Visiting NIU could be challenged by BYU's offense
Northern Illinois closes its nonconference schedule at 2:30 p.m. Saturday against Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.
The Cougars earlier this season knocked off then No. 6 Wisconsin at Camp Randall Stadium, but also lost by 25 at home to Utah State Oct. 5. BYU beat Hawaii 49-23 two weeks ago.
It's the first meeting between the Huskies and Cougars, both 4-3 after a bye week.
"They've had some really good games," BYU coach Kalani Sitake said. "They play really tough defense. They have an All-American defensive end (Sutton Smith) that is really active. But, I think they're whole defense is really tough. Offensively, they run the ball and they block punts. They're a really effective team and I know their head coach, and he gets them to play tough."
BYU is in the midst of a transition at quarterback with mobile freshman quarterback Zach Wilson having played the whole Hawaii game after coming in in relief of Tanner Mangum against Utah State.
Wilson threw four touchdowns, an interception, and ran for another in the victory over the Rainbow Warriors.
"Obviously he can throw the ball and he has command of the offense, otherwise he wouldn't be in there," NIU coach Rod Carey said.
BYU is coming off a game in which it ran for 280 yards, led by Matt Hadley with 95 yards. The Cougars average 139.9 yards on the ground while passing for 190.1.
Carey had a lot to study from the BYU offense.
"Offensively they're very challenging," he said. "They'll use unbalanced, shift (and) trade motion, all those things. Things we've seen before. Some elements of things we use too. It's very challenging."
NIU is 11th in the country after an off week with 14 defensive take-aways. BYU has turned the ball over eight times in seven games.
Offensively, Carey was pleased with the team's performance two weeks ago. Quarterback Marcus Childers ran for 169 yards on 23 carries against Ohio. It was the third straight week the Huskies went over 200 yards rushing.
The Huskies are trying to find more explosive consistency for an offense that ranks 128th out of 129 teams in FBS with 4 yards per play.