Oct. 13, 2009

Northern Illinois Football 2009
GAME 6 -- Northern Illinois (3-2, 1-0) at Toledo (3-3, 1-1)
Oct. 10, 2009 - 6 pm (CDT) Toledo, Ohio -- Glass Bowl (26,248)
RADIO -- WSCR AM 670 (Chicago), WLBK AM 1360 (DeKalb), WTJK AM 1380 (Janesville, Wisc.)

Complete Release in PDF Format

Huskie Facts
2009 Record: 3-3
2009 MAC Record: 1-0
Head Coach: Jerry Kill
Alma Mater/Year: Southwestern (KS)/1983
Record at NIU/Year: 9-9/2nd
Career Record/Year: 113-66/16th
Location: DeKalb, Illinois
Enrollment: 24,397
Conference: Mid-American (West Division)
Colors: Cardinal and Black
Stadium: Brigham Field at Huskie Stadium
Surface/Capacity: Field Turf /24,000
President: Dr. John Peters
Associate VP/Athletic Director: Jeff Compher Ticket Information: 815-752-6800

www.niuhuskies.com/sports/m-footbl/sched/niu-m-footbl-sched.html">NIU 2009 Schedule & Results

Rockets' Facts
2009 Record: 3-3
MAC Record: 1-1
Head Coach: Tim Beckman
Alma Mater/Year: Findlay/1988
Record at UT/Year: 3-3/1st
Career Record/Year: 3-3/1st
Location: Toledo, Ohio
Enrollment: 22,336
Conference: Mid-American
Colors: Midnight Blue and Gold
Stadium: Glass Bowl
Surface/Capacity: FieldTurf/26,248
Chancellor: Dr. Lloyd Jacobs
Athletic Director: Michael OBrien
Ticket Information: 419-530-GOLD (4653)

UT 2009 Schedule & Results

NIU HEAD COACH Jerry Kill

In his 16th season as a college head coach and his second season at Northern Illinois, Jerry Kill owns a career record of 113-66-0 for a winning percentage of .631. Prior to coming to NIU, where he led the Huskies to an Independence Bowl berth and a 6-7 record in his first season as a FBS head coach and saw Larry English become the highest draft choice in school history, Kill spent 14 years as head coach of programs at Saginaw Valley State (Mich.), Emporia State (Kansas) and, most recently, Southern Illinois.

From 2003-07, Kill led SIU to five straight appearances in the Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) playoffs, and overall, he compiled a mark of 55-32 in seven seasons in Carbondale. He was named the 2007 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year after leading the Salukis to a 12-2 record and the semifinals of the FCS playoffs. Kill was also honored as the Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year following the 2004 season. His SIU teams won three straight Gateway (now Missouri Valley) Football Conference titles from 2004-06 and were ranked in the top 20 for 64 straight weeks beginning in 2003. At Southern Illinois, Kill coached five first-team All-Americans and four Walter Payton Award finalists; four of his former players are currently on NFL rosters, led by N.Y. Giants tailback Brandon Jacobs and Jets linebacker Bart Scott.

Prior to going to SIU, Kill spent two seasons as head coach at Emporia State in his home state of Kansas. In his first collegiate head coaching job, at Saginaw Valley State from 1994-98, he won 38 games and compiled a 9-2 record in each of his last two seasons there.

A native of Cheney, Kansas, Kill began his career at Pittsburg State, a powerhouse NAIA and then Division II program. He was offensive coordinator for the 1991 PSU team that won the NCAA title with a 13-1-1 record, while the 1992 Gorillas earned a runner-up finish with a 14-1 mark.

HUSKIE NEWS & NOTES

Road Trip
After enjoying an open date last week, Northern Illinois begins a two-game Mid-American Conference road stretch, beginning with Saturdays tilt at Toledo. In its last outing, NIU opened MAC play at home with a 38-3 win over Western Michigan on October 3 to improve to 3-2 on the season.

The Time for Kill
With the win over Western Michigan, Head Coach Jerry Kill evened his record at Northern Illinois at 9-9 in two seasons, including the Huskies first win over a Big Ten team in 21 years. Kill led Northern Illinois to a four-game improvement and a spot in the 2008 Independence Bowl last season. Dating back to his days at Southern Illinois, a team he built into an FCS powerhouse, Kill-coached teams have made six straight postseason appearances. He was named the 2007 Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year, and in his 16th season as a collegiate head coach, owns a record of 113-66 and a winning percentage of .631.

