CHAMPIONS OF THE WEST.

As a present for three weeks of Tuesday Night Football, Northern Illinois was awarded ... Tuesday off, to prepare for Friday Morning Football.  (I don't know who decided the game would only be on the web version of ESPN, and I don't know who Iowa-Nebraska and Pitt-West Virginia, possibly for the last time for a while, antagonized, to get games on The Busiest Shopping and Bargain Hunters Acting Badly Day.)

The opponent: a much-improved Eastern Michigan.

“The days of marking Eastern Michigan as a win on your schedule are over,” [linebacker Pat Schiller] said this week. “Just watching them on film the past few days, it just looks like a completely different team.”

Apparently coaching is an institution with long-lasting traditions. I'd be surprised if anybody is really looking at film, or wearing out the reversing switch on the projector the way Vince Lombardi did.

For late in November, the weather must have given a lot of people ideas to go to a morning football game.

It was Faculty and Staff Appreciation Day, and a number of local restaurants had promotions involving tickets.  On the other hand, I did see a lot of pre-teens, and a lot of the youngsters have Northern Illinois apparel, something encouraging these days.

That 1963 national championship, in the Mineral Water Bowl, was overshadowed by the assassination of President Kennedy.  Apparently, though, moving from the Collegiate Division to the Mid-American to independent status and back to the Mid-American  mattered more than staying in a division that still has an unambiguous champion determined each year.

The team takes the field for Senior Day.

Not bad for free seats.  This time of year, the Upper Midwest pays for warm temperatures with overnight humidity, and spectators had to wipe off the water, but the east stands are in the sun (and more spectators in the east seats show up on the ESPN cameras in the press box above the west stands.)

A shout-out to the Midwest Orthopaedic Institute, game sponsor, a year after they released me from rehab.  The game had the potential early to be another Mid-American track meet, with Northern Illinois getting a long play-action touchdown pass that would have passed muster with Bart Starr and Aaron Rodgers.  For the most part, the defenses did their work.

A close game at halftime.  Local youth football players and some students who were in town get to form the tunnel.  At upper right, a rather old Siberian husky ... a lot of us are somewhat the worse for wear, but, like the dog, we persist.

Just before the end of the third quarter, senior quarterback Chandler Harnish adds to the memories with a long touchdown run.

No dagger call here, only the howitzer shot.  Two touchdowns, one extra point kick, one timeout used for a trick two-point conversion that failed, one field goal, one safety = 18 points.

Victory formation.

That flag hoist will be longer next season.  Next up, trip to Detroit, this time the opponent is Ohio, last year the loser of the conference title game got a trip to Boise, the winner got a return trip to Detroit.