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BYU Football: Scouting the Schedule – Northern Illinois

By Shaun Gordon

DETROIT, MI - DECEMBER 26: Jauan Wesley #9 of the Northern Illinois Huskies makes a first half catch next to Michael Carter II #26 of the Duke Blue Devils that he ran in for a touchdown during the Quick Lane Bowl at Ford Field on December 26, 2017 in Detroit Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
DETROIT, MI - DECEMBER 26: Jauan Wesley #9 of the Northern Illinois Huskies makes a first half catch next to Michael Carter II #26 of the Duke Blue Devils that he ran in for a touchdown during the Quick Lane Bowl at Ford Field on December 26, 2017 in Detroit Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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DETROIT, MI – DECEMBER 26: Jauan Wesley #9 of the Northern Illinois Huskies makes a first half catch next to Michael Carter II #26 of the Duke Blue Devils that he ran in for a touchdown during the Quick Lane Bowl at Ford Field on December 26, 2017 in Detroit Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
DETROIT, MI – DECEMBER 26: Jauan Wesley #9 of the Northern Illinois Huskies makes a first half catch next to Michael Carter II #26 of the Duke Blue Devils that he ran in for a touchdown during the Quick Lane Bowl at Ford Field on December 26, 2017 in Detroit Michigan. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /

Lawless Republic’s Scouting the Schedule series continues with BYU Football’s eighth game of the 2018 season, first time foe Northern Illinois.

After BYU Football faces Hawaii on October 13th, they’ll host their third straight game in LaVell Edwards Stadium the next week, playing their first game ever against the Northern Illinois Huskies.

If the Cougars want to reach bowl eligibility, they’ll need to have at least three wins entering this matchup with the Huskies.

If they don’t have at least four wins when they enter this matchup, it will become nearly a must-win game for BYU, with two tough games and two less-than-tough ones following.

But Northern Illinois will be a touch matchup. They’ve turned the program into one of the best in the Group of Five and busted the BCS during the 2012 season.

Last Season

The Huskies entered the 2017 season with high expectations, and those crashed pretty quickly. Starting quarterback Ryan Graham suffered a season-ending injury in the season opener, and backup Daniel Santacaterina was ineffective in three starts. Head Coach Rod Carey turned to freshman Marcus Childers, and that decision turned the season around.

They went on to win six of their last eight regular season games, finishing 8-4 overall and 6-2 in the MAC. Their largest margin of loss was ten points.

Northern Illinois accepted an invitation to the Quick Lane Bowl to take on Duke, and the Blue Devils outmatched them 36-14. It was a disappointing ending to a season that couldn’t quite live up to expectations.

Offseason

The biggest offseason loss for the Huskies was defensive coordinator Kevin Kane. He left to take the same position at SMU after turning Northern Illinois into the top defensive team in the conference. Rod Carey hired from within, promoting linebackers coach Jeff Knowles to coordinator.

The Huskies lost both their leading rusher (Jordan Huff) and leading tackler (Bobby Jones), but they bring back enough returning talent to expect a strong 2018 team.

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