News

Defense could be key to NIU

Posted August 01, 2007 11:00 pm

Jay Taft

Standing on the Soldier Field turf Wednesday while staring out across the empty field, Northern Illinois defensive end Larry English had a smile from ear to ear.

"This," English said quietly, talking about the Huskies season opener on Sept. 1 in the Chicago Bears' stadium against Iowa, "is going to be something else."

English is coming off arguably the best season ever for a Huskie pass rusher, setting a school record for sacks in a game (4.5 on Oct. 20) and tying another milestone with 12 sacks on the year. But NIU fell short of expectations, going 7-6 overall after getting blown out 37-7 in the Poinsettia Bowl.

"It was tough. I came out a little bit last year. I really felt like I finally showed everybody what I can do. But we still lost way too much," said the 6-foot-3, 255-pound junior English, during NIU's Media Day in Chicago on Wednesday. "This year it has to be different. I feel the defense as a whole is going to have the spotlight, and we're ready for it."

For the past decade or so, talk about NIU centered on its running backs. Teams game-planned to stop the likes of LeShon Johnson, Michael Turner and Garrett Wolfe. All three went on to play in the NFL, with Turner and Wolfe still collecting pay checks.

Although Rockford Guilford product Montell Clanton is expected to head another talented group of tailbacks, this year's Huskie team may be looking to the other side of the ball for its game-changing plays.

"It's going to be an interesting year. Every three or four years you have a team that's one of those mystery teams, and this is it," NIU's 12th-year head coach Joe Novak said. "But I think this might be one of our strongest defensive teams ever. We've always had the offense to lean on, but we may use the defense this year."

Wolfe was the leading rusher in Division I-A last season, but he's now in a Chicago Bears uniform. Offensive tackle Doug Free graduated, and is battling for a spot on the Dallas Cowboys roster. Even quarterback Phil Horvath moved on, although he wasn't able to latch on to a camp roster spot in the NFL this summer.

But the defense - led by English down in the trenches, linebacker Tim McCarthy in the middle and strong safety Mark Reiter in the backfield - returns seven of its starters and is poised to step up and dictate the flow of games during the 2007 season. They surrendered just 21.2 points per game last year, and earned the team's first shutout since the 2002 season in a regular-season-ending blowout of Eastern Michigan.

This year, with so many question marks on offense, the "D" may have to do even more.

"We've got some extra incentive this year. We know we may have to really step it up on defense to keep us in some games, but this group is ready. We're up to it," said Reiter, a senior who was the team's fourth-leading tackler last year with 77 stops. "We've got to do something. We've got to do something to pick this program back up. The guys before us worked way too hard to get us where we're at. We have to earn that respect back this year."

They will begin by trying to take down Big Ten foe Iowa on Sept. 1. The first game between two D-IA teams in Soldier Field is sold out.

The Huskies hit the practice field for the first official workout of the summer Friday, and two-a-days begin Aug. 11.

College reporter Jay Taft can be reached at 815-987-1384 or jtaft@rrstar.com.

Article Categories
News