Sports are full of hopes, wishes and dreams. However, no one involved with athletics ever hopes, wishes or dreams of an injury.

Every athlete will tell you that though they are competing, they would not wish injury upon any rival.

But injuries happen, making them a part of the game. It’s a sensitive subject discussed quietly.

Rightly so because when talking about an injury you’re not talking about a knee, a shoulder or an ankle. You’re talking about an athlete, an individual, a person who is unable to participate in their passion.

Most of the time, coaches will say that injuries do not explain a loss. However, looking at the NIU football team’s injury list, one begins to wonder about the 2007-2008 season.

“This is the worst I’ve ever been around,” NIU head coach Joe Novak said. “This is extremely unusual.”

To date, the Huskies have had 26 players miss at least one game due to injury. Of that, 14 have been starters.

A total of 10 players are out for the season, and three others out for an extended period of time.

Injury has hit the defensive line especially hard. In total, 10 defensive linemen have been affected and six linemen are out for the season.

This includes the loss of starting defensive tackle Craig Rusch, senior nose guard Adam Schroeder and senior defensive tackle Zach Holycross.

The Huskies defense also loss starting middle linebacker and team captain Tim McCarthy. In both his freshman and sophomore seasons, McCarthy made more than 100 tackles.

Injury hasn’t ignored hit NIU’s offense either. The Huskies top three tight ends and four wide receivers have all missed at least one game.

Junior tailback Montell Clanton suffered an injury in the second game of the year that require season ending surgery. Clanton also missed a majority of the 2006-2007 season due to injury.

Back up running backs Ricky Crider and Cas Prime are also unavailable for the rest of the season.

While no fan, player or coach will blame injuries for a loss, it begs the question this year: Would NIU’s season be different if Novak didn’t have to answer who is and isn’t playing every week?

Trying to explain the situation, the coach said, “We spend more time on who’s not playing than who is.”

In reality, Novak does spend most of his energy on those who are healthy. But he has put additional time and resources to figuring out who is healthy this season.

Nonetheless, facing the number of knee injuries, staph infections and more has provided an unexpected challenge for this football team.

A challenge that no one ever wished, hoped or dreamed.