Rockets n Dogs
The Huskies and Rockets meet for the 37th time and for the 20th time in Toledo as NIU tries to put up back-to-back victories over the Rockets for the first time. Northern Illinois has only two wins all-time at Toledo, a 35-17 triumph in 2005 and a 30-7 victory in 1972. Even with the Huskies win last year, Toledo has dominated the series of late, winning 13 of the last 15 games between the teams dating back to 1990. Five of NIUs eight wins in the series, which began in 1967, have come in MAC games.

The Last Time
A year ago, Northern Illinois enjoyed one of its most dominant performances of the season in a 38-7 win over Toledo at Huskie Stadium. Chandler Harnish returned to the starting line-up after missing nearly four games to injury and completed 12-of-16 passes for 173 yards and three scores, adding 60 rushing yards. Chad Spann had a pair of rushing TDs as the Huskies out-gained UT 393-229, sacked Toledo quarterbacks three times and won the turnover battle, 3-0. Northern Illinois took a 21-0 first-half lead and never looked back.

Western Rewind
In its most recent game, Northern Illinois opened MAC play with a 38-3 Homecoming victory over Western Michigan in DeKalb on Oct. 3. Tailback Chad Spann ran for 132 yards and three scores, and Meco Brown added 88 rushing yards as NIU out-gained WMU 255-73 on the ground. The Huskies also intercepted Bronco quarterback Tim Hiller three times, with defensive end Jake Coffman closing out the scoring with a 79-yard tip, pick and run. The NIU defense held Western Michigan to only a second-quarter field goal.

A Winning MAC Mark
After posting a 5-3 record in Mid-American Conference play a year ago and starting 2009 with a 1-0 league record, Northern Illinois raised its all-time record in MAC play to 88-86-2. The 2009 campaign is NIUs 23rd overall in the Mid-American Conference as the Huskies spent 11 seasons in the league in its first stint (1975-86) and are 53-41 (.564) versus conference teams since rejoining the MAC in 1997.

The MAC Road
Northern Illinois is 18-9 (.667) in Mid-American Conference road games since 2002 after posting a 2-2 record in away MAC games last season. The Huskies earned road league wins at Eastern Michigan and Kent State last season while falling at Western Michigan and Ball State.

Starting Strong
With its win over Western Michigan, Northern Illinois is 1-0 in league play for the first time since 2004. NIU broke a four-game losing streak in MAC openers to improve to 9-15 all-time in its Mid-American Conference lid-lifters, including a 5-8 mark since rejoining the league in 1997.

Eight Straight
Northern Illinois will play eight straight Mid-American Conference games to close out the season, the first time since 2005 that NIU has completed its non-league schedule in September. Last year, the Huskies played their non-league games on Aug. 30, Sept. 20, Oct. 4 and Nov. 25.

Non-Con Review
With a 2-2 record in its four non-conference games in 2009, Northern Illinois finished with its best record in the non-league portion of its schedule since 2006, when NIU also went 2-2. The Huskies were 1-3 in non-conference play in each of the last two seasons, and were 1-2 (with an 11-game regular season) in both 2004 and 2005.

1,000 and Counting
Northern Illinois played its 1,000th intercollegiate game versus Idaho to become just the third Mid-American Conference team to hit that milestone. Miami (Ohio) is the oldest MAC team with 1,077 games, followed by Ohio with 1,053. After NIU (1,001), Akron will be the next league team to hit 1,000 as they have played 987 contests all-time. Nationally, NIU became one of 70 teams to play 1,000 intercollegiate games as the Huskies, Rice and New Mexico State all reached the mark on the same day. NIU, which played its first game in 1899, has an all-time winning percentage of .522.

Familiar Face
Toledos new coaching staff features one NIU coaching veteran in UT running backs coach and recruiting coordinator Alex Golesh, who spent the 2006 and 2007 seasons at Northern Illinois as a graduate assistant on the staff of former head coach Joe Novak. Golesh returned to the MAC with new Toledo head coach Tim Beckman after one season as a GA at Oklahoma State.

