2011 Northern Illinois Huskies football team

American college football season

2011 Northern Illinois Huskies football

MAC champion MAC West Division co-champion GoDaddy.com Bowl champion
MAC Championship Game, W 23–20 vs. Ohio
GoDaddy.com Bowl, W 38–20 vs. Arkansas State
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Division	West
Record	11–3 (7–1 MAC)
Head coach	Dave Doeren (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Matt Canada (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Jay Niemann (1st season)
MVP	Chandler Harnish
Captain	Chandler Harnish, Trevor Olson, Sean Progar, Pat Schiller
Home stadium	Huskie Stadium^[1]
Seasons ← 2010 2012 →

2011 Mid-American Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
East Division
Ohio xy	6	–	2	10	–	4
Temple	5	–	3	9	–	4
Kent State	4	–	4	5	–	7
Bowling Green	3	–	5	5	–	7
Miami (OH)	3	–	5	4	–	8
Buffalo	2	–	6	3	–	9
Akron	0	–	8	1	–	11
West Division
Northern Illinois xy$	7	–	1	11	–	3
Toledo x	7	–	1	9	–	4
Western Michigan	5	–	3	7	–	6
Ball State	4	–	4	6	–	6
Eastern Michigan	4	–	4	6	–	6
Central Michigan	2	–	6	3	–	9
Championship: Northern Illinois 23, Ohio 20
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant

The 2011 Northern Illinois Huskies football team represented Northern Illinois University as a member of the West Division of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) during the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Led by first-year head coach Dave Doeren, the Huskies compiled an overall record of 11–3 with a mark of 7–1 in conference play, sharing the MAC West Division title with Toledo. By virtue of their head-to-head win over Toledo, Northern Illinois advance to the MAC Championship Game, where the defeated Ohio to win the program's second MAC title.^[2] The Huskies were invited to the GoDaddy.com Bowl, where they beat Arkansas State. This was the fourth consecutive season in which Northern Illinois made a trip to a bowl game. The team played home games at Huskie Stadium in DeKalb, Illinois.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 3	6:00 p.m.	Army*	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL	ESPN3	W 49–26	17,003	^[3]
September 10	6:00 p.m.	at Kansas*	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS	FCS	L 42–45	48,084	^[4]
September 17	2:30 p.m.	vs. No. 7 Wisconsin*	Soldier Field Chicago, IL	ESPN3	L 7–49	41,068	^[5]
September 24	2:30 p.m.	Cal Poly*	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL		W 47–30	14,321	^[6]
October 1	2:30 p.m.	at Central Michigan	Kelly/Shorts Stadium Mount Pleasant, MI	ESPN3	L 41–48	16,539	^[7]
October 8	2:30 p.m.	Kent State	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL		W 40–10	14,251	^[8]
October 15	2:30 p.m.	Western Michigan	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL	CSNC	W 51–22	20,277	^[9]
October 22	11:00 a.m.	at Buffalo	University at Buffalo Stadium Amherst, NY	ESPN Plus	W 31–30	13,370	^[10]
November 1	6:00 p.m.	at Toledo	Glass Bowl Toledo, OH	ESPN2	W 63–60	19,004	^[11]
November 8	7:00 p.m.	at Bowling Green	Doyt Perry Stadium Bowling Green, OH	ESPN2	W 45–14	13,752	^[12]
November 15	7:00 p.m.	Ball State	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL (Bronze Stalk Trophy)	ESPNU	W 41–38	12,391	^[13]
November 25	10:00 a.m.	Eastern Michigan	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL	ESPNU	W 18–12	15,111	^[14]
December 2	7:00 p.m.	vs. Ohio	Ford Field Detroit, MI (MAC Championship Game)	ESPN2	W 23–20	13,052	^[15]
January 8, 2012	8:00 p.m.	vs. Arkansas State*	Ladd–Peebles Stadium Mobile, AL (GoDaddy.com Bowl)	ESPN	W 38–20	38,734	^[16]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Game summaries

Army

	1	2	3	4	Total
Black Knights	6	0	0	20	26
Huskies	14	21	14	0	49

Kansas

	1	2	3	4	Total
Huskies	7	14	14	7	42
Jayhawks	7	14	14	10	45

Wisconsin

	1	2	3	4	Total
#8 Badgers	14	14	14	7	49
Huskies	7	0	0	0	7

Cal Poly

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mustangs	0	7	10	13	30
Huskies	13	21	0	13	47

Central Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
Huskies	0	10	6	25	41
Chippewas	17	0	14	17	48

Kent State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Golden Flashes	3	0	0	7	10
Huskies	7	20	6	7	40

Western Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
Broncos	6	9	0	7	22
Huskies	0	13	24	14	51

