CSNbbs

On IHS about a month ago, when the Huskies were only 1-4, Joe profoundly said something like, "In college football, if you don't get better, you get worse. You can not stay consistantly mediocre." and how right he was.

In the NFL, most of your players are at or near their peak, and a team (like the Bears) can consistantly stay mediocre through a whole season. In CFB, even mediocre teams are gaining valuable experience and growth, and if you are not one of them, then the gap in talent between you and your opponents will only increase. That's the Huskies this year.

What do you think the final score would be if NIU's next game was a rematch vs either Iowa or SIU? I would bet that SIU would not need to recover an onside kick to win the game.

dont know how badly injured are the Salukis or Hawkeyes to venture a guess but I do believe both are better teams now than they were in September and we are not much better -if not worse now - because of those extensive injuries.

Regardless, JoeN's own words are frighteningly prophetic.

There is no point in evaluating how the Huskies have dropped from week 2 to now. This is not the same team, and many impact players are out for the year. Can't even evaluate the coaches when you get that devastated by injury. Next year is going to be a great year for Huskie athletics. I think NIU football will be back bowling with 10 wins and the basketball team I think will begin to make noise.