It’s safe to say that anything less than a bowl game will be a disappointment for the NIU football team this season.

The Huskies have been on a roll lately, and with Homecoming and Toledo on the horizon, the team should have plenty of motivation to run the table and win a MAC title.

There is only one problem; football games don’t end after three quarters.

While it’s true that the Huskies have found ways to win most of these sweat-inducing close games, they can’t expect the ball to keep bouncing their way.

NIU has been outscored 66-37 in the fourth quarter this season and in three of the games the fourth-quarter lapse made a significant impact on the game.

The first of the fourth-quarter scares came against Southern Illinois. The Huskies had the game all but wrapped up with a 23-9 lead with nine minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, only to let it slip away.

It took a dropped pass in the end zone on a failed two-point conversion attempt to seal the first win of the season for NIU.

This would not have been such a big deal had the Huskies not run into Iowa State a week later.

After building a 34-20 lead on the Cyclones, NIU was once again in the position of protecting a fourth-quarter lead.

This time the fallout was a little greater but was forgivable considering the Cyclones’ home-field advantage.

After two fairly easy wins over Bowling Green and Akron, the Huskies once again had to head out on the road.

Three quarters into the matchup with winless Central Florida, NIU found themselves leading comfortably 24-7.

Back-to-back UCF touchdowns put the Huskies down by a point and forced a heroic drive from NIU quarterback Josh Haldi and the game-winning field goal by Chris Nendick to give NIU its third-straight win.

These types of things are enough to drive fans up a wall, but good things can even come out of losses.

Close games build character and the Huskies are learning valuable lessons on how to win them. They have the offense to build leads and the defense to protect them; it’s just a matter of putting it all together every game.

But if the Huskies can’t begin to close the door on their opponents, the door to a bowl game may be slammed in their faces.