Ohio-an
For the first time since 2005, Northern Illinois features an Ohio-an on its roster in the person of freshman wide receiver Perez Ashford, who came to NIU out of Shaker Heights, Ohio outside of Cleveland. Ashford, one of two true freshmen receivers to see action for the Huskies this year, has caught three passes for 21 yards on the season.

Spann in the (End) Zone
Junior tailback Chad Spann tied his season-high with three touchdowns versus Western Michigan - on runs of 1, 20 and 5 yards - to up his team and MAC-leading total to 10 TDs. Spann has nine rushing and one receiving score on the year to rank third nationally in scoring with an average of 12.00 points per game. The Indianapolis native has already surpassed his 2008 team-leading total with four multiple-TD games this year, including three touchdown performances versus Western Illinois and Western Michigan.

Red Zone Rewards
Northern Illinois leads the MAC and ranks tied for seventh nationally in red zone offense efficiency with 21 scores in 22 trips inside its opponents 20-yard line this year. The Huskies have come away with 14 touchdowns (10 rushing/four passing) and seven field goals in the red zone this year. Toledo has nearly matched NIUs red zone numbers with 14 scores on 15 tries, including 10 touchdowns, and ranks second in the league and tied for 13th in the country in red zone efficiency.

Turnover Tale
NIU did not commit a turnover versus Western Michigan, its second-straight turnover free game, and the Huskies now rank tied for third in the country in turnover margin with a plus 1.60 average. Only Air Force and Rutgers have a better turnover margin than the Huskies, who have given up the ball four times in their five games, while forcing 12 turnovers by opponents. Nationally, only Cincinnati has lost fewer turnovers than the Huskies, who have not given up the ball in 10 quarters. NIU has not lost the turnover battle in five games this year.

Score One for the Vet
Defensive end Jake Coffman, a veteran who walked on to the Northern Illinois team after spending several years in the Marine Corps and serving two tours in the Middle East, scored the first touchdown of 2009 for the NIU defense with a 79-yard interception return in the fourth quarter versus Western Michigan. Coffman tipped the ball, then caught it and took off for the end zone to record the sixth-longest interception return in NIU history.

MAC Honors
Jake Coffman became the second NIU defender, and fourth Huskie, to earn a Mid-American Conference Player of the Week Award for his play versus Western Michigan. Coffman picked up the honor after scoring on a 79-yard interception return, recovering a fumble and tallying a tackle for loss versus the Broncos. Northern Illinois kicker Mike Salerno and linebacker Cory Hanson were the MAC West Specialist and Defensive Player of the Week, respectively, following the Wisconsin game. Tailback Meco Brown was the MAC West Offensive POW after rushing for a career-high 150 yards on 26 carries versus Purdue.

Dynamic Duo
In just five games, the Huskies tailback duo of Chad Spann and Meco Brown have accounted for 749 net rushing yards on 139 carries for 12 touchdowns and an average of 5.4 yards per carry. Brown ranks second in the MAC in rushing, and his 465 rushing yards so far this season are just 45 yards away from his 2008 season total. The Mississippi sophomore also needs just 26 yards to become the 30th 1,000-yard rusher in school history.

Efficient
Harnishs performance in five games so far this season has the Bluffton, Ind. native ranked second in the conference and 23rd in the country in passing efficiency with a 148.86 mark. His lone interception this season came off a tipped pass and his 64.7 completion percentage (66-of-102) is nearly 10 percent higher than last season. In the league, Harnish ranks behind only Central Michigans Dan LeFevour on the passing efficiency chart.

The Wilson Report
In his first year as a full-time starter, safety Tracy Wilson has led Northern Illinois in tackles in four of the first five games to rank as one of the Huskies top overall defenders. Wilson leads NIU and ranks ninth in the MAC with 44 total stops, including 20 solo. Wilson turned in the first two double-digit tackle games of his career versus Wisconsin (11) and Western Illinois (10). Wilson already has surpassed his 2008 13-game total of 43 tackles.

Democratic
NIU QB Chandler Harnish has spread the ball around to 13 different receivers so far in 2009. While the Huskies leading receiver in terms of yardage is fullback Kyle Skarb (with 121), nine players have at least 50 receiving yards, seven players have caught at least five passes and Northern Illinois receiving touchdowns have been caught by six different players.

