Oct. 24, 2006

2006 NORTHERN ILLINOIS FOOTBALL
Game 9 -- NIU vs. Iowa
Oct. 28, 2006 - 11 a.m. (CDT) - ESPNU
Iowa City, Iowa - Kinnick Stadium (70,585)

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HUSKIE FACTS
2006 Record: 5-3
2006 MAC Record: 3-2
Head Coach: Joe Novak
Alma Mater/Year: Miami (OH) 1967
Record at NIU/Year: 59-63/11th
Career Record/Year: Same
Location: DeKalb, Illinois
Enrollment: 25,208
Conference: Mid-American (West Division)
Colors: Cardinal and Black
Stadium: Brigham Field at Huskie Stadium
Capacity: 28,000
Surface: Field Turf
President: John Peters
Associate VP/Athletic Director: Jim Phillips Ticket Information: 815-752-6800
Website: www.niuhuskies.com

2006 NIU Schedule & Results
http://niuhuskies.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/sched/niu-m-footbl-sched.html

2006 Iowa Schedule & Results
http://hawkeyesports.cstv.com/sports/m-footbl/sched/iowa-m-footbl-sched.html

HUSKIE HEAD COACH NOVAK
Northern Illinois Head Coach Joe Novak is in his 11th season at the helm of the Huskie program, having led NIU to six straight winning seasons and four of the last five MAC West Division crowns. The Ohio native owns a career head coaching record of 59-63 (.484). He led NIU to the school's first bowl appearance in 20 seasons in 2004 with a trip to the Silicon Valley Bowl, where the Huskies defeated Troy. In 2003, he was named the AFCA Region 3 Coach of the Year after leading Northern Illinois to a 10-2 overall record with wins over Maryland and Alabama. He was the Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year in 2002. Novak came to NIU after 12 seasons as the defensive coordinator and linebackers coach at Indiana, during which time the Hoosiers made six bowl appearances. He was the defensive coordinator at Northern Illinois from 1980-83 after coaching stints at Illinois (1977-79) and at his alma mater, Miami (Ohio), from 1974-76. Novak played defensive end for Coach Bo Schembechler at Miami in 1965 and '66. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees from Miami in 1967 and '68, respectively.

NIU NEWS & NOTES

NON-CON FINALE: Northern Illinois completes the non-conference portion of its 2006 schedue this week at Iowa. The game also marks the second-to-last road game of the 2006 season for the Huskies and the first and only trip west this year. NIU enters the game having won five of its last six contests, including a 43-21 win over Temple last week in DeKalb.

TOUGH TESTS: Since re-joining the Mid-American Conference in 1997, NIU is 13-21 in non-conference games, and is 2-1 in its 2006 non-league slate to date. Northern's non-conference opponents since '97 have included No. 1 Ohio State (earlier this year), Kansas State, N.C. State, Northwestern, Auburn, Maryland, Michigan, Wisconsin, Alabama and Wake Forest.

ROAD RECORD: Under Joe Novak, Northern Illinois is 23-37 in road contests over the last 11 years, with 16 of those 23 victories recorded since the beginning of the 2002 season. A year ago, the Huskies compiled a 3-3 road record with wins in their last three road contests of the year - over Kent State (Oct. 22), Central Michigan (Nov. 5) and Toledo (Nov. 16). NIU has now won five of its last seven road games.

LAST WEEK: Northern Illinois returned to its winning ways with a 43-21 win over Temple at Huskie Stadium as kicker Chris Nendick and defensive end Larry English enjoyed record-breaking days. Nendick made a school-record five field goals, including four in the first half, while English tallied a record 4.5 quarterback sacks as NIU limited Temple to minus six rushing yards on the day. Northern took a 19-0 halftime lead and extended it to 40-0 in the third quarter as NIU quarterbacks hit four different receivers for touchdowns on the day.

SIXTH IN A SERIES: Northern Illinois and Iowa meet for the sixth time Saturday and for the first time since 1999, with all five previous meetings in Iowa City. The teams played a two game set in 1985 and '86, then met again in 1991 and '93.

