A year ago, NIU quarterback Chandler Harnish led the team in both rushing attempts and yardage.

Now, after one year under head coach Jerry Kill, the Huskies have found their running game.
Sophomore running back Me’co Brown leads the MAC in rushing yards after five games, totaling 476 yards on the ground, averaging six yards a carry.

Brown isn’t lonely at the top, as junior running back Chad Spann is in a tie for the No. 1 spot in the nation in scoring. Spann has taken 10 balls into the end-zone this year, becoming NIU’s primary threat when in the red-zone.

Offensive numbers like that have moved the Huskies into the top spot in the MAC in rushing, and they are No. 2 in scoring with 31.6 points a game.

Kill has said he doesn’t care who runs the ball, as long as it’s moving down the field. I’ve always been in love with the idea of one back getting all the carries and still dominating a team, but it’s hard to argue with what Spann and Brown have done together.

While it may be by committee, and we may not get that coveted 1,000-yard rusher that everyone loves to talk about, Kill’s Huskie squad is on its way to dominating teams on the ground once again.


Defense:

It’s a classic case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde when it comes to NIU’s defense.

The jury is still out on this unit, much as they would be in a case so perplexing.

I don’t know what to make of the defensive performance from week to week, and I always find myself wondering which will show up. Will it be the same defense that held Western Illinois to seven points, dominated Purdue and kept Western Michigan out of the end-zone?

Or will it be the group that gave up 34 points to Idaho? Each week, I find myself wondering.

Now I know that Idaho has greatly improved this season. They are 4-1 right now, but they haven’t really had that signature win akin to NIU’s victory over Purdue. I still have trouble believing that a Vandal team that won three games in its two previous seasons could come into DeKalb and put up 34 on a team with as much defensive pride as the Huskies.

The Idaho game shook my confidence in this defense, I’m not going to lie about that. They’ve shown promise in every other game; it just remains to be seen whether the Idaho game was a fluke, or a sign of what can happen on a bad day.

The next game against Toledo on the road could provide a good gauge of what this unit is destined for during the rest of the season.

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