The 2011 Northern Illinois Huskies football team represented
Northern Illinois University
Northern Illinois University (NIU) is a public research university in DeKalb, Illinois. It was founded as Northern Illinois State Normal School on May 22, 1895, by Illinois Governor John P. Altgeld as part of an expansion of the state's system ...
as a member of the West Division of the
Mid-American Conference
The Mid-American Conference (MAC) is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I collegiate athletic conference with a membership base in the Great Lakes region that stretches from Western New York to Illinois. Nine of the twel ...
(MAC) during the
2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season
The 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).
The regular season began on September 1, 2011 and ended on D ...
. Led by first-year head coach
Dave Doeren
David William Doeren (born December 3, 1971) is an American football coach who is currently the head football coach at North Carolina State University, a position he has held since the 2013 season. Doeren previously served as the head football ...
, 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
The MAC Football Championship Game is a football game between the winners of the East and West divisions of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) to determine the conference champion.
History
The game has been played since 1997, when the conferenc ...
, where the defeated
Ohio
Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...
to win the program's second MAC title.
The Huskies were invited to the
GoDaddy.com Bowl
The 68 Ventures Bowl is a postseason NCAA-sanctioned Division I FBS college football bowl game that has been played annually in Mobile, Alabama since 1999. In 2021, the game was moved from Ladd-Peebles Stadium to Hancock Whitney Stadium, on the ...
, where they beat
Arkansas State
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage l ...
. The was season fourth consecutive in which Northern Illinois made a trip to a
bowl game
In North America, a bowl game is one of a number of post-season college football games that are primarily played by teams belonging to the NCAA's Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). For most of its history, the Division I Bowl Subdivis ...
. The team played home games at
Huskie Stadium
Brigham Field at Huskie Stadium is a college football stadium in the central United States, located on the campus of Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois. Opened in 1965, it is the home field of the NIU Huskies of the Mid-America ...
in
DeKalb, Illinois
DeKalb ( ) is a city in DeKalb County, Illinois, United States. The population was 43,862 according to the 2010 census, up from 39,018 at the 2000 census. The city is named after decorated Franconian- French war hero Johann de Kalb, who died ...
.
Schedule
Game summaries
Army
Kansas
Wisconsin
Cal Poly
Central Michigan
Kent State
Western Michigan
Buffalo
Toledo
Bowling Green
Ball State
Eastern Michigan
Ohio ( 2011 MAC Championship Game)
Arkansas State ( 2012 GoDaddy.com Bowl)
Statistics
Points by quarter
References
Northern Illinois
Northern Illinois is a region generally covering the northern third of the U.S. state of Illinois. The region is by far the most populous of Illinois with nearly 9.7 million residents as of 2010.
Economics
Northern Illinois is dominated by th ...
Northern Illinois Huskies football seasons
Mid-American Conference football champion seasons
LendingTree Bowl champion seasons
Northern Illinois Huskies football
The Northern Illinois Huskies football team are a college football program representing Northern Illinois University (NIU) in the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) of college football. NIU football plays its home games at Huskie Stadium on the cam ...
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