Any NIU football fan knows the hot topic this spring is who is going to replace Josh Haldi as quarterback next year.

“It’s a really tough decision,” NIU football coach Joe Novak said. “We’ve got four guys out there right now who bring something different to the table than the others do. All we know is we’re looking for someone who has the best ability for the big play.”

After three seasons of seeing Haldi and his mentally flawless play, the Huskies are exploring the idea of a more attack-oriented offense – a change that has NIU fans even more puzzled as to who will take over the starter’s spot.

This uncertainty is a perfect chance to make a strong offense even tougher. Which way NIU decides to go could make next season a truly remarkable one.

“We have the opportunity to tweak the offense four different ways,” Novak said. “We are able to add a different factor in the offense for each one of these guys.”

With Bowling Green moving to the MAC East, beating Toledo is now more important to NIU winning the West than ever. The best way to do this is throw them an offensive scheme Rockets coach Tom Amstutz and his team haven’t seen from the cardinal and black yet.

The ability of the big play Novak is talking about is just the remedy. Opponents are used to the fact that when you play NIU you’re going to get a devastating one-two punch with junior A.J. Harris and sophomore Garrett Wolfe.

How the quarterback will affect the game is what will have them scared. Will the Huskies air the ball out more this year or can a switch to the spread offense be the answer?

Saturday’s Red and Black game at Huskie Stadium won’t answer any of the students’ questions. What it will serve as is the first chance to see just how dangerous the Huskies can be this fall.

If the Huskies are to follow the recent spread-offense trend, they could flourish with a tremendous outburst on the scoreboard. With NIU’s running backs tandem, the hardest thing for other teams to figure out is where the ball is going.

This is best illustrated in Bowling Green’s offense the past couple of years. Both Josh Harris and Omar Jacobs were threats. They then had the ability to hand off the ball to either P.J. Pope or B.J. Lane.

If the run broke down, they had Cole Magner or Charles Sharon at wide receiver. If no one was open, the quarterback was able to take off for a big gain. This is a tough situation for any defense to stop.

NIU has seniors Sam Hurd and Shatone Powers at wide receiver as well as a more-than-able tight end in junior Jake Nordin. The only X-factor – which quarterback leads the Huskies.