Jordan Lynch and Northern Illinois take on Ball State in a huge conference showdown on Wednesday night. (Pat Lovell-USA TODAY Sports)
Northern Illinois’ biggest battle on the field at this juncture of the season might be its Nov. 13th contest against one-loss Ball State. But the Huskies are battling another opponent that’s meriting more national attention than the Cardinals.
At 9-0 and 5-0 in the MAC West Division, with wins over Iowa and Purdue, the Huskies are battling Fresno State for a spot in a BCS bowl game. The Huskies were ranked No. 18 in the most recent BCS standings, with Fresno State coming in at No. 16. If the season ended right now, the Huskies would be left out of the BCS bowl picture.
That discussion would be moot if the Huskies lost to Ball State.
“Getting on to Ball State, obviously we’ve got a fine football team coming in here,” NIU coach Rod Carey said. “I think they are 9-1 after last night and you just look at all three phases of that team; it works together, it works in conjunction, and they’re well coached. They have a taste for winning right now. I think confidence, like I’ve said with 18 to 22-year-olds, is an amazing thing. You get that confidence and all of a sudden they’re playing like it.”
The Cardinals are riding a high after losing to North Texas on Sept. 14. Ball State has won seven straight games, including five games by double figures.
“They throw really well and they run it really well, to be really general for you. It’s not that they’ve got some scheme that’s going to go ahead and wow you and go ahead and create a million problems, although they have a great scheme and it’s well coached, I just think the execution of it is what you look at. They are in year three into their system, similar to what we are here, and you can see that the execution is at a high high level right now.”
The Cardinals are gunning for their first MAC West title since 2008, and their first MAC championship since 1996. Behind quarterback Keith Wenning, the Cardinals are averaging 39.9 points per game. Wenning holds the school records for touchdown passes (84), passing yards (10,418), pass completions (950) and passing attempts (1,516). Wenning is the only quarterback in the FBS with at least 300 yards passing yards in eight games this year. He ranks fourth in the nation with 3,164 yards.
Carey and the Huskies know they’ll be facing an experienced signal-caller Wednesday.
“He’s a pocket guy but he’s running it a little bit more now,” Carey said. “I think last night he had a couple where he kept it around the end. He looks to throw first. You have that ‘dual-threat’ label now and the ‘pro-style’ label; he’s probably more in the pro style than he is anything else right now. I certainly don’t want to put him in a box because he’s a good football player.”
“His accuracy throwing it. His footwork is tremendous,” Carey added on Wenning. “You throw the ball with your feet first and his feet are always in a good position. He has really good chemistry with his wide receivers. I think all of them have been playing together now for three years. When we had them here two years ago at our place, they were just getting to know each other. Now they’re well-seasoned together.”