Guess Who?
The Huskies leading receiver, in terms of total yards and yards per catch, so far in 2009, is fullback Kyle Skarb. The NIU junior has caught six passes for 121 yards to average 20.2 yards per catch and has grabs of 33, 41 and 31 yards so far this year. With six catches for 121 yards on the year, Skarb has already surpassed his 2008 yardage total of 72 and needs two catches to equal last years number (8).

Landon Leads
The Huskies leading receiver in terms of catches is junior Landon Cox, who has 13 grabs for 107 yards on the year. Cox made a career-best five catches for 53 yards versus Idaho, including a career-long 29-yard catch, in which he dragged two defenders for an additional 15 yards. NIU coaches have named Cox the teams offensive skill player of the week three times in the Huskies five games, based in part on his tremendous downfield blocking.

Its All in the (Third) Downs
Through NIUs first five games, the team that has won the third down conversion stat has won the game. In its 2009 victories, NIU made good on 5-of-11 third downs, besting Western Illinois 5-of-13 mark, and converted eight times in 19 tries in the win over Purdue while holding the Boilermakers to a 5-of-14 mark. Northern Illinois converted just three-of-12 third downs at Wisconsin, while its Idaho conversion rate was four-of-10.

In a Rush
After rushing for 244, 280 and 255 yards in its last three games (a 259.67 average), Northern Illinois has returned to the top of the MAC leader board in rushing offense. The Huskies currently rank 21st in the country in rushing offense with an average of 201.40 yards per game, over 35 yards more than the leagues No. 2 rushing team, Central Michigan.

E.A. and J.O.
The power behind that rushing offense - the Huskie offensive line - has been built around a pair of seniors in center Eddie Adamski, a member of the Rimington Award Watch List, and guard Jason Onyebuagu, who was named the NIU offensive lineman of the week following the Purdue and Western Michigan games. Fifth-year senior Adamski ranks as NIUs most experienced player, starting all 42 of the games he has played over the last four years, while four-year man Onyebuagu has seen action in all 43 of the Huskies games and started 30.

Senior Scholar
Defensive end Brandon Bice was named a semifinalist for the William V. Campbell Trophy (formerly the Draddy Award) presented annually by the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame to the top football scholar-athlete in the nation. Bice, who carries a 3.2 GPA in biology, is one of 54 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) students on the list, and is also eligible for one of 15 $18,000 post-graduate scholarships awarded by the NFF.

Big Foot
The Toledo game features a pair of Lou Groza Award Watch List kickers in NIU senior Mike Salerno and the Rockets Alex Steigerwald, two of just 30 kickers in the country named to the Watch List during the preseason. Salerno has made eight of his 11 field goal attempts this year, including a season-high three versus Idaho, tying his career-high. His Idaho makes included a season-long 50-yarder, the sixth-longest in NIU history, while two of his misses on the year were 53-yard efforts, one of which hit the goalpost.

Kicking it on the Charts
In less than two seasons as Northern Illinois starting kicker after transferring to NIU from Winona State, Mike Salerno is already climbing the Huskies scoring and field goal charts. Salerno has made 26-of-35 career threes to rank seventh in career field goals made and eighth in attempts. His 128 career points are seventh on the NIU kick-scoring list while his 50 PATs are tied for eighth-most, all-time.

Preseason Picks
Northern Illinois was picked to finish anywhere from second to fifth in the MAC West with most experts putting the Huskies in the third or fourth spot. In the poll of MAC coaches, the Huskies were tabbed as the Wests number three team. Central Michigan and Western Michigan, were the West Division favorites entering the season. Those two teams book-end the Huskies 2009 MAC schedule.

Building Blocks
With newcomer Jordan Delegals fourth-quarter punt block versus Idaho, the Huskies have totaled six blocked punts in Jerry Kills two years at NIU. Delegals block, which came at the Idaho 15-yard line and set up the Huskies at the Vandals one, was Northern Illinois first of 2009. A year ago, five different NIU players blocked punts.

