Doeren urges fans to watch his Huskies
With his team on the verge of clinching a second straight MAC West title, the only thing Northern Illinois coach Dave Doeren asks is for a reasonable start time.
After playing three straight Tuesday night games, the Huskies will kick off their regular-season finale against Eastern Michigan bright and early at 10 a.m. on Friday in DeKalb.
The dates and times are designed to give MAC football more national television exposure, but they’re not exactly fan friendly. Which is why Doeren offered this proposal at his weekly news conference.
“Before I open it up (for questions), I would like to plead to the public to come watch our team play,” Doeren said. “We have 19 seniors ... if we would find a way to win out (through the bowl game), they would be the all-time winningest class in NIU football history. In my opinion, we have one of the most dynamic players ever to wear a Huskie uniform in (quarterback) Chandler Harnish.
“I hope the public can find a way. I know it’s tough with the Thanksgiving holiday. We just need everyone in DeKalb, Sycamore, Geneva, St. Charles and all the surrounding areas, Rochelle — if they’re not going anywhere for Thanksgiving, get up, come to the stadium and support our senior class.”
The Huskies have been practicing at 10 a.m. this week to prepare for Friday’s early wake-up call. On the heels of the Tuesday games, Doeren felt the players simply needed time to catch up on school work.
“As good as it is exposure-wise, it’s very challenging academically for a football team,” he said. “We had back-to-back road Tuesdays, so our kids missed class Monday and Tuesday. Then they came back at 6 a.m. or 5 a.m. and had to get up and go to class on a Wednesday.
“We had two weeks of that. We’ve spent a lot of time trying to get our guys ready for their final projects, tests, exams, papers, and final exams are here in two weeks. So that’s kind of what we’ve been doing.”
An NIU victory would clinch a date in next Friday’s MAC title game against Ohio at Ford Field in Detroit. The Huskies lost a heartbreaker to Miami of Ohio in last year’s conference championship.
Northern Illinois is tied with Toledo for the MAC West lead, but the Huskies beat the Rockets 63-60 on Nov. 1. The Huskies could also win the division even with a loss, but Toledo would have to lose at Ball State on Friday.
So long, seniors:NIU will bid farewell to a strong senior class, which includes record-setting quarterback Chandler Harnish, top running back Jasmin Hopkins, leading tackler Pat Schiller and four multiyear starting offensive linemen in Trevor Olson, Joe Pawlak, Scott Wedige and Keith Otis.#147;It#146;s unbelievable that this is our last one, our last home game as seniors,#148; said Schiller, a Geneva High School graduate.#147;It#146;s crazy how fast it#146;s gone by. But we know that our ultimate goal this year is to go to the MAC championship, and the only people in our way is Eastern Michigan.#148;Harnish close to history:Chandler Harnish has a chance to become the first player in NCAA FBS history to run for 1,500 yards and pass for 3,000. At the moment, he#146;s got 1,203 rushing yards and 2,594 passing yards with a chance to play in three more games this season. 19211299Huskies quarterback Chandler Harnish could become the first player in NCAA FBS history to run for 1,500 yards and pass for 3,000. He enters FridayÂ’s game against Eastern Michigan with 1,203 yards rushing and 2,594 yards passing.Photo courtesy of Northern Illinois University