The Northern Illinois Huskies look to return to their MAC dominance in 2017 but that all depends on staying healthy at quarterback. Last year, the Huskies suffered injuries to their top four starting signal callers. As a result, they finished with a 5-7 record and didn’t go to a bowl game for the first time since 2008.
Northern Illinois also has to go on the road to play the Nebraska Cornhuskers and the San Diego State Aztecs. A Husky bowl appearance may hinge on them reproducing last season’ s 5-3 record in MAC play.
Offense
It is first things first for head coach Rod Carey. Northern Illinois needs to decide on their starting quarterback and pray he competes for a full season. Ryan Graham, Daniel Santacaterina or Anthony Thompson will all vie for the starting nod through the spring. Graham has the most experience of the three but his 55.9 percent completion percentage and his 8-6 touchdown to pick ratio leaves a lot to be desired.
Whichever quarterback earns gets the starting job, they will have a talented tail back in Jordan Huff to hand the rock off to. This will be his chance to become the featured back in Northern Illinois run heavy attack. Last season, Huff scampered for 703 yards on only 111 carries (6.3 ypc). Those numbers also reflected the fact that he split time with senior running back Joel Bouagnon. Bouagnon has taken his skills to the Windy City to play for the Chicago Bears.
Quarterback Anthony Maddie also provided another option for the Huskies rushing game. Maddie was no slouch. He kept the ball 82 times last year but produced over 550 yards with another gaudy 6.8 yards per carry average.
To help with the workload, Northern Illinois returns three starters along the offensive line. All MAC Conference tackle Max Scharping should help keep the 2016 NCAA College Football’s #17 ranked rushing offense headed in the right direction. Together, the trio tied with Troy for the least amount of sacks allowed in the nation last year (8).
Quite possibly the biggest hole to fill on the offense came with the departure of all-conference wide receiver Kenny Golladay. Golladay already has captured the praise of Detroit Lion’s quarterback Mathew Stafford. His 87 catches for almost 2,200 yards will certainly be missed. Unfortunately, Christian Blake is the only returning receiver who had more than ten grabs in 2016.
Defense
Opponents had a field day against the Northern Illinois defense last season. Especially in the first half of the campaign before they started to gel a little and managed to right themselves in the last five contests. Last year, the Huskies finished #88 in rushing defense (200.8 ypg) and #98 in total defense (451.5 ypg).
That is a scary thought considering William Lee is the only returning starter among the front four. To add insult to injury, the Huskies lost seven of their top 11 front seven performers. Then again, with numbers like that, maybe that is a good thing for Northern Illinois.
The good news for Northern Illinois is that the back half is full of experience and runs two deep. Senior corner back Shawun Lurry, a first-team All-American as a sophomore, will be prowling the secondary once again. Although he didn’t match 2015’s performance he was still solid, producing three interceptions and another 11 broken up passes.
Fellow corner Albert Smalls is returning from an injury to keep the other side of the field wrapped up. Transfer Jalen Embry from Iowa, will get his chance to perform now that he is eligible to play.
Prediction
The days of Northern Illinois dominance along with their Orange Bowl berth has came to an end. Their school-record streak of eight straight bowl appearances came to a screeching halt with last season’s disappointing 5–7 record.
Ya ya ya, I know Northern Illinois suffered two full seasons of injuries at the signal-caller spot and a third season of that is highly unlikely. The problem I have is the quarterback stable the Huskies feature now, lacks the star power or dual-threat ability of past.
Overall, the defense should be improved. It really couldn’t get any worse to be honest. Unfortunately, the lingering issues on offense could make the 2017 NCAA College Football campaign a long one.
Add to the fact that the Huskies will be playing a non-conference schedule that features the likes of Boston College, Nebraska and San Diego State and another decent bowl appearance looks bleak. Going on the road to the pre-season MAC favorite Toledo wont be easy either. Line setters have Northern Illinois at 10 to 1 (+1000) to win the MAC and have their team win total at six.
Taking all of this into consideration, I see the Northern Illinois Huskies scrapping their way to another 5-7 record. If they get to 6-6 on the year great, but I would place my hard earned greenbacks on it.
Schedule
9-1 vs. Boston College
9-9 vs. Eastern Illinois
9-16 @ Nebraska
9-30 @ San Diego State
10-7 vs. Kent State
10-14 @ Buffalo
10-21 @ Bowling Green
10-26 vs. Eastern Michigan
11-2 @ Toledo
11-9 vs. Ball State
11-15 vs. Western Michigan
11-24 @ Central Michigan
The getmoresports.com NCAA College Football Throwdown Podcast will be returning to the air on August 24th. We will be highlighting the first five games on August 26th of the 2017 NCAA College Football season. That will be the first of three installments leading into the first week of the season. We also we will be covering our expectations for the Heisman Trophy front runners as well as predictions for conference winners and team totals.
Our second NCAA College Football Throwdown Podcast is penciled in for August 29th. In that installment, we will discussing all the games that will be played on August 31st and the 1st of September.
Our third segment will officially be airing on August 31st. In this addition of the NCAA College Football Throwdown, we will be covering all the relevant games for Sept 2nd, 3rd and 4th.
Keeping with tradition, EJ the Rainmaker and Erik the Hun will give their predictions for the contests. On top of that, we will be providing our dog play of the podcast as well as cash money plays for the week. Join us for all three opening episodes and improve your college football knowledge while increasing the size of your sports book betting account. Come join us and help everyone make it rain. #moneytreesgrow
