1981 Northern Illinois
3–8 (2–7 Mid-American Conference), coached by Bill Mallory. Share
Schedule and results
- Biggest winBeat Illinois State 40–7Sep 26
By 33 points, its widest win.
| Date | Opponent | Result | Elo |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 12 | vsLong Beach State | L 7–17 | 55% |
| Sep 19 | at Central Michigan | L 10–17 | 30% |
| Sep 26 | vs Illinois State | W 40–7 | 68% |
| Oct 3 | at Ball State | L 0–23 | 40% |
| Oct 10 | at Kent State | L 10–31 | 54% |
| Oct 17 | vs Bowling Green | L 10–17 | 59% |
| Oct 24 | at Eastern Michigan | W 30–7 | 67% |
| Oct 31 | vs Western Michigan | L 12–23 | 40% |
| Nov 7 | vs Ohio | W 38–14 | 54% |
| Nov 14 | at Miami (OH) | L 3–30 | 25% |
| Nov 21 | vs Toledo | L 0–31 | 37% |
Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.
How it ended: Lost to Toledo 31–0; unranked in the final AP poll; 9th in the Mid-American Conference.
In program history: The 38th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 61 on file).
- Record
- 3–8
- Conference
- 2–7 9th in Mid-American Conference
- AP final
- Unranked
- Points
- 160–217
- Coach
- Bill Mallory
- Elo
- 1371 −110 this season
- SP+ rating
- -15.6 No. 116 of 132; offense No. 124, defense No. 90
- SRS
- −17.1 No. 122 of 137 in Division I-A
- Recruiting class
- —
- Defensive coordinator
- Joe Novak
- Captains
- Mike Chelovich, John Gibbons and Pat O’Shea
- Most valuable player
- Larry Alleyne
1981 Mid-American Conference standings
| Team | Conf. | Overall | AP final |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toledo | 8–1 | 9–3 | |
| Miami (OH) | 6–1–1 | 8–2–1 | |
| Central Michigan | 7–2 | 7–4 | |
| Bowling Green | 5–3–1 | 5–5–1 | |
| Western Michigan | 5–4 | 6–5 | |
| Ohio | 5–4 | 5–6 | |
| Kent State | 3–6 | 4–7 | |
| Ball State | 2–6 | 4–7 | |
 Northern Illinois | 2–7 | 3–8 | |
| Eastern Michigan | 0–9 | 0–11 |
Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.