FAYETTEVILLE --Arkansas faces more formidable teams down the Southeastern Conference road than the Mid-American Conference Northern Illinois Huskies visiting Reynolds Razorbacks Stadium tonight.
However since Oct. 22, 2011, no team from any college league strings successes on the like the Huskies, 3-0 this season, clashing with the 2-1 Razorbacks at 6 p.m. on ESPNU.
NIU has won a nation-leading 17 consecutive road games, including two the last two Saturdays under second-year coach Rod Carey at Northwestern of the Big Ten and UNLV of the Mountain West.
Under Dave Doeren, previously an assistant to Arkansas second-year coach Bret Bielema at Wisconsin, the Huskies began their 17-road victory streak in 2011 at Buffalo.
In addition to MAC games, Doeren's 2012 Huskies went 12-2 in 2012 and played Florida State at the Orange Bowl, beating Army on the road. Carey's Huskies last year visited Big Ten biggies Iowa and Purdue and beat them both.
Given Arkansas is 0-4 in bowl games against Big Ten teams, including in 2006 to Bielema's Wisconsin Badgers, the Hogs have no cause to be haughty even with oddsmakers installing them a 14-point favorite as a SEC team playing at home fresh off thumping the Big 12's Texas Tech 49-28 on the road.
Bielema relishes the confidence gained from trouncing Tech since the Hogs snapped a 10-game losing streak just two games ago. Nevertheless he warns against overconfidence facing a team nationally ranked seventh in rushing offense, 16th in total offense,, 13th in rushing defense and 36th in total defense.
The Huskies mush on the road with a formula that tends to prevail for most teams most anywhere.
"They play extremely hard," Bielema said. "They are extremely well coached and there's an edge to them that they play in every phase of the game. Without a doubt, their kids expect to have success."
The Huskies play confident of success but old-schooled never to take success for granted.
"There's an old saying about success isn't owned, it's rented," Carey said. "And the rent is due every day."
The Huskies generally pay the rent whether they were quarterbacked the past 12-2 seasons by 2013 Heisman Trophy finalist Jordan Lynch or this season by Drew Hare, completing 32 of 51 passes so far for 494 yards and six touchdowns without an interception, while rushing for a 5.2 average and honored as MAC Player of the Week. Hare's 54-yard touchdown pass to top NIU receiver Da'Ron Brown broke a 34-34 tie before the Huskies beat UNLV 48-34 last week in Las Vegas.
Hare's run-pass threat, aided by three fine alternating running backs of complementing styles forreceiver Da'Ron Brown (19 catches for 357 yards and four TDs), will stress an Arkansas defense like it hasn't been stressed since a 45-31 road loss to now No. 5 Auburn three weeks ago.
Bielema said playing at Auburn prepared the Razorbacks for last week's trip to Lubbock, Texas.
Now Arkansas defensive coordinator Robb Smith says playing against the uptempo run-pass threat of Auburn's uptempo but physical Spread offense prepares the Razorbacks for a NIU style far more like Auburn than the pass-oriented, finesse offense that Tech played last week.
"There are elements from their run game where there are certain similarities," Smith said. "It's a chance to see if we've made some growth and can improve and we need to."
Smith's defense against Tech got a huge boost from Arkansas' offense running the ball (438 net rushing yards) and clock (40:39 possession time to 19:21) against Tech's defense rebuilding from missing too many parts from last season's 8-5 team.
While hitting some key third-down passes, Arkansas quarterback Brandon Allen only threw 12 times in Lubbock.
Arkansas' offensive bread and butter remains its line and running backs Alex Collins, the SEC and Maxwell Offensive Player of the Week for his 212 yards rushing against Tech, and Jonathan Williams, 145 rushing yards and four rushing touchdowns at Tech. Collins and Williams combined for 49 Arkansas carries.
Bielema said "it's not in the cards" to be so one-dimensional against NIU's stouter defense.
He calls Allen and Arkansas' passing game "the best-kept secret in Fayetteville."
Then again unless playing preparing to play them, the Huskies' record of road successes may be the best-kept secret in football.
Sports on 09/20/2014