or even MAC West Champions.
Clearly the MAC Championship flows through Toledo.

This is probably the biggest gap I can remember in awhile between the top team in the conference and the rest of the conference

I would respectively disagree MD.

EMU (2-6) is clearly as good, if not better than NIU.
Buffalo (3-5) almost beat us and arguably outplayed us.
Miami (3-5) smoked Buffalo but lost to Kent State.
Akron(4-4) beat WMU, but got smoked by Toledo.

Either Toledo who only beat EMU by a score of 20-15, are the best team in the MAC
by far and the EMU game was an anomaly or the parity in the MAC is perhaps the tightest in maybe the last 13 years.

lol there is hardly "parity" in the MAC. It's the same teams at the top every year. But I don't think Toledo is leaps and bounds better than everyone. They have an explosive offense and very good coach. Whoever wins next week is sitting pretty.

WMU, Toledo or NIU could win the MAC West.
Miami or Ohio or Akron could win the MAC East.

Cross over wins have been very surprising.
Especially Buffalo's two unlucky close losses to WMU in several OT's and NIU.
Buffalo could beat Ohio and Miami and still lose the MAC East due to three conference losses
(Which included a surprise 14-24 loss to Miami!!)

I have never seen such parity in the MAC before, since arguably the legendary 2003 season when at least 5 MAC teams where ranked in the top 25 at some point.

(10-26-2017 11:51 PM)YoungPup Wrote:  

(10-26-2017 11:43 PM)sterling1man Wrote:  

(10-26-2017 11:31 PM)MaddDawgz02 Wrote:  

(10-26-2017 11:30 PM)sterling1man Wrote:  WMU lost to Akron and still have to face Toledo and NIU.
I doubt that they will repeat as MAC Champions or even MAC West Champions.
Clearly the MAC Championship flows through Toledo.

This is probably the biggest gap I can remember in awhile between the top team in the conference and the rest of the conference

I would respectively disagree MD.

EMU (2-6) is clearly as good, if not better than NIU.
Buffalo (3-5) almost beat us and arguably outplayed us.
Miami (3-5) smoked Buffalo but lost to Kent State.
Akron(4-4) beat WMU, but got smoked by Toledo.

Either Toledo who only beat EMU by a score of 20-15, are the best team in the MAC
by far and the EMU game was an anomaly or the parity in the MAC is perhaps the tightest in maybe the last 13 years.

lol there is hardly "parity" in the MAC. It's the same teams at the top every year. But I don't think Toledo is leaps and bounds better than everyone. They have an explosive offense and very good coach. Whoever wins next week is sitting pretty.

Agree. Next weeks winner clearly holds their destiny in their own hands.

However NIU is clearly capable of losing to WMU and CMU(who beat us 2014,15,16)
Rod Carey is 1-3 against CMU. Most of those games were not decided by 1 score.

Toledo still will face Ohio and WMU(who beat them last year).

There is allot of Football left and We might have to Waite until the last week to see
Who goes to Detroit in not only the MAC West but also in the MAC East.

Cannot believe that NIU is 4-0 in Conference play with a freshman redshirt QB.
Last year at this time, we were 2-2 in Conference play! ( We lost to western Illinois, Wyoming and were pancaked by San Diego State and South Florida).

Pinch me! Is this a dream???

Rod Carey finds a way to win.
Rod Carey went to Detroit 2013, 2014 and 2015. We were 1-2 against BGSU.
This year we beat BGSU, who will not be going to Detroit. Either Ohio, Miami or Akron will represent the East.
How will history judge Rod Carey if NIU goes to Detroit in 2017???
Yes CMU, WMU and Toledo might beat NIU this year, but right now as things stand Rod Carey might get his fourth MAC West title and NIU record fourth trip to Detroit!!!!

Whatever the views on this board regarding Rod Carey , their is no denying that NIU is once again a contender for the MACC.

Since last year when Carey was 2-2 in Conference play and 2-6 overall,
Rod Carey has won 7 of his last 8 Conference games and 9 of his last 12 games!

Rod Carey might become arguably regarded and recognized as the most successful football coach in NIU history.

Rod Carey should get his fourth Post season Bowl in five years.
Rod Carey is 4-1 against the B1G.
If Rod Carey goes to Detroit this year and wins his second MACC, tying Dave Doeren two MACC then, one might argue that Rod Carey has a better record then Jerry Kill
And deserves to be compared to the legendary Coach Joe Novak.
Whatever happens for the remainder of this year, Rod Carey's five years at NIU have been succesful interms of post Season Bowls, best record against the B1G and most trips to Detroit.

Due to the incredible successes of Joe Novak, Jerry Kill and the two year dream under Dave Doeren, it is very easy to overlook the incredible success Rod Carey has had at NIU.

Have we become so spoilt as NIU football fans that we take it for granted, that we goto a post season Bowl nine times in the last ten years and a trip to Detroit for a Confetence Championship game six years in the last seven years? How many other FB teams have had post season births and Conference Championship game appearances comparable to NIU in the past 7-10 years?
Certainly no other Football team in Illinois and the MAC. Maybe Ohio State in the MidWest is the only other FB with such recent accolades?

(10-26-2017 10:24 PM)armour248 Wrote:  

(10-26-2017 10:21 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(10-26-2017 10:16 PM)armour248 Wrote:  If it's any consolation...EMU's three TDs came on a blown coverage, a blocked punt, and a trick play/blown coverage.

Lurry was getting torched on long passes out there.

Yeah, multiple times.

Don't let 7 hear you say that. Lurry can do no wrong.

(10-26-2017 11:02 PM)YoungPup Wrote:  

(10-26-2017 10:58 PM)sterling1man Wrote:  EMU may be the unluckiest and best team ever to go 2 and 6.
They beat Rutgers, played Toledo tough and lost two heart breakers in OT to MAC powerhouses WMU and NIU.
This EMU team is good.
If they had Hagen on their team they might have a winning record!!!!!!

They blew the game. They aren't unlucky. Their win probability was above 90% for the entire fourth quarter and they choked.

They lost game prior on missed FG.

Outscored by 23 pts during 6 game losing streak, 3 OT.

At some point "they are a good team with bad luck" becomes "bad teams find a way to lose."

(10-26-2017 10:24 PM)armour248 Wrote:  

(10-26-2017 10:21 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(10-26-2017 10:16 PM)armour248 Wrote:  If it's any consolation...EMU's three TDs came on a blown coverage, a blocked punt, and a trick play/blown coverage.

Lurry was getting torched on long passes out there.

Yeah, multiple times.

That is nothing new - both this and last year. I suspect that the aggressive instincts that gets him the ices is a two edged sword. He also gets too many unsportsmanlike penalties. But, I'm still glad we have him.

(10-27-2017 01:03 AM)huskie1stdown Wrote:  

(10-26-2017 10:24 PM)armour248 Wrote:  

(10-26-2017 10:21 PM)epasnoopy Wrote:  

(10-26-2017 10:16 PM)armour248 Wrote:  If it's any consolation...EMU's three TDs came on a blown coverage, a blocked punt, and a trick play/blown coverage.

Lurry was getting torched on long passes out there.

Yeah, multiple times.

Don't let 7 hear you say that. Lurry can do no wrong.

Yea the one TD I was even surprised how bad Lurry got burned. The secondary as a whole did not look good to me. Smalls got picked on quite a bit and doesn't seem to turn his head to find the ball. Our secondary is better than they showed yesterday, but will absolutely need them to play lights out against Toledo.

Either way a win is a win at this point and hopefully this was just a dud game and they come out on all cylinders against Toledo.