To understand how much Northern Illinois has improved in the last year, one can examine recent records of Mid-American Conference teams.
Marshall, the MAC and Motor City Bowl champion with a 13-0 record in 1999, has gone 9-3 in its last 12 games. Tied at 8-4, just behind the Thundering Herd, are Toledo, Western Michigan, Northern Illinois and Akron, the Huskies’ opponent Saturday.
Northern which finished 5-6 overall and 5-3 in the MAC last year, struggled to a 3-30 record from 1996 to 1998 under coach Joe Novak.
Saturday’s game in Ohio between Northern (3-2) and Akron (4-2) matches the leaders of the MAC’s two divisions.
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Akron leads the Eastern Division with a 3-0 record. The Huskies are 1-0 in the West.
NCAA statistics suggest Saturday’s NIU-Akron showdown will be a “blue collar” bowl to be won by the team that best executes two basics dear to the heart of ex-line coach Novak: Run the ball and stop the run.
Sophomore tailback Thomas Hammock, operating behind 6-foot-7-inch, 336-pound tackle Ryan Diem and the rest of NIU’s offensive line, has helped the Huskies rush an average of 191.8 yards per game, 23rd nationally among Division I-A teams.
Hammock rushed a career-high 143 yards and Northern totaled 221 in last week’s 40-20 victory over Central Florida.
Akron also has a strong tailback in Brandon Payne, last year’s MAC freshman of the year. But the Huskies’ defense ranks 37th in rushing defense, yielding just 118.8 yards per game.
Akron ranks 108th with an average yield of 221.8.
Each team features a capable passer and an extraordinary receiver. Butchie Washington’s No. 1 target is Lavel Bailey who averaged 22.4 yards per catch and had nine touchdown receptions last year.
Huskies quarterback Chris Finlen’s primary receiver, Justin McCareins, ranks No. 4 in the nation with an average of 113.2 receiving yards per game. He set a school record last week with his 23rd touchdown catch.
Western Illinois: Quarterback Frisman Jackson and tailback Charles Tharp provide the No. 8 ranked Leathernecks (5-1 overall, 2-0 in the Gateway Conference) with explosive offense balance as they head to Southwest Missouri State (2-3, 1-1).
Jackson, a transfer from Northern Illinois, rushed for 109 yards and one touchdown and passed for 120 yards and two scores in last week’s 42-17 romp over Southern Illinois. Tharp rushed 107 yards and scored three times.
Jackson has completed only 41 percent of his passes but he leads the Gateway in passing efficiency because of his 8-2 touchdown-to-interception ratio and his average gain of 20 yards per completion.
Eastern Illinois: Coach Bob Spoo’s Panthers (4-1, 2-0) have cracked the Division I-AA top 25 at No. 25 as they prepare to greet Murray State (3-3, 1-1).
Second among the nation’s I-AA teams with a 43-point scoring average, Eastern features a balanced offense that ranks No. 9 with an average of 463.6 yards per game.
Quarterback Tony Romo heads up the passing game that has averaged 215.4 yards per game. Alternating tailbacks Jarbarey McDavid, J.R. Taylor and Andre Raymond help lift the rushing average to 248.2 yards.
Illinois State: The Redbirds (1-4, 0-2) have outgained their last three opponents, including nationally ranked Youngstown State but lost all three because of 14 turnovers.
They look for better results at Indiana State (0-6, 0-2) Saturday.
Youngstown extended ISU’s losing streak to four games last week, scoring both touchdowns in a 14-12 victory off turnovers.
ISU’s Jake Strader was named Gateway special teams player of the week for his kicking against Youngstown.
Strader averaged 45.3 yards on six punts, one of them for 73 yards, and he connected on field goals of 38 and 32 yards.
Southern Illinois: The Salukis (1-4, 1-1), like the Redbirds, have a bad case of the giveaways that donate short scoring drives to opponents. In last week’s 42-17 loss to Western Illinois, each of the Leathernecks’ six scoring drives consumed seven plays or fewer. None took more than 2:56 off the clock.
Saluki Tom Koutsos leads Western Illinois’ Tharp 140.5 to 130.0 yards per game in their duel for the Gateway rushing title. Tharp has the higher average per rush, 6.4 to 4.9 and has scored nine touchdowns to Koutsos’ eight.
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Saturday’s visitor, Drake (5-0), plays in the no-scholarship Pioneer League, which is Division I-AAA.