Maybe Northern Illinois isn't all that bad. Consider this
- Last weekend they beat a Bowling Green team by 10 that pushed Penn State (lost 27-34 @ PSU) and A&M (lost 20-26 @A&M) without Antario Brown, the RB that gave us fits. In the win, they held Bowling Green to 205 yards of offense.
- In their two losses, they lost to Buffalo in OT despite holding Buffalo to 184 total yards, but NI had 2 turnovers to Buffalo's 1. And they lost by 7 at NC State where they held NC State to 171 total yards - but they had 4 FOUR! turnovers.
- It's remarkable that ND got no turnovers against Northern Illinois, but gave them 2, including the crushing interception that led to the go ahead field goal.
I am flagging that Northern Illinois (especially with Antario Brown, who was hurt in their UMass win, apparently) may actually be a decent team, and their defense has shut some teams pretty much completely down.
It would not hurt the cause if they were to win 8 or 9 games.
Replies to: Maybe Northern Illinois isn't all that bad. Consider this
They're a terrible team, unless the goal is to go 10-2 every year
in that case a let down against a MAC team once in a while is acceptable
You're the COAT: Coping-est of All Time
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They blow
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Please. They are a 4th place MAC team right now.
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Thanks for the reality check.
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With the lack of effort and focus, we could have lost to any team that day.
So, it's not about how good NIU is/was, but how bad we were.
They suck
Stop dreaming.
Halfway through the season, Northern Illinois has the #5 total defense in the country
A&M is 32, and Louisville is 43. ND is at #11.
Notre Dame obviously should have won the game, and ND is definitely is a better team. But it may turn out that the team that beat Notre Dame on its off day may not be terrible.
Not sure why folks seem negative about this idea, but regardless, go Irish
Link: https://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/current/team/22
What major schools have they played? (Trick question) and a few games left to change
that ranking closer to bowl season.