Know The Foe: Week Three versus Northern Illinois

After spending the first two weeks on the road, Nebraska will spend the next three weeks at home. Two of the three will be the Huskers’ non-conference opponents. Matt Rhule will have his home game debut against the Northern Illinois Huskies

Here is a review of the 2022 season for the Huskies and preview for the highly anticipated game at Memorial Stadium in week three. 

2022 Season Review

Last season was a rough year for the Huskies as it was the worst non-covid impacted season since 2007. 2022 would be plagued by injuries for the normal contender in the Mid American Conference (MAC). 

2022 Results

Record: 3-9, 2-6 MAC

Sept. 1     Eastern Illinois         W  34-27

Sept. 10   at Tulsa                      L   35-38

Sept. 17   Vanderbilt                  L   28-38

Sept. 24   at (8) Kentucky          L   23-31   

Oct. 1      at Ball State                L   38-44

Oct. 8      Toledo                         L   32-52

Oct. 15   at Eastern Michigan  W  39-10

Oct. 22    at Ohio                        L   17-24

Nov. 2     Central Michigan        L   22-35

Nov. 9    at Western Michigan  W  24-21

Nov. 16   Miami (OH)                    L 10-13

Nov. 26   Akron                             L 12-44

Only winning three games and two of them conference was out of the ordinary for the Huskies. From 2007-2019, the Huskies would make a bowl game 10 out of 11 seasons including four MAC championships. 

2023 Season Preview and Matchup Preview

In 2023, the Huskies will try to find the same success as they had in 2021 when they won a conference championship and finished with a 9-5 record. 

Northern Illinois returns veteran starting quarterback, senior Rocky Lombardi. Lombardi should help 5th year Head Coach Thomas Hammock bring the Huskies back to the top of MAC, if Lombardi stays healthy. 

They also return a very talented and experienced offensive line and defensive line alongside a couple receivers and defensive backs. The Huskies should have another solid run game to go along with what they return for this upcoming season. 

Key Players

1. Nolan Potter, OT SR SR
2. Rocky Lombardi, QB SR
3. Trayvon Rudolph, WR JR
4. CJ Brown, S SR
5. Devonte O’Malley, DT JR

2023 Schedule

Sept. 2     at Boston College    

Sept. 9     Southern Illinois      

Sept. 16   at Nebraska                 

Sept. 23   Tulsa     

Sept. 30   at Toledo                     

Oct. 7      at Akron                   

Oct. 14    Ohio          

Oct. 21    Eastern Michigan 

Oct. 31    at Central Michigan                      

Nov. 7     Ball State               

Nov. 14   Western Michigan                                  

Nov. 25   at Kent State

Nebraska vs NIU preview

 Nebraska and Northern Illinois have faced off four times, most recently in 2019. In 2019, Nebraska beat the Huskies 44-8. The only time Northern Illinois has beaten Nebraska was in 2017, where they won 21-17 in Lincoln.  

This matchup will be Nebraska’s first home game of the year and will be coming off a massive game against Colorado. This is also Northern Illinois’s last game before conference play. 

ESPN’s FPI Matchup Predictor says that Nebraska has a 86.4% chance to win compared to Northern Illinois with only 13.6% chance to win. 

Can Northern Illinois play spoiler against Nebraska in Matt Rhule’s first home game or will Nebraska start off their three week home stand with a good victory? We will find out on Sept. 16 at 6:00 pm.