By Woodrow Carroll
The auguries may be there for the Northern Illinois University (NIU) football program. Positive omens, for sure, with the bowl season at hand.
When it was announced the Northern Illinois bowl destination and opponent Sunday, Dec. 3, it had to have brought up fond memories.
The NIU Huskies (6-6) will face Arkansas State (6-6) in the Camellia Bowl, December 23, in Montgomery, Ala., (see the bowl schedule on page 7) and, now the rest of the story.
At one time, Northern Illinois was 4-3 in bowl games, however, since 2012, the Huskies have dropped seven straight bowl games.
Why the friendly omens? Well, Northern Illinois’ last bowl victory was a 38-20 conquest of Arkansas State in the 2012 GoDaddy.com Bowl. The game was played in Alabama, Mobile, not Montgomery. To be fair, victories were more prevalent for both teams that season. The Arkansas State Red Wolves were 10-2 and NIU was 10-3 in 2011-2012.
Arkansas State, in Jonesboro, is a member of the Sun Belt Conference’s West Division. Two games into this season, the Red Wolves looked dead in the water.
Arkansas State lost 73-0 to Oklahoma in its season opener. What followed was a 37-3 pasting by Memphis, hardly an auspicious start to this season, however, the competition from that point on for ASU proved beatable and the Red Wolves won six of nine games before falling, 35-21, to Marshall to end regular-season play.
Now, a focus on Northern Illinois.
The Huskies opened this season with a victory over Power 5 member, Boston College. Head coach Thomas Hammock’s charges dropped four straight games and a bowl invitation looked to be just a dream, but, the Huskies proved to be an up and down team and proved just that by reeling off three straight victories.
Needing two victories with four games left on the schedule, the Huskies lost two straight before rebounding to beat Western Michigan and Kent State to secure bowl eligibility.
- The Northwestern story is a bit different than what Northern Illinois went through.
Preseason expectations for the Northwestern Wildcats were not at all good. A 1-11 finish in 2022 along with the hazing scandal that ended head coach Pat Fitzgerald’s time in Evanston, cast a shadow, a dark shadow, over the football program.
Northwestern turned out to be a pleasant surprise this season. The Wildcats ended up 7-5 overall and thanks to a 45-43 victory over Illinois to conclude the regular season, the Wildcats ended the Fighting Illini’s shot at a bowl game.
As for the Wildcats’ bowl game, Northwestern will face Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl December 23. The Wildcats should go into that game as a decided underdog.
Utah is a member of the fast-disappearing Pac-12 Conference. The Utes were 8-4 overall and 5-4 in Conference. A quick glance at the teams that defeated Utah this season shows that a Wildcat victory over Utah will not be easy.
Utah lost to Oregon State, Oregon, Washington, and Arizona, in that order. The lowest-ranked team in that group is No. 19 Oregon State. A Wildcats’ victory over the Utes would put Northwestern in good company.
- Entering collegiate football’s bowl season, it can be fun to make comparisons. For instance, the Big Ten Conference is 97-73 combined against outside opposition. The Mid-American Conference is 69-77. Year in and year out, the Big Ten will be above a .500 record against non-Big Ten foes. The MAC picture is murkier. Many MAC teams schedule opponents from FCS (Football Conference Subdivision) conferences.