This could be the fastest game in the history of football.

Now that NIU is done dealing with the mental anguish of Big Ten Conference hype, Huskie boss Jerry Pettibone was able to make light of Saturday’s game against Southwest Missouri State at the weekly Huskie Coaches Luncheon Thursday.

When mentioning the “fastest game in history,” Pettibone is referring to the dual ground game that will be contested in Huskie Stadium, as the Bears bring in their wishbone offense to mirror NIU’s.

“We’ll line up and we’ll run the ball,” Pettibone said, “then they’ll line up and they’ll run the ball. It’ll be like looking in a mirror, just with different colored uniforms.”

Assistant coach Jay Schaake gave the SMSU scouting report to the 90-plus luncheon crowd.

True, it’s the first time this season the Huskies will be facing an opponent whom they’ll know what tricks to expect. But Schaake mentioned some figures built up by the Division I-AA squad that should frighten NIU into taking the game seriously.

According to Schaake, the Bears are No. 2 among Division I-AA schools in rushing offense, No. 26 in total offense and No. 20 in scoring.

“With that offense and with what they do, they’ll be a tough outfit to defend,” Schaake said.

Pettibone refused to leave the luncheon audience with a taste of impressive SMSU statistics in their mouths.

After Schaake finished speaking, the three guest players offensive guard Phil McNally, linebacker Ron Delisi and fullback Adam Dach were introduced. Pettibone pointed out some of Dach’s notable achievements from last Saturday’s 167-yard rushing effort at Minnesota.

Dach holds the NCAA top single-game rushing effort by a fullback this year and the top single-game rushing effort by a freshman. Backfield mate Eugene Edmond, with his 118-yard performance in the Akron game Sept. 3, had held the top mark by a freshman.