Huskies Seek Repeat 8/7/12
By: Scott Leber
Updated: August 7, 2012
DeKalb, Illinois-After decades of trying, NIU's football team finally reached the mountain top last year and won a MAC Championship. Now can it get there again?
That's the motivation this year. The Huskies were picked to finish second in the MAC West behind Toledo in the preseason poll.
Many people might think that the loss of four starters on the offensive line and the loss of MAC MVP quarterback Chandler Harnish might be too much for the Huskies to overcome. But Jordan Lynch is ready to step in for Harnish, and the Huskies say they are ready to dig in and go to work again.
"We're hungrier than last year, because there's a lot of new guys stepping up that want to get back there and want to say that they did it," said Lynch to WTVO.
"There's a quote I keep in my office that says 'Success isn't owned it's rented, and the rent is due every day.' That's kind of our philosophy on where we're at," said Head Coach Dave Doeren Tuesday during NIU Media Day.
NIU is the most successful football program in the MAC over the past 12 years in terms of wins. And the Huskies have been to four straight bowl games. But ticket sales are sluggish for this season. Even tickets for the opener at Soldier Field against Iowa are behind projections.
Tuesday Doeren and NIU Director of Athletics Jeff Compher tried to light a spark under Huskie fans.
"What I would say to Northern fans is we need you. We need you out there," said Compher.
"One thing I would tell our fans is I don't think you know what you have right now," said Doeren. "You have a team that has the nation's longest winning streak. You have a team that has a 15 game (home) winning streak. You have a team that's doing things very, very well on the field that puts a fun product out to watch. There's a ton of college football teams in the country that would die to have what we have right now on the field."
NIU will open it's season against Iowa on September 1st at Soldier Field.
That's the motivation this year. The Huskies were picked to finish second in the MAC West behind Toledo in the preseason poll.
Many people might think that the loss of four starters on the offensive line and the loss of MAC MVP quarterback Chandler Harnish might be too much for the Huskies to overcome. But Jordan Lynch is ready to step in for Harnish, and the Huskies say they are ready to dig in and go to work again.
"We're hungrier than last year, because there's a lot of new guys stepping up that want to get back there and want to say that they did it," said Lynch to WTVO.
"There's a quote I keep in my office that says 'Success isn't owned it's rented, and the rent is due every day.' That's kind of our philosophy on where we're at," said Head Coach Dave Doeren Tuesday during NIU Media Day.
NIU is the most successful football program in the MAC over the past 12 years in terms of wins. And the Huskies have been to four straight bowl games. But ticket sales are sluggish for this season. Even tickets for the opener at Soldier Field against Iowa are behind projections.
Tuesday Doeren and NIU Director of Athletics Jeff Compher tried to light a spark under Huskie fans.
"What I would say to Northern fans is we need you. We need you out there," said Compher.
"One thing I would tell our fans is I don't think you know what you have right now," said Doeren. "You have a team that has the nation's longest winning streak. You have a team that has a 15 game (home) winning streak. You have a team that's doing things very, very well on the field that puts a fun product out to watch. There's a ton of college football teams in the country that would die to have what we have right now on the field."
NIU will open it's season against Iowa on September 1st at Soldier Field.
