Huskies eat Red Wolves

Safe bet crystal balls are pickin the Huskies. Photo courtesy NIUhuskies.com

A national audience is in for a real warm-up treat to the All State BCS Championship Bowl game between LSU and Alabama. Sunday night on ESPN the Huskies of Northern Illinois take on the Arkansas State Red Wolves at the GoDaddy.com Bowl in Mobile, Ala.

Arkansas State (10-2) has won nine straight games since losing 26-7 to then-No. 13 Virginia Tech. The Red Wolves then took off on an undefeated run through the Sun Belt Conference to earn their second bowl appearance. Arkansas State lost 31-19 to Southern Mississippi in the 2005 New Orleans Bowl in its only previous bowl game.

Northern Illinois (10-3) is making its fourth straight postseason appearance. The Huskies, are on an eight game winning streak since stumbling out of the MAC conference gates with a 48-41 loss at Central Michigan. NIU clawed its way back from a 20-point deficit against Ohio to finally lift the monkey off their back and claim their first Mid-American Conference championship since 1983.

ASU is led by Sun Belt offensive player of the year Ryan Aplin, who passed for 3,235 yards with 18 touchdowns and led the team with 605 yards rushing with nine scores. Aplin will throw into coverage as he was intercepted 13 times this season. His favorite receiver is the elusive 5-9 senior Dwayne Frampton, who set a school record with 1,125 receiving yards on 90 catches. A potential mismatch for the Huskies’ secondary is the beastly 6-4, 215-pound junior receiver, Josh Jarboe, who finished with 707 yards. The Huskies must minimize the Red Wolves yards after catch to win. And they must have an answer for Sun Belt defensive player of the year DE Brandon Joiner who ranks among the national leaders with 12 sacks.

Chandler Harnish has made an impressive case for the best QB in Northern Illinois’ history. His record earns his name to be in the same breath as George Bork, Bob Heimerdinger and Stacey Robinson. Harnish will finish his Huskies career as the MAC offensive player of the year and owner of 20 school records. The versatile QB threw for a career-high 2,942 yards and completed 62.9 percent of his passes. He rushed for a team high 1,382 yards and produced 37 touchdowns (11 rushing and 26 passing). Although Harnish tends to spread the ball around — nine receivers caught at least 10 passes — he looks for Nathan Palmer and Martel Moore in crucial moments. The mismatch for ASU is the Huskies rushing attack and especially Jasmin Hopkins who rushed for 15 touchdowns and 932 yards.

The Huskies lead the overall series 6-1; the two teams began their history Oct. 13, 1990, when NIU claimed a 35-0 victory.

A good many of local Huskies fans are enjoying Alabama hospitality and festivities and will watch the game live at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile. The game has an 8pm start and will be televised on ESPN.

For those left in the DeKalb area, O’Leary’s Pub and Grill has a tailgating party going on during the game with four-pack’s of tasty Slider Bundles for $4 and Bud Light and Miller Light Drafts for $2. They will have a drawing for prizes after every quarter.

Across the street, within Howling Huskies crawling distance, Hometown Sports Bar and Grill will be having a free half-time buffet and giveaways during the game.