Oct. 2, 2007

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2007 NORTHERN ILLINOIS HUSKIE FOOTBALL
Northern Illinois Huskies at Temple Owls
Oct. 6, 2007 - Noon (CDT)
Philadelphia, Pa. - Lincoln Financial Field (68,532)

HUSKIE FACTS
2007 Record: 1-4
2007 MAC Record: 0-2
Head Coach: Joe Novak
Alma Mater/Year: Miami (OH) 1967
Record at NIU/Year: 62-70/12th
Career Record/Year: Same
Location: DeKalb, Illinois
Enrollment: 25,254
Conference: Mid-American (West Division)
Colors: Cardinal and Black
Stadium: Brigham Field at Huskie Stadium
Surface/Capacity: FieldTurf /24,000
President: Dr. John Peters
Associate VP/Athletic Director: Dr. Jim Phillips
Ticket Information: 815-752-6800

2007 NIU SCHEDULE & RESULTS

HUSKIE HEAD COACH JOE NOVAK
The dean of Mid-American Conference coaches, Joe Novak is in his 12th season at the helm of the Northern Illinois football program and owns a career and NIU record of 62-70 as a head coach. Novak has led the Huskies to a school-record seven consecutive Football Bowl Championship Subdivision winning seasons, along with post-season appearances in each of the last three years. Northern Illinois has won or shared the MAC West title in four of the last six years. Novak ranks ninth among MAC coaches all-time in victories (61) and is tied for 10th in league wins (46). The Huskies' victory in the 2004 Silicon Valley Classic marked NIU's first bowl game in 21 seasons, since the year Novak helped Northern Illinois to the California Bowl as the Huskies' defensive coordinator. Novak spent four seasons (1980-83) in that role on Bill Mallory's staff before following Mallory to Indiana for 12 seasons and making six bowl trips. A native of Mentor, Ohio, Novak played for Bo Schembechler at Miami (Ohio) and began his collegiate coaching career there in 1974.

OWLS' FACTS
2007 Record: 0-5
2007 MAC Record: 0-2
Head Coach: Al Golden
Alma Mater/Year: Penn State 1991
Record at Temple/Year: 1-16/2nd
Career Record/Year: Same
Location: Philadelphia, Pa.
Enrollment: 34,000
Conference: Mid-American
Colors: Cherry and White
Stadium: Lincoln Financial Field
Surface/Capacity: Natural Grass/68,532
President: Dr. Ann Weaver Hart
Athletic Director: Bill Bradshaw
Ticket Information: 215-204-8499

2007 TEMPLE SCHEDULE & RESULTS

NIU NEWS & NOTES
ROAD TRIP, TAKE 3: Northern Illinois (1-4, 0-2 MAC) completes a three-game road swing with its first visit to Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia to face new MAC member Temple. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. (ET)/Noon (CT) from the City of Brotherly Love.

RECORD ON THE ROAD: Under Joe Novak, Northern Illinois is 25-39 in road contests over the last 11 years, with 18 of those 25 victories recorded since the beginning of the 2002 season. The Huskies have compiled a 3-3 record on the road in each of the last two seasons, winning at Ball State, Miami (Ohio) and Eastern Michigan last year. NIU has won seven of its last 11 road games.

NOVAK'S NUMBERS: NIU Head Coach Joe Novak enters his 12th season at the helm of the Huskie program as the dean of Mid-American Conference coaches. Novak, who ranks second all-time at NIU in games coached (132) and is third in victories (62), took over sole possession of ninth place on the MAC career wins list with 61 (his first win came before NIU re-joined the league). His 46 league victories are tied for 10th all-time.

SHORT SERIES: Northern Illinois and Temple meet for just the third time ever and for the first time as conference foes in the Owls' inaugural season in the league. NIU has won both of the previous games between the teams with a 20-17 win in Philadelphia in 1989 and by a 43-21 score last year in DeKalb. The Temple series is one of the two "youngest" on the 2007 NIU schedule, as the Huskies have faced only brand new foe Navy less.

THE LAST MEETING: The Huskies scored on their first three possessions of the game, and on their first three possessions of the half to build a 40-0 lead en route to a 43-21 Homecoming win over Temple at Huskie Stadium. Chris Nendick booted five field goals and Larry English collected 4.5 sacks as Northern Illinois collected 26 first downs and Huskie quarterbacks passed for 377 yards.

