It’s rare for a football team that gives up 428 net yards to an opponent to talk about an improved defensive effort, but the Huskies find themselves in that situation.

“We have improved,” NIU coach Charlie Sadler said after Saturday’s 34-17 loss to Kansas State. “It’s still early, we’re improving each week,” said linebacker Nick Jones.

But that doesn’t mean NIU is happy with the efforts of the defensive unit.

“We haven’t played as well as we hoped we would,” Sadler said. “One of the problems is that we’ve got some of our best players sidelined.”

Linebacker Elroy Glover, nose tackle Eric White and safety Jeff Geary weren’t able to play Saturday, and when Jeff Taylor went down, the Huskies were playing with backup safeties against the Wildcats.

In NIU’s 55-7 loss at Fresno State, the Huskies allowed 638 net yards. The Huskies defense stiffened against Arkansas State, giving up 300 yards before surrendering 428 to Kansas State.

“Our intensity has been there recently,” said Sadler, who questioned his defense’s effort after the Fresno State game. “We just need to get our top players on the field.”

Jones, a tri-captain, said consistency is the key for defensive improvement.

“On some plays we play good, then on others … At times we play with intensity and at times we don’t,” Jones said.

One of the Huskies who has played exceptionally well for the defense is linebacker Steve Henriksen.

The senior notched 20 tackles (two for losses) against Kansas State after making 19 and 20 against Fresno State and Arkansas State, respectively.

For the season, Henriksen has five tackles for loss and had an interception against the Wildcats.

“We made way too many mental errors against Kansas State,” said Sadler, who nonetheless feels he witnessed a better defensive effort against the Wildcats.

“We’ve improved, we just played a much better team Saturday (than last week’s opponent, Arkansas State),” Sadler said. “We just have to continue to improve.”

The Huskies will need to improve for their next outing, a road match against Top-10 Iowa, which had a week off to prepare for NIU.

Jones, for one, is confident that NIU’s defense, and the team as whole, will redeem itself against the challenge the Hawkeyes pose.

“We’re going out to show that we can win,” Jones said. “No matter who we play.”