By Chris Dertz

Offense: The unit that everyone questioned before the season started – the offensive line – hasn’t had any problems getting its act together. Combine that with the fact that skill players like Chandler Harnish and Chad Spann are playing as expected, and the wide receivers have been getting open more than I can ever remember.

The Huskie offense has been setting the pace for this entire team.

GRADE: A

Defense: One thing that every position has done from week to week is improve.

On paper, the defense as a whole may be sort of an anomaly. The Huskies given up a lot of yards, but have gotten big stops when they needed to in their victories. But improve is what this defense has done every week since getting burned on the ground by Illinois.

They’re tackling better, and seem to be peaking at the right time.

GRADE: B

Special Teams: In the season opener against Iowa State, the special teams game looked dreadful. The kicking game continued to have some bumps in the road that may have cost NIU some games, but kicker Michael Cklamovski appears to have gained his stroke since the Minnesota contest.

Cklamovski has a big boot that can deliver touchback after touchback, and punter Josh Wilber has been giving the Huskies good field position most of the year. If the special teams continues to improve, NIU will be sitting pretty.

GRADE: C+

 

By Jimmy Johnson

Offense: Usually the team equipped with the best play at the quarterback position wins the MAC. That said, Chandler Harnish’s arm and legs have earned him that title so far. NIU gets off the bus running but with Harnish making plays through the air, its offense is showing some balance. All it took was a few weeks for the offensive line to blend together, but there’s still plenty of room for improvement. For what head coach Jerry Kill wants to do every Saturday, the impressive play by Harnish and Chad Spann have exceeded expectations.

Grade: A

Defense: Playing without stud safety Tracy Wilson  for a considerable amount of time appeared to be a big bump in the road. The NIU defense has found ways to survive, but the sooner Wilson is back in the lineup, the better. Devon Butler has settled in smoothly in his second season, showing he can make game-changing plays. Jake Coffman and the rest of the defensive line haven’t been a lost cause, but this group is capable of producing more up front.

Grade: B

Special Teams: Kill must have been sweating some bullets about the kicker position before the season started. That immense amount of sweat has been reduced with Mike Cklamovski taking charge at kicker. Cklamovski has been spot on with kickoffs while showing he can hit a point after touchdown, an aspect that he and Matt Sims struggled with early on. Josh Wilber has done a nice job at punter, while the return game hasn’t been anything to write home about.

Grade: C+

 

By Jerry Burnes

Offense: Chandler Harnish has risen to one of the Mid-American Conference’s premier quarterbacks this year while Chad Spann is proving last year was no fluke performance.

Aside from them, the offense line has matured and improved in each game with Ricky Crider, Cameron Bell and Jasmin Hopkins proving to be viable backups to Spann.

The receivers are having a nice season too, with Martel Moore and Willie Clark emerging as everyday threats and Landon Cox finding his groove recently.

Offensive coordinator Matt Limegrover has been hitting all the right buttons this season, and the team is responding with rousing success.

Grade: A+

Defense: Aside from a few issues with BCS opponents Iowa State and Illinois, the defense has allowed just over 17 points a game in the four other games. The young linebackers stepped up in Pat Schiller’s action and his recent return has made the group deeper and better all around. Tracy Wilson has been out since the second half of the Illinois game but Tommy Davis and Mike Sobol have picked things up at safety. Patrick George’s early injury was countered and, like Schiller, the defense has proved better with him in the lineup. Defensive coordinator Tracy Claeys has had to deal with some key players missing games with injuries and his group has overcome all of them to a certain extent, keeping the Huskies in a lot of games this season.

Grade: B+

Special Teams: Matt Sims and Michael Cklamovski made things interesting at kicker earlier this season with a slew of missed extra points and field goals. Cklamovski eventually won the starting job after the Illinois game and hasn’t disappointed, making 6-of-8 field goals and 10-of-11 extra points. The disarray at kicker never impacted any games to the point of rendering a decision, but the stability makes it a lot easier to breathe when the field goal unit comes out. On the other end, Josh Wilber has been on the mark punting the ball, averaging over 40 yards a punt and burying opponents inside the 20 five times this season. The return games, so far, has been average with no sign of another All-MAC selection to this point of the season.

Grade: B-