WHEN LAST WE MET: Iowa claimed a 24-0 shutout win over Northern Illinois in the last meeting between the teams, on Sept. 18, 1999 in Iowa City. Current UI head coach Kirk Ferentz' earned his first win as the Hawkeyes' head coach in the closest game of the series. Iowa entered the fourth quarter with a slim 3-0 lead and were pinned at their own one-yard line by an NIU punt. The Hawkeyes drove 99 yards in 17 plays to go up 10-0 and then returned a missed Huskie field goal 94 yards to take a 17-0 lead. The game also marked the last time a Northern Illinois team was shutout, as NIU has not been held scoreless in its last 86 games.

LOOKING AHEAD: After six meetings in the Hawkeye state, Northern Illinois will face Iowa on its "home" - i.e. in-state - turf in the 2007 season opener when the teams meet on Sept. 1, 2007 in Chicago's Soldier Field. The game will mark the first Division I-A game at Soldier Field since the stadium renovations were completed in 2003, as well as the first time NIU has ever played host to a Big Ten team.

TAKING ON THE BIG TEN: Northern Illinois has become well-acquainted with teams from the Big Ten over the years, having played 29 games against nine different teams from the league. NIU has played Wisconsin more than any other Big Ten team (10 times) and its lone win over a Big Ten squad was a 19-17 victory over the Badgers in 1988. Northern also earned a 16-16 tie at Northwestern in 1987. The Huskies, whose 2006 opponents include Iowa and Ohio State, after taking on Michigan and Northwestern a year ago, have never met Purdue or Michigan State, but are scheduled for a road date against the Boilermakers in 2009. WINNING WAYS: Northern Illinois is two wins away from posting its seventh straight winning season as the Huskies are currently enjoying their longest string of success since entering the major college ranks in 1969. Head Coach Joe Novak has taken the program from a team that lost 23 straight games from 1996 to 1998 to one that has claimed at least a share of the Mid-American Conference West Division in four of the last five seasons (2001-2002-2004-2005) and won the 2004 Silicon Valley Bowl. NIU won 10 games in 2003 on the heels of an eight-win campaign in 2002, then went on to win nine contests in 2004. The Huskies have claimed four wins over BCS programs since 2001.

WOLFE, FREE ON THE WEB: Northern Illinois Athletics has launched a pair of websites with extensive information on 2006 all-everything candidate Garrett Wolfe and on Outland and Lombardi candidate Doug Free. The sites are located at www.watchwolfe.com and www.seedougfree.com and include video highlights, complete stats, notes and quotes on the players and links to newspaper articles about them.

WATCH LISTS: Wolfe and Free have received most of the preseason accolades for the Huskies as their names appear on several of the "Watch Lists" for some of the nation's most prestigious awards. Wolfe is one of just 35 players on the Walter Camp Player of the Year list and has also been tabbed as a player to watch by the Maxwell Award and was named to the Doak Walker Award list, which goes to the nation's top running back. Free has received recognition on both the Lombardi Award and Outland Trophy listings and quarterback Phil Horvath is on the Watch List for the Davey O'Brien National Quarterback Award.

TWELVE ON TV: With this Saturday's game set for broadcast by ESPNU, all 12 of the Huskies' 2006 regular season contests will be televised in 2006 - establishing a new school record. Northern Illinois' season opener at Ohio State was televised to nearly half (47%) of the country by ABC Sports while ESPN's family of networks picked up four games, including the Sunday night contest at Miami (OH) on ESPN, the game versus Toledo on Tuesday, Nov. 7 on ESPN2 and a pair of games (Central Michigan and Iowa) on ESPNU. Comcast SportsNet aired the last four Huskie home games from DeKalb, and have or will carry the road games at Ball State, Western Michigan and Eastern Michigan, which will receive widespread distribution as the MAC Game of the Week. NIU appeared on TV nine times in 2005 and 10 times in 2004.

TOUGH TO RUSH: The Northern Illinois defense recorded a record-setting performance last week versus Temple as NIU limited the Owls to minus six (-6) yards rushing (net) on 22 carries. That marked the LOWEST TOTAL EVER for a Northern Illinois opponent. The minus six yards rushing broke the previous record of minus two yards collected by Western Michigan (10-18-03) and by Illinois State (11-6-65).

