Coach Joe Novak loves his Northern Illinois team to run the football. To differentiate his philosophy from Bill Walsh, guru of the pass-happy West Coast offense, Novak has said, “We use the East Coast offense; we run the ball.”
Nevertheless, when Ohio coach Brian Knoor brought his safeties up to the line of scrimmage Saturday–putting nine defenders in the box to limit Michael Turner to 43 yards on 14 carries–Novak switched to the pass. In the second half and overtime, Josh Haldi threw 30 of his 46 passes, and Novak called only four runs. The Huskies rushed for only 66 yards in their victory. Haldi completed 26 passes for 310 yards.
Did Novak regret abandoning his beloved running game? “Not at all,” he said. “I’m not that stubborn. I’ll take what they give us.”