UN-PLEASANT TRIP: Central Michigan handed NIU its worst league defeat since Oct. 21, 2000 (a 52-22 loss to Western Michigan in Kalamazoo) with a 35-10 win over the Huskies in Mt. Pleasant. CMU took advantage of a multitude of Northern Illinois miscues, including six turnovers, and added a kickoff return score to build a 28-7 lead that the Chippewas extended to 35-10 by halftime. Neither team scored in the second half, and despite accumulating a season-high 521 yards of total offense, the Huskies fell to 0-2 in the league.

MAC MARK: Northern Illinois is 81-79-2 (.506) versus its fellow Mid-American Conference members in 20 total seasons as a member of the league. Since beginning its second stint in the conference in 1997, NIU and head coach Joe Novak are 46-34 (.575) versus MAC competition.

106 AND COUNTING: NIU is playing its 106th season of intercollegiate football in 2007 with an all-time record of 487-438-51 (.526) after seven straight winning campaigns. The Huskies played their first games in 1899 and moved into the realm of "major college" football in 1969.

"LEAGUE" LOCALES: Saturday's game at Lincoln Financial Field, home of the Philadelphia Eagles as well as the Owls, will be NIU's second appearance in an NFL home stadium this year and the fourth in the last three years. The Huskies opened 2007 at Soldier Field in Chicago in front of a sold-out crowd versus Iowa, ended the 2006 campaign in San Diego's Qualcomm Stadium, where the Chargers play, and played Akron at Detroit's Ford Field in the 2005 MAC Championship game.

WHAT IS THIS STUFF?: The Huskies will play on a grass field for one of only two times this season as this game at Lincoln Financial Field and the Soldier Field game are NIU's only scheduled forays onto grass in 2007. Over the past two seasons, Northern Illinois will have played just five of its 25 games on a grass surface; league newcomer Temple is the only MAC team that plays its games on grass. Last year, NIU's games at Ohio State, at Iowa and in San Diego versus TCU were played on grass. The Huskies' last win on a natural surface came in the 2004 Silicon Valley Classic versus Troy, played at San Jose State's Spartan Stadium. Since that time, NIU has dropped six straight contests on grass, five of those to Big Ten teams.

ON THE LISTS: Three Huskies have earned recognition on various "Watch Lists" for national awards in 2007. Kicker Chris Nendick was one of 30 candidates named to the preseason watch list for the 16th Annual Lou Groza Award, given to the nation's top kicker. Defensive end Larry English joined 48 other defenders on the Nagurski Trophy (nation's top defender) list and was named along with 107 others as a Lombardi Award contender. The Lombardi honors the top lineman (offensive or defensive) in the country. Finally, linebacker Tim McCarthy earned some early recognition on the Butkus Award Watch List as the nation's top linebacker.

SELECT COMPANY: Northern Illinois looks to extend its streak of winning seasons to eight in 2007 as the Huskies have posted a winning mark every year since 2000. NIU is one of only 18 FBS schools in the country that can make that claim, and has the longest current string of winning campaigns in the Mid-American Conference. The seven straight winning seasons is also a modern-day school record.

MAC ROAD RECORD: The Mid-American Conference road has been kind to NIU as the Huskies own a phenomenal 16-5 (.762) record in its MAC road games over the last four seasons. Northern Illinois has posted a league road record of .500 or above in each of the last five years, including a 3-1 mark last season. The Huskies have won six of their last eight MAC road tilts and are 22-18 on the road in the league since re-joining the conference in 1997.

OLD SCHOOL: Although Saturday's game can be seen as part of the Mid-American Conference All-MACcess package on-line, the NIU-Temple game will mark the first time in 21 games - since Nov. 5, 2005 when Northern Illinois faced Central Michigan in Mt. Pleasant - that a Huskie football game will NOT be available via an over-the-air telecast. The final three games of the 2005 campaign were televised along with every game last season (13) and each of the first five games this year. During that span, NIU appeared on ESPN or ESPN2 six times, on ABC once, was part of an ESPN Plus or ESPN GamePlan package four times, played on ESPNU on three occasions, and had seven games televised by Comcast SportsNet.

TV TOTALS: In 40 seasons of televised games, Northern Illinois is 51-52-1 all-time on television, including a 29-22 mark since the start of the 2001 season. All 13 Huskie games were aired a year ago; NIU went 5-4 in its nine television appearances in 2005 and posted an impressive 8-2 mark on TV in 2004. The Iowa game on ESPNU was the 26th ESPN Network broadcast all-time for Northern Illinois, with six ESPN airings last year.

