Having already wrapped up a winning season and having no chance at a post-season game, what more could the NIU football team want at this point in the season?

Well, when the Huskies (6-4) storm onto the field of Huskie Stadium Saturday at 1:05 p.m., there will be one thought on the minds of every player wearing cardinal and red—beat the Mid-American Conference’s Western Michigan.

However, victory will not come easy for the Huskies. The Broncos topped the MAC this year with a 6-1 record and will be on the way to the California Bowl. Overall, WMU displays an 8-1 ledger and has an offensive attack that might have NIU head coach Jerry Pettibone seeing 70-yard touchdown passes while he sleeps Friday night.

“I think Western Michigan’s offense will be the best offense that we will face this year. They’re just a whole lot better overall—offense, defense, kicking game—than they were a year ago,” said Pettibone, who will be completing his fourth season as the Huskie boss.

Last year, the Huskies handed WMU an impressive 34-14 loss in Kalamazoo, Mich. In fact, NIU has won the last four games against the Broncos.

“I think if we play as well as we have the past two weeks, then we’ll be in good shape,” Pettibone said. “Our defense played well against Ball State and Western Illinois, so our defense just has to continue to play as well.”

WMU comes to DeKalb with some pretty impressive statistics. In this week’s NCAA statistics, the Broncos rank 10th in passing with a 278.9 yards-per-game average, 19th in total offense with 433.2 ypg and 23rd in scoring offense with 32.7 points per game.

But that is not all. WMU quarterback Tony Kimbrough stands 8th in passing efficiency and 8th in total offense, which could keep the Huskie secondary busy.

Pettibone would just as soon throw all the statistics out the window. When it comes to game day, the only thing that matters is the score on the scoreboard.

For NIU, keep an eye on cornerback Brett Tucker. The 6-foot junior is grabbing footballs in mid-flight like a frog gets flies. Tucker ranks 11th in the nation this week with five interceptions and has a career total of seven pass thefts.

While Tucker steals footballs out of the air, freshman Adam Dach keeps the ball on the ground. Dach is the nation’s No. 1 Division I-A first-year fullback with 799 yards and three touchdowns on 167 carries. The Byron native is 44th in this week’s major-college rushing statistics.

Also doing a fair job running with the ball is senior halfback Rodney Taylor. The “Little Big Man” needs 39 yards Saturday to move into the No. 3 spot on the NIU all-purpose yardage list. He would pass former HB-QB Jack Dean who gained 3,688 yards from 1961-64.

Defensively, junior Ron Delisi is making his mark as the NIU hit man. With 160 tackles, the Huskie linebacker owns the school’s single-season record and is No. 10 on the all-time Huskie list with 293 tackles.

Defensive ends Phil Foley and Cary Caliendo are tied for the team lead in tackles for loss with 13 apiece. However, Caliendo stands alone with nine QB sacks. Foley is second with five.

At the top of the “Close, but no Cigar” category is Randall Townsel. The senior cornerback leads all NIU defenders with eight pass deflections but has only one interception this season.