Huskie football and the running game are one in the same.

But something happened last season that hasn’t been seen in more than four years — the Huskies produced more yards passing than they allowed.

From the 2001 to 2004 season, NIU averaged 2,319 yards a season from its aerial attack.

But in 2005 the Huskies put up 2,849 yards from the combined arms of Phil Horvath and Dan Nicholson.

But the attack of the receivers wasn’t always part of NIU football; it was something that had to be built.

Receivers like Justin McCareins Darrell Hill, P.J. Fleck and Dan Sheldon started the tradition.

Each of those athletes passed the idea of a Huskie receiver from generation to generation.

Finally, last season, it was to Sam Hurd and Shatone Powers who took that ritual to a new level.

And as both receivers graduate, the time has come for the tradition to be passed down again to the next generation of players.

A lone senior receiver, Jarret Carter, will return to the Huskies’ lineup for the 2006 season to teach this tradition.

Carter has seen the development of NIU’s passing game over the past four years and feels this receiving core has the potential to be the best in NIU history.

It just needs direction, which is something Carter feels he can provide.

After years of backing up Fleck, Hurd and Powers, Carter is prepared to step forward and become a mentor for the team.

“As a senior I need to be a leader and be a second coach out on the field,” Carter said. “But you don’t need to be an upperclassman to be a leader.”

And that is apparent by the most widely-known receiver for the Huskies, Britt Davis.

Last season Davis made the transition from quarterback to receiver because that is where NIU needed him. In that transition year the redshirt freshman had 42 catches for 441 yards and three touchdowns.

“Last year Britt made himself a legit receiver,” Carter said.

But Davis doesn’t want to be the center of attention, as he talks about the receivers as a group and not as individuals.

“I think that we got a real good group,” Davis said. “We got a lot of young guys looking to step up.”

And Carter and Davis had a list of names in that young group. They talk about such players as Orlando Moore, Marcus Perez, Matt Simon and Greg Turner as being the next big names.

But in order to do so, these young players will have to be taught the customs of NIU receivers.

While catching the ball and making the big plays is always part of the deal, NIU receivers have another expectation placed highly on them — blocking.

Running the ball is still the key to the Huskies’ success. Because of that, NIU relies on its receivers to often become blockers.

While it’s not glorious, it comes with the job.

“Blocking is part of our game, like passing,” Carter said. “But it’s fun to block — it puts some fear into the hearts of the defensive backs and makes our job easier.”

So Davis and Carter will pick up where Hurd and Powers left off. They’ll continue to block, make the big plays and be leaders.

But, at the same time they’ll never forget to stop teaching the tradition of a Huskie receiver.