Big Win
On Sept. 19, the Huskies broke a 19-game losing streak versus teams from the Big Ten Conference that dated back to Sept. 17, 1998 with a 28-21 upset victory over Purdue in front of 53,240 at Ross-Ade Stadium. After falling behind 7-0 on a punt return touchdown, the Huskies controlled the game, racking up 454 yards of total offense, including 280 on the ground, while holding the ball for 41:40 to Purdues 18:20. NIU took a 28-7 lead late in the third quarter, then withstood a rally by the Boilermakers and, with the aid of an 11-yard pick-up run on a fake punt, ran out the clock to get the victory.

One for the Boneyard
NIUs win over Purdue qualified as a boneyard victory which has been commemorated on the wall in the Huskies home locker room. Wins over Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) teams from BCS automatic qualifying conferences are designated as boneyard games. NIUs win over Purdue, just its second win ever over a Big Ten foe, was the first addition to the Huskie boneyard since 2003, when the Maryland, Alabama and Iowa State games made the wall.

Key Call
Northern Illinois win over Purdue was sealed by a great call by the Huskie coaches with 3:44 left in the game and NIU clinging to a 28-21 lead. The Huskies faced fourth-and-two on their own 16-yard line and lined up in punt formation. Instead of giving the Boilermakers the ball back in field position to make a game-tying drive, Nolan Owen snapped the ball to up-back Justin Anderson, who went right for 11 yards and the first down. The play energized the Huskies and demoralized Purdue, as NIU ran for two more first downs. When PU did get the ball back, they were on their own 20-yard line with only 18 seconds on the clock.

Aging
The Huskies started one of its oldest line-ups of the season versus Western Michigan with a season-high seven seniors and only one freshman on the field for the first play. Seniors David Bryant, Reed Cunningham and Marcus Lewis, along with junior running backs Chad Spann and Kyle Skarb brought a little more maturity to the Northern Illinois line-up while redshirt freshman Brian Lawson was the only rookie in the starting group. Only four seniors - offensive linemen Eddie Adamski and Jason Onyebuagu, defensive end Brandon Bice and weak side linebacker Cory Hanson - have started every game in 2009. The starters by class versus Western Michigan:

Fr.Soph.Jr.Sr.
Offense0434
Defense 1253

Youngsters
When Jerry Kill calls his 2009 team youngsters, the Huskie head coach is not exaggerating. Thirty-six players on this years NIU roster are new to the team, while another 19 had never played a down for the Huskies prior to this year. Those 55 players make up half of NIUs 110-man roster.

Onside Expert
In addition to his accuracy and kickoff prowess, Mike Salerno has become an expert onside kicker. Salerno has attempted five onside kicks over the last two years and Northern Illinois has recovered four of them, including in the fourth quarter of this years Wisconsin game. The Huskies recovered back-to-back onside kicks last year versus Central Michigan.

Career Day
Sophomore Meco Brown ran for a career-high 150 yards on 26 carries versus Purdue to record his second straight and fourth career 100-yard rushing game and earn Mid-American Conference West Division Offensive Player of the Week honors. The Mississippi native gave NIU the lead with a 67-yard touchdown run in the second quarter and caught a pair of passes for 22 yards to finish with 172 all-purpose yards. His 150-yard effort was the most by a Huskie back since Justin Anderson ran for 163 versus Temple on Oct. 6, 2007.

Harnish Has It
Statistically, NIU sophomore Chandler Harnish enjoyed his best performance of the season versus Idaho with a team-leading 62 rushing yards (on 13 attempts) to go with a 17-of-23, 184-yard passing day. Harnish tied his season-high with two touchdown passes and recorded a season-long 29-yard rush. Harnish totaled 246 yards of total offense on the day.

Huskie Debuts
Northern Illinois has introduced a total of 23 newcomers to college football in 2009, including six true freshmen and five junior college transfers. Of those newcomers, four have started at least one game for the Huskies. The 2009 rookies by position (* indicates started; true freshmen underlined, 2009 signees in italics): DL (5) - Alan Baxter, Brian Lawson*, Sean Progar, Darnell Bolding, Nabal Jefferson LB (4) - Jordan Delegal, Victor Jacques, Tyrone Clark, Devon Butler DB (4) - Chris Smith*, Tommy Davis, Rashaan Melvin, Garrett Barnas WR (3) - Perez Ashford*, Martel Moore*, Matt Ng TE (1) - Jack Marks OL (2) - Keith Otis, Logan Pegram RB (2) - Pat McAvoy, Nick Groeniger Spec. Teams (2) - Josh Wilber, Dan Edem

