Tuesday, Sept. 2, 2003 | 9:42 a.m.
On a scale of 1-10, perhaps Northern Illinois' 20-13 overtime victory against No. 15 Maryland on ESPN Thursday night wasn't a Bo Derek.
But you certainly could call it a Cindy Crawford, as the super model probably is the most famous person who grew up in DeKalb among the tall corn fields off Interstate 88, about an hour west of Chicago.
The stunning victory has resulted in so much publicity for the Huskies' resurgent program that you might need a combine to harvest it.
It started Thursday night, when NIU's win trumped the baseball pennant races and No. 2 Miami's victory against Louisiana Tech as the lead story on "SportsCenter." The following day, Northern coach Joe Novak received more than 200 congratulatory e-mails from fans, friends and former coaches and players. Since the upset, he has done more interviews than Barbara Walters.
His reaction to all the attention were two words that make perfect sense in DeKalb.
"It's corny," Novak told the DeKalb Chronicle.
"It's been crazy. I've been on talk shows all over the country. I'm happy to do all the interviews. Everybody loves an underdog, but I'm tickled for the players. From where this program was to where it is now is amazing."
As Novak said, a few years ago there were 116 teams that wanted to play NIU, and that included UNLV, although the Rebels were one of the few teams the Huskies beat up on, having won 34-31 in 1987, 42-24 in 1989 and 62-14 in 1995.
But a couple of years after that, Northern went into a 23-game tailspin. It was so bad that Kansas State and Bill Snyder, who make their living off scheduling patsies, sought a game with the Huskies and won 73-7.
Longtime NIU media relations director Mike Korcek said Crawford, who did not attend NIU, was one of the few DeKalb natives he did not hear from after the Maryland game. But Rick Cerone, a former major-league catcher and current director of publicity for the New York Yankees, called the next day with a message from Yankees manager Joe Torre.
"Torre said, 'Tell your placekicker not to celebrate before the ball goes over the bar,' " Korcek said in reference to a missed field-goal attempt at the end of regulation on which NIU's Steve Azar pumped his fist, thinking he had made it.
The starting 11
Big men on campus
Couch Potato Bowl
Division I-A Lite
Let's see, Northern Illinois beats Maryland in overtime ... and this week, the Terps receive 81 points in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches poll while the Huskies get 26. Hopefully, this week's Top 10 Division I-A Lite rankings makes a little more sense that that:
1. Northern Illinois (MAC): Huskies' win against Maryland biggest thing to hit DeKalb since corn starch.
2. Colorado State (Mountain West): Rams' Bradlee Van Pelt is the total package. Now about that defense ...
3. TCU (USA): Frogs nearly crash on Tulane highway.
4. BYU (Mountain West): Cougars were Berry, Berry good -- as in quarterback Matt -- against Georgia Tech.
5. Louisville (USA): Cardinals poured it on with late TD against in-state foe Kentucky.
6. Marshall (MAC): Leftwich gone, but win over Hofstra shows winning ways are not forgotten.
7. Hawaii (WAC): Rainbows, er Rainbow Warriors, er Warriors, climb Appalachian State without quarterback Timmy Chang.
8. Connecticut (Independent): Hoosier mama? How about the Huskies?
9. Fresno State (WAC): Bulldogs Volunteer for another killer schedule.
10. Miami, Ohio (MAC): Note to Ben Roethlisberger: Your guys wear red and white.
Stat's enough
Games we'd like to see
In this space each week the Sun will present a dream college football matchup, with statistics and highlights provided by Lance Haffner Games' 3-in-1 computer simulation. Readers who would like to propose future matchups can do so by contacting the Sun via e-mail ([email protected]).
In our fantasy matchup, Dorsett rushed 33 times for 149 yards and scored on a 4-yard run to help the Panthers outlast Bosco and the Cougars 34-26. The outcome was in jeopardy until Pitt's backup quarterback Thomas Yewcic, on for Matt Cavanaugh, scored on a 3-yard keeper with 2:04 remaining. Bosco completed 18 of 30 passes for 422 yards and three touchdowns, including bombs of 87 yards to Kelly Smith and 80 yards to Mark Bellini, although Pitt enjoyed a slight edge in total offense, 473 yards to 433. One-dimensional BYU managed just 11 rushing yards on 20 attempts while Bosco was sacked four times.
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