2012 Northern Illinois Huskies football team

The 2012 Northern Illinois Huskies football team represented Northern Illinois University as a member of the West Division of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) during the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Northern Illinois compiled an overall record of 12–2 with a mark of 8–0 in conference play, winning the MAC West Division title. The Huskies advanced to the MAC Championship Game, where they beat Kent State to win the program's third MAC championship. Northern Illinois was invited to the Orange Bowl, where they lost to Florida State.^[1][2] Second-year head coach Dave Doeren led the team during the regular season and the MAC title game before resigning to become the head football coach at North Carolina State University.^[3] Rod Carey was appointed interim head coach for the bowl game. The team's 12 wins was the most in any of the program's 113-year history.^[4]

2012 Northern Illinois Huskies football
MAC champion MAC West Division champion
MAC Championship Game, W 44–37 2OT vs. Kent State
Orange Bowl, L 10–31 vs. Florida State
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Division	West Division
Ranking
Coaches	No. 24
AP	No. 22
Record	12–2 (8–0 MAC)
Head coach	Dave Doeren (2nd season; first 13 games) Rod Carey (interim, bowl game)
Offensive coordinator	Mike Dunbar (1st season, game 1 and bowl game) Rod Carey (1st season, games 2–13)
Defensive coordinator	Jay Niemann (2nd season)
Co-defensive coordinator	Ryan Nielsen (1st season)
MVP	Jordan Lynch
Captain	Nabal Jefferson, Jordan Lynch, Sean Progar, Jason Schepler
Home stadium	Huskie Stadium
Seasons ← 2011 2013 →

2012 Mid-American Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
Kent State x		8	–	0					11	–	3
Bowling Green		6	–	2					8	–	5
Ohio		4	–	4					9	–	4
Buffalo		3	–	5					4	–	8
Miami (OH)		3	–	5					4	–	8
UMass		1	–	7					1	–	11
Akron		0	–	8					1	–	11
West Division
No. 22 Northern Illinois x$		8	–	0					12	–	2
Toledo		6	–	2					9	–	4
Ball State		6	–	2					9	–	4
Central Michigan		4	–	4					7	–	6
Western Michigan		2	–	6					4	–	8
Eastern Michigan		1	–	7					2	–	10
Championship: Northern Illinois 44, Kent State 37
$ – Conference champion and BCS representative as top non-AQ school to meet automatic qualification criteria x – Division champion/co-champions UMass not eligible for conference title or bowl game as part of FBS transition Rankings from AP Poll

Since the MAC was a non-automatic qualifying (non-AQ) conference for the Bowl Championship Series, its conference champion had to finish 16th or higher in the BCS rankings and be ranked ahead of at least one AQ conference champion to qualify for a BCS game.^[5] With their win in the MAC Championship Game, the Huskies moved to No. 15 in the final BCS rankings, while Louisville, champion of the Big East Conference, was ranked No. 21. As a result, Northern Illinois received a BCS bid to the Orange Bowl.^[6] It was the first major-bowl appearance in program history and the first major-bowl appearance for any MAC team.

The season marked the Huskies' fifth consecutive trip to a bowl game. The team played home games at Huskie Stadium in DeKalb, Illinois.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
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.	UT 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 (Bronze Stalk Trophy)	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		InfoCision Stadium–Summa Field Akron, OH	ESPN Plus	W 37–7	7,074	[14]
October 27	11:00 a.m.	at Western Michigan		Waldo Stadium Kalamazoo, MI	ESPN Plus	W 48–34	12,974	[15]
November 3	2:30 p.m.	UMass		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 the game All times are in Central time

Rankings

See also: 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	RV	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	RV	RV	RV	RV	24	19	16	22
Coaches	RV	—	—	—	—	—	—	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	23	18	16	24
Harris	Not released						—	—	RV	RV	RV	RV	24	19	16	Not released
BCS	Not released							—	—	—	—	—	—	21	15	Not released

