When the NIU football team wins, someone has had a great game.

The Huskies only have two wins on the year but after each win, a Huskie defender is named MAC West Defensive Player of the Week. It started with Larry English after the win over Idaho, and this week, redshirt sophomore Brandon Bice received the honors after helping the Huskies to a 27-20 victory over Kent State on Saturday.

The defensive end from McCook, Ill., had a career-high eight tackles, two for a loss, and one and a half sacks in the win. Bice was in on each of the Huskies’ 81 plays on defense and ranks second among NIU defensive lineman with 34 tackles.

A steak dinner

The offensive linemen were probably the happiest Huskies after Saturday’s win. The running backs agreed to take the line out for a steak dinner at Johnny’s Charhouse if they ran for over 200 yards combined. Justin Anderson and David Bryant combined for 208 yards and a treat for the O-line.

“We wanted to give them a little motivation,” Anderson said.

After feeling a little banged up due to a minor knee injury, Anderson only rushed the ball twice in the second half, opening the door for Bryant.

The redshirt sophomore took the bulk of the carries, rushing for 110 yards on 28 carries. Freshman running back Chad Spann was injured covering a kickoff and may miss the two remaining games.

“If you haven’t noticed, all we have left is Justin and David,” said head coach Joe Novak. “These guys, I mean, I love them to death, but they don’t fool everybody out there. They take a lot of hits every game and I hope they can stick it out for the next two weeks, because we have nobody left.”

In the books

With Anderson’s 98 rushing yards, he eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark on the season, giving him 1,096 yards with two games left.

NIU has now had a 1,000-yard rusher each of the past nine seasons. The Chicago native accomplished the feat on his second carry of the game, a five-yard run.

“It’s a nice thing we have going,” said Novak, the coach who witnessed the start of the streak when William Andrews ran for 1,127 yards in 1999. “It’s a nice thing to have and I’m happy for him.”

Injuries, injuries

Starting quarterback Dan Nicholson left Saturday’s game four possessions into the second half after suffering a mild head injury. Nicholson, a redshirt junior, suffered a concussion in the game against Wisconsin but Novak says Saturday’s injury wasn’t as bad.

Two tidbits

It took four home games to accomplish, but after Saturday’s win, Novak was finally able to present the game ball to Jeffrey Yordon, the person who donated $2.5 million for the new end zone facility.

Senior kicker Chris Nendick has now scored in 47 consecutive games, the second-longest streak in the country. Nendick is now 155-of-159 in PAT attempts.

Looking at Navy

NIU doesn’t have too much time to celebrate Saturday’s win. Awaiting the Huskies this coming Saturday in Annapolis, Md., is a Navy team that leads the NCAA in rushing offense and averages more than 40 points per game.

“We are not going to shut them down, but we need to make every point they earn hard for them to get,” Novak said. “I know they are going to score some points and they are going to find ways to get in the end zone, we will just try to match what they score with our offense.”