NATION'S BEST: With seven sacks this season and 20 for his career, English ranks first in the MAC and tied for third in the country in sacks with 1.40 per game. English's five sacks versus Idaho remains the top single-game performance by any FBS defender this season. He is currently tied for fourth among active FBS players in career sacks.

CLIMBING THE NIU CHARTS: Spurred by his school-record five sacks at Idaho, Larry English continues to climb the Northern Illinois' career sacks list as the junior now ranks third in Huskie history, behind only Cary Caliendo (31 sacks) and Scott Kellar (23). With his seventh sack last week at Central Michigan, English also passed former NIU and current New Orleans Saints' defensive lineman Hollis Thomas to move into seventh place in career tackles for loss with 31.5.

DOMINATING DAY: Defensive end Larry English was too much for the Idaho offense as the junior from Aurora sacked Vandals' QB Nathan Enderle five times to break the school single-game record he established last year (4.5 versus Temple). English also was credited with five quarterback pressures and a career-high 12 tackles. On one play, he forced Enderle into a swift retreat, the QB fumbled into the endzone, and English recovered for his first career touchdown. Despite playing 90 of the Huskies' 95 defensive plays, he made a game-saving sack on the final play of the game to preserve the NIU victory. For his efforts, English was named the MAC West Defensive Player of the Week and earned the FWAA Bronko Nagurski Defensive Player of the Week award.

ENDURANCE: According to Northern Illinois' coaches', English has been on the field for an amazing 363 of 378 defensive plays (96.0 percent) this season, including 90 of 96 snaps versus Idaho. The coaches' totals include "penalty" plays not counted in the official stats. Due to the injuries on the defensive line in 2007, English's presence and performance is even more critical as he and tackle Alex Krutsch are playing alongside as many as five freshmen on the D-line.

DIALING LONG DISTANCE: NIU quarterback Dan Nicholson and receiver Matt Simon hooked up on a 92-yard pass play versus Central Michigan which ranks as the longest pass completion in the country (FBS schools) so far this season. The play also ranks on the Huskie charts as the fourth-longest touchdown pass ever and was the longest pass play for NIU since Sept. 30, 2000, when Dan Urban connected with Justin McCareins on a school-record 99-yard touchdown play versus Ball State.

BY THE TON: Simon's 92-yard touchdown was the highlight of a career-best and team season-high nine-catch, 205-yard effort versus Central Michigan. The Minnesota junior, who was coming off of his first career 100-yard receiving game at Idaho with four grabs for 115 yards, recorded just the sixth 200-yard receiving day in NIU history, and the first since Sam Hurd set a school record with 266 yards on 12 catches versus CMU in 2005. He owns one of only 14 200-yard receiving days in the NCAA (FBS) this year. He also caught passes of 18, 27, 21 and 15 yards in the game.

SIMON SAYS...CATCH!: With 13 catches for 320 yards in his last two games, Matt Simon surpassed his 2006 SEASON yardage total of 314 to take over the NIU team lead in receiving yards with 403. His 23 catches are tied with tailback Justin Anderson for the team lead and Simon also has more catches than he totaled in all of 2006 (20). He currently ranks fourth in the MAC in receiving yards per game with 80.6 and is averaging 17.6 yards per catch.

SIMON SAYS...BLOCK!: NIU wide receiver Matt Simon tallied the first punt block of his Huskie career in the second quarter of the Idaho game. The block was recovered by Jeff Fontana in the end zone to give Northern a 28-7 lead. Northern Illinois tallied four blocked kicks a year ago, three in the bowl game versus TCU.

JUST-IN TIME?: Sophomore Justin Anderson continues to thrive in the featured tailback role for the Huskies as he recorded his third straight 150-plus yard rushing day Saturday with 157 yards on 28 carries versus Central Michigan. Anderson has gained 168, 167 and 157 yards in his last three games versus Eastern Michigan, Idaho and CMU, respectively. Anderson - NOT heralded Heisman candidates Ray Rice (Rutgers), Darren McFadden (Arkansas) or P.J. Hill (Wisconsin) is the ONLY running back in the country to have three of the Top 50 rushing days in the NCAA FBS this year with each of those games coming after he assumed the No. 1 tailback role when Montell Clanton went down versus SIU. Over the last three weeks, he has rushed for 492 yards on 91 carries to average 164 yards per game and 5.4 yards per carry.

