Things are finally starting to come around for the NIU football team.

The Huskies played closely in each of the season’s first three games, but a frustrating display of inexperience was evident.

After a loss to Iowa State, things looked especially bleak. The team had lost a winnable game at College Park to Maryland, allowed SIU to come back from a 14-point deficit and almost snarled a win and threw four interceptions at Iowa State.

After that game, NIU sat with a 1-2 record and perhaps its toughest opponent, Bowling Green, who had embarrassed the Huskies on ESPN2 last year, only a week away.

What could have been disastrous somehow turned around in that game against Bowling Green. Even after NIU’s main source of offense and the MAC’s leading rusher A.J. Harris left the game because of an injury, the team pulled out a win.

This time, the team didn’t just squeak by on the opponent’s mistakes – they smoked their opponents, doubling the Falcons’ score in a 34-17 win.

So what was different?

Most importantly, the amount of careless mistakes decreased. Against Bowling Green and Akron, fans didn’t see as many unneeded penalties. Against the Falcons, NIU gave up only 20 penalty yards, compared to 49 yards a week earlier against Iowa State.

Also, against Bowling Green and Akron, quarterbacks only threw one interception. In the first three games, Phil Horvath threw six interceptions.

When Akron intercepted Horvath’s pass in the second half Saturday, NIU had already amassed a 49-12 lead and wasn’t playing the first-string offensive line.

The look and style of the Huskies also seems to have changed in the last two games. During the second half against Bowling Green, the offensive combination of Garrett Wolfe’s running and Horvath’s passing looked unstoppable.

A week later, the offense received an even greater boost against Akron with its three-year starting quarterback Josh Haldi back in the lineup.

At the beginning of the season, NIU coach Joe Novak’s main concern was the young and relatively inexperienced defense.

That inexperienced defense sacked the MAC’s top returning passer and Heisman candidate Charlie Frye seven times Saturday.

Their confidence boost has arrived.

The Huskies are now beginning to play like the team that last year topped Maryland, Iowa State and Alabama – the team that thought it could beat anybody.

Now, it’s the team that thinks it can win a MAC title.