The Northern Illinois football team will hope its experienced defense can help the team in an upset bid at home against Iowa at 2:30 p.m. CT in Saturday's season opener. The game will be televised on ESPNU.
The teams last played each other in 2007, when Iowa came away with a 16-3 win. Northern Illinois is the defending MAC champion. They finished last season 11-3 overall and 7-1 in the MAC. Iowa is coming off a 7-6 season and 4-4 finish in the Big 10.
SB Nation's Satchel Prince noted that fans should expect a more defensive-minded Northern Illinois team this season:
Now, it appears that fans will be treated to a Northern Illinois team that's geared a bit more towards defense. In 2011, the Huskies were No. 12 nationally in scoring offense and No. 85 nationally in scoring defense, but it's hard to imagine a remotely similar performance in 2012.
Iowa is favored by six points in the game.
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