Ask the Expert: Northern Illinois writer previews Nebraska's matchup with the Huskies
Grant Hansen • about 10 hours
(Photo courtesy of Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
Northern Illinois returns to Lincoln on Saturday to face Nebraska for the third time in seven seasons. The Huskies are 1-1 and are seeking to claim another Power Five upset after taking down Boston College in overtime to begin the season. Southern Illinois put a damper on Northern Illinois’ start by besting the Huskies in a 14-11 rock fight the following Saturday.
This week, HuskerOnline spoke with
Edward Carifio who is the sports editor for the Daily Chronicle in Dekalb, Illinois, and covers NIU.
Here are his takes and final-score projection for Nebraska’s matchup with the Huskies in the “Ask the Expert” breakdown.
1. How do you square the Jekyll and Hyde performance for NIU against Boston College and Southern Illinois?
It was absolutely a step back in that Southern Illinois game. I mean, as good as an FCS team is, you shouldn’t be losing to them especially a week after getting a big “boneyard win” as they call it, going into a Power Five school and winning at Boston College.
Squaring that? That’s the million-dollar question. I think this week goes a long way toward answering that and how they perform.
The defense against the Salukis played just lights out. It was absolutely a great job for a unit that was not great last year to say the least. Then you take the offense, which even with all the injuries the offense had, was still pretty good last year. They’ve been in the top ten in the country in sacks allowed the during the last two years. I think 23 sacks total in two years.
They gave up four last week, again against an FCS team. It’s like a third of what they gave up all of last year.
So, it was a high, high followed by a pretty low, low and if you listen to the coaches they’re just trying to coach speak. ‘One day at a time. The Salukis are tough,’ that sort of thing. But like I said, this week will go a long way toward deciphering exactly what this NIU team is and how fluky that loss was last week
.
2. What do you think of Northern Illinois’ defensive line? How deep is it?
That defensive line is pretty good and pretty deep. I don’t know about the best that (Nebraska) will see. In fact, someone brought that up to Hammock at his presser today and he said, ‘Oh that’s just coach speak. I saw that Minnesota line and they looked pretty good.
They’re both trying to I guess, out-
Lou Holtzeach other here.
The defensive line is pretty deep. They rotate at least six deep and they got 3.5 sacks last week alone from the defensive line.
Raishein Thomas probably leads that charge. He has a sack this year. It’s been pretty spread out.
Roy Williams and
George Gumbs each have a sack and a half.
Devonte O’Malley has half a sack.
There’s a lot of guys that are getting it done right now. No one has more than a sack and a half but they have six as a team. It’s a very balanced position that they’re able to keep fresh.
3. What do you expect from seventh-year quarterback Rocki Lombardi after a rough game against SIU last week?
It’s a weird thing to try and pin down where he’s at right now.
Obviously, the three interceptions don’t look good. There was a lot of pressure on him and, like I said, he was sacked as much as he was. Some of the throws…one of the interceptions was just extremely underthrown. He doesn’t exactly look like he did two years ago and he’s not at that point yet.
Supposedly, he’s fully healthy. He was pretty much cleared to play the last week of spring. He just did some light non-contact stuff that last week. He wasn’t able to play in their spring showcase. They don’t actually do a proper spring game at home.
There’s been some time (since then) but the coaches are confident that he’s gonna be able to get it back together and he’s gonna revert to that 2021 form soon.
4. Will the Huskies be ready for Memorial Stadium and the environment of Matt Rhule’s home opener?
Absolutely, I think they’re ready for it.
They’ve played in these big places before. Granted, Chestnut Hill is not exactly Lincoln, obviously, as we talk about the understatement of the year. It’s not like anybody has any experience from this current iteration of the Huskies from the team back in 2017 that went in there and wo
n.
They did play in Michigan although that didn’t end very well. That was in 2021 if I am remembering correctly. They do have plenty of big-stadium experience and I would absolutely bet that they’re not going to fall pretty to the intimidation that sometimes strikes teams when they play there.
5. What factor will turnovers play in this game?
That’s definitely something that NIU has struggled with this year. Granted, it’s such a small sample size. They were -3 last week in a three-point loss. If you run for 1.9 yards per carry, missed two field goals and you’re -3, I guess you should be thankful it’s only a three-point loss.
The defense has been excellent but (forcing turnovers) may be the one thing they’ve been missing at this point. If you really wanted to pick some nits, that would be what you would do. It’s not like the defense is giving up 400 yards per game and they aren’t getting any turnovers and it’s like, ‘Oh my lord!’
It’s more like, you get the feeling with this defensive group and how they’re playing this year that (turnovers) will come at some point. I think that takes this defense up to another level and if it were to happen this week, at that stadium, that would obviously be a boon.
6. Finally, what is your take and score prediction for Saturday’s game?
My overall take if you asked me five days ago would be positive for NIU. Now, it’s decidedly less so.
Nebraska is, regardless of what their record is, regardless of their coach has coached for them, it’s still
Matt Rhule and it’s still Nebraska. That said, I still feel I’m leaning more toward the Huskies.
I’m thinking they’ve got to feel really good going in, they’re saying they feel good going in. This team does best with a chip on its shoulder and after that loss last Saturday, there’s a pretty big chip that has been placed squarely on the offense.
The defense has been playing with a motivation from how last year went. The offense is going to have that chip there now and it’s all in place for an NIU upset.
Final Score: Northern Illinois 27, Nebraska 21
