Akron's Bowl Chances???

[Guest little joey]

Found in the CFN Preview pages

By John Harris

The Unsung Hero – When most college football fans think about the MAC, the first thing that comes to mind is the quarterback play over the last eight to ten years. The conference has spit out more first round quarterbacks over the last five years than the Big Ten, Big XII, ACC and Big East, combined with stars like Chad Pennington, Byron Leftwich and Ben Roethlisberger giving the league an identity. Other stars like Josh Harris of Bowling Green and Tavares Bolden and Brian Jones of Toledo also flourished during their stellar careers.

Even with the loss of Harris and B. Ro, the conference is still loaded at the position. Charlie Frye of Akron is the Zips’ chance at a bowl game and should garner much of the headlines during the season. However, Bruce Gradkowski at Toledo doesn’t have enough balls to keep all of his ‘ball carriers’ happy, so he should also put up huge numbers. Stan Hill of Marshall and Joshua Cribbs of Can't State (now that his court case has been decided) have shown that they are capable of being solid, productive quarterbacks. But, severely lost in the quarterback shuffle, in his own league, is Northern Illinois QB Josh Haldi.

The senior comes into his final year with an 18-6 overall record as a starter, which includes wins over Maryland, Alabama, Bowling Green, Iowa State and Wake Forest. Plus, he threw for 2,544 yards with an incredible 25-9 touchdown to interception ratio. To some of you numerology freaks, you’ll find those numbers to be good, but not great, however, measuring this kid ‘by the numbers’ isn’t the right way to gauge his value for the NIU Huskies in 2004.

Take for instance the Maryland game at the outset of 2003. Late in the game, the Terp defense was stifling the highly touted running back Michael ‘the Burner’ Turner, but they couldn’t stop Haldi from completing key third down passes on a key fourth quarter drive that put the Huskies in field goal position to possibly win the game. Alas, that field goal was blocked, but Haldi was undeterred, as he continued to attack the Maryland secondary, a group that was considered to the be the ACC’s best quartet prior to last season, throughout overtime. He hit Dan Sheldon for the game winner to give the Huskies a lead they wouldn’t relinquish and put them right smack dab on the college football map, if you will.

But, Haldi was far from done in 2003 with his game changing exploits. During the hard fought Alabama game on the road, Haldi hooked up with Shatone Powers for an 13 yard go-ahead touchdown and Sheldon for the 48 yard clincher, both in the second half, to give the Huskies a lead that they didn’t relinquish, leaving ‘Bama and returning home to DeKalb with the biggest win in school history.

He flourished last season, essentially in Turner’s shadow, but still shined as one of the team’s ‘backup singers’. Well, this season he’s got the opportunity to be the lead singer of the Huskies’ band, and that alone gives the Huskies a shot to win the league. Not only does the senior possess a solid arm and great leadership abilities, he’s one of the smartest young men in the conference. Those smarts will bode well as he adapts to new offensive coordinator John Bond. He’ll need for Turner’s replacement, more than likely A.J. Harris, to exploit defenses in their zone running game so as to not let defenses play five and/or six DBs on a consistent basis. Guys, meet Josh Haldi, Northern Illinois quarterback. He may not be all-conference or throw for a million yards, but he’s definitely the key to the Huskies run at a MAC championship.

Conclusion: Although ‘the Burner’ and the offense garnered much of the media publicity last season, the defense did its part to be more than just a bit player. However, the loss of star MLB Nick Duffy took the wind right out of the defense’s sails, as they were subsequently dominated by MAC West powers Bowling Green and Toledo. Duffy has since graduated, along with a number of key defensive line starters, which will make life tough on 1st team All-MAC stud Brian Atkinson and his running mate Javan Lee (with ‘run’ being the operative word here, as these two LBs can flat out fly). A season opening matchup with a vengeful seeking Maryland squad should give that front four a definitive baptism by fire. Plus, in-conference games against offensive powers Toledo and Bowling Green may be a bit much for a team lacking front four experience. Joe Novak has done a wonderful job with this team the past two years; the only thing left is to win the West and get into the MAC championship game. Trust me, the Huskies will be right in the mix in 2004.