NIU attempts to change misfortune

DeKALB | Football begins its longest homestand, including the Nov. 9 Huskie Chi-Town Showdown game versus University of Toledo, since 1968 when it hosted five consecutive home games.

The Huskies (1-5, 1-1 Mid-American Conference) will host MAC oppponent Central Michigan University Chippewas (4-2, 1-1 MAC) 2:30 p.m. Saturday.

NIU is 45-5 since 2010 in MAC regular season games; however, the Chippewas handed the Huskies three of those five losses in 2011, 2014 and 2015.

“We’ve won a lot of football games around here [since 2010] and especially in conference,” Carey said at Tuesday’s press conference. “We’ve certainly had great success, and Central [Michigan] has been the one exception to that.”

Carey said the team needs to get better with its execution, especially when it’s in the redzone.

“We are playing good football about 85 percent of the time,” Carey said. “Unfortunately, it [hasn’t been] good enough to get wins.”

The team will face senior quarterback Cooper Rush, its toughest quarterback to date, Carey said.

“[We] have a ton of respect for [Cooper] and his career and how he commands the offense and goes about his business,” Carey said.

Kenny Golladay, redshirt senior wide receiver, leads the MAC, while ranking seventh in Division I, in receiving yards with 655.

Carey said Mario Jones, redshirt senior defensive tackle, has multiple lung contusions and lacerations after being hurt in Saturday’s game against Western Michigan University. Carey said he is unsure of the injury timeline but indicated it could be several months before Jones is able to practice again.

The game will not be broadcast on local channels but will stream on ESPN3. Fans can listen to it on radio affiliates WLBK-AM 1360/ FM 98.9 in DeKalb, AM 560 The Answer in Chicago and Sports Fan 1330 AM in Rockford.