TOUGH TO RUSH 2: Over the last six weeks (five Huskie victories), NIU opponents have gained just 501 yards on 184 carries and are averaging just 83.5 rushing yards per game. During that time, no team has gained more than 130 rushing yards and only two opponents have earned more than 100 yards. During the five-game span, opponents are gaining 2.7 yards per carry. Overall, NIU's opponents are averaging 106.4 rushing yards per game, second in the MAC.

SETTING A SACK STANDARD: NIU sophomore defensive end Larry English accounted for Temple losses totalling 36 yards with a school record 4.5 sacks and 5.5 tackles for loss Saturday versus Temple. The 4.5 quarterback sacks, four of which came in the first 21 minutes of the game, broke the mark of three sacks in a game, which had been accomplished 10 times previously. English, who added a six-yard tackle for loss to break the Huskie record for most tackles for loss in a game (previous record of five was set four times), also recovered a fumble and forced another in a dominating performance.

STILL THE ONE: Despite a pair of sub-100 yard performances in the last two weeks (his first games gaining less than 170 yards on the ground in over a year), Garrett Wolfe still leads the nation in rushing (176.6 yards per game), and is second in all-purpose yards (200.75 yards per game) and fifth in scoring (10.75 points per game). Wolfe owns four of the top 18 rushing performances in the country this year, including the No. 1 (353 vs. Ball State) and No. 2 (263 vs. Buffalo) games. His 356 all-purpose yards vs. Ball State are the top total in the NCAA this season while his 285 all-purpose yards versus No. 1 Ohio State (171 rushing and 114 receiving) ranks as the No. 7 total in the NCAA in 2006.

FUMBLE FACTS: Northern Illinois, with just one fumble lost in the first eight games of 2006, is tied for first in the country in that category with Michigan. Meanwhile, with 10 fumbles recovered, the Huskie defense is tied for ninth in the nation in that category. Senior defensive end Ken West has led the way in picking up fumbles. With three recoveries in 2006, West is tied for the MAC lead.

RECORD-SETTING: Huskie tailback Garrett Wolfe put on one of the most prolific performances in NCAA history at Ball State (Sept. 30) as he gained a school-record 353 yards on 31 carries with three touchdowns. Wolfe's yardage total ranks as the 13th-highest in NCAA Division I-A history and is the most yards gained in a single game since Robbie Mixon of Central Michigan gained 377 yards versus Eastern Michigan on Nov. 2, 2002. Wolfe also broke the NIU record for single game all-purpose yards with 356 while averaging an insane 11.4 yards per rush. His touchdowns came on runs of 51, 48 and 53 yards and he added a 75-yard run to the Ball State 11-yard line. Amazingly, Wolfe had touchdown runs of 70 and 45 yards called back during the game due to holding penalties.

IT'S RAINING THREES: Northern Illinois kicker Chris Nendick set a pair of school records and tied another versus Temple when he hit five-of-seven field goals and four PATs to total 19 points. Nendick set new NIU marks for points scored by kicking in a game and for field goal attempts, while his five field goals made tied Vince Scott (1982 vs. Ohio) for the single game mark. Nendick hit threes of 36, 24, 22, 36 and 21 yards while missing from 50 and 37 yards to earn his second MAC West Special Teams Player of the Week honor of the season.

NENDICK FOR THREE: Chris Nendick, who has kicked at least one field goal in seven of NIU's eight games on the season, topped by his five-field goal performance versus Temple, ranks second in the country in field goals made with 15 in NIU's eight games so far. Nendick is 15-of-20 from three on the year and leads the MAC in kick scoring with 69 total points. He also ranks 14th in the country overall in scoring. The junior from Naperville has scored at least one point in each of his 32 career games, the longest streak in NIU history. With 245 career points, Nendick ranks fifth on the school's all-time scoring chart, just eight points out of the fourth-place spot, while his 40 career field goals are just one behind Vince Scott (1980-83) for third place all-time at NIU.