Huskies on TV
Northern Illinois has become the most televised team in the MAC as 55 Huskie games have been broadcast in the last five seasons, including 18 nationally. NIU was on television 11 times in 2008 and the Huskies had a school-record 13 contests aired in 2006. The school will have at least seven and as many as nine games broadcast in 2009 with two on the Big Ten Network, at least three on Comcast SportsNet Chicago and as many as three ESPNU games. NIU is 60-64-1 all-time on TV.

The Staff Is Back
For the first time in 10 years, Northern Illinois has retained its entire football assistant coaching staff. The last time that NIU was able to begin a season with the same coaching staff as the previous year was in 1999, a season that saw a three-game improvement in victories. Keeping a staff together is nothing new for Kill, who brought seven assistants, two graduate assistants and Director of Sports Performance Eric Klein to NIU from his staff at SIU.

Seniors Step Up
A pair of seniors made a big impact in the Purdue game as Marcus Lewis led the Huskies in receiving with four catches for 49 yards, while tight end Reed Cunningham returned to the starting line-up, scoring a touchdown on his first catch of the year. Lewis has enjoyed a resurgence this season after catching just one pass for seven yards in five games a year ago. With eight catches for 92 yards in 2009, Lewis has already established his career best single season totals. In addition, Lewis 28-yard catch at Purdue tied his career-long grab.

Turnovers In Twos
Safety Mike Sobol forced a pair of fumbles versus Western Illinois which Northern Illinois recovered and turned into touchdowns. His first force came just one play after NIU had fumbled, while his third-quarter play led to the score that put the game away. Sobols effort followed that of linebacker Cory Hanson, who picked off two passes in the Wisconsin game. Hanson was the first NIU player to record two INTs in a game since Dustin Utschig picked off two passes versus Toledo in 2005.

Getting Defensive
After limiting Western Illinois to only seven points and 223 yards, including just 54 second-half yards, the Huskie defense was even better against Purdue, which entered the game with the nations leading rusher in Ralph Bolden. The Boilermakers totaled just four first downs and 74 first-half yards (36 rushing and 38 passing) before finishing the game with 335.

Postseason Regulars
Over the last five years, Northern Illinois has made four postseason appearances, more than any other team in the MAC. Last year, the Huskies added to their postseason résumé with a trip to the 2008 Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La. where they fell to Louisiana Tech, 17-10. Dating back to 2004, NIU also has played in the Silicon Valley Classic (2004), the MAC Championship Game (2005) and the Poinsettia Bowl (2006).

Dominating Defense
Northern Illinois greatest turnaround a year ago came on defense, where the Huskies went from allowing 30.8 points per game in 2007 to giving up just 18.0 points per contest last season. The 12.8-point improvement ranked second in the nation. The Huskies finished the season ranked first in the MAC and among the national Top 20 in scoring defense, total defense and pass defense. NIU allowed opponents 298.5 yards per game in 2008, a difference of almost 136 yards from the previous season.

Scorching Start
NIU quarterback Chandler Harnish opened the Western Illinois game by hitting his first eight passes as he did not throw an incompletion until the Huskies first drive of the second half. Harnish completed all seven of his first-half throws for 98 yards and two scores while rushing for 22 yards on five carries. He finished the game a workmanlike 10-of-14 passing for 143 yards, no INTs and two TDs.

Excellent Exposure
Over the summer, Northern Illinois, through its new multimedia rights partner, ISP Sports, extended its agreements with WSCR AM 670 The Score and Comcast SportsNet Chicago, securing the Huskies presence in the Chicago market for years to come. The Score, which will carry NIU football and mens basketball games as well as the Huskies weekly radio show, is a 50,000-watt station that can be heard in 38 states. In addition to producing at least three football games a year, Comcast SportsNet Chicago airs the Huskies weekly highlight show, Inside Huskie Sports. The network is carried throughout Illinois, as well as in parts of Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin.

Big Improvement
One of the most significant improvements for the Northern Illinois football program this offseason came with the installation of new FieldTurf at Huskie Stadium. The surface replaced the eight-year old FieldTurf which had significantly worn down with constant use. The FieldTurf replacement was completed in early June.

