Huskie tales, NIU: November 2008 Archives

It's understandable.

Northern's 6 p.m. home game Tuesday against the U.S. Naval Academy has been bumped from ESPN2 to ESPN Classsic, which is still available in more than 60 million homes across the nation. It's also available on ESPN360.com.

The broadcast has been moved so the Ball State-Western Michigan game can be broadcast on ESPN2 as the 14th ranked (AP) Cardinals shoot for an undefeated regular season in a game that will decide the Mid-American Conference title. The Broncos have just one league loss and are tied with Central Michigan, one game behind Ball State.
Northern, at 6-5, needs to win Tuesday to enhance its bowl chances.

Navy has already accepted an invitation to participate in the inaugural Eaglebank Bowl that will open this year's bowl season when it is played Dec. 20th at RFK Stadium in Washington D.C.

Kudos to Aurora's Larry English. The Northern Illinois defensive end recorded two sacks in Tuesday night's 42-14 win at Kent State, which moves him to the top of the charts in quarterback sacks and tackles for loss at the school.

With eight sacks this season, English has 31.5 for his career (for 218 yards in losses) with one regular-season game remaining. Cary Caliendo, a DE who played from 1987-90, has 31 sacks (131 yards in losses).

The two sacks also push him to 54 tackles for loss (276 yards) in his career, just ahead of Caliendo who had 53 for 290 yards in losses.

Who were the 6-5 Huskies pulling for when Central Michigan hosted Ball State Wednesday night and fell 31-24? Smart money says the Fighting Cardinals. Coach Brady Hoke's undefeated bunch is still a verrry longshot to be a BCS buster since they haven't beaten a ranked team, but if they do, it increases Northern's bowl opportunities.

That's assuming, of course, NIU can beat bowl-bound Navy at home this Tuesday to go 7-5.