NIU in a 'must-win' conference battle
It's still September. That's right, September. But Joe Novak already has pulled out the "must-win" card.
He believes Northern Illinois must win today's game at preseason Mid-American Conference favorite Central Michigan or fall out of West division contention.
"If we want to be in the MAC race, it's bigger for us than them," Novak said. "I don't see anybody winning it with 2 (losses)."
Fortunately for the Huskies' razor-thin title hopes, they're catching the Chippewas when they feel a little narrow.
Injury-riddled Central Michigan lost last week's home game by 30 points to North Dakota State, the No. 4 team in the Football Championship Subdivision polls.
"They started a different secondary last week," Novak said. "They've already had eight different starters there. And they're probably going through a little bit of a coaching-change transition."
First-year coach Butch Jones' defensive depth chart shows six sophomores and one true freshman in today's projected lineup. And of its eight skill positions (so listed because of the offense's multiple packages), CMU shows four sophomore and two freshman starters.
One of those sophomores, though, is prime-time quarterback Dan LeFevour.
The 2005 Benet Academy graduate has completed 61 percent of his passes for 966 yards, 6 TDs and 3 interceptions, which puts his pass efficiency rating a shade ahead of NIU's Dan Nicholson but well behind last year's production when he led CMU to its first bowl game since 1994.
LeFevour and former Texas star Vince Young are the only FBS quarterbacks in the last three years to throw for more than 3,000 yards and run for more than 500 in the same season.
"The thing that he does that scares you is that he not only can throw the ball well," Novak said, "but he will run it well on you also. The biggest play we gave up last year was with him scrambling in the pocket and it is certainly something that we have to be aware of."
Another thing high on Novak's "aware" list? He wants to reduce the workload of sophomore running back Justin Anderson.
"I say that every week and I don't do anything about it," Novak said with a laugh.
For good reason. In last week's 42-35 win at Idaho, Anderson carried a career-high 35 times for 167 yards. The week before, Anderson had 28 carries and 6 receptions for 213 total yards.
"I do not even realize how much of the workload I have had until somebody actually brings it to my attention," Anderson said. "Most of the time I am thinking about the next play and it is just really a blur until they put the statistics in front of you."
N. Illinois (1-3, 0-1) at C. Michigan (1-3, 1-0)
When: 11 a.m. at Kelly/Shorts Stadium
TV: WPWR Ch. 50 Radio: WSCR 670-AM. Series: CMU 21-20-1.
Coaches: Joe Novak (62-69, 12th year at NIU); Butch Jones (1-3, 1st year at CMU).
Players to watch: Sophomore Justin Anderson leads NIU in rushing (416 yards) and receiving (20 catches) while owning 5 of the team's 9 offensive touchdowns. Redshirt freshman strong safety Alex Kube (Cary-Grove) leads the Huskies in tackles with 38, but sophomore linebacker John Tranchitella (Driscoll) and junior sackmaster Larry English (Marmion) are next with 29.
Central Michigan quarterback Dan Lefevour averages 279.5 yards and 2 scores per game, while veteran running back Ontario Sneed (240 yards, 3 TDs) has yet to hit his usual stride. LeFevour's go-to guy is Antonio Brown, who already has 31 catches.
The skinny: NIU has won the last nine games between these MAC rivals, including last year's late-season home triumph that served as CMU's lone MAC loss. The Chippewas have one of the nation's worst pass defenses (71.2 percent completion rate), so this could be a big week for Huskies quarterback Dan Nicholson.
-- Lindsey Willhite