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n o r t h e r n i l l i n o i s ( c o n t i n u e d ) three starters from a unit that yielded fewer than 20 points per game in 2012, seven or fewer in five games. The biggest re2013 SCHEDULE 2012 RESULTS DateGame placement North- (12-2 overall, 8-0 MAC, 1st West) DateOpponent Results 8/31 at Iowa ern Illinois must 9/1 vs. Iowa* . . . . . . . . . . . L, 17-18 9/14 at Idaho W, 35-7 9/21 EASTERN ILLINOIS make is on the 9/8 TENNESSEE MARTIN . W, 41-40 9/28 at Purdue 9/15 at Army . . . . . . . . . . . sideline, where 9/22KANSAS . . . . . . . . . . W, 30-23 10/5 at Kent State 9/29 CENTRAL MICHIGAN W, 55-24 10/12AKRON former coach 10/6 at Ball State . . . . . . . . W, 35-23 10/19 at Central Michigan 10/13BUFFALO . . . . . . . . . . . W, 45-3 10/26 E. MICHIGAN W, 37-7 Dave Doeren 10/20 at Akron . . . . . . . . . . . . W, 48-34 11/2 at Massachusetts 11/13 BALL STATE 10/27 at Western Michigan . W, 63-0 parlayed last 11/3MASSACHUSETTS . . . W, 31-24 11/20 at Toledo 11/26 W. MICHIGAN 11/14TOLEDO . . . . . . . . . . . season's success 11/23 at Eastern Michigan . . . W, 49-7 11/30 vs. Kent State# W, 44-37 (2OT) into the North 1/1/13 vs. Florida State^ . . . . L, 10-31 * Soldier Field, Chicago Carolina State # MAC Championship Game ^ Orange Bowl job. NIU promoted from within, bumping up offensive line coach Rod Carey. "There will be some minor changes," Nitz said, "but Carey ran the offense last year, so there won't be too big a change. "But they're going from a coach who won 23 games in two years to one that's unproven, so there's some question there." Carey knows Northern Illinois well, though. So might Purdue when the two teams meet in RossAde Stadium. Boilermaker coach Darrell Hazell, along with assistants Marcus Freeman, Jon Heacock and Jafar Williams, coached against Northern Illinois in the MAC championship game, a 44-37 Huskies' win over Kent State in overtime. New Purdue defensive coordinator Greg Hudson was the linebackers coach for Florida State, which held NIU to just 259 yards and 10 points in the Orange Bowl. "Fair or not," Nitz said, "Lynch didn't fare all that well in the Orange Bowl. That (FSU) defense had a ton of talent. It wasn't all his fault." — Brian Neubert Illinois is t orthern f No-cefeN nce team Purduset O d non on re ames la the thir -plus g ill face at won 10 ill face th e second team it w w nd th in 2012. season a BCS bowl de it to a that ma 100 • Gold and Black IllustrateD • volume 23, issue 6 2013 OPPONENT PREVIEW • Oct. 12 • Ross-Ade Stadium • Time TBA • TV TBD N Nebraska Cornhuskers ebraska has every reason to think this season that it's poised for big things during Year 3 in the Big Ten. Most notably are a favorable schedule and a potentially dominant offense. A quick glance at the Cornhuskers' schedule shows a run of five consecutive home games to begin the season, the most threatening, at least on paper as of summertime, being a Nebraska visit from UCLA. Taylor Martinez leads what many A schedule that consider to be the Big Ten's best doesn't include cham- offense. pionship contender Ohio State or perennial league power Wisconsin would seem like a greased path back to Indianapolis, where Bo Pelini's team was run out of Lucas Oil Stadium last year by the Badgers in the Big Ten title game. "On paper," said Sean Callahan, who covers Nebraska for HuskerOnline.com, "it's probably the most favorable schedule Nebraska's had in a number of years." And so expectations are high in Lincoln, with double-digit wins and a divisional title seeming like reasonable benchmarks for success in 2013. Nebraska's ability to capitalize will depend on quarterback Taylor Martinez and the offense, which looks like one of the Big Ten's most potent units. Martinez, now a senior, returns after throwing for 23 touchdowns and nearly 2,900 yards as a junior, while rushing for 10 scores and more than a thousand yards. The offense will miss hard-nosed running back Rex GBIprint.com GoldandBlack.com