Northern Illinois Huskies football

Northern Illinois Huskies
Current season
First season	1899
Head coach	Dave Doeren
	1st year, –
Home stadium	Huskie Stadium
Field	Brigham Field
Year built	1964
Stadium capacity	31,000
Stadium surface	FieldTurf
Location	DeKalb, Illinois
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Division	West
All-time record	512–459–50 (.526)
Postseason bowl record	4–7
Conference titles	9
Division titles	2
Current uniform
Colors	Black and Red
Fight song	"Huskie Fight Song"
Website	NIU Huskie Football

Alternate logo.

The Northern Illinois Huskies football team represents Northern Illinois University in the Mid-American Conference of the NCAA's Division I-Football Bowl Subdivision.

History

NIU's football program was established in the late 19th century, playing its first ever game against DeKalb High School in 1899 and was led by coach John L. Keith to the team's first ever victory. NIU started out in the independent scene from 1899 through 1919 before joining the Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. The team became independent again in 1925. NIU returned to the Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in 1928 and finished the season winless for the first time. In 1929 however, Red Evans took over as the head football coach and immediately twisted the downhill fate of his team as he led his squad to a 6-1-1 record. Evans led the Huskies to continuous winning seasons since his take over, and his efforts paid off in 1938 as NIU captured the Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship, the team's first title. He followed it up with three more championships (1941, '44, and '46) and even led the Huskies' to a back-to-back bowl game appearance in 1946 and '47 (unfortunately, both on a losing cause to Evansville first in the Turkey Bowl then in the Hoosier Bowl). NIU then left for the Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in 1950 but, with the exception of the spotless season (9-0-0) in 1951 that earned the team a 5th conference title, failed to make a decent showing in its first few years with its new home. Howard Fletcher though had other plans as he picked up the pieces of the miserable 0-8-1 season from Robert Kahler in 1956. The Huskies' had a slow progress that picked up in the late 1950s. The team's third bowl game appearance in 1962, although a loss, was only the beginning of good things to come as in the following season, the Huskies completed their sixth undefeated season which earned them the Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship, an AP College Division National championship selection, and a ticket to the Mineral Water Bowl which the team eventually won over Missouri State. The team made it a three-peat championship, adding up the 1964 and 1965 conference titles. NIU became independent from 1966 through '72 before joining the Mid-American Athletic Conference in 1973. The team claimed the MAC title in 1983 then went on to their first Bowl Game in the Division I-A, the California Bowl, which the Huskies won over Cal State-Fullerton. The team had no permanent affiliation after leaving the MAC in 1986; first became independent from 1987–92, then joined the Big West Conference from 1993 through '95, became independent again in '96, then finally was admitted back into the Mid-American Conference in 1997.

As of 2006, NIU has won 9 conference and 1 division titles, appeared in eight Division I-A and College Division Bowl Games (winning three), and has accumulated over 400 wins and an all time winning mark that is above .500.

Huskies Football enter the 2008 season having produced a 1,000 yard rusher in nine consecutive seasons from 1999 through 2007, including rushers Thomas Hammock, Michael Turner, Garrett Wolfe and Justin Anderson.

The Joe Novak Era (1996-2007)

Joe Novak took over the Huskie program in December 1995, and coached his first NIU game in September 1996. The first 3 years of Novak's tenure proved to be tumultuous, as his Huskie squads won a total of 3 games between 1996 and 1998. Despite this, Novak kept his job and turned the program around. In 1999, Northern Illinois won 5 games, and in 2000 Novak started a string of 7 consecutive winning seasons, going 6-5 in both 2000 and 2001. After a 1-3 start to the 2002 season, fans began to see the fruits of Novak's labor as the team ripped off 7 consecutive wins, and only a 33-30 loss in their final game against rival Toledo prevented a MAC Championship Game appearance.

Optimism was high to start the 2003 season, with 12 returning starters including prospect and future NFL players Michael Turner, Doug Free, Brad Cieslak, P.J. Fleck, Dan Sheldon, Keith Perry, Vinson Reynolds, Akil Grant, Randee Drew, and Travis Moore. On opening weekend, the Huskies beat #14 Maryland 20-17 in overtime. Then, the Huskies traveled to Tuscaloosa and beat #21 Alabama 16-13. After beating Iowa State the following week, the Huskies were rolling and won their first 7 games. Following their week 5 win against Ohio, the first BCS standings were released, and by week 7 the Huskies had climbed to #10 overall. Novak and the Huskies could not keep that momentum going, as they lost in week 8 at #22 Bowling Green, which also featured the first ever ESPN GameDay appearance for a MAC football game. The Huskies would lose only one more game in 2003, to Toledo, finishing the year 10-2, unranked, and uninvited to a bowl game.

