If nothing else, NIU football has had an action-packed first half of the season.

A comeback bid coming up short in a hostile environment, a blowout win against a smaller college, a big-time win on the road, a gut-check loss at home and a slaughter of a MAC West favorite.

All of that leaves the Huskies at 3-2 (1-0 MAC) heading into a bye week.

And that bye week leaves NIU head coach Jerry Kill happy because the Huskies have had some injuries. Add that to the fact NIU is coming off a big conference win, the timing couldn’t be any better. A fresh Huskies team will look to go 2-0 in the MAC against Toledo on Oct. 17.

But for the Huskies to win the MAC West, they will have to do what the have done in their three wins. That is out-gain opponents running the ball. For each victory, the Huskies have 200-plus rushing yards and have held their opponents to rushing totals of 82, 147 and 73. But against Wisconsin and Idaho, they were out rushed 152-100 and 207-128, respectively.

Kill’s ‘you have to run the ball and stop the run’ philosophy is critical to the fate of NIU’s MAC West hopes. Overall, the splitting of carries with Me’co Brown and Chad Spann has worked brilliantly, with Brown doing the work between the 20s and Spann topping leader boards in the red zone. Considering the size of both backs - Brown is 5-foot-7, 185 pounds; Spann is 5-foot-9, 197 pounds - it would be tough to imagine either one being able to withstand the physical toll of being the featured back for an entire season. The idea of getting Justin Anderson, who rushed for 1,245 yards his sophomore season, five to 10 carries to keep Brown and Spann even fresher would be something to consider. But it appears Kill is set with his two-man attack.

The defense answered a lot of questions against Western Michigan. Broncos quarterback Tim Hiller is rated high on the NFL prospect list. The Huskies made him look like he might have to use his arm for paper routes, this coming after a week in which Idaho quarterback Nathan Enderle looked like a Heisman Trophy candidate.

But it all comes back to stopping the run. If the defense stops the run, then the quarterback will have to throw. When the defense knows the quarterback is throwing, then they can use appropriate formations to stop the pass. Blitzing will also be easier as a result.

With the way WMU looked last week and other struggles throughout the conference, the Huskies should view anything other than a MAC West championship as a failed season.

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