Daily Chronicle sports editor John Sahly and sports reporter Jeremy Werner spend their days covering the area's sports scene. Every week, they give their viewpoint on those local sports.
Today, in the second installment of their fall "Take 2" column, they discuss the opening night for Northern Illinois football.
Sahly: Northern Illinois football begins again tonight with the Huskies traveling to Ames, Iowa to take on Iowa State. I'm not going to start with any platitudes or flowery statements about opening night. So come on, Mr. NIU beat writer, who starts at quarterback for the Huskies tonight?
Werner: Nice try, John. No chance I make a bold statement like that when most people around the program don't even know who will take the first snap. Jerry Kill and the NIU coaches have kept a pickle-jar seal on it. For most of camp, I thought Chandler Harnish had the lead simply because he has two years of starting experience. But he hasn't done anything to stand out, which is more of a testament to the growth of junior DeMarcus Grady and redshirt freshman Jordan Lynch. It's going to come down to Harnish and Grady. Harnish has the leadership and experience. Grady has the stronger arm and the faster legs. Of course, you could see both on Thursday.
Sahly: What a cop-out, you named roughly eight different quarterbacks in that statement. I say Harnish starts. He gives NIU the best chance to stay in the game.
Werner: But Coach Sahly, I remember former NFL coach Herm Edwards saying, "You play to WIN the game." Not, "You play to stay in the game." If the coaches think Grady – who continued to take most of the snaps with the first team this week – gives them the best chance to win, he'll start. Plus, you can't argue with his career record of 5-0. Honestly, I think NIU's defensive performance against Iowa State is more important than the starting quarterback. Nothing changes scheme-wise between Harnish or Grady.
Sahly: That's it. Drop and give me 20.
