Western Michigan Pictures

Is that Joe's cooler?
Chef Ball
Army, WTF?
Yep...

The Daily Chronicle: Young Huskies learn from loss

“I think we played hard the first three games, not so much very smart all the time, but I thought we played hard and we’re continuing to get better,” Kill said. “Saturday (against Idaho), we got off to a good start, drove the ball down and scored.

“And then they hit us in the mouth a little bit and our young guys, I don’t think we handled it very well.”

ESPN (Chicago): Squandered chances

For Northern Illinois, Saturday's game presented an opportunity to put together another quality win and to start to develop a bowl résumé. The Huskies barely lost at Wisconsin and knocked off Purdue on the road. If they beat a solid Idaho team that hung around with Washington, people would begin to notice.

Grilled Tater Tots

Tater tots
Maple bacon
Cajun seasoning
Salt
Fresh ground pepper

Thaw tater tots until you're able to poke a toothpick through them (about 30 minutes). Season the tater tots with cajun seasoning (or seasoning of your choice).
Cut bacon into 3 equal strips.
Wrap bacon around tater tot and hold in place with a toothpick.
Season with salt & pepper.
Grill over medium heat until bacon is done (about 30 minutes).
Let sit for a few minutes and remove toothpick

Italian Sausage with Peppers & Onions

1 dozen Italian Sausages
1 dozen Sausage/Brat Rolls

3 large yellow onions
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 clove garlic
2 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 tablespoon tomato puree (optional)

The peppers & onions can be cooked ahead of time at home and then reheated on the grill using an aluminum pan.

Slice the onions into 1/8-inch-thick half-rounds.

Heat the olive oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add the onions and saute for 15 to 20 minutes.

While waiting for the onions, julienne the peppers and mince the garlic.

Add all the other ingredients and continue cooking an additional 10 minutes.

Cook the sausages to your liking on the grill. Use a good sausage roll (don't ruin it with a cheap hotdog bun). Top the sausage with the peppers & onions.

Idaho Pictures

The Dans and their cotton candy
Ouch

The Daily Chronicle: Not NIU's day

"They just executed," Kill said. "They made the plays. We made those kinds of plays last week, and they made them today."

The Daily Chronicle: Views: Little things hurt Huskies

Saturday, Northern Illinois got to see and feel first-hand how Purdue felt the previous week, postgame head-scratching included.

A road underdog comes in and outplays, in every facet of the game, the home squad that's feeling good about itself. The road team wins the battle in the trenches, converts third downs at a video game-like rate, bottles up the home team's significant run threats, makes a play on special teams and ultimately hangs on for a victory.

The Daily Chronicle: NIU notes: First half ends on a confusing sequence

Injury report: Defensive end Jake Coffman was cleared to play on Friday, but NIU opted to hold him out of Saturday's game. Kill said Coffman would be back next week. Tight end Reed Cunningham was sick with the flu. Center Eddie Adamski injured an ankle in the third quarter. He was replaced by Scott Wedige and Adamski's status for next week is unknown.

The Daily Herald: No letdown, Northern Illinois just outplayed

For anyone who thought Northern Illinois suffered a letdown in a 34-31 loss to Idaho on Saturday a week after upsetting Purdue, Jerry Kill has a word - or seven - for you.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no," Kill said. "Just like I talked to my kids, we put that game behind us Sunday. We practiced hard. You had two good football teams going at it and they out-executed us."

The Chicago Tribune: Idaho topples Northern Illinois 34-31

The 1,000th football game in Northern Illinois University history should have been an otherwise forgettable exercise for the Huskies.

Instead Idaho, a 16 1/2 -point underdog, upset Northern Illinois 34-31 Saturday before a crowd of 16,320 at Huskie Stadium.

The Chicago Sun-Times: NIU follows Purdue win with 34-31 loss to Idaho

''No excuses -- they out-executed our football team,'' Kill said. ''Physically, they took it to us. They blocked better. It comes down to blocking and tackling. We didn't tackle very well.''

The Chicago Tribune: NIU hopes to continue run-game success against Idaho

"I think I set the tone on Sunday because I wasn't happy in several phases of our game against Purdue, even though we won the game," said Kill. "When you win, it's a great time to teach. There were some things that we didn't do as well as we would have liked."

The Nothern Star: NIU looks to avoid home let down after beating Purdue on the road

“We haven’t coached anything different,” Kill said. “We didn’t jump up and down and do backflips Sunday about winning; we watched the film. We haven’t done anything different [than] we’ve been doing since the day I walked in.”

Fanhouse: Is Era of Big Ten MAC-rifice at an End?

Last Saturday, Northern Illinois went into West Lafayette, Ind., and beat Purdue convincingly. (Don't let the 28-21 final score fool you: NIU dominated that game from the second quarter on.)

The Argonaut (University of Idaho): Tough competition ahead

“We’re playing a good football team, but I also think that we got the making of a good football team,” said coach Robb Akey. “If we do what we do well, we will give ourselves an opportunity to win this ball game and that’s all you can ask them.”

The Daily Chronicle: Smith brothers reach dream together

Northern Illinois defensive backs and twin brother Donald Smith (left) and Chris Smith have taken a long and winding road to DeKalb. The two dropped out of high school before earning their GEDs and attended community colleges in Iowa and Kansas and now play for the Huskies and are excelling in the classroom. (Beck Diefenbach – bdiefenbach@daily-chronicle.com)

The Chicago Tribune: Me'co Brown coming on strong for Northern Illinois

The sophomore leads the MAC and ranks 14th nationally in rushing with 110.3 yards per game. He unleashed a career-long 67-yard touchdown run against Purdue.

