The 2012 Northern Illinois Huskies football team represented Northern Illinois University in the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season . The Huskies competed in the West Division of the Mid-American Conference . They were led by second-year head coach Dave Doeren for the regular season and Rod Carey in the 2013 Orange Bowl . They played their home games at Huskie Stadium . They finished the season 12–2, 8–0 in MAC play to win MAC West Division Title. With their win over Kent State in the MAC Championship Game on November 30, NIU moved to 12–1, the most regular season wins in the program's 113-year history.[1]
Since the MAC was a non-automatic qualifying (non-AQ) conference, its conference champion had to finish 16th or higher in the BCS ranking and be ranked ahead of at least one AQ conference champion to qualify for a BCS game.[2] With their MAC Championship, the Huskies moved to No. 15 in the final Bowl Championship Series rankings, while Big East champion Louisville was ranked No. 21. As a result, Northern Illinois received a BCS bid to the Orange Bowl against Florida State .[3] It was the first major-bowl appearance in school history, as well as the first-ever major-bowl appearance for a MAC team. Head coach Doeren did not coach the Huskies in the Orange Bowl after accepting the head coaching job at North Carolina State .[4] Co-offensive coordinator Rod Carey was named his successor, and coached the bowl game. The Huskies lost to Florida State 10–31.[5] [6]
The season marked the Huskies' fifth consecutive trip to a bowl game.
Schedule [ edit ]
Date
Time
Opponent#
Rank #
Site
TV
Result
Attendance
September 1
2:30 p.m.
vs. Iowa *
Soldier Field • Chicago, IL
ESPNU
L 17–18
52,117[7]
September 8
6:00 p.m.
Tennessee–Martin *
Huskie Stadium • DeKalb, IL
ESPN3
W 35–7
16,010[8]
September 15
11:00 a.m.
at Army *
Michie Stadium • West Point, NY
CBSSN
W 41–40
30,176[9]
September 22
2:30 p.m.
Kansas *
Huskie Stadium • DeKalb, IL
ESPN3
W 30–23
18,374[10]
September 29
2:30 p.m.
Central Michigan
Huskie Stadium • DeKalb, IL
ESPN3
W 55–24
16,292[11]
October 6
1:00 p.m.
at Ball State
Scheumann Stadium • Muncie, IN (Battle of the Bronze Stalk )
ESPN3
W 35–23
11,238[12]
October 13
2:30 p.m.
Buffalo
Huskie Stadium • DeKalb, IL
CSNC
W 45–3
14,419[13]
October 20
11:00 a.m.
at Akron
Summa Field at InfoCision Stadium • Akron, OH
ESPN+
W 37–7
7,074[14]
October 27
11:00 a.m.
at Western Michigan
Waldo Stadium • Kalamazoo, MI
ESPN+
W 48–34
12,974[15]
November 3
2:30 p.m.
Massachusetts
Huskie Stadium • DeKalb, IL
W 63–0
11,114[16]
November 14
8:00 p.m.
Toledo
Huskie Stadium • DeKalb, IL
ESPN2
W 31–24
17,813[17]
November 23
12:00 p.m.
at Eastern Michigan
No. 24
Rynearson Stadium • Ypsilanti, MI
ESPN3
W 49–7
1,349[18]
November 30
6:00 p.m.
vs. No. 18 Kent State
No. 19
Ford Field • Detroit, MI (MAC Championship Game )
ESPN2
W 44–37 2OT
18,132[19]
January 1, 2013
7:30 p.m.
vs. No. 13 Florida State *
No. 16
Sun Life Stadium • Miami Gardens, FL (Orange Bowl )
ESPN
L 10–31
72,073
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. # Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Central Time .
Rankings [ edit ]
Ranking movementsLegend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. ( ) = First place votes.
Week
Poll
Pre
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
Final
AP
RV
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
RV
RV
RV
RV
24
19
16
22
Coaches'
RV
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
RV
RV
RV
RV
RV
23
18
16
24
Harris
Not released
NR
NR
RV
RV
RV
RV
24
19
16
Not released
BCS
Not released
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
NR
21
15
Not released
Game summaries [ edit ]
vs Iowa [ edit ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Hawkeyes
3
3
3
9
18
Huskies
0
10
7
0
17
Overall record
Last meeting
Result
0–7
2007
IOWA, 16–3
UT Martin [ edit ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Skyhawks
0
0
0
7
7
Huskies
7
14
7
7
35
Overall record
Last meeting
Result
0-0
First meeting
1
2
3
4
Total
Huskies
14
14
0
13
41
Black Knights
7
12
15
6
40
Overall record
Last meeting
Result
1–1
2011
NIU, 49–26
1
2
3
4
Total
Jayhawks
3
7
7
6
23
Huskies
6
7
0
17
30
Overall record
Last meeting
Result
1–1
2011
KAN, 45–42
Central Michigan [ edit ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Chippewas
7
7
10
0
24
Huskies
14
10
10
21
55
Overall record
Last meeting
Result
21–25–1
2011
CMU, 48–41
@ Ball State [ edit ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Huskies
7
7
7
14
35
Cardinals
3
13
7
0
23
Overall record
Last meeting
Result
17–20–2
2011
NIU, 41–38
Buffalo [ edit ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Bulls
3
0
0
0
3
Huskies
7
21
14
3
45
Overall record
Last meeting
Result
7–1
2010
NIU, 31–30
@ Akron [ edit ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Huskies
10
10
10
7
37
Zips
0
7
0
0
7
Overall record
Last meeting
Result
7–5
2010
NIU, 50–14
@ Western Michigan [ edit ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Huskies
7
10
14
17
48
Broncos
14
7
0
13
34
Overall record
Last meeting
Result
14–23
2011
NIU, 51–22
Massachusetts [ edit ]
1
2
3
4
Total
Minutemen
0
0
0
0
0
Huskies
14
21
21
7
63
Overall record
Last meeting
Result
0-0
First meeting
1
2
3
4
Total
Rockets
7
7
0
10
24
Huskies
0
7
21
3
31
Overall record
Last meeting
Result
10–29
2011
NIU, 63–60
@ Eastern Michigan [ edit ]
1
2
3
4
Total
#23 Huskies
14
14
7
14
49
Eagles
7
0
0
0
7
Overall record
Last meeting
Result
26–14–2
2011
NIU, 18–12
1
2
3
4 OT 2OT
Total
#19 Huskies
3
14
10
7 3 7
44
#18 Golden Flashes
10
0
3
21 3 0
37
Overall record
Last meeting
Result
16–3
2011
NIU, 40–10
1
2
3
4
Total
#16 Huskies
3
0
7
0
10
#12 Seminoles
7
7
3
14
31
Overall record
Last meeting
Result
0–0
First meeting
N/A
References [ edit ]
Venues Bowls & rivalries Culture & lore People Seasons National championship seasons in bold