Roster

2012 Northern Illinois Huskies football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class OL 74 Dustin Adams Fr OL 64 Sal Arceo Fr WR 7 Perez Ashford Sr OL 66 Matt Battaglia Sr RB 25 Giorgio Bowers  So WR 82 Juwan Brescasin  Fr WR 86 Jacob Brinlee Fr WR 4 Da'Ron Brown  So OL 68 Ron Brown Fr OL 78 Ryan Brown  So OL 61 Aidan Conlon  Fr FB 48 Ricky Connors  So RB 3 Akeem Daniles Jr QB 19 Johnny Eagan Fr TE 83 Luke Eakes  So RB 44 Perez Ford Fr C 59 Michael Gegner  So WR 81 Clayton Glasper Fr QB 12 Drew Hare Fr RB 20 Keith Harris Fr TE 98 Lincoln Howard Fr OL 62 Patrick Husain Jr OL 73 Matt Killian  Fr OL 79 Matt Krempel  Jr WR 80 Tommylee Lewis So OL 75 Tyler Loos  So QB 6 Jordan Lynch  Jr TE 44 DeVonte' Majors  Fr TE 37 Desroy Maxwell Fr QB 16 Matt McIntosh  Fr WR 13 Charlie Miller Fr WR 1 Martel Moore Sr RB 26 Alex Morrow Fr OL 71 Levon Myers Fr OL 55 Andrew Ness  Fr OL 65 Wes Ott  So OL 70 Logan Pegram  Sr OL 67 Tyler Pitt  So OL 72 Josh Ruka Fr TE 87 Jason Schepler  Sr WR 85 Angelo Sebastiano  Fr TE 88 Tim Semisch  So RB 23 Leighton Settle Jr RB 34 James Spencer  So OL 76 Brad Steger Fr FB 47 Rob Sterling So RB 42 Cameron Stingly  So TE 43 Jess Striedl  So OL 57 Scott Taylor Fr TE 84 Kevin Tennenbaum  Fr OL 77 Jared Volk  Jr WR 22 Jamison Wells  Jr QB 12 Matt Williams Fr RB 5 Jamal Womble Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DL 51 Zach Anderson  Jr DE 53 Matthew Baltimore Fr LB 6 Jamaal Bass  So DE 90 Alan Baxter Sr DT 93 Ken Bishop Jr CB 31 Anthony Brooks Fr LB 36 Tyrone Clark Sr DE 54 Cameron Clinton-Earl  Fr LB 58 Mike Cotton Fr S 21 Dechane Durante  So CB 2 Sean Evans  Jr CB 28 Jhony Faustin Jr LB 8 Ladell Fleming Fr S 34 Connor Gavin Fr DT 94 Donovan Gordon  So DE 50 Ryan Gorrell  So DE 56 Daniel Green  Sr CB 17 Marckie Hayes  So LB 41 Cody Hazelett Fr DT 57 Cornellus Henry Fr DE 96 Michael Ippolito Fr CB 16 Charles Ivory Fr LB 40 Victor Jacques  Sr DL 99 Nabal Jefferson Sr DT 92 Mario Jones Fr S 38 Rasheen Lemon  Fr DE 63 Larry Lloyd  So CB 29 Paris Logan  Fr LB 45 Boomer Mays  Fr CB 41 Nate McNeal  Jr DE 49 Jason Meehan So CB 11 Rashan Melvin  Sr CB 30 Marlon Moore Fr S 33 Tre' Moore  Fr LB 35 Videl Nelson  Fr DE 89 Stephen O'Neal  Jr DE 95 Sean Progar  Sr DE 46 George Rainey  Jr LB 52 Michael Santacaterina  So S 14 Courtney Stephen  Sr S 19 Demetrius Stone Sr DT 69 Corey Thomas Fr DB 15 Jimmie Ward Jr CB 24 Dominique Ware  Jr DL 91 Anthony Wells  Jr DE 97 Joe Windsor Jr LB 27 Bobby Winkel  So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class DS 84 Brian Mayer  So P 18 Ryan Neir  Sr DS Bobby Ramlet Fr K 99 Mathew Sims Jr P 39 Mark Strbjak Fr PK 26 Tyler Wedel So	Head coach Dave Doeren Coordinators/assistant coaches Mike Dunbar – Offensive coordinator Ryan Nielsen – Co-defensive coord./defensive line/recruiting coord. Jay Niemann – Defensive coordinator/safeties Rod Carey – Assistant coach/offensive line/run game coordinator Bob Cole – Assistant coach/quarterbacks Frisman Jackson – Assistant coach/wide receivers Kevin Kane – Assistant coach/linebackers Richard McNutt – Assistant coach/cornerbacks Joe Tripodi – Graduate assistant/tight ends & Fullbacks Mike Uremovich – Assistant coach/running backs/special teams coord. Brad Ohrt – Director of sports performance Matt Lipman – Director of football operations Joe McKillip – Graduate assistant/Operations Zach Opsal – Graduate assistant/Video Peter Roley – Asst. Dir. Football Operations/Video Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster Last update: 7/14/12