LEADING MAN: Through five games, Justin Anderson leads NIU in rushing (573 yards, 114.6 avg.), scoring (5 TDs) and all-purpose yards (748 yards, 149.6 avg.) and is tied for the team lead in receptions (23 catches, 175 yards). He ranks second in the MAC in rushing, seventh in all-purpose yards and in catches per game.

A GREAT EIGHT: With eight catches versus Southern Illinois, Anderson posted the highest single-game catch total for an NIU running back in at least 25 years, since prior to the 1983 season. With 23 catches in five games, Anderson is on pace to catch 55 passes, which would destroy the NIU single season record for catches by a running back of 43, set by Jack Dean in 1963.

CATCHING ON: With six catches at Central Michigan, Britt Davis moved into ninth place on Northern Illinois' all-time receptions list as he now has 119 catches for 1,355 yards. Davis passed the 100-catch mark versus Iowa in just his 25th career game, the earliest an NIU player has reached 100 catches. Already the NIU record-holder for catches as a freshman (42) and as a sophomore (57), Davis has caught at least one pass in 25 of NIU's last 26 games. Next on the Huskie career charts is John Spilis, who had 138 catches from 1966-68.

PILES OF PASSING: Junior quarterback Dan Nicholson threw for a season-high 293 yards at Central Michigan and has thrown for a career-best 1,058 yards in five games. Nicholson has completed 98-of-155 passes (63.2 percent) and is on pace to become only the seventh QB in NIU history to pass for 2,000 or more yards in a season. At this rate, Nicholson's completion numbers could rank among NIU's all-time best by season's end.

HOTTEST STREAK: Dan Nicholson quietly set a school record for most consecutive pass completions during the SIU game when he hit 15 straight while leading the Huskies to their four touchdown drives. He broke the record set by Phil Horvath, who completed 13 consecutive throws versus Akron on Sept. 24, 2005. Nicholson's streak began on the Huskies' first drive of the second quarter and continued until he missed Britt Davis on a deep pass in the third period.

SCORING MARKS: Northern Illinois kicker Chris Nendick has scored at least one point in every game of his Huskie career, a school-record 42 straight contests, and now ranks third all-time at NIU in scoring with 298 total points. Nendick ranks second all-time in kick scoring, 72 points behind leader Steve Azar (2000-03). He is second in career field goals made with 50 and in field goal attempts (69). The Naperville product ranks fourth in the NCAA among active kickers in career PATs made (148) and attempted (150) and is fifth in scoring. He needs four extra points made and nine attempts to become NIU's all-time leader in those categories.

WORTH NOTING: The 35 points surrendered by Northern Illinois in the first half at Central Michigan were the most since Kansas State scored 59 points in the opening half on Sept. 12, 1998 in Manhattan. In addition, NIU's six turnovers (four INTs, two fumbles) were the most by a Huskie team in 101 games, since a 16-3 loss to Toledo on Oct. 31, 1998 when Northern Illinois committed seven turnovers.

OUCH!: Northern Illinois has been bit by the injury bug in 2007 as nine starters (or replacement starters) have now missed at least one full game (and in most cases, multiple games) due to injury. In addition, 16 different players listed on the depth chart at some point this year have missed at least one game due to injury, with all but three of those likely to result in multiple games missed. Five players - NG Adam Schroeder (shoulder surgery), TB Montell Clanton, DT Craig Rusch and DE Anthony Antonacci (all rt. knees) and DE Jake Coffman (foot) - have been lost for the season. In addition, LB Tim McCarthy (rt. knee) will miss significant time and possibly the season. DT Mike Krause, FS Spencer Williamson and DT Zach Holycross each returned from injury to play in the Central Michigan game.

D-LINE D-MOLISHED: The Huskies have been especially hard-hit by injuries on the defensive line. Seven players listed on the NIU depth chart at the start of the season (Rusch, Antonacci, Schroeder, Holycross, Krause, Coffman and Brandon Bice) have missed at least one game with Rusch, Antonacci, Schroeder and Coffman done for the season. To compensate, Huskie coaches have moved Dan Keller from offensive to defensive line and Phil Brown to defensive end from linebacker. Four freshmen have played on the defensive line this year, including first-year players John Hopkins and D.J. Pirkle, who saw their first collegiate action at Idaho. Ed Jackson, a redshirt freshmen, made his first career start at Idaho and Krause started for the first time at Central Michigan.

