http://www.daily-chronicle.com/articles/...orts01.txt
NIU's Nicholson itching to get going
By John Sahly - jsahly@daily-chronicle.com
Aug 06, 2008
Quote:DeKALB - Finally, football.
Northern Illinois quarterback Dan Nicholson took the field at the Huskies' first full preseason practice as the No. 1 quarterback. The senior lined up behind center for the first time since playing against Kent State on Nov. 10, 2007, his right shoulder at what he declared was full strength after surgery and rehab.
It felt, in his words, “unbelievable.”
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That wasn't such a promising article about our QB's.
Quote:“I thought Dan did well, shoot, I thought (freshman DeMarcus) Grady did some good things but I've got to go watch some film, I may change my mind,” Kill said. “Dan's a senior quarterback and he's the one that's played here and just because he's hurt that doesn't mean he's not our quarterback. But somebody may come along and do something really well and things can change, people can struggle.”
BSPN translator: "God I hope someone plays well enough to beat out Nicholson, otherwise we're in bad shape."
A HEALTHY DAN N is a helleuva QB! Nich is the Sr and the Fr need WORK..... STAY HEALTHY DAN!
I can't take another season of Dan Nicholson. Jerry Kill needs to bite the bullet and see what some of the under classman have to offer in hopes that one of them may be a longer term solution. Playing Nicholson is an exercise in futility.
NIU05 Wrote:A HEALTHY DAN N is a helleuva QB! Nich is the Sr and the Fr need WORK..... STAY HEALTHY DAN!
+1
I am excited to see what a healthy Dan Nicholson can do. Everyone on this board was singing this guy's praises his Frosh Yr.... which coincidentally coincides with the last time he was healthy.
If Dan is healthy and wins the QB competition, I am all for giving the guy a few games to prove that he can lead this team...
If he displays the form of his So & Jr years...Let's go to the bench and see what we've got with the youngsters.
I'd rather Dan start at least for the first part of the season.. no reason to throw a freshman in the fire in a winnable game against Minnesota. If Nicholson blows, bring out a freshman the next few weeks. They'll go to Tennessee in October and get the big game experience if that's what you want.
Nigel Incubator-Jones Wrote:I can't take another season of Dan Nicholson. Jerry Kill needs to bite the bullet and see what some of the under classman have to offer in hopes that one of them may be a longer term solution. Playing Nicholson is an exercise in futility.
...STAY HOME!
Kill isn't taking a bullet for ANYBODY. If he feels he can get bowl eligible (winning7-8 games) his 1st year he's GOING FOR IT!
One thing thats promising about Kill is that it seems he isnt gonna take any garbage. If Nicholson flat out sucks, he'll pull him..not a doubt in my mind. On the other hand, Horvath could have thrown 9 picks a game and Novak would have left him in. Novak had too much of the Lovie Smith, "Rex is our quarterback" mindset. Loyalty is good, but only to a point.
clcfball11 Wrote:One thing thats promising about Kill is that it seems he isnt gonna take any garbage. If Nicholson flat out sucks, he'll pull him..not a doubt in my mind. On the other hand, Horvath could have thrown 9 picks a game and Novak would have left him in. Novak had too much of the Lovie Smith, "Rex is our quarterback" mindset. Loyalty is good, but only to a point.
Your post would be true if it wasn't 100% wrong.
Let's play a game called look at our former QBs and their backups!
Haldi Back up Horvath...does anyone not agree that no matter how bad some of you think Haldi was he was 10 times better than horvath? So Novak made the right choice there.
Horvath Back Up Nicholson...Really? Does anyone think that Dan N. has proved he is better than Horvath was?
Nicholson Back up Morris...Some Morris lovers are out there, but Ryan Morris is not a starting QB. We shall see where another coach puts him on this depth chart so we can see if Novak made the "right" choice.
So what you are saying, if I read your post correctly, is that Novak made the wrong QB choice? I'd love for you to point out where he made the wrong choice. (This isn't like the Grossman situation at all. Novak never had a quality back up to throw in there. His QBs kept getting worse. That speaks more to his recruiting than to his Loyalty.)
I'd be very surprised if Dan Nicholson starts in Minnesota at this point, it's clear that Jerry Kill doesn't think very much of him. Plus, I think one of the young quarterbacks will step up at least enough to take the starting job.
NIUHuskies86 Wrote:it's clear that Jerry Kill doesn't think very much of him.
This is your opinion and it may be correct; however, nothing I have read would insinuate "Clearly" that Coach Kill does not think highly of Dan Nicholson.
Huskie359 Wrote:NIUHuskies86 Wrote:it's clear that Jerry Kill doesn't think very much of him.
This is your opinion and it may be correct; however, nothing I have read would insinuate "Clearly" that Coach Kill does not think highly of Dan Nicholson.
It's not only Kill's comments to the media that suggest he isn't a big fan of Dan Nicholson, put it that way. Although I will say this, I don't think Kill thinks Nicholson is a bad QB, I just think he realizes Dan does not fit the system he wants to implement at all.
Dan Nicholson is terrible. A football team that many think will struggle to get to a few wins shouldn't be wasting any more friggin time on Dan Friggin Nicholson. There is no purpose served in playing him. None, nada, zero. If this is going to be a 4 win season like I think it is going to be then dangit all play one of the underclassman in hopes that we might have something to get excited about for the future. If the underclassman also suck? Well then at least Jerry Kill knows for sure that he has real recruiting work to do at quarterback.
Huskie359 Wrote:NIU05 Wrote:A HEALTHY DAN N is a helleuva QB! Nich is the Sr and the Fr need WORK..... STAY HEALTHY DAN!
+1
I am excited to see what a healthy Dan Nicholson can do. Everyone on this board was singing this guy's praises his Frosh Yr.... which coincidentally coincides with the last time he was healthy.
If Dan is healthy and wins the QB competition, I am all for giving the guy a few games to prove that he can lead this team...
If he displays the form of his So & Jr years...Let's go to the bench and see what we've got with the youngsters.
+2
If someone can't beat out Dan, then the whole group of QBs is not very good. NIU needs a 1st team all mac QB. If none of these guys are capable, then we need to bring in as many quality guys as possible. The guys currently at QB will either transfer or change positions. I am sick and tired of having a QB that manages the game. As I have said before, the QB needs to be your best player.
Why would Kill want to start a QB that
A. isn't very good
B. doesn't fit his offense
fact of the matter is if Nicholson is the QB it eliminates a lot of what Kill wants to do on offense. Kill is looking for a reason to replace Nicholson. Anybody who still thinks Dan Nicholson is good based off of 7 quarters of football some 3 years is seriously delusional.
has anyone noticed that he looks like Matt Hasselback?
NIU05 Wrote:A HEALTHY DAN N is a helleuva QB! Nich is the Sr and the Fr need WORK..... STAY HEALTHY DAN!
No he's not.
As a freshman, Nicholson got beat out by Phil Horvath AND Britt Davis in the QB competition. Nicholson started the year as the 3rd stringer. Britt moves to WR, Horvath gets hurt, and Dan steps in and does a good job until he sucked in the MAC championship game.
As a sophmore, Nicholson gets beat out Phil Horvath for the 2nd straight year.
As a junior, Nicholson is the starter by default, and is awful.
If this is an open QB competition, I fully expect Nicholson to lose it for the 3rd time in his tenure at NIU. If he wins it, then I hope A.J. Hill is ready to go next year because the group of QBs we have here is awful.