Buffalo

	1	2	3	4	Total
Huskies	3	14	14	0	31
Bulls	3	7	0	20	30

Toledo

	1	2	3	4	Total
Huskies	21	7	14	21	63
Rockets	14	10	14	22	60

Bowling Green

	1	2	3	4	Total
Huskies	14	10	7	14	45
Falcons	7	7	0	0	14

Ball State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	14	10	7	7	38
Huskies	0	14	14	13	41

Eastern Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
Eagles	3	0	3	6	12
Huskies	7	5	6	0	18

Ohio (2011 MAC Championship Game)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bobcats	10	10	0	0	20
Huskies	0	0	7	16	23

Arkansas State (2012 GoDaddy.com Bowl)

	1	2	3	4	Total
Red Wolves	13	0	0	7	20
Huskies	7	14	7	10	38

Statistics

Points by quarter

	1	2	3	4	Total
Northern Illinois	93	149	119	114	475
Opponents	94	78	76	136	384

References

^ "2011 Northern Illinois Football Media Supplement" (PDF). Northern Illinois University. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 19, 2012. Retrieved August 18, 2012.
^ "Champs! Huskies win MAC football crown". NIU Today. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
^ "Army vs. Northern Illinois - Box Score - September 3, 2011 - ESPN".
^ "Northern Illinois vs. Kansas - Box Score - September 10, 2011 - ESPN".
^ "Wisconsin vs. Northern Illinois - Box Score - September 17, 2011 - ESPN".
^ "Cal Poly vs. Northern Illinois - Box Score - September 24, 2011 - ESPN".
^ "Northern Illinois vs. Central Michigan - Box Score - October 1, 2011 - ESPN".
^ "Kent State Golden Flashes vs. Northern Illinois Huskies Box Score". ESPN.com. October 8, 2011.
^ "Western Michigan vs. Northern Illinois - Box Score - October 15, 2011 - ESPN".
^ "Northern Illinois vs. Buffalo - Box Score - October 22, 2011 - ESPN".
^ "Northern Illinois vs. Toledo - Box Score - November 1, 2011 - ESPN".
^ "Northern Illinois vs. Bowling Green - Box Score - November 8, 2011 - ESPN".
^ "Ball State vs. Northern Illinois - Box Score - November 15, 2011 - ESPN".
^ "Eastern Michigan vs. Northern Illinois - Box Score - November 25, 2011 - ESPN".
^ "Ohio vs. Northern Illinois - Box Score - December 2, 2011 - ESPN".
^ "Arkansas State vs. Northern Illinois - Box Score - January 8, 2012 - ESPN".

v t e Northern Illinois Huskies football
Venues	Glidden Field (1903–1948, 1951–1965) Dekalb Township High School football field (1949–1950) Huskie Stadium (1965–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Ball State: Bronze Stalk Trophy
Culture & lore	"Huskie Fight Song" Huskie Band
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917–1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold

v t e Mid-American Conference football champions
Cincinnati (1947) Miami (OH) (1948) Cincinnati (1949) Miami (OH) (1950) Cincinnati (1951) Cincinnati (1952) Ohio (1953) Miami (OH) (1954) Miami (OH) (1955) Bowling Green (1956) Miami (OH) (1957) Miami (OH) (1958) Bowling Green (1959) Ohio (1960) Bowling Green (1961) Bowling Green (1962) Ohio (1963) Bowling Green (1964) Bowling Green & Miami (OH) (1965) Miami (OH) & Western Michigan (1966) Ohio & Toledo (1967) Ohio (1968) Toledo (1969) Toledo (1970) Toledo (1971) Kent State (1972) Miami (OH) (1973) Miami (OH) (1974) Miami (OH) (1975) Ball State (1976) Miami (OH) (1977) Ball State (1978) Central Michigan (1979) Central Michigan (1980) Toledo (1981) Bowling Green (1982) Northern Illinois (1983) Toledo (1984) Bowling Green (1985) Miami (OH) (1986) Eastern Michigan (1987) Western Michigan (1988) Ball State (1989) Central Michigan & Toledo (1990) Bowling Green (1991) Bowling Green (1992) Ball State (1993) Central Michigan (1994) Toledo (1995) Ball State (1996) Marshall (1997) Marshall (1998) Marshall (1999) Marshall (2000) Toledo (2001) Marshall (2002) Miami (OH) (2003) Toledo (2004) Akron (2005) Central Michigan (2006) Central Michigan (2007) Buffalo (2008) Central Michigan (2009) Miami (OH) (2010) Northern Illinois (2011) Northern Illinois (2012) Bowling Green (2013) Northern Illinois (2014) Bowling Green (2015) Western Michigan (2016) Toledo (2017) Northern Illinois (2018) Miami (OH) (2019) Ball State (2020) Northern Illinois (2021) Toledo (2022) Miami (OH) (2023)

Mid-American Conference football champions