It’s time for a shake-up in the Huskies’ offensive strategy. I spent the latter half of the NIU game against Central Michigan University in bewilderment as to why the NIU football team wasn’t running the ball more.

Drive after drive after drive, the quarterback would unsuccessfully attempt to pass the ball up the field. Three and out with two passes, or sacks, was the trend of the second half. The only touchdown drive of the half consisted almost exclusively of rushes and quarterback keeps.

NIU has an amazing running back roster that they choose not to utilize in favor of a sub-par passing game.

This came to a culmination in the final drive where, with two timeouts left on the opposing 25-yard line, the Huskies opted to throw an interception. When the pass game has been failing for two quarters, the solution is not to continue passing in the hope that you might get lucky. When your quarterback is struggling to complete passes, the solution is not to place the fate of the game in his hands.

At some point, the coaching staff needed to realize that yards were being gained on the run and lost on the pass.

NIU learned firsthand from the final interception what happens when you repeat a failing strategy. Whether the solution is better play calling, taking away the option from the quarterback or completely replacing the quarterback/offensive coaching staff, I’m unsure. But it was clear on Friday that our Huskies misjudged where the strength in their offense lies.