BROOKLINE-Let’s forget Northeastern’s 28-17 victory over Hofstra last Saturday ever happened. Seriously, I mean that. We all should have made like Adam Walter before the game started, and allowed the banner to shroud our vision for the duration of the contest.

Let’s forget the fact that the team is 4-0 for the first time since 1967, or that our nationally-ranked Huskies climbed up to the No. 9 spot in the ESPN/USA Today Division I-AA polls after beating a top-25 opponent. Hell, let’s even forget the fact that Northeastern ran for 224 yards rushing, led by, of all people, a senior tailback who by his own admission had not run the football all that much since his senior year of high school.

Why? Because this game stunk. ABSOLUTELY STUNK. It was reckless; the two teams combined for 14 total penalties and 103 yards. It was certainly chippy as well. Don’t believe me? Ask senior center Tom Olivo what head coach Don Brown said to him after that personal foul late in the second half. Five bucks says it cannot be printed in this newspaper.

It was sloppy, as Shawn Brady finished with two turnovers, both on interceptions. Throw in the two fumbled snaps and three poorly thrown passes, and he could have finished with seven turnovers, which would have matched the total number of sacks that NU had in the game (but more on that later). Up until the end of the third quarter, when Brady caught a halfback pass from Anthony Riley for a touchdown, the game was an all-around dud on the offensive side of the ball.

The special teams unit was not exactly a stalwart collective either, as the punting tandem of Tyler Grogan and Jonathan Kahn left the team in some difficult field position on several occasions. The return game wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t exactly infernal either.

Ah, but the defense