NIU

DeKALB – Junior guard Xavier Silas' 24 points on 8 of 16 shooting led six Northern Illinois players in double figures, lifting the Northern Illinois men's basketball team to a dominating 120-70 win over visiting Marygrove College (Mich.) in the Huskies' exhibition finale at the Convocation Center on Friday night.      

DeKALB – When the Eastern Michigan defense stacked the line with defenders Thursday night, they were testing Northern Illinois quarterback DeMarcus Grady to beat them.

DeKALB – For Chad Spann, it was a career night in the making by his second run. For Northern Illinois, it meant the Huskies can start thinking about a bowl game and possibly more.

DeKALB – Tommy Davis thought he was going to get tackled. So did almost everyone else in Huskie Stadium.

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. – Michael Turner did some self-scouting last week to find out why he wasn’t breaking off big runs for the Atlanta Falcons.

DeKALB – Make no mistake about it, Northern Illinois coach Jerry Kill wants his team playing fast tonight.

DeKALB – After quarterback Chandler Harnish did some light running at Monday's practice, Northern Illinois coach Jerry Kill had a status update on Harnish's injured right knee at Tuesday's weekly news conference.

DeKALB – The natural question that arose from Northern Illinois' exhibition victory against Aurora University was why junior guard Jake Anderson saw more time at point guard than normal.

There is no question that running back Chad Spann has meant a lot to Northern Illinois this season, but over the past month Spann has stepped up his game considerably.

Northern Illinois true freshman defensive tackle Nabal Jefferson had his first career sack and a tackle for a 3-yard loss in the run game in Northern Illinois' 27-10 win against Akron on Saturday at Huskie Stadium. Daily Chronicle sports editor Jon Styf talked with Jefferson about his breakout performance after Saturday's game. Here is the edited transcript:

DeKALB – Playing essentially on one leg didn't do too much to hurt Jason Onyebuagu's overall performance, at least in the eyes of Northern Illinois coach Jerry Kill.

DeKALB – Tracy Claeys has been at various stops in his coaching career, but when he was a student assistant, there was one rule that has stuck out lately: Don't talk about injuries.

NIU defeats Akron, 27-10

DeKALB – One of the most pressing questions for Northern Illinois – aside from who plays quarterback, which won't be revealed until just before kickoff this morning – is how the NIU offense will bring a little more balance today against Akron.

Before joining the Northern Illinois women’s volleyball team, Maddie Hughes bounced between positions for her club and high school teams.

MAC East Division Preseason Media Poll (1st place votes in parentheses)

DeKALB – Northern Illinois will find out a lot about some members of its secondary this week.

Kaneland filled its varsity girls softball coaching position internally, announcing Tuesday that Brian Willis is the Knights’ new coach.

After watching the film of Saturday's 27-22 victory at Miami (Ohio), Northern Illinois football coach Jerry Kill says quarterback DeMarcus Grady's comfort level grew as the game progressed.

OXFORD, Ohio – DeMarcus Grady insists the next 2-3 weeks won’t be any different for him.

OXFORD, Ohio – It took one punt on Saturday afternoon before the Northern Illinois football team went to Plan B: two punt returners.

OXFORD, Ohio – More than anything, the Northern Illinois football team felt relief when it boarded the buses to head back to DeKalb Saturday afternoon.

DeKALB – While Northern Illinois' quarterback situation appears it will remained unresolved to the public before today, NIU coach Jerry Kill wants to see something that was lacking in last week's loss to Toledo.

Mauvolyene Adams earned her way into Northern Illinois' starting lineup nine games into this past season and ended her sophomore year averaging 7.3 points and 5.3 rebounds a game for the Huskies.

DeKALB – Marke Freeman can whittle down her offseason to one place: Huskie Stadium.

Northern Illinois sophomore forward Tyler Storm appeared in 28 games and started eight as a freshman for the men's basketball team. He averaged 3.6 points and 1.6 rebounds a game. Now a sophomore, Storm hopes to make an even bigger impact for an NIU team that has increased expectations. Before practice on Wednesday, the Daily Chronicle's John Sahly caught up with Storm to talk about a variety of topics.

DeKALB – Whether it's a young team maturing, the addition of new talent, an increase in strength and conditioning or a combination of the three, expectations are different in and around the Northern Illinois men's basketball team.

DeKALB – Northern Illinois quarterback Chandler Harnish is questionable for Saturday's game at Miami (Ohio) with a knee injury, coach Jerry Kill said after Tuesday's practice.

Bice earns weekly MAC West honor

Toledo coach Tim Beckman said he noticed something in Northern Illinois' blocking scheme on field goals against Idaho and a subsequent block installation paid off in the Rockets' 20-19 victory against the Huskies this past Saturday at Toledo.

