1- Jordan Lynch
Who is Jordan Lynch, you say? As many do not know, he ranked seventh in Heisman voting for the 2012-2013 season for being both a threat on the ground as well as through the air. Lynch totaled 4,953 yards last season and 44 touchdowns in his attempted Heisman campaign. He stood out in Northern Illinois’ offense and was essentially the sole reason the school had any offensive success.
2- Strength of Schedule
Not including Northern Illinois, the Mid-American Conference lacks any other potential threats for a BCS run. Outside of their weak conference matchups, the toughest competitors on their schedule are Iowa and Purdue, which doesn’t say much considering they went 4-8 and 6-7, respectively. If the Huskies can take down those two B1G teams, the rest of the season should be easy sailing.
3- Rod Carey
With the early departure of Dave Doeren (then head coach), Carey was promoted from his offensive coordinator/offensive line coach job to become the head coach. Carey was left with the challenging task of facing Florida State in a bowl game and struggled to run the team. Carey gets a pass for that game considering it was his first game as a head coach, not to mention it was against an immensely talented team. With a full summer of working with and getting a better feel for his team, the new face in charge will expand on last season’s success.
4- Returning Defensive Backs
Five of seven of the team’s interception leaders will be back on the field in 2013, including the number one leader, Jimmie Ward. The seniority and experience in the defensive backfield will help shut down opposing teams’ passing attacks, allowing Lynch to conduct an offense with the lead more often than not.
5- Strong Rushing Attack
While Lynch is a threat to run at any time from his quarterback position, the running backs can give opposing teams fits as well. The three leading rushers behind Lynch accumulated 1,126 yards on the ground and will duplicate or improve on that number next season. Along with racking up yards, the corps pounded it in for 18 scores last season. The Huskies, in a collective effort, managed to put up 200-plus rushing yards on nine separate occasions.