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Florida State is now 2-5 in BCS bowl games.
This morning the sad reality has set in for the Northern Illinois Huskies. Last night, the Huskies fell to the Atlantic Coast Conference Champion Florida State Seminoles 31-10 in the Orange Bowl.
The first quarter was a defensive battle between both teams. FSU only managed to score one touchdown in the opening frame. NIU pressed the Seminoles offense and pushed them against the wall.
In the second quarter the ‘Noles would push back and would eventually back the Huskies into a wall of their own. Northern Illinois could only muster a field goal in the first half.
Florida State led 14-3 at halftime, and they would score three more times in the second half. The Huskies only touchdown of the night was a Jordan Lynch touchdown pass to Martell Moore. The two main reasons for NIU’s downfall are simply because of defense.
The Huskies defense could not stop FSU’s running game, the Seminoles ran for 243 yards. 134 of those yards belonged to running back Lonnie Pryor.
Even though the NIU offensive line managed to contain the FSU defensive line, the Huskies were powerless to stop the Seminole linebackers.
Florida State’s linebacking corp held Northern Illinois to just 83 yards on the ground. Credit must also be given to Florida State’s secondary.
They covered Martell Moore and the rest of NIU’s receivers like a blanket, resulting in just 15 completions on 41 pass attempts for Huskies quarterback Jordan Lynch.
Eventually Lynch found himself trying to move the ball on his own. This is exactly what Florida State had wanted. They forced the dual-threat quarterback from Mount Carmel High School to try to beat them on his own and it worked to their advantage.
At the end of the night the Huskies defense was worn down from being on the field for so long. They allowed the Seminoles to gain 534 total offensive yards to accompany those 31 points.
When it was all said and done, everyone who said NIU did not belong in the BCS found themselves vindicated. Could this mean that future Mid-American Conference champions will not get invited into the Bowl Championship Series down the line?
Only time will tell. But despite the loss, the Huskies should still be proud of themselves. This was a program that lost 40 consecutive games in the 90′s.
This was a program that was almost demoted to the FCS {Division 1-AA}. This was also a program that had so much difficulty recruiting against the other football programs in the state.
Now the NIU program is officially on the map. They have proven that the Mid-American Conference is the real deal and should not be taken lightly.
2013 may have started off on a sour note for Northern Illinois University, but I feel that this is just the beginning of an even brighter future.
On the final week of college football’s regular season, the Illinois Fighting Illini football team has their backs against the wall. The 2011 season began with promise. After winning the Texas Bowl to finish the 2010 season on a high note, the Illini kicked it into high gear in the offseason. When the 2011 spring football program took place this year, there was a lot of buzz and excitement for the upcoming season. Quarterback Nathan Scheelhasse was ready to lead this team, Senior Running Backs Jason Ford and Troy Pollard were ready to anchor the ground game, and a group of young receivers and offensive linemen were ready for the big time.
And the Illini proved to be big time at the start of the season by winning the first 6 games. The offense was prolific, the defense was decent but had it’s moments, special teams was competitive, and it seemed like Ron Zook had finally poised his team to take over the Big Ten and make a run for the BCS. But then offensive production slowed down which in turn affected the defense. Special teams wasn’t so special, and the team fell apart which resulted in a 5 game losing streak.
How the Illini fall apart so fast still remains a mystery. Did the team get tired after the first 6 games? Did the Illini hit a string of bad luck? Or was it the fact that the Illini had an easy schedule for the first 6 games and then reality sunk in when conference play started? Whatever the case is, the Illini are in a fight to save the season. They are also in a fight to try and save Ron Zook’s job. In my previous report: http://q101.com/2011/11/joe-pa-may-not-be-the-last-big-ten-coach-to-exit/
I talked about Ron Zook’s coaching history and mentioned how he has always had solid teams but was unable to win conference championships and has a 1-4 record in bowl games. I also touched on his struggles with recruiting. While Illinois is bowl eligible this year, they could be left out of the postseason if they lose their final game this Saturday. Remember, not all 6 win teams get into bowl games. And the one’s that do have to make one heck of an impression on the bowl selection committee.
Perhaps arch-rival Northwestern will get a bowl over Illinois because the Wildcats have won 5 in a row compared to Illinois losing 5 in a row. There is also the Purdue Boilermakers who will be bowl eligible should they beat Indiana this weekend. They may get in a bowl game over Illinois because the Boliermakers own a victory over the Fighting Illini. Should Purdue win on Saturday, the Big Ten will have 10 bowl eligible teams.
And at the most only 6 or 7 will get a bowl game, especially if the Southeast Conference has anything to say about it. The best way for Illinois to improve their chances of going bowling is to win their final regular season game this weekend. And they have a perfect opportunity to do it when they head to Minnesota to play the Golden Gophers. Minnesota is the 2nd worst team in the Big Ten this season {Only Indiana is worse}.
Minnesota has only won 2 games all year, only 1 conference win, and last week they were the reason Northwestern became bowl eligible. I could only hope that the Illini have been busting their asses in practice this week and that the Illini team who started 6-0 will show up on Saturday. Not only are the Illini playing to save their season, they are also playing to help Ron Zook keep his job. But in all honesty, even a berth in the postseason may not be enough to keep Ron Zook employed at the University Of Illinois. But if this team truly cares about their coach and truly wants Ron Zook back next season, then the Fighting Illini must play like there is no tomorrow and beat Minnesota. The Illini Nation is currently holding their breath and praying for a miracle.
Also, the guys at High Motor Guy let me join in on their podcast this week. We discussed Jay Cutler’s injury: http://www.highmotorguy.com/2011/11/22/hmg-podcast-11-22-11/
By Q101.com Blogga Gabe Salgado
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