College football preview: Akron at Northern Illinois

Akron (1-6, 0-3) at Northern Illinois (4-3, 2-1)

When: 11 a.m. at Huskie Stadium

TV: WPWR Channel 50; Radio: WSCR 670-AM

Series: Tied 5-5

Coaches: J.D. Brookhart (28-39, sixth year at Akron); Jerry Kill (10-10, second year at NIU; 114-67 in 16th year overall)

Players to watch: KR/WR Dashan Miller stacks up as Akron's biggest weapon. He's the MAC's reigning East division special teams player of the week after averaging 47.8 yards on his 4 kick returns at Syracuse - a performance that featured a 98-yard touchdown dash. Akron's offense is in the hands of true freshman Patrick Nicely after three-year starter Chris Jacquemain got the boot and sophomore Matt Rodgers wrecked his knee. In Nicely's 10 quarters of action, he has completed 42 of 82 passes for 489 yards, 1 TD and 2 INTs.

Northern Illinois likely will start sophomore DeMarcus Grady at QB for the second straight week as Chandler Harnish (knee) continues to rehab. Grady needed to throw just 10 times last week at Miami as junior TB Chad Spann controlled the game. Given 21 carries (1 off his career-high), Spann piled up a career-high 156 yards and delivered his 11th and 12th TDs of the year. He ranks seventh nationally with 10.3 points per game.

The skinny: Northern Illinois kicks off a three-game homestand against teams with a combined record of 2-20. A sweep would all but clinch the Huskies' third bowl game in the last four years, but they can't afford to think in those terms or worry about saving energy for their game against Eastern Michigan just five days hence. Akron ranks 117th out of 120 Football Bowl Subdivision teams in total offense (280.0 ypg), though Nicely has done nice things in the passing game lately. Northern Illinois continues to lead the MAC in two key categories: rushing (196.1 ypg) and turnover margin (plus-9).

- Lindsey Willhite