I’ll be the first to admit it.

I really didn’t think the NIU football team had a chance going into the 95th Homecoming game on Saturday.

But, come on. I dare any of you to stand up and honestly say that you would have disagreed with me.

Western Michigan was averaging over 300 yards per game through the air coming into Saturday’s game. With NIU’s pass defense ranked 10th in the conference, it looked like another high-scoring blowout for the Huskies.

The mighty Broncos had lost only two games coming into Saturday’s contest. Both of those losses came to top-10 programs, Virginia Tech and Michigan. The Hokies and the Wolverines have combined to lose only one game this season.

On the other side of the ball, NIU was reeling in a downward spiral. The Huskies had lost three straight games by a total of 53 points, with the most recent setback coming at the hands of lowly Kent State. NIU hadn’t won a big conference game since rejoining the Mid-American Conference in 1997 and hadn’t won any sort of big game since 1990 when the Huskies beat then 25th-ranked Fresno State.

Even the sports staff of my beloved Northern Star doubted the Huskies. The most devoted Huskies football fan of all, Nick Gerts, predicted a loss for the Huskies. In Thursday’s issue of the Star, Gerts boldly picked the Broncos to prevail 34-21, despite predicting NIU overcoming to defeat powerhouse squads Marshall and Toledo in their matchups earlier in the season.

So, the stage was set.

Conventional knowledge pointed to the Broncos. Heck, everyone’s knowledge pointed to the Broncos. Everyone’s knowledge except that of the only people who really mattered: The NIU football team.

The resilient Huskies proved everyone wrong in their upset win over Western Michigan on Saturday.

The win gave the Huskies a new-found confidence at a time when all seemed to be lost. With the tough part of the schedule behind them the Huskies have a legitimate shot at winning the MAC’s Western Division.

The long range picture looks even brighter. With this win, the big three teams in the MAC — Marshall, Toledo, and Western Michigan — no longer stand on a pedestal by themselves.

Though one win doesn’t make a team a contender, it does give a team the most important ingredient to get to the next level; confidence.

As for the doubters, myself included, it has never felt so sweet to be wrong.

Will we doubt again? Maybe.

But for now, the Huskies have given this school something to be proud of. And more importantly, they’ve given us a future filled with endless possibilities.