All-encompassing NIU post. Yeah, dig in.

AMES, Iowa -- A few hours before Northern Illinois’ 27-10 loss at Iowa State Thursday night, the NIU coaches surprised the players by handing out new uniforms with their names on the backs. According to one source in the locker room, the players went gleefully berserk at the reversal of a policy that had been in effect since the mid-1990s.

Perhaps the Huskies used up too much emotion on their laundry. Coach Jerry Kill had to holler at his guys at halftime for their lack of urgency. On more than one occasion, Iowa State’s no-huddle attack caught the defense out of position or unable to communicate their calls.

And on one third-and-1 situation in the second quarter, I could've sworn every NIU lineman and the tight end were blown back on their butts. That forced Chad Spann to do some herculean running just to get back to the line of scrimmage.

NIU trailed 17-0 at halftime and pulled within 17-10 with 8:51 to go, but couldn’t get any closer. You can read the game story in Friday’s Herald, but I’ll hit on a few random points here.

NO QUARTERBACK CONTROVERSY
Though Kill didn’t reveal his starting quarterback until an hour before game time, redshirt junior DeMarcus Grady sewed up the job midway through camp. There were no apparent thoughts of bringing in former starter Chandler Harnish or redshirt freshman Jordan Lynch. Junior college transfer Casey Weston didn’t make the trip and is likely to redshirt.

Not only did Kill not think of pulling Grady, he didn’t blame him for the two tipped passes that became second-half interceptions.

“He did some awful good things,” Kill said. “He had a couple balls tipped at the line of scrimmage. You know, he doesn’t have a whole lot to do with that. It makes a performance…you look at 3 interceptions and go, ‘Boy, he turned it over a lot.’ Well, you get the ball tipped at the line of scrimmage. I’m not going to throw him under the bus on that. I think he’d like to have one decision he made back (the first-half INT thrown over Landon Cox) and kept the ball and ran.

“We moved the ball. We’ve just got to get the ball in the end zone and we’ve got to make some plays when it’s time. I think we’ll look at (the tape) and it’s probably going to be an offensive lineman missing a block here, a receiver missing a catch here…”

Early in the third quarter, Grady had two near-hits on deep passes that would’ve gone for touchdowns if they hadn’t been overthrown by a yard. Martel Moore got behind the secondary on the first one and Willie Clark on the second one.

LOCAL REPORT
Sophomore defensive end Alan Baxter (Buffalo Grove), who doesn’t start but essentially plays as many snaps as the starters, earned one tackle for loss as part of his 3 stops.

Senior outside linebacker Alex Kube (Cary-Grove) made his 27th career start and produced 7 tackles.

Junior wide receiver Willie Clark (Lake Park) caught 2 passes for 35 yards, including a gorgeous 22-yard over-the-shoulder catch along the sideline that served as the team’s longest gain of the night.

Senior fullback Kyle Skarb (Lake Zurich) started and played at least a third of the snaps, but did not touch the ball. They’re apparently saving his receiving skills for bigger fish.

Junior right guard Joe Pawlak (Grayslake) made his 14th consecutive start and played the whole way. I’ll tell a tale about Pawlak’s remarkable offseason work ethic in a future blog.

Sophomore wide receiver Matt Ng (Glenbard North) was a late add to the travel roster, but he did not play.

RANDOM STUFF
--Junior safety Tracy Wilson was all over the field on defense as well as special teams. I couldn’t believe he finished with a mere team-high 10 tackles. I expected to see something closer to 20 on his tally.

--Senior safety Mike Sobol, one of last year’s key guys, didn’t start but played most of the second half. Sobol made a remarkably rapid recovery from a torn ACL suffered in spring practice. Look for him to be in the lineup next week.

--NIU reported defensive end Joe Windsor, kicker Mathew Sims, kickoff cover man Jimmie Ward and receiver Akeem Daniels were the only true freshmen to play, but I thought I saw linebacker Greg Barksdale on the kick coverage team. Then again, he shares the No. 10 with Willie Clark, so maybe it was him instead.

--NIU has lost its last seven openers, but made a good paycheck every time for its troubles.
2009: 28-20 at Wisconsin
2008: 31-27 at Minnesota
2007: 16-3 vs. Iowa at Soldier Field
2006: 35-12 at No. 1 Ohio State
2005: 33-17 at No. 4 Michigan
2004: 23-20 at No. 22 Maryland

For next year's opener, it'll be the Badgers and the Huskies at Soldier Field. Never too soon to start tailgating.

LW