BEST EVER: Northern Illinois' Garrett Wolfe gained more yards (1,181) in the first five games of a season than any player in NCAA Division I-A history. Wolfe became the ninth player to record more than 1,000 yards in the first five games of the season, joining a group that includes Ed Marinaro (Cornell, 1971, 1,026 yards), Ricky Bell (USC, 1976, 1,008), Marcus Allen (USC, 1981, 1,136), Ernest Anderson (Oklahoma State, 1982, 1,042), Barry Sanders (Oklahoma State, 1988, 1,002), Byron Hanspard (Texas Tech, 1996, 1,112), Ricky Williams (Texas, 1998, 1,086) and Troy Davis (Iowa State, 1995, 1,001 and 1996, 1,047) who accomplished the feat twice. Of those players, Wolfe's 2006 total of 1,181 yards through five games was the highest.

IN JEOPARDY: Garrett Wolfe still has a chance to become the first NIU or MAC running back to pass the 2,000-yard mark in a single season and to break the school and league all-purpose marks. Wolfe is 563 yards shy of LeShon Johnson's NIU record of 1,976 rushing yards set in 1993 and needs 502 yards to tie Turner's MAC mark of 1,915 yards in 2002. He also needs 293 yards to break Turner's NIU career rushing record of 4,941 yards. With his next 100-yard rushing day, Wolfe will tie Turner's NIU mark for career 100-yard rushing games. By passing the 1,000-yard mark at Ball State, Wolfe became the first back in Northern Illinois history to record three straight 1,000-yard rushing seasons.

IN JEOPARDY 2: For his career, the 5-7, 177-pound Chicago native is averaging 166.0 yards per game in 28 games, a mark which would rank second all-time in the NCAA behind only Cornell's Ed Marinaro who averaged 174.6 yards in 27 games from 1969-71. Currently, USC's O.J. Simpson is second on the list at 164.4 yards per game (19 games), while NIU's LeShon Johnson, who averaged 150.6 yards per game from 1992-93, is fourth on the NCAA career rushing average list and owns the school record.

PER CARRY: Not only are Wolfe's season and career per game averages potentially record-breaking, but Wolfe is averaging 7.4 yards per carry in 2006 (on 191 carries) and his career average is 6.7 yards per tote on 689 rushes. The NCAA records for highest gain per rush for a season is 7.8 yards (for 214-281 carries), set by Mike Rozier of Nebraska in 1983, and 7.6 yards (over 282 carries) by Barry Sanders of Oklahoma State in 1988. The NCAA career per carry average leaders are Reggie Bush of USC (414-780 rushes) at 7.3 yards and Memphis' DeAngelo Williams (more than 781 rushes) with a mark of 6.22.

CATCHING ON: With five catches for 31 yards at Western Michigan, Wolfe has upped his season total to 18 grabs for 193 yards to rank third on the team in catches and in receiving yards. Wolfe is just two catches away from equalling his single season high for catches (20) and needs 30 yards to pass his best single season mark for receiving yards. His career all-purpose total of 5,412 yards ranks sixth all-time in the MAC.

EIGHT STRAIGHT: Northern Illinois has now had a 1,000-yard running back in each of the last eight seasons. Garrett Wolfe became the latest in the line of 1,000-yard rushers for Northern Illinois, as well as the FIRST NIU player to record three straight 1,000-yard rushing seasons. Entering the year, NIU was tied with Minnesota for the second-longest string of 1,000-yard seasons (by one back) in the nation, behind only Texas (10 straight 1,000-yard seasons). With 1,656 rushing yards in 2004, 1,580 a year ago and having surpassed the 1,000-yard mark in just five games this season, Wolfe followed Michael Turner (2002 and 2003), Thomas Hammock (2000 and 2001) and William Andrews (1999) in the century club.

BLOCK PARTY: Northern Illinois' special teams have recorded three blocked kicks on the year with two blocked punts and a blocked PAT. Huskie senior Dustin Utschig got his hand on a Temple punt last week and versus Western Michigan, special teams earned the first score of the game when Greg Turner blocked a Bronco punt and Jarret Carter recovered in the end zone for his first career touchdown. It was the first punt block by a Huskie player since 2004, when Utschig blocked a Troy punt in the Silicon Valley Football Classic, and was the first NIU score off a blocked punt since Sept. 6, 2003 versus Tennessee Tech. Huskie defensive lineman Alex Krutsch blocked a Buffalo PAT earlier this season.

