NIU football is looking to make a statement early on in its Orange Bowl tilt with Florida State.

As important as a good beginning is in any game, as players admitted, a fast start in a game of this magnitude is especially important.

“We have to make sure we get off to a fast start so we can get the momentum and you have to carry that throughout the whole four quarters,” said junior running back Akeem Daniels. “I think it’s gonna go good, if we just keep practicing hard like we’ve been practicing.”

While Daniels and other teammates have echoed sentiments about maintaining what they have done all season long, from a coach’s perspective, quarterbacks coach Bob Cole believes a fast start is important against a defense like that which FSU possesses.

“I think that’s extremely important,” Cole said. “We’ve been working on our openers every single day. You can’t simulate the team speed in practice, and that’s the one thing we’re gonna have to get adjusted to when the game starts, just how fast they actually are, ’cause on film they’re super-fast. We’ll see what happens when the ball gets kicked off–that’s gonna be a big part of the game for us to come out, start fast, and do well early.”

While the game plan is set, the Huskies don’t have a specific set of plays called yet to open the game. With a top-10 run offense against a top-5 run defense, the run game is surely to come into play.

Senior receiver Martel Moore believes that no matter the calls, the start and the yardage gained will be crucial early on.

“That’s something that we always preach every game,” Moore said. “Getting out to a fast start is gonna help us a lot, especially because we’re a strong second-half team. With a fast start it can lead us to a win. We have a game plan but we haven’t really set out the first couple of plays. Whatever play we call we got to go out there get at least four or five yards a play and take our shots when they come.”

Freshman offensive lineman Jared Volk believes not only is the game aspect of the fast start important, but the fast start helps send a message.

A message that can only truly be sent on game day, because no matter the numbers or situations, NIU is up against a lot of resistance from fans and media for even being in the Orange Bowl in the first place

“Once we show them we can play with them, I think that it’s going to be very good for us,” Volk said. “So the starting point is very important for this game, especially…because of all the controversy and everything.”

While the NIU offense has prided itself on fast starts all season long, it’s going to be an interesting battle between a quick, up-tempo offense and a stalwart defense.

A fast start is what NIU is looking for, but time of possession can come into play, although in many games this season NIU lost the time of possession battle but won the game.

Florida State redshirt senior linebacker Vince Williams believes that its defense is ready for the challenge of an up-tempo spread team because they have faced similar opponents.

While NIU’s offense is focused on a fast start for sending a message and finding momentum, the Florida State defense is interested in similar reasons for its tactic of not trying to send a message or get too aggressive come game night.

“We stay in there and play our game,” said Florida State redshirt junior cornerback Xavier Rhodes. “We feel if we do such things like that we might end up losing the game, losing ourselves in the media. We just go by every day the way we went through the whole season, be humble, be kind. We’re not really gonna feed into the media.”