Northern Illinois Huskies football The Northern Illinois Huskies football team represents Northern Illinois University in the Mid - American Conference of the NCAA ' s Division I - Football Bowl Subdivision . History . NIU ' s football program was established in the late 19th century , playing its first ever game against DeKalb High School in 1899 and was led by coach John L . Keith to the team ' s first ever victory . NIU started out in the independent scene from 1899 through 1919 before joining the Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference . The team became independent again in 1925 . NIU returned to the Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference in 1928 and finished the season winless for the first time . In 1929 however , Red Evans took over as the head football coach and immediately twisted the downhill fate of his team as he led his squad to a 6 - 1 - 1 record . Evans led the Huskies to continuous winning seasons since his take over , and his efforts paid off in 1938 as NIU captured the Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship , the team ' s first title . He followed it up with three more championships ( 1941 , ' 44 , and ' 46 ) and even led the Huskies ' to a back - to - back bowl game appearance in 1946 and ' 47 ( unfortunately , both on a losing cause to Evansville first in the Turkey Bowl then in the Hoosier Bowl ) . In 1950 , the Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference , which had dwindled down to only five members ( NIU , SIU , EIU , WIU , and ISU ) accepted its first members from out of state and changed its name to the Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference . With the exception of the spotless season ( 9 - 0 - 0 ) in 1951 that earned the team a 5th conference title , NIU failed to make a decent showing during the first few years in the newly - named conference . Howard Fletcher though had other plans as he picked up the pieces of the miserable 0 - 8 - 1 season from Robert Kahler in 1956 . The Huskies ' had a slow progress that picked up in the late 1950s . The team ' s third bowl game appearance in 1962 , although a loss , was only the beginning of good things to come as in the following season , the Huskies completed their sixth undefeated season which earned them the Interstate Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship , an AP College Division National championship selection , and a ticket to the Mineral Water Bowl which the team eventually won over Missouri State . The team made it a three - peat championship , adding up the 1964 and 1965 conference titles . NIU became independent from 1966 through ' 72 before joining the Mid - American Athletic Conference in 1973 . The team claimed the MAC title in 1983 then went on to their first Bowl Game in the Division I - A , the California Bowl , which the Huskies won over Cal State - Fullerton . The team had no permanent affiliation after leaving the MAC in 1986 ; first became independent from 1987 – 92 , then joined the Big West Conference from 1993 through ' 95 , became independent again in ' 96 , then finally was admitted back into the Mid - American Conference in 1997 . Huskies Football entered the 2008 season having produced a 1 , 000 yard rusher in nine consecutive seasons from 1999 through 2007 , including rushers Thomas Hammock , Michael Turner , Garrett Wolfe and Justin Anderson . The Joe Novak Era ( 1996 - 2007 ) . Joe Novak took over the Huskie program in December 1995 , and coached his first NIU game in September 1996 . The first 3 years of Novak ' s tenure proved to be tumultuous , as his Huskie squads won a total of 3 games between 1996 and 1998 . Despite this , Novak kept his job and turned the program around . In 1999 , Northern Illinois won 5 games , and in 2000 Novak started a string of 7 consecutive winning seasons , going 6 - 5 in both 2000 and 2001 . After a 1 - 3 start to the 2002 season , fans began to see the fruits of Novak ' s labor as the team ripped off 7 consecutive wins , and only a 33 - 30 loss in their final game against rival Toledo prevented a MAC Championship Game appearance . Optimism was high to start the 2003 season , with 12 returning starters including prospect and future NFL players Michael Turner , Doug Free , Brad Cieslak , P . J . Fleck , Dan Sheldon , Keith Perry , Vinson Reynolds , Akil Grant , Randee Drew , and Travis Moore . On opening