DITTBENNER'S DAY: Huskie punter Andy Dittbenner enjoyed the comforts of Idaho's Kibbie Dome with a career day. Dittbenner punted eight times for a 47.8 yard average, his highest single game average (more than three punts), besting his 46.6-yard average in the 2005 MAC Championship game. His career-long 60-yard effort in the third quarter was downed at the Idaho 24-yard line, and he added punts of 55, 52 and 55 yards on the day.

HANG TIME: In his third season as NIU's punter, Andy Dittbenner is moving up the Huskie career punting charts for punts and punting yards while also ranking on the punting average list. His 127 punts are ninth-most in Huskie history as are his 4,995 punting yards. His current punting average of 39.3 would rank fifth on the NIU career lists.

MAKING IT COUNT: Chase Carter made Northern Illinois' first interception of the season count when he brought his first career pick-off back 95 yards for a score versus Idaho, giving the Huskies a lead they would not relinquish. The play tied as the eighth-longest scoring play in Northern Illinois history, and was the second-longest interception return TD ever (behind Dave Petway's 100-yard INT return versus SIU in 1977). Carter's return was also the longest scoring play for the Huskies since Sept. 30, 2000, when Dan Urban hit Justin McCareins with a 99-yard pass versus Ball State.

DEFLECTION SECTION: With 21 pass break-ups by nine different players through five games in 2007, Northern Illinois is already threatening its 2006 total of 30. CB Melvin Rice and LB John Tranchitella lead the way in the deflection section with four break-ups apiece, while LB Josh Allen backs them up with three PBUs and four more Huskies have at least two. The Huskies tipped a season-high eight passes at Idaho with Tranchitella getting his hands on three passes and adding his first interception of 2007.

VANDALIZING IDAHO: After gaining only one turnover in the first three games, the Northern Illinois defense came up with four at Idaho, including three interceptions and a fumble recovery. Two of the turnovers resulted directly in touchdowns as the fumble recovery was made in the end zone and one of the interceptions was returned for a score. Northern Illinois has not had three interceptions in a game since the 2005 Toledo game. Last year the Huskies had a season-best two interceptions versus Central Michigan.

HUSKIE DEBUTANTES: Nineteen different players have made their Huskie debuts in 2007, including nine redshirt freshmen, seven true freshmen, transfers Anthony Mason and Chase Carter, and junior Vincent Matthew. Redshirt freshman Mike Lepper is the latest to join the list as he saw action on special teams at CMU. True freshmen John Hopkins, D.J. Pirkle, Chad Spann, Patrick George, Nolan Owen, Landon Cox and Kyle Skarb have now all seen playing time. In addition to Lepper, the redshirt rookies are Alex Kube, Ed Jackson, Bryan Beckner, Ricky Crider, Justin Stewart, Jake Coffman, Mike Krause and Vernon Sims with Kube (S), Jackson (DT), Beckner (TE) and Krause (NG) all starting at least one game.

HOME-GROWN: The 2007 Northern Illinois roster includes 75 players from the state of Illinois and 61 from the Chicagoland area, the highest concentrations of any NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) school in the state. In all, 66 percent of NIU's 2007 football players hail from the Land of Lincoln. A quick glance at the rosters of Northwestern and Illinois show the Wildcats with 26 in-state products, 18 from Chicago, while the Fighting Illini roster lists 50 home grown players and 30 from the area.

HITTING THE AIRWAVES: A total of eight NIU football games are scheduled to air on television this year. That number does not include this Saturday's game, which will only be available online through the MAC's All-MACcess video. The Eastern and Central Michigan games were selected as the ESPN Plus MAC Game of the Week and were also picked up by ESPN GamePlan. ESPNU aired the season-opener against Iowa and the syndicated telecast of the Idaho contest also was available through ESPN GamePlan. Northern Illinois' Nov. 17 tilt at Navy will be shown on CSTV and the remaining four NIU home games will be seen on Comcast SportsNet Chicago. NIU has appeared on national television 14 times since 2004, with 34 total games broadcast.

