After a fresh butt-whipping at the hands of Clemson, NC State welcomes Northern Illinois to town. Dave Doeren’s former employer has already defeated Notre Dame this year, so the Huskies are capable of making a splash in Raleigh. Let’s get to know them.

Northern Illinois

Strengthen

The Huskies utilize a ground-based ball control style on offense that allows them to dominate time of possession. NIU carries the ball 58% of the time (32nd in FBS) and ranks 7th with an average of over 34 minutes of possession time per game. NC State ranks 10th nationally in average time of possession, but that’s because the defense is cornered by opponents for quick goals while the offense struggles to score quick goals of its own.

Speaking of NIU’s offense, the line is a real strength, ranking 10th nationally in stuff rate and 20th in line yards per rush. The ability to move the defense on running plays and withstand the pass rush puts pressure on the defense to bring people out of the secondary to stop the run and apply pressure. This puts the WRs in a lot of one-on-one situations. Even though the passing game isn’t designed to be particularly efficient, they were able to take advantage of these man coverage situations and ranked 14th nationally in passing explosiveness.

Meanwhile, the defense was very good at making big plays, ranking 24th in havoc rate (producing a TFL, PBU or turnover).

Weaken

NIU’s run defense isn’t the strongest, ranking 112th in both power success rate and stuff rate. They were also vulnerable to the big ground game, ranking 123rd in Rushing Plays Explosiveness.

The offense has its strengths, but is still a relatively insignificant unit.

Opportunities

Well, there is of course the possibility of adding a few big players locally if the Wolfpack can get that part of their game going. State failed to do that this year, ranking 105th in line yards and 114th in rushing play success rate. At the very least, CJ Bailey’s mobility will limit NIU’s ability to attack only the running backs, giving State the opportunity to spread out the defense a bit and look for the big plays.

Bailey will be making the second start of his young career and the environment in Raleigh will be much more welcoming than Clemson. The Huskies’ defense is solid, no question, but it will also take a backseat to the Tigers.

Interesting facts

Forget threats, let’s start with some trivial (trivial?) facts.

• The Mountain West Conference is apparently interested in adding Northern Illinois (along with Toledo) after losing four schools (Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State) to the Pac 12 and another (Air Force) to the AAC. I’m not sure if this is the best move for her, but I guess I have to do what you have to do.
• NIU has played at the highest level of college football since 1968. Dave Doeren has the highest winning percentage (.852) of any non-interim head coach (Tom Matukewicz won his only game as interim head coach in 2010). Doeren also led the Huskies to their only final top-25 finish in school history, ranking 22nd in the final 2012 AP Poll.
• Huskies head coach Thomas Hammock and NC State head coach Dave Doeren have similar coaching careers: They coached at Wisconsin and Northern Illinois, respectively, but their paths never really crossed.