So maybe "Zips" is a strange name for a football team, that doesn't mean the Akron players don't get offended when people make fun of them.

After last year's meeting with NIU, Akron QB Andy Kubik explained that he and his mates used, as incentive, a story in the Northern Star that had some not-so-kind remarks about the Zips.

Apparently, it worked.

That Saturday, the Akron defense came up with seven Huskie turnovers and Kubik, who would never be mistaken for John Elway, completed 18-of-33 passes for 189 yards and a touchdown in a 27-21 upset win.

The loss ruined any chance the Huskies had of having a winning season in 1987 as their record fell to 4-5-1 with one game remaining. Of course, they went on to win their season finale on national TV at Nevada-Las Vegas, and now NIU is again looking for its first winning season under fourth-year coach Jerry Pettibone.

Akron returns to Huskie Stadium Saturday for a 6:35 p.m. contest that will mark the first game of 1988 for both schools. For NIU, it could be the start of a successful season.

"I'm not going to say it's a do-or-die game," said Huskie head coach Jerry Pettibone, "but it is important that we play well. That will build confidence."

NIU starts the season without one of its top defensive linemen, sophomore Cary Caliendo, who has been suspended for one game for violating team rules. Pettibone declined to elaborate.

The Huskies will also be without senior halfback Mike Strasser, who is out with a knee injury. Expected to be ready for next week's game, Strasser will be replaced by red-shirt freshman Eugene Edmond.

Starting a relatively inexperienced player at a skill position on opening day is a coach's nightmare. And Pettibone didn't try to deny it.

"Yes, it scares me," Pettibone said. "I'd feel better if Mike Strasser was here."

Third-year Akron head coach Gerry Faust finds himself in a similar situation without Derek Alston at the starting tailback spot. Alston, the Zips' starter last year, has a tender ankle and will be used as a backup Saturday.

In Alston's place will be John Motton, a 6-foot-1, 205-pound junior who was a fullback until spring practice. Motton rushed for 436 yards on 95 carries in 1987 and was voted the team's Most Outstanding Back.

The Zips also have a new quarterback. In fact, Kubik has been passed up by two players over the summer.

Junior college transfer Mike Johnson gets the starting nod for Akron, even though he has been with the team for just three weeks. Johnson is a left-handed thrower who led his Mesa (Ariz.) Community College Thunderbirds to an 8-2-1 record last year.

And Pettibone likes the thought of going up against an untested signal caller.

"This is his first game as a Division I quarterback," Pettibone said. "It would be like me putting in Stacey Robinson at starting quarterback." Robinson sat out his freshman year at NIU and has worked his way up to third string this fall.

But Faust isn't concerned about quarterbacks per se. Not even NIU's All-America hopeful, Marshall Taylor.

Although Faust called Taylor "everything you'd want in a quarterback," the Akron coach said keying on one man is not the way to defense NIU's Wishbone attack.

"I think to stop the Wishbone, you've got to control the line of scrimmage," Faust said. "You'd better have good down linemen and good perimeter people or you'll be in trouble."

And NIU's recipe to avoiding trouble Saturday? Don't make fun of the Zips.