Football coaches tried their best simulate what playing in front of a crowd of more than 100,000 will be like.

During practice this week at Huskie Stadium, blaring chants and screams of fans echoed off empty bleachers. The noise was there, through the stadium sound system, but the 111,025 fans that No. 4 Michigan averaged last season were not.

There might be a whimper or two from the young Huskie team as they stare up at the packed grandstands that seemingly never end. Many of them will be seeing their first collegiate snaps, but they’re still going to Ann Arbor with high expectations, said NIU coach Joe Novak.

“Going to Michigan is special,” the 10th-year coach said. “You don’t get that opportunity every year. There’s a lot of anticipation for this. Michigan’s a great football team, but we’re going there to win a football game.”

The Huskies will take the field against the Wolverines at 3:30 p.m. EST Saturday, but don’t expect Michigan coach Lloyd Carr to take NIU lightly. After coaching with Novak in 1978 and 1979 at University of Illinois, he knows better. “What I see is a team that plays extremely hard,” Carr said. “They’re going to compete. They’re going to be an attacking defensive football team.

Offensively, I really like the way they play. I think those backs are special, I really do.”

NIU’s goal will be keep its inexperienced defense off the field.

“The best way to defend is to keep the ball,” Novak said. “If they get a lot of snaps, we’ll be in trouble. We can’t be getting three-and-outs all day, if we do, it’s going to be a long day.”

That Huskie offense will be lead by running backs Garrett Wolfe and A.J. Harris, who may play at the same time, contrary to Novak’s traditional, single-back offense.

The Wolfe-Harris running duo combined for 2,478 rushing yards last season – good enough to make Carr a little bit nervous.

“I think in Harris and Wolfe, they’ve got the best tandem that I’ve seen,” Novak said. “We’re going to have our work cut out for us in terms of stopping the run.”

But Novak hopes he can balance the Wolfe-Harris attack with a passing game, despite the fact receivers Matt Simon and Marcus Perez are out for the season. Novak also said starting receiver Shatone Powers was not yet 100 percent after nursing a hamstring injury for the last few weeks of practice.

The Huskies will put their passing faith in quarterback Phil Horvath, who saw playing time at the beginning of the season last year when starter Josh Haldi sat out with a stress fracture in his right foot.

“If we have to run the ball, we can do that,” Harris said, “but we also have a great passer, and we’re confident in him.”

Novak’s confidence in Horvath, who won two of the three games he started last season, was equally high.

“If they want to line up nine guys on the line of scrimmage, we won’t run, we’ll throw,” Novak said. “We’re passing it better now than we ever have. Our pocket-passing game is as good as it’s ever been.”

Michigan will have a running tandem of its own in sophomore Mike Hart and freshman Kevin Grady. Hart posted 1,455 yards last season, the second highest in Big Ten history, and was named the conference’s Freshman of the Year.

Grady set prep state records in almost every rushing category while at East Grand Rapids High School.

And if those two don’t work, Carr has three more running backs listed on his team, all with different running styles.

“I like them all,” Carr said.