Turnovers good news, bad news for NIU

Posted August 16, 2008 11:00 pm

By Lindsey Willhite

There are many reasons why Northern Illinois finished 2-10 in 2007.

One explanation, which new coach Jerry Kill has seized upon throughout his seven months at the helm, was turnover margin.

The Huskies committed 32 turnovers while forcing just 15. That negative margin ranked 117th among the 119 Bowl Championship Series teams.

With that in mind, Kill must have been encouraged to see his defense force 7 turnovers in Saturday's scrimmage in front of 500 at Huskie Stadium. On the other hand, that meant NIU committed 7 turnovers as well.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Chandler Harnish, who took many of the first-string snaps with senior Dan Nicholson out, completed 11 of 24 passes for 89 yards with 2 interceptions and 1 touchdown.

Linebackers Tim McCarthy, Cory Hanson, John Tranchitella and Josh Allen picked off passes.

Sophomore Ricky Crider led the running backs with 14 carries for 83 yards while classmate Chad Spann added 80 yards on 7 carries. He posted the day's longest play with a 65-yard TD jaunt.

Article Comments

Article Comments

Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.