In elusive senior tailback Garrett Wolfe (Chicago / River Grove Holy Cross) and talented 6-foot-7, 302-pound senior offensive tackle Doug Free (Manitowoc, WI / Lincoln), Northern Illinois heads into 2006 with two legitimate preseason All-America and national award candidates. On paper, Novak's Huskies again figure to be a contender in the Mid-Am West with 42 returning lettermen and 15 starters back from 2005. After being the George Mason of college football in 2003 with three wins over Bowl Championship Series programs, becoming a postseason bowl participant (Silicon Valley Football Classic) for the first time in 21 years in 2004, and making its initial MAC Championship Game in 2005, Northern Illinois has morphed from the hunter to the hunted.
In other words, close, but no MAC championship.Īt the same time, it is not hype to say that the Huskies have moved into the MAC's gridiron upper tier. With four West Division titles (2001, 2002, 2004, and 2005) in the last five years and an unprecedented string of six consecutive winning seasons (6-5 in 20, 8-4 in 2002, 10-2 in 2003, 9-3 in 2004, and 7-5 in 2005) - the longest since becoming a major-college in 1969, Northern Illinois has resembled the late Al McGuire's memorable ".horseshoes, hand grenades, and slow dancing" parable. "Our top goal is, and will always be, to win the MAC championship," Novak restated. 3: Between the time that Novak arrived on the NIU campus in December, 1995, and 11 years later, the Huskie program's No. "No, you never forget," Novak said about the nightmare Akron finish, "and, that in itself, is a great motivating tool."Ĭarrot No. 2: Everyone in the Huskie camp realizes that Northern Illinois stood one play and 10 seconds from winning its first outright Mid-American Conference title since 1983 and a second consecutive bowl appearance prior to a heart-breaking 31-30 setback to the University of Akron at Ford Field in Detroit and on national television via ESPN. "We've got a lot of work to do between now and then," he added.
1: "Men, it's 161 days until the Buckeyes," Novak reminded his Huskie players Saturday (March 25) at practice in reference to Northern Illinois' 2006 season-opener at defending Big Ten Conference co-champion Ohio State University on September 2. DeKalb, IL - Need off-season motivation? As spring drills commence, veteran Northern Illinois University head football coach Joe Novak might lead the country in proverbial carrot-dangling.Ĭarrot No.
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