Novak's 2004 and 2006 teams both went to bowl games. The 2004 team went to the Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, California and was the first Huskie team to go bowling in 21 years. The Huskies fell behind early 14-0 to a Troy team that featured current NFLer DeMarcus Ware, but were able to rally behind future NFL running back Garrett Wolfe and the accurate passing of Josh Haldi to win 34-21. In 2006, Wolfe and company returned to a bowl, the Poinsettia Bowl, against TCU and lost 37-7.

Novak's final year was a tough one, winning only 2 games and finishing at the bottom of the MAC West. Overall Novak won 63 games as the Huskie's head coach. He currently is retired and resides in North Carolina.

The Jerry Kill Era (2008-2010)

Jerry Kill was hired to replace the retiring Joe Novak after the 2007 season. Kill was previously the head coach at Southern Illinois University, an FCS football program, making NIU his first FBS head coaching job. Kill led the Huskies to three straight bowl appearances in his three years as head coach, all three with quarterback Chandler Harnish. In 2010, Kill led the Huskies to the MAC Championship, but NIU fell to Miami of Ohio. On December 5, 2010, the day after NIU's loss in the MAC Championship, Kill tendered his immediate resignation and accepted the position of head coach of the Minnesota Golden Gophers. This left the Huskies without a coach, less than two weeks before they were to appear in the 2010 Humanitarian Bowl. In an interview after his departure caused some backlash, Kill offered an explanation as to why his acceptance of the Minnesota job came so suddenly, but provided no clarification as to why his resignation could not have waited 13 days, until after the Huskies completed their season.^[1]

Championships

National Championships

• 1963 - NCAA College Division

Conference Championships

• 1938 - Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Champions
• 1941 - Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Co-Champions
• 1944 - Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Champions
• 1946 - Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Champions
• 1951 - Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Champions
• 1963 - Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Champions
• 1964 - Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Co-Champions
• 1965 - Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Champions
• 1983 - Mid-American Athletic Conference Champions

Division Championships

• 2005 - MAC - West Division Champions
• 2010 - MAC - West Division Champions ^[2]

NIU Bowl History

Division I-A Bowl Games

Year	Bowl Game	Result	Opponent	Score
2010	Humanitarian Bowl	W	Fresno State	40–17
2009	International Bowl	L	South Florida	3–27
2008	Independence Bowl	L	Louisiana Tech	10–17
2006	Poinsettia Bowl	L	TCU	7–37
2004	Silicon Valley Classic	W	Troy	34–21
1983	California Bowl	W	Cal State-Fullerton	20–13

College Division/Other Bowl Games

Year	Bowl Game	Result	Opponent	Score
1965	Mineral Water Bowl	L	North Dakota	20–37
1963	Mineral Water Bowl	W	Missouri State	21–14
1962	Mineral Water Bowl	L	Adams State	20–23
1947	Hoosier Bowl	L	Evansville	0–20
1946	Turkey Bowl	L	Evansville	7–19

Coaches/Team Officials

• Dave Doeren - Head Coach
• Matt Canada - Offensive Coordinator/Quarterbacks
• Jay Niemann - Defensive Coordinator/Safeties
• Rod Carey - Assistant Coach/Offensive Line
• Bob Cole - Assistant Coach/Wide Receivers
• Eddie Faulkner - Assistant Coach/Running Backs
• Kevin Kane - Assistant Coach/Tight Ends & Fullbacks
• Tom Matukewicz - Assistant Coach/Linebackers
• Richard McNutt - Assistant Coach/Cornerbacks
• Ryan Nielsen - Assistant Coach/Defensive Line
• Brad Ohrt - Director of Sports Performance
• Alex Krutsch - Graduate Assistant/Video
• Morgan Liggett - Graduate Assistant/Operations
• Melvin Rice - Graduate Assistant/Defense
• Joe Tripodi - Graduate Assistant/Offense

Notable Alumni in NFL

• Justin McCareins - Tennessee Titans,New York JetsWR
• Ryan Diem - Indianapolis Colts, T
• Larry English - San Diego Chargers, OLB
• Doug Free - Dallas Cowboys, T
• Sam Hurd - Chicago Bears, WR
• Michael Turner - Atlanta Falcons, RB
• Garrett Wolfe - Chicago Bears, RB
• Matt Simon - New Orleans Saints, WR
• Britt Davis - Denver Broncos, WR
• Chad Spann - Tampa Bay Buccaneers, RB
• Jake Nordin - Detroit Lions, TE/FB

References

1. ^ http://www.daily-chronicle.com/2010/12/15/kill-i-did-the-best-i-could/a1unj5o/
2. ^ http://www.niuhuskies.com/sports/m-footbl/recaps/112010aaa.html

• ESPN NCAA Football Rankings
• NCAA.org's 2006 Mid-American Team Report
• NIU Huskies Historical Data
• Northern Illinois Alumni Tracker

External links

• NIUHuskies.com/Football
• NIU Huskies Football on USA Today