When the Huskies open their 2009 campaign with a trip to Madison, they can expect to be greeted by raucous crowds, endless hazing and an immense amount of pressure.

Redshirt senior tight end Reed Cunningham knows all about that pressure. NIU’s leading returning receiver, Cunningham expects nothing but insanity from the Badger faithful.

The Wisconsin native sat down with the Northern Star to talk about going home, the favorite projectiles of Badger fans and the progress of the offensive unit.

Northern Star: What’s it going to be like going home to Wisconsin and playing in front of that huge crowd?

Reed Cunningham: It’s going to be a pretty big game because a lot of the people I know live in the area and that’s where I came from. From just wanting to be a Badger when I was younger, and now going back to try and prove something would be really nice, so it’s a pretty big game.

NS: What’s the atmosphere and mentality like in the state of Wisconsin when it comes to Badger football?

RC: It’s kind of a mix. Everybody’s a die-hard Badger and then Packer fan; I mean you’ve got that all the time. It’s probably not quite as bad as some of the SEC schools, but if you go to Wisconsin ­– to Madison – wearing a different jersey, you’re going to get hazed pretty good. I’ve seen that on State Street so it’s pretty interesting.

NS: What are some examples of typical Wisconsin hazing?

RC: You know, throwing bottles of intoxicants that really shouldn’t be thrown at other people, stuff like that. It gets pretty crazy there. The students there are pretty rowdy. I know probably about 30 people that go to school there; they sure like to party it up on game days.

NS: You’re one of the top returning receivers on this team, and there is a lot of youth at wide receiver on this team. Have you taken it upon yourself to help coach those guys up as pass-catchers?

RC: I’ve tried helping out our tight ends, because the receivers, they’ve got [wide receivers coach P.J.] Fleck. They’re pretty well covered I think. Tight ends, our coaches helped us out with some new ball drills and I’m just trying to throw in a few pointers here and there if I saw something, but other than that, they’re doing pretty well. They’re learning.

NS: What’s the biggest difference between this year’s offense and last year’s?

RC: I would have to say that this year’s offense, it seems like some of the new recruits and incoming guys we’ve got, with their speed we’ve gotten a lot faster. People in the second year in the offense, I think people know what’s going on a bit better now. I think things are clicking better.

NS: So will you guys be looking to air it out a bit more, make some more explosive plays?

RC: Hopefully yeah. I’m expecting some from some of those guys. I mean, they’ve got the speed to do it, so it should be interesting.

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