TOLEDO, Ohio – Northern Illinois needed to get something going on offense to start the second half of the Huskies' 20-19 loss to Toledo, and not just a couple plays to gain back some momentum.

TOLEDO, Ohio – Mid-American Conference football has seen some great receivers.

TOLEDO, Ohio – They exited the locker room one by one, a few at a time headed straight for the bus and then sporadically out on the field for a few seconds, the same mystified looks accompanying each Northern Illinois football player and coach.

TOLEDO, Ohio – It just wasn’t Mike Salerno’s night.

DeKALB – Mid-American Conference teams haven't had any fun covering Toledo wide receiver Stephen Williams for the past 3 1/2 seasons.

DeKALB – Me'co Brown never misses an opportunity for a laugh.

Discredits NIU's recent struggles in Toledo

Toledo quarterback Aaron Opelt's injured throwing shoulder should be fine for Saturday's 6 p.m. game against Northern Illinois, Toledo coach Tim Beckman said during Monday's Mid-American Conference coaches teleconference.

LAKE FOREST – Garrett Wolfe knew better than to call former college teammate Michael Turner after he broke Turner’s career rushing and touchdown records at Northern Illinois.

On a crisp fall senior day, the Northern Illinois men's soccer team ousted Buffalo, 1-0, on Sunday.

Tracy Wilson earned his way into Northern Illinois' starting lineup at safety and has continued to shine this year. The redshirt sophomore leads the Huskies in solo (20) and total (44) tackles, and has two tackles for loss and a pass breakup for one of the Mid-American Conference's top scoring defenses. After practice earlier this week, the Daily Chronicle's John Sahly caught up with Wilson to talk about his season thus far and his plans for the bye week.

DeKALB – Landon Cox calls it a "go-getter" mentality.

Turnover-free for the past 10 quarters, Northern Illinois unsurprisingly finds itself as one of the best teams in the country when it comes to turnover margin.

DEKALB – The nature and novelty of Jake Coffman’s 79-yard interception return touchdown Saturday inspired his Northern Illinois football teammates to weigh in with reviews.

DeKALB – It was one of those coaching moments where it’s hard to know how to react.

DeKALB – Since he was six years old, Kiaree Daniels has been a football player.

DeKALB – Jason Onyebuagu never had returned a kickoff before Saturday.

DeKALB – Alex Kube nodded as he said it, but the words themselves didn't need any reassurance in the aftermath of that performance.

DeKALB – A week after plodding through the motions in a home loss to Idaho, the Northern Illinois defense rediscovered its pulse Saturday afternoon.

DeKALB – There are a few names that receive universal respect around the Mid-American Conference.

Northern Illinois quarterback Chandler Harnish has been efficient and accurate on the field this season for the Huskies. After Tuesday's practice at Huskie Stadium, the Daily Chronicle's John Sahly caught up with Harnish to talk about his season and Saturday's home game against Western Michigan.

DeKALB – Just as his inbox was filled with praise after Northern Illinois won at Purdue, NIU coach Jerry Kill saw plenty of negative e-mails after the Huskies lost at home this past Saturday to Idaho.

Getting some of the younger and inexperienced players on Northern Illinois to play with both effort and intelligence at a consistent level has been a big theme for Northern Illinois this season.

Jerry Babiar spent part of Saturday tailgating with members of his 16-inch softball team. Every year the team picks out a home game to attend. He graduated from Northern Illinois in 1972, majored in Russian Major and lived in Lincoln Hall. Today, he works for an air conditioning company and was at Purdue last week when the Huskies pulled out just their second win all time against a Big Ten team. James Nokes sat down with Babiar on Saturday to talk about NIU and the southwest chicken chili at the tailgate. The following is an edited transcript.

Northern Illinois junior punter Josh Wilber kicked a career-long 57-yard punt in Saturday’s 34-31 loss. After the game, the tattooed junior college transfer talked with the Daily Chronicle’s Jon Styf. Here is the edited transcript.

DeKALB – Northern Illinois safety Tracy Wilson appealed to football’s version of a mulligan Saturday, seeing the Huskies’ 34-31 home loss to Idaho through brown and gold-tinged glasses.

DeKALB – Alex Kube’s analysis of his team’s tackling took just one word: Bad.

Sarah Thomas, only female official in FBS, fits in well on field

DeKALB – It's safe to say there was plenty of confusion at the end of the first half on Saturday.

DeKALB – Saturday, Northern Illinois got to see and feel first-hand how Purdue felt the previous week, postgame head-scratching included.