Before the Republican National Convention starts Sept. 1, Minneapolis will host another red visitor.

On Aug. 30, NIU (0-0) will start its first football season under head coach Jerry Kill against Minnesota (0-0). The 6 p.m. kickoff can be seen on The Big Ten Network, along with radio broadcast on WLBK AM 1360 (DeKalb), and WYLL AM 1160 (Chicago).

The Huskies had to combine spring practice and two-a-days this summer, as a number of starters were missing due to injury in spring. Although Kill and the players say they have learned the new offensive and defensive systems, the first year coach said he was going to keep his game plan simple.

“We’ve got to keep some things simple,” Kill said. “It’s probably a good thing I think sometimes coaches we get a little over coaching sometimes. You get so many ideas and you don’t do anything of them every well.”

One thing hasn’t been simple: figuring out what Minnesota will do on the defensive side. The Gophers hired former Duke head coach Ted Roof as their defensive coordinator. Last season Minnesota ranked last in total defense in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

To prepare his players, Kill has shown his offense the 50, 3-4, 4-2-5 and other defensive scheme’s in practice. NIU center Eddie Adamski said practice has paid off for the offensive line.

“What really helped us is that our defense runs a similar defense to theirs,” the junior said.

“Basically, we know what we are blocking into and they can throw anything at us, but if we just stick to the rules of our blocking scheme, we will be fine.”

One thing NIU still does not know is who will be throwing to its receivers.

It remains to be seen if Huskie quarterback Dan Nicholson will be healthy enough to start. Kill said the decision will be made Saturday. If the senior is unable to start, freshman quarterback Chandler Harnish will get the start.

Kill did say there could be flexibility during the game, but he didn’t specify at which positions.

“I’m not a rotating guy. However, I don’t want to give everything away, but there will be some situations where I’ll plug some different personal in,” Kill said. “[Minnesota] will say he’d play two quarterbacks last year, he snuck a guy in there on some situation. I’m not afraid to do that if it’s going to help us win games.”

Kill did specify he would not be rotating personal in to start halves or quarters. One position that could see this rotation is running back, as Kill did rotate backs last season at SIU and has Justin Anderson or Montell Clanton listed as starting tailbacks on NIU depth-chart.

Anderson rushed for 1,245 yards last season, while Clanton only played in two games due to injury. The senior running back said he was healthy and ready to go earlier in the week.

“I feel very comfortable,” Clanton said. “At the beginning of camp I was a little rusty, but I feel great now and I feel like I’m at 100 percent.”