2 DAYS OFF!: For the second time this season, Northern Illinois punter Andy Dittbenner took a game day off as NIU did not punt versus Temple. Dittbenner's first day off came at Ball State as that game marked the first time in 80 games -- since Oct. 2, 1999, a 45-21 NIU win over Buffalo at Buffalo -- that Northern Illinois was not forced to punt in a game. In the Temple game, Northern Illinois' 13 possessions ended in five field goals, two missed threes, four touchdowns, an interception and the end of the game.

RESILIENT LINE: The Huskies' interior defensive line has been built and re-built throughout this 2006 season as injuries have affected the line-up in every game. In all, five different NIU defensive linemen (Craig Rusch, Alex Krutsch, Adam Schroeder, Zack Holycross and Brandon Bice) have missed at least one game due to injury and have combined to miss 15 games over all. Bice has missed five games, Schroeder four and Krutsch, who started all six games at defensive tackle, was the latest to go down as he suffered a broken foot in practice prior to the Western Michigan game. However, the return of Rusch in the last four games has been a boon to the d-line. In five games, the sophomore ranks second among all defensive linemen in tackles with 22 and is second on the team in sacks (3) and in tackles for loss (6).

SPREADING THE WEALTH: Northern Illinois quarterbacks Phil Horvath and Dan Nicholson hit four different receivers for scores Saturday with sophomores Matt Simon and Greg Turner each earning their first career touchdowns, and senior Jarret Carter, who recovered a blocked punt in the endzone for a TD last week at Western Michigan, catching his first touchdown pass. In all, eight different players caught at least two passes each with five different players recording grabs of 20 yards or longer. Britt Davis, the Huskies' leading receiver on the year, topped all players with six catches for 92 yards.

HUSKIE 'BACKERS: The play of the defensive line has freed NIU linebackers to make tackles. Senior Keenan Blalark recorded a career high 14 stops versus Western Michigan and leads the team in tackles with 67, while fellow LB Tim McCarthy remains a close second with 63 stops, and is tied for the team lead in solo tackles with 30. McCarthy, in fact, leads NIU in pass break-ups with five and has the longest interception return of the year for the Huskies. The third member of the starting linebacking trio, freshman Cory Hanson, ranks fifth on the team with 39 tackles, a sack, an interception, a fumble recovery and a pass break up.

DIALING LONG DISTANCE: The Huskies have tallied 31 plays of 25 yards or longer this season with 12 long runs, 12 long passes and seven returns. Versus Temple, Northern Illinois had four long plays (two passes and two returns). Garrett Wolfe leads all Huskies with 11 runs and two passes of 25 yards are more, topped by a 75-yard run versus Ball State and a 65-yard reception in the Ohio State game.

DISTRIBUTION: Eleven different players have caught passes for Northern Illinois this season with receivers accounting for 82 receptions, or 60.7 percent of the team total, for 1,109 yards which is 65.7 percent of NIU's receiving yards. Tight ends have 32 receptions (14 by the injured Jake Nordin) for 23.7 percent of the catches and 22.6 percent of the yards, while running backs, primarily Garrett Wolfe, have 20 catches (14.8 percent) with 11.7 percent of the yards. Last season, 14 different players caught passes and receivers caught 159 of 229 passes or 69 percent of the 2005 team total with tight ends totaling 37 grabs (16 percent) and running backs getting 33 catches (14 percent). Of the wide receiver catches, Britt Davis and Marcus Perez have 55 catches, or 67 percent of the receivers' total.

NO-IOWA: The 2006 Northern Illinois football roster features players from Florida, from South Dakota and from California. There are Minnesotans, Missourians and Indianans, but there is not a single player on the Huskies' 2006 roster from Iowa.

TWO-POINTER: When Garrett Wolfe picked up the two-point conversion following NIU's last touchdown at Miami, it marked the first time Northern Illinois has successfully converted a the first game of the 2004 season versus Maryland, when Sam Hurd caught a two-point PAT pass from Phil Horvath in the only two-point try that year. Last year, NIU was unsuccessful on two attempts and also misfired on a two-point try earlier this season.