YORDON CENTER DEDICATED: On Sept. 8, NIU officially dedicated the new Jeffrey and Kimberly Yordon Center. Located adjacent to the North End Zone of Huskie Stadium, the Yordon Center houses nearly all of Northern Illinois' student-athlete support units and serves as the home for the Huskie Football team. From the "smart" classrooms in the academic center to the rehabilitation pools in the athletic training center to the expandable storage area in the equipment room, everything about the Yordon Center says "first-class." The football team meets together in the tiered, 150-seat auditorium while technology-enhanced position meeting rooms, coaches offices overlooking Brigham Field and a locker room large enough to accommodate the entire team highlight the "football" areas of the 62,000-square foot building. Construction on the $14-million privately-funded facility began in June 2006. It is named for Northern Illinois supporters Jeffrey and Kimberly Yordon, who in November 2006 announced a $2.5 million gift to the project, the largest gift to Huskie Athletics in the 107-year history of the institution.

RECORD-SETTER: The season-opening GEICO Soldier Field Showdown between NIU and Iowa (Sept. 1) set new attendance marks for both Northern Illinois and the Mid-American Conference with a sell-out crowd of 61,500 packing the lakefront facility. NIU's previous record home crowd occurred on Oct. 18, 2003, when 28,211 people came to Huskie Stadium for a contest versus Western Michigan. The previous largest home crowd in league history was recorded Oct. 27, 2001 when Toledo played Navy in front of 36,852 at the Glass Bowl.

HANSON HEATS UP: After missing the SIU game with the after-effects of a concussion, sophomore linebacker Cory Hanson came back with a vengeance versus Eastern Michigan. While press box totals credited the Minnesota native with 11 tackles, coaches' film told a slightly different story as they had Hanson for 16 stops, 14 solo efforts.

SENIOR STARTERS: Only three seniors have started games for Northern Illinois in 2007 - LT Chris Acevedo (5 starts), TE Brandon Davis (2) and SS Mark Reiter (3). Acevedo and Davis started the season opener versus Iowa, while Acevedo was the lone senior in the line-up in the SIU game. Reiter has joined Acevedo in the starting line-up in the last three games. Kicker Chris Nendick is the only other NIU senior starter as the Huskies feature only nine seniors on the roster this year.

CORPORAL COFFMAN: The story of Northern Illinois defensive end Jake Coffman is noteworthy, not just because the walk-on moved up to second on the depth chart for the Huskies before going down with a foot injury at Idaho. Coffman is a 23-year-old freshman from German Valley, Ill. who spent four years in the Marine Corps, and was promoted three times, rising to the rank of corporal. He was deployed to Iraq on two occasions. In 2006, Coffman enrolled at NIU and joined the football team. An all-conference player at Forreston High School, Coffman made nine tackles before he was injured.

PRESEASON HONORS: A pair of Huskies garnered recognition during the preseason. Junior defensive end Larry English was projected as the MAC's Defensive Player of the Year by both Blue Ribbon Magazine and Lindy's Preseason Yearbook. Senior kicker Chris Nendick was listed by Street & Smith's as an honorable mention preseason All-American and was tabbed as a Lou Groza Award candidate by the publication. Nendick was also ranked by The Sporting News as the nation's ninth-best kicker. CollegeFootballNews.com listed three Huskies in its national position rankings with Nendick No. 6 among kickers, Eddie Adamski the No. 19 center and English No. 23 at defensive end. The website tabbed English as the MAC's preseason defensive player of the year and the league's fourth-ranked pro prospect.

MOST-EXPERIENCED: The Huskies feature only three players - all juniors - who entered the 2007 campaign with more than one year of starting experience. Offensive lineman Jon Brost (28 starts), wide receiver Britt Davis (27) and defensive end Larry English (27) own more starts than any other players on the NIU team. While Brost leads the way in total number of starts, Davis has started 22 straight games and English has been in the starting line-up in 21 consecutive contests. LUCKY 13: Thirteen NIU players have made their first career starts this season, with Mike Krause (NG) and Kevin Skatrud (OG) getting their first starting nods at Central Michigan. The first-timers include seven offensive players and six defenders: tight ends Reed Cunningham and Bryan Beckner, linemen Tim Mayerbock and Kevin Skatrud, wide receiver Greg Turner and tailbacks Montell Clanton and Justin Anderson on offense and linemen Brandon Bice, Ed Jackson and Mike Krause, linebacker John Tranchitella, safety Alex Kube and cornerback Chase Carter on defense.