Turnaround Team
In its first season under Jerry Kill, Northern Illinois made a four-game improvement overall, thanks to winning four more Mid-American Conference games than in 2007. The Huskies four-game MAC swing ranked as the second-largest in conference improvement in the FBS last year, behind only Ole Miss, which improved its SEC record by five games.

Huskie Book Club
In addition to practicing, working out, eating, sleeping and meeting, the Huskies found time to take on another project during preseason camp as the team read Tony Dungys book Uncommon during camp. Head Coach Jerry Kill led team discussions on chapters of the book as he continues to educate his student-athletes on topics that go beyond football.

Huskies in the Pros
Larry English, who became the highest draft choice in NIU history when he was selected the 16th pick in the first round of the 2009 NFL Draft by the San Diego Chargers, joined Dallas Cowboys Sam Hurd and Doug Free, running backs Garrett Wolfe of the Chicago Bears and Michael Turner of the Falcons, Colts lineman Ryan Diem and Hollis Thomas (Rams) on opening day NFL rosters. 2008 senior receiver Matt Simon was signed to the New Orleans Saints practice squad.

Share the Ball
Although Northern Illinois string of nine straight seasons (1999-2007) with a 1,000-yard rusher ended last year, the Huskies relied on seven different backs to total over 2,000 rushing yards. Harnish was one of five Huskies to gain at least 200 yards rushing, and his 118 rushes were eight more than Meco Brown. As a true freshman, Brown totalled 510 yards on 110 carries. Chad Spann, led the team in yards per carry with 4.9 and in rushing touchdowns with eight. He netted 429 yards on 88 totes.

Early Honor Roll
Several Huskies garnered preseason recognition this summer, led by kicker Mike Salerno and offensive lineman Jason Onyebuagu, who were both named first-team preseason All-MAC by Phil Steeles Magazine, CBSSports.com and rivals.com. Center Eddie Adamski joined them on the rivals.com team with Brandon Bice and sophomore offensive tackle Trevor Olson on that sites second team list. Steele had Adamski and Olson as second-team All-MAC, with Bice on his third team.

HUSKIE MULTIMEDIA

Television
There is no scheduled over-the-air television broadcast of the NIU-Toledo game, although the game can be seen live on the internet by purchasing the All-MACcess package at www.mac-sports.com. The single event price is $7.95.

For complete game highlights as well as commentary from Head Coach Jerry Kill, watch Inside Huskie Sports weekly on Comcast SportsNet Chicago and on my Network TV in Rockford. The 30-minute highlight show will air each Thursday at 4 p.m on CSN. In Rockford, catch IHS at 10:30 a.m. Saturdays on myNetworkTV. Fans are also invited to the live taping of the show Mondays at 5:30 p.m. at Fattys Pub and Grille, 1312 West Lincoln Highway in DeKalb.

Radio
The Northern Illinois ISP Sports Network consists of three stations for 2009: WSCR The Score AM 670 (Chicago), WTJK-AM ESPN 1380 (Janesville, Wisc.) and the flagship station, WLBK-AM (1360) in DeKalb. This Toledo broadcast kicks off with the pregame show at 5:30 p.m. (CDT). Hall of Famer Bill Baker enters his 30th year as the play-by-play voice of the Huskies and is joined in the booth by 25-year veteran Mark Lindo and fourth-year sideline reporter Casey Kahler. In 2009, all three NIU ISP Sports Network stations also will carry NIU Live, the weekly 30-minute radio show that is all about Huskie Sports. Director of Athletics Jeff Compher joins host Andy Garcia and Huskie coaches for the show, which airs Thursdays at 5:30 p.m. on WLBK and Thursday nights at 10 p.m. on The Score.

Online
To hear every radio broadcast and SEE live video of select NIU home games, sign up for the Huskie All Access package at www.niuhuskies.com. Purchase the monthly package for $6.95 or a year-long pass for $49.95. Fans can also enjoy more free content than ever before. Also go to www.niuhuskies.com for the latest statistics, feature stories, player Q&As as well as weekly and daily updates. Everything you need to know about all Huskie Athletics is at www.niuhuskies.com.