"He moved his feet, saw the holes and I was really pleased with a couple of big blocks," said NIU coach Jerry Kill, whose Huskies (2-1) host Idaho (2-1) Saturday.

Rockford Register Star: NIU's fake punt call delivers real results

They challenged a play they shouldn’t have. If they don’t challenge, we don’t fake,” said Sawvel, also the defensive backs coach who came over with Kill from Southern Illinois. “During the challenge, I knew Purdue had the momentum, and I looked at all my guys who had played their butts off the entire game, and I was like: ‘You know what, we can get these two yards.’ I asked (upback) Justin Anderson if he felt good about it, and he said, ‘Oh yeah.’ ’’

At that point, Sawvel told Kill over the headset, saying: “Hey, I think we need to run the fake.” After what Sawvel called a power pause, Kill replied: “Do you really think we have it?” Sawvel answered: “Two yards; we can get two yards.”

Fanhouse: Big Ten suspends Zach Reckman- Sore loser gets suspended

With Progar already down, Reckman jumped on top of him -- and hit Progar's ribs with his right hand for good measure.

From The Daily Chronicle:
Progar said after Tuesday's practice. "We got the win so I just went down. I didn't even notice that guy hit me afterwards either until I watched the film the other day. I didn't even notice. I thought it was one of my own players jumping on me."

Asked if he thought it was a cheap hit, Progar said, "No. I mean, it was but I don't really care."

Idaho Press: Alger: Vandals continue ascent to respect

UI's coming opponent, Northern Illinois, may have looked like a prospective question mark before the season began, but now this team is an exclamation point after beating one Big-10 team and narrowly losing to another.

IDAHO (2-1) at NORTHERN ILLINOIS (2-1)

When: Saturday, Sept 26 @ 2:30

Where: Huskie Stadium, DeKalb, IL

TV: Comcast SportsNet (CSN)

Radio: WMVP-AM 670 (The Score) and WLBK-AM 1360

Inside Huskie Sports: CSN - Thursday @ 4:00

Highest Current Ranking: #36 (Sports Theory)

Line: Huskies favored by 16

GAMEDAY:

DeKalb Weather

Tickets

Seating Chart

Huskie Stadium

NIU Weekly Release (available Wednesday)

Northern Illinois Depth Chart

Tailgating:

HUSKIE Lot opens at 9:30

Parking Map - Park in Lot K.
We're in the (orange) HUSKIE Lot. You should be able to find us near the letter "E" (southwest corner of the lot).

Post Game:

Fatty's

Eduardo's

SeptemberFest with Red Woody at 7:00

NORTHERN ILLINOIS FACTS:

Location: DeKalb, IL

Founded: 1895

Enrollment: 25,313

Nickname: Huskies

Colors: Cardinal and Black

Conference: Mid-American Conference

Stadium: Huskie Stadium (1965)

Capacity: 24,000

First Year of Football: 1899

All Time Football Record: 496-452-51

All Time vs Idaho: 3-2

Last meeting (at Idaho): NIU 42-35

Coach: Jerry Kill (8-8 at NIU)

IDAHO FACTS:

Location: Moscow, ID

Founded: 1889

Enrollment: 11,636

Nickname: Vandals

Colors: Silver and Gold

Conference: WAC

Stadium: Kibbie Dome (1975)

Capacity: 16,000

First Year of Football: 1893

All Time Football Record: 428-537-26

Coach: Robb Akey (5-22 at Idaho)

IDAHO LINKS:

Fan Message Board

Football Website

Roster

Schedule/Results

News

NIU Football: Huskies' Brown Named MAC West Offensive Player of the Week

Northern Illinois sophomore tailback Me'co Brown was named the Mid-American Conference West Division Offensive Player of the Week Monday after rushing for a career-high 150 yards in 26 carries in the Huskies' 28-21 upset victory over Purdue.

Red and Black Attack: The Boilermakers enter the Boneyard

Just past the door the players normally enter is "The Boneyard." The white fixtures in the shape of bones are affixed to the walls complete with scores such as "NIU 19, Alabama 16" and "NIU 20, Maryland 13" from 2003 serve as reminders of the biggest wins of the program’s history.

The Rivalry: Hey Marshmallow: Purdue's Toughness Comes Under Question After NIU Loss

Two run plays sealed the fate of Purdue. The quarterback run off tackle and the zone read handoff to Me'Co Brown. Sophomore Chandler Harnisch, channeling his inner Tim Tebow, followed his blockers mostly to the right side of the Purdue defense and picked up five yards a pop Along with this same concept came Brown, the angry little scatback who refused to be tackled by the first tackler. Harnisch would read the defense and then stretch the play a little, allowing Brown to squirt through the freshly formed hole.

Breakfast Taco

We made this before the Purdue game. We cut the recipe in half and still had plenty to share with some other NIU tailgaters.

2 lbs spicy breakfast sausage (or chorizo)
2 cans diced potatoes
2 yellow onions (diced)
1 green pepper (diced)
1 clove garlic (minced)

12 eggs
1 jar salsa
salt & pepper
24 tortillas
1 pkg mexican blend cheese
hot sauce (Cholula & Tapatio)

Brown sausage in skillet. Then set meat to the side but keep grease in the skillet.

Add potatoes, onions and green pepper to skillet...salt and pepper to taste. Saute until almost done and then add the garlic. Cook an additional few minutes (test potatoes for doneness). Set the vegetables to the side.

Add eggs to the skillet to scramble...salt and pepper to taste. When eggs are about half done, add back the meat and vegetables. Then add the jar of salsa.

Wrap tortillas in foil and heat on grill.

Add Egg, sausage and vegetable mixture to tortilla. Top with cheese and hot sauce.

Purdue Game Highlights