Game summaries

vs Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hawkeyes	3	3	3	9	18
Huskies	0	10	7	0	17

See also: 2012 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

UT Martin

	1	2	3	4	Total
Skyhawks	0	0	0	7	7
Huskies	7	14	7	7	35

See also: 2012 UT Martin Skyhawks football team

@ Army

	1	2	3	4	Total
Huskies	14	14	0	13	41
Black Knights	7	12	15	6	40

See also: 2012 Army Black Knights football team

Kansas

	1	2	3	4	Total
Jayhawks	3	7	7	6	23
Huskies	6	7	0	17	30

See also: 2012 Kansas Jayhawks football team

Central Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
Chippewas	7	7	10	0	24
Huskies	14	10	10	21	55

See also: 2012 Central Michigan Chippewas football team

@ Ball State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Huskies	7	7	7	14	35
Cardinals	3	13	7	0	23

See also: 2012 Ball State Cardinals football team and Bronze Stalk Trophy

Buffalo

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bulls	3	0	0	0	3
Huskies	7	21	14	3	45

See also: 2012 Buffalo Bulls football team

@ Akron

	1	2	3	4	Total
Huskies	10	10	10	7	37
Zips	0	7	0	0	7

See also: 2012 Akron Zips football team

@ Western Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
Huskies	7	10	14	17	48
Broncos	14	7	0	13	34

See also: 2012 Western Michigan Broncos football team

Massachusetts

	1	2	3	4	Total
Minutemen	0	0	0	0	0
Huskies	14	21	21	7	63

See also: 2012 UMass Minutemen football team

Toledo

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rockets	7	7	0	10	24
Huskies	0	7	21	3	31

See also: 2012 Toledo Rockets football team

@ Eastern Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
#23 Huskies	14	14	7	14	49
Eagles	7	0	0	0	7

See also: 2012 Eastern Michigan Eagles football team

#18 Kent State (MAC Championship Game)

	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

See also: 2012 MAC Championship Game

See also: 2012 Kent State Golden Flashes football team

#12 Florida State (Orange Bowl)

	1	2	3	4	Total
#16 Huskies	3	0	7	0	10
#12 Seminoles	7	7	3	14	31

See also: 2013 Orange Bowl

See also: 2012 Florida State Seminoles football team

References

1. "Northern Illinois vs. Florida State - Game Recap - January 1, 2013 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
2. "Florida State solves Northern Illinois offense in win". USA Today. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
3. "NC State hires N. Illinois' Doeren as next coach". December 2012. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
4. "Northern Illinois vs. Kent State - Game Recap - November 30, 2012 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
5. "BCS selection procedures". ESPN.com. July 25, 2013. Archived from the original on December 28, 2010. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
6. "Northern Illinois is a BCS team years in the making". USA Today. Retrieved August 1, 2016.
7. "Iowa vs. Northern Illinois - Box Score - September 1, 2012 - ESPN".
8. "Tennessee-Martin vs. Northern Illinois - Box Score - September 8, 2012 - ESPN".
9. "Northern Illinois vs. Army - Box Score - September 15, 2012 - ESPN".
10. "Kansas vs. Northern Illinois - Box Score - September 22, 2012 - ESPN".
11. "Central Michigan vs. Northern Illinois - Box Score - September 29, 2012 - ESPN".
12. "Northern Illinois vs. Ball State - Box Score - October 6, 2012 - ESPN".
13. "Buffalo vs. Northern Illinois - Box Score - October 13, 2012 - ESPN".
14. "Northern Illinois vs. Akron - Box Score - October 20, 2012 - ESPN".
15. "Northern Illinois vs. Western Michigan - Box Score - October 27, 2012 - ESPN".
16. "UMass vs. Northern Illinois - Box Score - November 3, 2012 - ESPN".
17. "Toledo vs. Northern Illinois - Box Score - November 14, 2012 - ESPN".
18. "Northern Illinois vs. Eastern Michigan - Box Score - November 23, 2012 - ESPN".
19. "Northern Illinois vs. Kent State - Box Score - November 30, 2012 - ESPN".