Kansas heads to Dekalb Illinois for the road opener of 2012. Last week the Jayhawks stayed with a ranked TCU team and that has led to some optimism surrounding the Northern Illinois game. The Huskies are a different team than they were a year ago following some substantial turnover, but they are also 2-1 with a close loss to the Iowa Hawkeyes.

Northern Illinois Offense

QB 6 Jordan Lynch (6-0, 216, Jr.-R) - Avg 200 through the air, 100 on the ground per game
9 Matt McIntosh (6-1, 197, Fr.-R)

FB 47 Rob Sterling (5-10, 231, So.)
48 Ricky Connors (6-1, 246, So.-R)

TB 23 Leighton Settle (5-9, 199, Jr.) - 2nd leading rusher with 50+ YPG
AND 3 Akeem Daniels (5-7, 183, Jr.)
AND 5 Jamal Womble (5-11, 247, Sr.)
AND 20 Keith Harris Jr. (5-8, 181, Fr.)

WR (X) 1 Martel Moore (6-0, 183, Sr.) - Top receiver 220+ yards, 3TD's on the year
4 Da'Ron Brown (6-0, 194, So.-R)

WR (S) 22 Jamison Wells (5-11, 193, Jr.-R)
85 Angelo Sebastiano (6-0, 205, Fr.-R)

WR (H) 10 Tommylee Lewis (5-7, 155, So.) - Dangerous kick returner for the Huskies
86 Jacob Brinlee (5-9, 185, Fr.)

TE (Y) 87 Jason Schepler (6-2, 274, Sr.-R) - Run blocking tight end, almost a 6th o-lineman
37 Desroy Maxwell (6-2, 245, Fr.)

LT 75 Tyler Loos (6-5, 282, So.-R) - First year starter
78 Ryan Brown (6-6, 283, So.-R)

LG 77 Jared Volk (6-3, 315, Jr.-R) - First year starter, experience in 24 NIU games
73 Matthew Killian (6-5, 303, Fr.-R)

C 55 Andrew Ness (6-3, 286, Fr.-R) - First year starter
59 Mike Gegner (6-3, 283, So.-R)

RG 61 Aidan Conlon (6-3, 287, Fr.-R) - First year starter
67 Tyler Pitt (6-5, 292, So.-R)

RT 79 Matt Krempel (6-5, 307, Jr.-R) - First year starter, experience in 20 NIU games
65 Wes Ott (6-3, 281, So.-R)

TE (U) 83 Luke Eakes (6-3, 250, So.-R)
88 Tim Semisch (6-8, 266, So.-R)

WR (Z) 7 Perez Ashford (5-11, 182, Sr.)
82 Juwan Brescacin (6-4, 219, Fr.-R)

Offensively this is a fairly inexperienced group across the board. Lynch provides most of the offensive punch and if he is contained it's still a question as to how effective NIU is at moving the ball. They aren't overly big up front and they don't have a ton of experience so hopefully the Kansas offensive line can continue their upward trajectory.

Norther Illinois Defense

DE 90 Alan Baxter (6-0, 240, Sr.)
49 Jason Meehan (6-1, 241, So.)
44 Perez Ford (6-0, 218, Fr.)

DT 93 Ken Bishop (6-1, 308, Jr.)
51 Zach Anderson (6-1, 300, Jr.)
94 Donovan Gordon (6-0, 275, So.-R)

DT 99 Nabal Jefferson (6-0, 287, Sr.)
91 Anthony Wells (6-3, 276, Jr.-R)
56 Daniel Green (6-1, 242, Sr.)

DE 95 Sean Progar (6-2, 254, Sr.-R) - Top pass rusher for the Huskies, All MAC potential.
97 Joe Windsor (6-0, 236, Jr.)
46 George Rainey (6-2, 222, Jr.-R)

OLB 6 Jamaal Bass (5-10, 225, So.-R)
9 Rasheen Lemon (6-0, 206, Fr.-R)

MLB 40 Victor Jacques (5-11, 228, Sr.-R)
45 Boomer Mays (6-0, 230, Fr.-R) - Lawrence KS native

OLB 36 Tyrone Clark (5-10, 219, Sr.) - Leader among the linebacking unit
52 Michael Santacaterina (5-10, 210, So.-R)

CB 11 Rashaan Melvin (6-2, 193, Sr.-R) - Solid corner, good in run support and covers the field
2 Sean Evans (5-10, 174, Jr.-R)
30 Marlon Moore (5-9, 180, Fr.)

S 21 Dechane Durante (6-2, 196, So.-R)
24 Dominique Ware (5-11, 180, Jr.-R)

S 15 Jimmie Ward (5-11, 192, Jr.) - Extremely active safety, All MAC potential
33 Tré Moore (5-9, 194, Fr.-R)

CB 19 Demetrius Stone (5-10, 203, Sr.)
28 Jhony Faustin (5-8, 174, Jr.)

During the first two weeks of the season this group was serviceable in nearly every area. Last week they took a dip against a run heavy army team so there is a growing sense that Kansas should be able to run the ball. I'm not convinced completely that we're going to run wild on the Huskies and I think reading to much into the rushing statistics might be a mistake. Charlie Weis is going to put together a balance gameplan, but one would also hope that there is perhaps an added emphasis on the running attack with the return of James Sims and the perceived weakness of NIU.