NIU defense leads conference

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It is not always about numbers for CMU coach Butch Jones – sometimes it is just about what his eyes tell him.

Northern Illinois is ranked first in the Mid-American conference in rushing defense and passing defense, holding opponents to 118.2 and 178.1 yards per game respectively. But not one NIU defender is in the top 50 in the conference in tackles.

Yet as CMU (7-2 overall, 5-0 MAC) prepared for NIU (5-4, 4-2) during the past week, Jones said he noticed it was not that the team did not tackle. It was that they all did so evenly.

“You look and at the stop of every play, there are eleven hats in the picture. They’re tough, they’re physical and they challenge you schematically as well,” Jones said. “They’re always attacking, they’re always applying pressure and they’re always coming after you.”

Perhaps the top player on the conference’s top defense is senior defensive end Larry English. Jones believes English is a future NFL draft pick and is the key piston in the Huskies’ defensive motor.

“He’s a great, great, great player,” Jones said. “So it’s going to be critical that we know where he’s at. The thing that makes that so difficult is that if you put all your time and energy into English, they’ve got other guys that can step up and make plays. They do a good job of creating matchups and creating one-on-one matchups, whether it’s their front or they move English, or the type of pressures that they bring.”

English leads the team and is fifth in the conference with 4.5 sacks. He may need to do even more as the team might play without junior linebacker Cory Hanson, who has missed four games this season with a knee injury.

NIU coach Jerry Kill said Hanson will not start, but might see limited playing time as the game progresses.

Regardless of who plays for NIU or where English lines up on a particular play, CMU senior left tackle Andrew Hartline said he and his linemates do not change their approach.

“Even if there was one key guy, we don’t really key in on him,” Hartline said. “We expect each and every guy on the O-line to hold their own no matter who they face, or who they’re across from.”

Last Wednesday, Ball State was able to generate 529 total yards in a 45-14 victory over NIU. CMU freshman Bryan Schroeder said his team watched that game, but will not try to replicate the Cardinals’ performance as CMU’s personnel is not suited for the same offensive game plan as BSU.

“We talked about things that (Ball State) did, but I think we do a lot of things different than Ball State, so it’s not like we’re going to try to mimic them,” Schroeder said.

sports@cm-life.com