weekend , the Huskies beat # 14 Maryland 20 - 17 in overtime . Then , the Huskies traveled to Tuscaloosa and beat # 21 Alabama 16 - 13 . After beating Iowa State the following week , the Huskies were rolling and won their first 7 games . Following their week 5 win against Ohio , the first BCS standings were released , and by week 7 the Huskies had climbed to # 10 overall . Novak and the Huskies could not keep that momentum going , as they lost in week 8 at # 22 Bowling Green , which also featured the first ever ESPN GameDay appearance for a MAC football game . The Huskies would lose only one more game in 2003 , to Toledo , finishing the year 10 - 2 , unranked , and uninvited to a bowl game . Novak ' s 2004 and 2006 teams both went to bowl games . The 2004 team went to the Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose , California and was the first Huskie team to go bowling in 21 years . The Huskies fell behind early 14 - 0 to a Troy team that featured current NFLer DeMarcus Ware , but were able to rally behind future NFL running back Garrett Wolfe and the accurate passing of Josh Haldi to win 34 - 21 . In 2006 , Wolfe and company returned to a bowl , the Poinsettia Bowl , against TCU and lost 37 - 7 . Novak ' s final year was a tough one , winning only 2 games and finishing at the bottom of the MAC West . Overall Novak won 63 games as the Huskie ' s head coach . He currently is retired and resides in North Carolina . The Jerry Kill Era ( 2008 - 2010 ) . Jerry Kill was hired to replace the retiring Joe Novak after the 2007 season . Kill was previously the head coach at Southern Illinois University , an FCS football program , making NIU his first FBS head coaching job . Kill led the Huskies to three straight bowl appearances in his three years as head coach , all three with quarterback Chandler Harnish . In 2010 , Kill led the Huskies to the MAC Championship , but NIU fell to Miami ( Ohio ) . On December 5 , 2010 , the day after NIU ' s loss in the MAC Championship , Kill tendered his immediate resignation and accepted the position of head coach of the Minnesota Golden Gophers . This left the Huskies without a coach , less than two weeks before they were to appear in the 2010 Humanitarian Bowl . Despite Kill ' s departure , the Huskies won their bowl game , defeating Fresno State in the 2010 Humanitarian Bowl . Back - to - back Championships and Orange Bowl ( 2011 - 2012 ) . The Huskies went 11 – 3 in Doeren ' s first season and won their first MAC Championship since 1983 in a 23 – 20 comeback win against Ohio , while also defeating the Arkansas State Red Wolves in a come - from - behind game in the 2012 GoDaddy . com Bowl . Inclusive of the 2012 season , NIU has won 10 conference and three division titles , appeared in 13 Division I - A and College Division bowl games ( winning five ) , has accumulated 535 wins , and has an all - time winning percentage of . 533 . 2012 ended up being another memorable season in DeKalb , with the emergence of quarterback Jordan Lynch . Lynch was replacing Huskie QB Chandler Harnish , the decorated NIU starting QB for the previous three years . There was hope that Lynch would be a good quarterback , but no one could have predicted what Lynch ended up doing in the 2012 campaign . Lynch ended the season passing for 2962 yards , 24 touchdowns with five interceptions . He also ran for 1751 yards and 19 rushing touchdowns . The 1751 rushing yards are the most ever by a quarterback in the FBS , surpassing a record set in 2011 by Denard Robinson of the University of Michigan . Lynch ' s marquee game was on November 14 against Toledo , where Lynch threw for 407 yards and three touchdowns , while rushing for another 162 yards . Lynch lead the Huskies to a 11 – 1 record , a No . 21 ranking in the BCS poll and their third consecutive MAC West Divisional Championship . In the MAC Championship Game , NIU defeated No . 17 Kent State Golden Flashes 44 – 37 score in double overtime . Lynch scored the game winning touchdown in overtime . The win eventually propelled the team to No . 15 in the BCS Standings , granting them their first - ever appearance in a BCS bowl game , the 2013 Orange Bowl against Florida State . The day after the MAC Championship game , Doeren was hired as the new head coach for North Carolina State University . Championships . National Championships Conference Championships Division Championships