NIU Predictions??

[Guest Zip88]

Akron (1-3) at Northern Illinois (2-2), 4 pm EST

Why to watch: Northern Illinois is not the lead dog in the MAC West pack coming off a 34-17 win over Bowling Green. With all due respect to the rest of the league, there's no one on the Huskie schedule that should be able to pull off an upset until the Toledo game in early November. Akron was a big disappointment to start the season, and then it came up with a 24-19 road win over Can't State to be 1-0 in the league. A win would make everyone take notice that the Zips might be a factor in the race.

Why Akron might win: Will the Huskies let down after last week's nationally televised, very important win? The Zips have just enough offensive playmakers to strike quickly if the NIU intensity isn't there. If Iowa State can go on a run against NIU, Akron can.

Why Northern Illinois might win: Considering Akron has a great quarterback like Charlie Frye, the offense isn't doing much only scoring 14.5 points per game and gaining fewer than 290 yards. The run defense doesn't have a prayer of stopping the NIU ground attack.

Who to watch: Northern Illinois get its leader back as quarterback Josh Haldi returns from a foot injury. Phil Horvath wasn't bad, but Haldi is the difference between NIU being a MAC title contender and a champion. With top RB A.J. Harris hurting, small but sturdy tailback Garrett Wolfe will see plenty of action after rushing for 202 yards against Bowling Green.

What will happen: Northern Illinois isn't going to slip now. This is a good team that should be even better with Haldi back.

CFN Prediction: Northern Illinois 38 ... Akron 17 ... Line: NIU -16

Must See Rating: (5 lock yourself in a room to watch - 1 I'd Do Anything) ... 2

[zff]

I see this game turning out two ways.

1.) If the Zips continue to miss tackles and have blown assiginments this one could get UGLY. :blink:

2.) IF the Zips defense comes out and plays hard and makes solid tackles and the offense steps it up can get the running game going early and do their part to keep the NIU offense on the bench they have a chance.

This teams has gotten better each week but by games end we will see how close they are to the best in the MAC.

Come on Zips!!!!!!

[Zipsrifle]

Well, honestly, I think that last week we had lady luck on our side. I'm not saying that we didn't play our hardest, but that game could have very easily gone the other way. I don't think Can't State was as good as they thought they were, and we made a step up in our play.

This week, I don't see our D stopping their running attack. I was impressed with the way we contained Cribbs last week, but from what I saw NIU do to BGSU, I doubt we're going to stop that. I'm hoping to see an improvement in the D of about the same increment as last week. I think that is the trend right now and hopefully it will continue. I'm just hoping that our D can give them enough hassle to keep them from getting the score too high.

On the other hand, I really think that it is about time to see a measurable increase in our offensive abilities. Unfortunately, I don't expect to see a big improvement in our running abilities. IMO, this was a key to JD's offensive attack and judging by the number of times he's tried running so far, he's put a lot of work into it. I'll just be happy with a consistent 2 YPC instead of this -ve yardage stuff. If we can get that when we need it on 3rd or 4th down, good enough. What I am actually a little disappointed in is how it appears the passing game has become stagnant. I know that Frye's finger is busted up, but he's going to need over 400 this week. I'm hoping that the pass protection is improved so we can start getting something more than a quick 2-3 yard pass. That is all we can seem to muster, too predictable. Also, the receivers also need to pull in some of those tough catches that Cherry, Sparks, and Irving would pull in last year. If we put the same product on the field as last week, it'll be a rough day.

So, if we can continue to improve on D, and make a big step on the O, we'll give them a run. We need to have the O eat up the clock and SCORE in the Red Zone. I really think that we're not going to slow down their run. We've got to keep their O off the field as much as possible. We'll also need to minimize mistakes and maximize any opportunities that NIU gives us. Lets hope that Lady Luck followed us on the bus after the Can't State game last week. I'll be listening.

I know it's a tall order, but I'm one of those damn optimistic people. If the Zips put it together, we win...

Zips 42

NIU 38

[Guest ***GUEST_racer]

i agree with zipsrifle. i think it will hard to stop their ground game.hopefully playing against penn state and virginia will give the d some help. the d needs some turnovers and stop them enough to let our offense get the ball. im totally disapointed in our o this year. everyone says we dont have enough talent.thats bs. its the fifth game of the year so their is no reason not to be putting points on the board.this is the same o line and qb and we averaged 36 ppg last year. if we dont have any recievers how did hixson become player of the week . i just dont buy that we dont have the wr. they may not be as good as last years group, but they are still good enough not to be averaging 14 ppg.

i still think biggs is a decent back also. the o line needs to start blocking and things will take care of themselves.hopefully niu will be sleeping and not ready to play against us after coming off the bg game.go akron!!!!!!!!!

[zipper]

The NIU tv folks keep on repeating how our receivers aren't getting open for Charlie.

[Guest ***GUEST_racer]

at this point it really does not matter what the offense does because the denfense could not stop mount union. unless the d gets better everything else is a moot point.but you are right . i take back some of my previous points.our o is bad /our d is bad/special teams is not good , and we are a bad team.after seeing the Can't score we are just not a very good team.