MISSING: Northern Illinois has now lost four key players for the season, including senior starters Alvah Hansbro (CB) and Jake Nordin (TE), junior back-up running back Montell Clanton and defensive tackle Alex Krutsch. Hansbro suffered a torn right biceps tendon in the Ohio game while Nordin underwent surgery after fracturing his left leg versus Ball State. Clanton was injured versus Buffalo and underwent knee surgery and Krutsch suffered a broken foot in practice last week. Alvah Hansbro, who had started 14 consecutive games for the Huskies, finished his NIU career with 133 tackles, 84 solo, in 38 games. Nordin is a four-year starter who caught 54 passes for 547 yards and had 14 catches in 2006.

SPECIAL GUEST: NFL Hall of Famer Ronnie Lott told the Huskie football team to enjoy "the best time of their lives" when addressing the team after practice during a day-long visit to DeKalb on Thursday, Sept. 14. Lott, an eight-time All-Pro defensive back with four Super Bowl rings earned as a member of the San Francisco 49ers, told that Huskies that he was "honored" to be with them and to treasure above all the relationships built on the football field. FREE AT 44: Senior Doug Free's starting streak of 44 consecutive games (or every game of his NIU career), now ranks tied for fifth nationally. The Wisconsin native began his starting streak in the opening game of the 2003 season and has been a fixture in the NIU starting line-up ever since. He has made 42 starts at left tackle; at the end of the 2004 season, Free started a pair of games at tight end. Nicknamed "Doug Freak" for his 29-inch vertical jump, 5-second 40 time and 565-pound squat lift, Free is listed as one of the top offensive tackles in the nation by a multitude of preseason publications and as a potential early round draft choice by Mel Kiper. After arriving in DeKalb as a 6-5, 260-pound true freshman, Free is now a 6-7, 315-pound force for the Huskies.

BOOMING: NIU kicker Chris Nendick has seen more length on his kickoffs this season, especially at home in Huskie Stadium. Nendick has recorded touchbacks on 25 of his 50 deep kickoffs this season, playing a key role in NIU's field position battles. During the Huskies' September homestand, Nendick kicked 15 of his 20 kickoffs well into or through the end zone and five of his season-high 10 kickoffs were not returned last week.

108 STRAIGHT: Nendick's streak of 108 consecutive PATs came to a halt at Ball State, just four shy of the Mid-American Conference record. Nendick, who was vying to surpass the MAC career mark of 112, set by Miami's John Scott from 1995-98, missed his third extra point try of the game early in the third quarter. Nendick did make two-of-three critical field goals with blasts of 24 and 37 yards.

FRESH IMPACT: Three freshmen are making a significant impact on the Northern Illinois starting line-up, including two on the Huskie offensive line. At center, redshirt freshman Eddie Adamski has started every game of 2006 and has 34 knockdown blocks while leading the way for Garrett Wolfe on many of the senior's runs. In addition, freshman Jason Onyebuagu has two starts on the year. "J.O." - who Head Coach Joe Novak has called the most talented true freshman offensive lineman he has ever coached - has seen increased playing time since moving to guard. Finally, on defense, redshirt freshman linebacker Cory Hanson, who ranks fifth on the team with 39 tackles and made a career-high eight at Western Michigan, snagged the first interception of 2006 for the Huskie defense at Miami.

PLAYING TIME: After jumping out to a 38-0 halftime lead versus Indiana State on Sept. 23, NIU Head Coach Joe Novak was able to get a slew of Northern Illinois' young players into the game in the second half. In all, 66 different players saw action for the Huskies, including 18 who played in their first game of the season. Six offensive linemen saw their first action of the season while running backs Justin Anderson, Cas Prime and Matt Schiffler all got their first carries of the year, with Anderson taking advantage of the opportunity to score his first career TD on a 15-yard run in the third quarter.

