DeKALB – During practice this past week, Northern Illinois head coach Dave Doeren would put the ball on the 1-yard line. He would tell his players “4th-and-1” and challenge his team to pick it up, yelling and screaming at his offense.

Simply put, NIU’s second-year head coach thinks his team is strong enough to convert on those short-yardage situations. They picked up the yards during practice, and did the same thing during Saturday’s 45-3 win over Buffalo.

Doeren trusted his team on fourth down early, and all four of the Huskies’ first-half fourth down tries were converted easily. NIU was 4 of 5 on fourth down on the afternoon.