NIU trying to end MAC's bowl futility against South Fla.
TORONTO -- With the MAC on a 13-game bowl losing streak, and Big East power South Florida as the opposition, it's no surprise that the Northern Illinois Huskies enter Saturday's International Bowl as prohibitive underdogs.
And that's just fine as far as NIU coach Jerry Kill is concerned.
"Where I come from, I've been an underdog all my life, so I don't worry about that," said Kill, who has led the Huskies to two bowl games in his two seasons in DeKalb. "We know they've got great speed. They've got great athleticism. They're very well coached. But what we have to do is control what we can do.
"We've got to do a good job of playing with great discipline - don't turn over the ball, make sure we don't have a bunch of dumb penalties, don't give them anything. And I think if we can do that, and keep the game close in the fourth quarter, then anything can happen."
Kill noted that his players should have plenty of reason to believe in themselves. They earned a victory at Purdue this season and had a narrow loss at Wisconsin. The Badgers beat Miami in a bowl game earlier this week, and Miami beat South Florida 31-10 in late November.
Geneva's Pat Schiller, a redshirt sophomore linebacker, said NIU's defense has "a good scheme" to stop the Bulls' mobile quarterback B.J. Daniels. On offense, fullback Kyle Skarb said the Huskies believe they're up the challenge of neutralizing South Florida's defensive ends George Selvie and Jason Pierre-Paul, both of whom are top NFL prospects.
"There's not a lot of pressure on us," said Skarb, a junior from Hawthorn Woods. "We're not expected to win but everyone here (on the team) knows that we've got a good shot."
For his part, South Florida coach Jim Leavitt isn't buying any talk that his team, which finished the season with the same 7-5 record as Northern Illinois, is going to cruise to an easy victory.
"I don't know where anyone would say that we are a favorite in this one," said Leavitt, who has coached the Bulls since the program's inception in 1996. "Jerry Kill's one of the top coaches in the country. They will be ready to play. They will lay it on the line. And we have got to match that and more to win."
The game (11 a.m. ESPN2) will be played indoors. With a forecast high of just 14-degrees on Saturday, Kill joked that he would like to see the Rogers Centre's retractable roof opened, which wouldn't be much fun for South Florida considering that many of its players are seeing snow for the first time on this trip.
"They (bowl organizers) aren't going to open that roof up -- I've already asked them that," said Kill. "But I'll keep asking."
International Bowl
Northern Illinois (7-5) vs. South Florida (7-5)
When: 11 a.m. Saturday at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Ontario
TV: ESPN2
Radio: WSCR 670-AM
Coaches: Jerry Kill (13-12, second year at NIU; 117-69 overall); Jim Leavitt (94-57, 12th year at USF)
Oddsmakers say: USF by 7
Sagarin's Predictor says: USF by 3
Skinny: For the fourth time in six years, Northern Illinois caps its season with a bowl. The Huskies mustered just 1 offensive touchdown in their last two bowls combined, which explains why they're on a two-game bowl losing streak. This game figures to be a low-scoring extravaganza as NIU and USF are tied for 29th nationally in scoring defense (21.2 ppg). The Bulls' defense is better against the pass than the run, so NIU junior Chad Spann (945 yards, 19 TDs) could find daylight behind all-MAC offensive linemen Eddie Adamski and Jason Onyebuagu. Adamski, a Carmel graduate, makes his 50th career start at center today.
- Lindsey Willhite