1978 Northern Illinois
5–6 (2–4 Mid-American Conference), coached by Pat Culpepper. Share
Schedule and results
- Biggest winBeat Illinois State 49–21Sep 30
By 28 points, its widest win.
| Date | Opponent | Result | Elo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 16 | vs Western Michigan | L 30–44 | 40% |
| Sep 23 | at UL Monroe | L 10–27 | 38% |
| Sep 30 | vs Illinois State | W 49–21 | 62% |
| Oct 7 | atLong Beach State | L 19–24 | 30% |
| Oct 14 | vs Western Illinois | W 24–20 | 77% |
| Oct 21 | at Central Michigan | L 7–34 | 15% |
| Oct 28 | at Southern Illinois | W 14–13 | 33% |
| Nov 4 | vs Kent State | W 27–21 | 48% |
| Nov 11 | at Toledo | L 16–35 | 51% |
| Nov 18 | vs Ball State | L 13–31 | 15% |
| Nov 25 | at Ohio | W 23–14 | 42% |
Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.
How it ended: Beat Ohio 23–14; unranked in the final AP poll; 7th in the Mid-American Conference.
In program history: The 46th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 61 on file).
- Record
- 5–6
- Conference
- 2–4 7th in Mid-American Conference
- AP final
- Unranked
- Points
- 232–284
- Coach
- Pat Culpepper
- Elo
- 1329 −10 this season
- SP+ rating
- -9.8 No. 102 of 133; offense No. 75, defense No. 117
- SRS
- −16.7 No. 123 of 138 in Division I-A
- Recruiting class
- —
- Captain
- All seniors
- Most valuable player
- Pete Kraker and Dave Petzke
1978 Mid-American Conference standings
| Team | Conf. | Overall | AP final |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ball State | 8–0 | 10–1 | |
| Central Michigan | 8–1 | 9–2 | |
 Miami (OH) | 5–2 | 8–2–1 | |
| Western Michigan | 5–4 | 7–4 | |
 Bowling Green | 3–5 | 4–7 | |
| Ohio | 3–5 | 3–8 | |
 Northern Illinois | 2–4 | 5–6 | |
| Kent State | 2–6 | 4–7 | |
| Toledo | 2–7 | 2–9 | |
 Eastern Michigan | 1–5 | 3–7 |
Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.