The football team was predicted to win the Mid-American Conference West Division from a coaches poll in the preseason, but Saturday’s performance against the University of Iowa Hawkeyes may give fans second thoughts as to how good NIU Football really is.

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Marcus Childers was sacked five times, the Huskies were 3-for-12 on third down conversions and the offensive struggles caused the defense to wear out in the second half.

After the 33-7 season-opening loss, Head Coach Rod Carey said the team has a lot to focus on to prepare for next week.

“In the second half, we didn’t play well, and they got after us,” Carey said, according to a Saturday NIU Athletics press release. “Their [defensive] line took it to us. That was not Huskie Football in the second half. We have to go in, learn from this and go back to work.”

With NIU having one game under its belt, the Northern Star makes its predictions as to how the rest of the season will unfold.

Week 2: DeKalb welcomes the PAC-12

The Utah Utes will be the first PAC-12 team to play at Huskie Stadium and defeating them will be a tall task for NIU.

Considering there’s nowhere to go but up, the Huskies will have better success on offense in this game, but their first win of the season certainly will not come against the Utah Utes.

If Childers gets the start at quarterback, expect him to be more comfortable with the offense this time around, but nothing he does will be enough to withstand the high-powered Utah offense.

Utah handled Weber State Thursday with a 41-10 victory to open their season. Quarterback Tyler Huntley went 24-for-39 with 253 passing yards and will likely get the better of the NIU defense in this game.

Week 2 prediction: Utes 37, Huskies 14

NIU record: 0-2, 0-0 Mid-American Conference

Week 3: MAC thriller in DeKalb

With conference play beginning a little earlier for NIU this season, expect this to be a true MAC battle with Central Michigan winning by a close margin.

The Chippewas took a season-opening loss to the University of Kentucky Wildcats 35-20, even after starting quarterback Terry Wilson Jr. went out with injury in the first half.

Central Michigan isn’t expected to be a good team this season, but with NIUs offensive struggles, the Chippewas could steal one at Brigham field.

Week 3 prediction: Chippewas 21, Huskies 17

NIU record: 0-3, 0-1 Mid-American Conference

Week 4: The Orange Bowl rematch in Tallahassee

For week four, the Huskies will make a return to Doak Campbell Stadium in a repeat of the 2013 Orange Bowl where NIU fell 31-10 to the Seminoles. The point margin won’t be that large this time around, but NIU won’t have enough to get this win.

The Huskies have had success recently against power-5 schools, but No. 19 ranked Florida State should be able to handle their business at home and get the win.

Expect the NIU defense to continue its solid play and for the offense to continue progressing on its development, but this is simply the wrong team to play when you’re not gelling as a unit.

Week 4 prediction: Seminoles 34, Huskies 17

NIU record: 0-4, 0-1 Mid-American Conference

Week 5 and 6: Conference play resumes with two tune-up road games

With a majority of the difficult non-conference portion of the schedule being over, NIU should use these two games to improve its record and overall confidence on both sides of the football.

The Eagles finished 2017 No. 5 in the MAC West standings with a 5-7 record and isn’t expected to make much of a difference this year. Ball State had an impressive 42-6 win against Central Connecticut State Friday in week one, but that win was somewhat expected.

The Huskies had their way against both of these teams in 2017, so expect them to have the same success and begin to turn the season around with these two contests.

Week 5 prediction: Huskies 31, Eagles 14

Week 6 prediction: Huskies 28, Cardinals 6

NIU record: 2-4, 2-1 Mid-American Conference

Week 7: MAC East heavyweight makes a visit for homecoming

The Ohio University Bobcats were picked by MAC coaches to win their division and eventually meet NIU in the conference championship. This should be a close contest, but Ohio should have the edge and just barely get over the hump against the Huskies.

Ohio’s strong defense could provide some issues for Marcus Childers and the NIU offense. These two teams did not meet in 2017, but expect a closely contested game among two MAC favorites.

Week 7 prediction: Bobcats 24, Huskies 21

NIU record: 2-5, 2-2 Mid-American Conference

Week 8: A late season non-conference test

The Huskies will head to Provo, Utah for a match against the Brigham Young University Cougars Oct. 27.

The Cougars struggled with a 4-9 record in 2017, but is expected to make a jump this season. BYU opened the season by upsetting the University of Arizona 28-23 on the road, coming from behind and scoring 21 points in the third quarter.

At this point in the season, the NIU defense should be one of the best in the conference and will find a way to get to the Cougars offense and make a statement win in this matchup.

Week 8 prediction: Huskies 20, Cougars 13

NIU record: 3-5, 2-2 Mid-American Conference

Week 9: The trap game in Akron

In many cases, there’s that one game during the season where team’s don’t take care of business and lose games they should win, and NIU might do this in week nine.

With it being the second consecutive week away from Huskie Stadium, NIU will be coming off a big win against BYU and could overlook the Akron Zips in this road contest.

Week 9 prediction: Huskies 21, Zips 30

NIU record: 3-6, 2-3 Mid-American Conference

Week 10-12: Huskies make a hard playoff push

With games against three teams that aren’t expected to excel in 2018, the Huskies will use this chance to make a final push for the MAC West Division title.

NIU will face Toledo and Miami at home before closing out the season against Western Michigan on the road. The Huskies took a 35-31 home win against Western Michigan Nov. 15, but fell to Toledo by a score of 27-17 Nov. 2 on the road. Without the services of Logan Woodside at quarterback, the Huskies should get the win this year against the Rockets.

Look for all of these MAC teams to put up a good fight as the season winds down. At the end of the day, the Huskies should take the win in all of these games.

Week 10 prediction: Rockets 14, Huskies 24

Week 11 prediction: RedHawks 10, Huskies 30

Week 12 prediction: Huskies 24, Broncos 20

NIU record: 6-6, 5-3 Mid-American Conference

For the Huskies to have a chance to qualify for the MAC West title, A 5-3 MAC record might be a game short of that mark. The best chances for NIU to get that extra win is week three against Central Michigan or week nine against Akron.