NIU fan here. Bowers is what gives us fans so much confidence. Last week it took the first half to shake off the rust since he basically hadn’t played all of last season. I wouldn’t look at our first game to predict the outcome for this week. New game plan, big improvement from both squads, etc. Bowers will have to get rid of the ball quickly to survive this one. Our top 2 receivers did not play in last years game. TEs also appear to be playing a much bigger role in the receiving game than last year. Skill group has quality at the top but little depth.
Our run D is legit. Holding Moss to a season low last year was no accident and it very well could happen again. The middle of our D is all back and loves the challenge of playing against great backs. What’s concerning for NIU imo is corner play. They’re young and not very big. Utah threw a lot last year because the run game stalled and will probably have to again. We believe our front 7 is the best you’ll see this regular season. Our Dline is experienced and deep. The LBs know where to be and play fast. We lost one starter in fall camp but his replacement is a freak athletically. LB depth is a concern because of the injury however.
What will happen Saturday? Well in 2015 we lost to #1 ranked tOSU by 7 with Cordell Stewart, Braxton Miller and JT Barrett all getting snaps because our D dominated and they wrote it off to playing down to the competition. In 2017 we beat Nebraska and got their coach and AD fired immediately. Last year we beat BYU and their fans equated it to losing to a high school team. Last year vs. Utah we had the ball with 3 minutes left down 4 and Utah’s D put the game away. If Bowers was QB it could have been very different. As usual players like Ford (? Name of Oline talking shiit) will get punched in the face and realize they have a real fight on their hands. NIU isn’t coming to compete, they’re coming to win and will use the usual disrespected chip on the shoulder as a motivator.
It seems just about all NIU fans expect a competitive first half and Utah to eventually pull away but not cover. That’s definitely where my heads at. It’s a new QB, new offense and new staff. It’s a tall order to gel this early in the season against such a strong opponent so we don’t expect to win. However, any Utah fans who dismiss NIU because they’re G5, like not to long ago for Utah, is a fool. Comparing us to next weeks Idaho State opponent is just ignorant.
Hoping all come out healthy and a Utah PAC12 championship!
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