The trip itself is part of this game. Hawai'i goes from Honolulu to the northern Illinois plains, and the forecast is cloudy, 68 degrees, with 10 mph of wind. That's fine football weather, but it's nothing like home. It's also the Rainbow Warriors' third road trip of the year, and the first 2 went badly: 10-27 at Wyoming and 12-30 at Arizona State. NIU's home results haven't been much better. Illinois State edged the Huskies 28-24 at Huskie Stadium, and Air Force beat them 28-7 there.
Illinois State24-28The Hawai'i receiver room is the availability story. R. Haynes IV is done for the season, P. Ashlock is out for an extended stretch with an undisclosed injury, and C. Brown has been listed questionable with a shoulder. For an offense that has topped 16 points once in its last 5, losing 2 wideouts and possibly a third is a real problem. Whoever ends up on the field Saturday may not have taken many meaningful snaps yet. NIU doesn't list a single injury, which is about the only thing on its sheet that looks better than Hawai'i's.
So this is a matchup of opposite weaknesses. NIU has given up at least 28 in every game of its last 5, including 41 and 42. Hawai'i has trouble getting to 17. Something has to give, and how it goes probably depends on whether the Huskies can keep a Hawai'i quarterback from doing what Hughes just did to them. The board for this one hasn't posted yet. When it does, both teams' most recent games will matter more than their records.
Nobody outside the two fan bases will call this must-see, but it isn't meaningless either. Neither team has a conference win, and the Huskies are still looking for their first win of any kind. A home date against a banged-up team that has traveled 4,000-plus miles is about as good a chance as Northern Illinois is going to get this fall.