HALL OF FAMERS: Northern Illinois will induct four individuals and the 1950 and '51 baseball teams into its athletics Hall of Fame next Friday night as part of the 101st Homecoming Celebration on the NIU campus. Basketball's Rodney Davis (1984-88), football's Mike Terna (1977-80), softball player Sue Kause (1984-88) and coach/administrator Jerry Ippoliti (1969-75; 1979-99) join the baseball teams to make up the 26th induction class.

WITH A DEGREE: Huskies David Koronkiewicz and Mark Reiter each earned a bachelor's degree in marketing from NIU last spring and are now pursuing their master's degrees in business from Northern. Koronkiewicz, a junior tight end, could leave NIU with two degrees before his eligibility is concluded.

JUNIOR CAPTAINS: For the first time in Joe Novak's tenure at NIU, the permanent captains selected by the Huskie team do not include a senior. Four junior players were elected by their teammates this spring -- wide receiver Britt Davis, quarterback Dan Nicholson, defensive end Larry English and linebacker Tim McCarthy.

HUSKIES IN THE NFL: As the National Football League opened regular season play, seven former NIU players were on team rosters, including 2007 draft choices RB Garrett Wolfe (Chicago Bears) and OT Doug Free (Dallas Cowboys). The rest of the Huskie NFL contingent includes: OT Ryan Diem (Indianapolis Colts), WR Sam Hurd (Cowboys), WR Justin McCareins (New York Jets), NT Hollis Thomas (New Orleans Saints) and RB Michael Turner (San Diego Chargers).

ON THE RISE: Members of the Huskie football team posted the squad's highest cumulative semester grade point average ever last spring with a combined G.P.A. of 2.797. In addition, 39 Northern Illinois players earned recognition as "Scholar Ballers" indicative of a cumulative grade point average of 3.000. They are recognized with a "Thinking Man" patch on the front of their uniform jersey. to recognize their classroom achievements.

HUSKIES BY THE NUMBERS
5 Quarterback sacks by NIU DE Larry English versus Idaho, a school record and the highest total in the NCAA FBS this year.

8 Straight seasons with a 1,000-yard rusher for Northern Illinois, tied for the longest streak in the nation.

15 Consecutive completions for Dan Nicholson versus SIU, a school record.

18 Huskie players who have seen their first collegiate action in 2007, including seven true freshmen.

164 Rushing average for NIU TB Justin Anderson over the last three games.

69 Percent of players on the 2007 NIU roster from Illinois (78 of 113).

90 Plays logged by NIU defensive end Larry English in the Idaho game (out of 95 total defensive plays).

205 Receiving yards for Matt Simon versus Central Michigan, the sixth-highest total in NIU history.

61,500 Official attendance for the 2007 NIU-Iowa game at Soldier Field, establishing MAC and NIU records for a home game.

NORTHERN ILLINOIS MULTIMEDIA
Watch It....live on-line through the Mid-American Conference All-MACcess package. The single game price is $7.95 and can be ordered by going to www.mac-sports.com. The audio provided will be the home team's radio broadcast.

Hear It...on the Huskie Sports Radio Network.Bill Baker returns for his 28th year as the play-by-play voice of the Huskies while Mark Lindo is back for his 23rd season on the broadcast team. Casey Kahler enters his second season as the adidas sideline reporter.
WSCR-AM Chicago 670
WLBK-AM DeKalb 1360
WSEY-FM Rockford 95.7
WRHL-AM Rochelle 1060
WTJK-AM Beloit, Wisc. 1380

On the Net...to hear every Huskie Radio Network broadcast as well as SEE live video of select NIU games, sign up for the Huskie All Access package at www.niuhuskies.com. Purchase the monthly package for $6.95 or a season-long pass for $49.95.

Review It...on "Inside Huskie Sports", weekly on Comcast SportsNet Chicago. The 30-minute highlight show airs every Thursday at 4 p.m. Also, join Head Coach Joe Novak and host Brad Hoey at the live taping of "IHS" Mondays at 6 p.m. at Fatty's Pub and Grille, 1312 West Lincoln Highway in DeKalb.

Live It...on "NIU Live." The weekly 30-minute show airs on WSCR AM 670 "The Score" in Chicago Wednesday nights at 10 p.m. WSCR sports director Andy Garcia and Huskie athletic director Jim Phillips co-host the show with guest appearances by Northern coaches, including Joe Novak.

Read It...on www.niuhuskies.com. For the latest statistics, feature stories, player Q&As and weekly and daily updates.