By Woodrow Carroll
After opening the season with a 27-24 overtime victory over host Boston College, the Northern Illinois University Huskies played host to Southern Illinois Saturday, Sept. 9 with a 2-0 start to the season in mind. After beating a Power Five team such as Boston College, the Huskies were clearly favored over a lower-level BCS ( Championship Series) team such as Southern Illinois, however, SIU didn’t read the script.
The Huskies will seek to recover at Big Ten Conference member Nebraska at 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16.
After falling behind The Salukies, 14-0, in the third quarter, Northern Illinois, 1-1, never recovered and ended up losing, 14-11, to the in-state visitors from Carbondale.
Game statistics favored the Huskies, although neither team was spectacular on offense. Northern Illinois senior quarterback Rocky Lombardi’s passes were intercepted three times and he was sacked four times. Nic Baker, the Southern Illinois quarterback, was sacked five times.
Last season, Northern Illinois was 3-9 overall and out of the bowl picture early in the season.
After beating Boston College and being favored over Southern Illinois, the Huskies were projected as a bowl team. Six victories are the magic number for a bowl invitation.
The Northern Illinois football picture has taken on a darker cast given what awaits the Huskies who will play at Nebraska at 6 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 16. Nebraska is not likely to be in a good mood after suffering a 13-10 loss to Big Ten foe Minnesota to open the season, then, Saturday, Sept. 9, Colorado handed Nebraska a 36-14 beating. If you think Northern Illinois may be down after falling to Southern Illinois, imagine the feeling in Lincoln, Neb. with the ‘Huskers’ 0-2!
There are 14 teams in the Big Ten Conference. Nebraska is the only member without a victory given Northwestern’s 38-7 victory against visiting UTEP last weekend.
- Similar to Northern Illinois, the University of Illinois opened with a victory, a hard-fought 30-28 win over Toledo. Friday, Sept. 8. Then Illinois fell at Kansas, 34-23.
The Kansas-Illinois game was not as close as the score indicated. The Jayhawks were ahead, 34-7, prior to two late Illinois touchdowns and two two-point conversions made the final score more respectable.
Illini quarterback Luke Altmyer passes were intercepted twice and he was sacked six times.
Similar to Northern Illinois, the Fighting Illini have their work cut out for them Saturday, Sept. 16.
Illinois will play host to Penn State at 11 a.m.. The Nittany Lions will be Illinois’ first Big Ten foe. Many observers think Penn State will be the toughest opponent on the Illinois schedule. Along with Penn State, Illinois goes up against Maryland and Indiana from the Big Ten East. Michigan and Ohio State are not on the Illinois schedule this season.
- If Illinois and Northern Illinois struggled last weekend, the Northwestern Wildcats did not! Northwestern won big, 38-7!
Going into the home game with UTEP, Northwestern had lost 12 straight games. When the visitors from El Paso took an early 7-0 lead, things didn’t look good for the Wildcats.
The Northwestern-UTEP game was 7-7 at the halftime break. Then the Wildcats exploded for 31 unanswered points to lock up the victory. Enter, the game was considered a toss-up. The shocker was the final score.
The Northwestern victory more than anything was the product of the Wildcats’ defense because the visiting Miners generated little offense after their initial touchdown drive.
The victory over UTEP more than anything may have helped settle the uncertain situation lingering after the firing after last season of head coach Pat Fitzgerald. Victories always shift the picture.
Northwestern will need another major results starting at 2:30 p.m. Saturday when the Wildcats will play at Duke. The Blue Devils upset highly-touted Clemson, Monday, Sept. 4, 23-7, and with a 2-0 record moved into the Top 25 rankings.