34 SCORES AT 0:34: NIU senior defensive end Ken West (#34) scored the first defensive touchdown by a Northern Illinois player in 21 games just 34 seconds into the Indiana State game when he scooped up an errant lateral pass by Indiana State QB Reilly Murphy on the game's first play from scrimmage and ran 11 yards to paydirt. The last score by the Huskie defense came on Oct. 9, 2004 on a 68-yard interception return by Ray Smith versus UCF. West's score was the first fumble return touchdown by the Huskies since Sept. 4, 2004, when Jason Hawkins scored on an 85-yard return at Maryland.

TV TALLY: In 40 seasons of televised games, Northern Illinois is 48-45-1 all-time on television, including a 26-15 mark since the start of the 2001 season. NIU went 5-4 in its nine television appearances last year and posted an impressive 8-2 mark on TV in 2004. The Huskies appeared on ABC once and on ESPN or ESPN2 four times last season after three ESPN network appearances the previous year.

STILL SEARCHING: Despite all of its recent success, including a thrilling 2003 campaign that saw the Huskies burst into the national spotlight with a season-opening overtime win over No. 15 Maryland and go on to claim its biggest road victory ever with a 19-16 win over No. 21 Alabama, one goal that has eluded Northern Illinois is a MAC Championship. Last season ended with the Huskies just 10 seconds shy of that goal as Akron scored on a 36-yard pass play with 10 seconds remaining to hand NIU a heart-breaking 31-30 loss in the MAC Championship game in Detroit.

AGAINST THE BEST: Wolfe's 285 all-purpose yards versus No. 1 Ohio State - he gained 171 rushing on 26 carries and collected 114 receiving yards on five catches to surpass the 100-yard mark in both categories in the same game for the first time -- was the highest total ever recorded by an NIU back versus a Top 10 opponent. In the game, Wolfe averaged 9.2 yards every time he touched the ball and recorded his career-long 65-yard reception. He gained 155 yards in the first half, with runs of 15 and 22 yards and catches of 31 and 65 yards.

ON THE AIR
Television
Northern Illinois' game at Iowa will be televised on ESPNU as all 12 of the Huskies' games this season will be televised. Todd Kulis will produce the broadcast with Clay Matvick calling the play-by-play and Brian Kinchen providing the color analysis.

Radio
The Huskie Sports Network will broadcast the game with the pregame show beginning at 10:30 a.m. (Central). Bill Baker returns for his 27th season as the "voice" of the Huskies while analyst Mark Lindo is in his 22nd season on the broadcast team. Casey Kahler joins the crew this season as the adidas sideline reporter. The Huskies can be heard in Chicago on WSCR 670 AM The Score and across northern Illinois on the six-station Huskie Sports Network, which includes WLBK-AM 1360 (DeKalb), WSEY-FM 95.7 (Rockford/Freeport/Oregon/Sterling/Dixon), WRMN-AM 1410 (Elgin) and WRHL-AM 1060 (Rochelle). On the internet, several stations offer streaming audio, including The Score (www.670thescore.com), WRMN (www.wrmn1410.com) and WRHL (www.wrhl.net).

Inside Huskie Sports
Each week, Head Coach Joe Novak and host Brad Hoey review the previous week's highlights and preview the upcoming contest on "Inside Huskie Sports." The 30-minute show airs each Thursday on Comcast SportsNet at 4:30 p.m. with a replay Fridays at 4:30 p.m. Join Novak and Hoey for the weekly taping of "Inside Huskie Sports" at Fatty's Pub and Grille located at 1312 West Lincoln Highway in DeKalb. The show tapes Mondays at 6:30 p.m. with audience participation and prizes.

NIU Live
Join Northern Illinois Athletic Director Jim Phillips, WSCR Sports Director Andy Garcia and members of the Huskie coaching staff (including football coach Joe Novak) weekly on "NIU Live." A 30-minute program highlighting the best in Northern Illinois Athletics, NIU Live airs Wednesday nights at 9 p.m. on 670 The Score, a powerful 50,000-watt station which can be heard throughout the Midwest.

Coaches' Corner
Every Thursday from 12:15-1 p.m., get the latest on the Huskies from NIU Head Coach Joe Novak and host Bill Baker in the "Coaches Corner". The Coaches Corner will originate from The Junction Eating Place prior to road games and from the Holmes Student Center in advance of home contests. The show airs on WLBK 1360 AM in DeKalb.