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1982 Northern Illinois

5–⁠5 (5–⁠4 Mid-American Conference), coached by Bill Mallory.

Schedule and results

Northern Illinois in 1982, game by game: lost at Toledo 3–9; won vs. Kent State 23–15; lost at Northwestern 6–31; lost vs. Ball State 7–14; lost at Bowling Green 18–20; won vs. Eastern Michigan 10–0; lost at Western Michigan 3–27; won at Ohio 36–0; won vs. Miami (OH) 12–7; won vs. Central Michigan 19–13+36−25Lost 3–9 at Toledo-6ToledoWon 23–15 vs. Kent State+8Kent StateLost 6–31 at Northwestern-25NorthwesternLost 7–14 vs. Ball State-7Ball StateLost 18–20 at Bowling Green-2Bowling GreenWon 10–0 vs. Eastern Michigan+10Eastern MichiganLost 3–27 at Western Michigan-24Western MichiganWon 36–0 at Ohio+36OhioWon 12–7 vs. Miami (OH)+5Miami (OH)Won 19–13 vs. Central Michigan+6Central Michigan
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 4atToledoL 3–⁠924%
Sep 18vsKent StateW 23–⁠1561%
Sep 25atNorthwesternL 6–⁠3166%
Oct 2vsBall StateL 7–⁠1459%
Oct 16atBowling GreenL 18–⁠2019%
Oct 23vsEastern MichiganW 10–⁠074%
Oct 30atWestern MichiganL 3–⁠2723%
Nov 6atOhioW 36–⁠024%
Nov 13vsMiami (OH)W 12–⁠733%
Nov 20vsCentral MichiganW 19–⁠1340%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Central Michigan 19–⁠13; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 5th in the Mid-American Conference.

In program history: The 26th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 61 on file).

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1982.

Record
5–⁠5
Conference
5–⁠4 tied for 5th in Mid-American Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
137–⁠136
Coach
Bill Mallory
Elo
1456 +42 this season
SP+ rating
-4.6 No. 70 of 109; offense No. 105, defense No. 19
SRS
−16.1 No. 100 of 113 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Joe Novak
Captains
Larry Alleyne, Rich Barrent, Max Gill, Jim Keogh and Larry Tharp
Most valuable player
Max Gill

1982 Mid-American Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Bowling Green7–⁠27–⁠5
Western Michigan5–⁠2–⁠27–⁠2–⁠2
Miami (OH)5–⁠37–⁠4
Central Michigan5–⁠3–⁠16–⁠4–⁠1
Toledo5–⁠46–⁠5
Ohio5–⁠46–⁠5
Northern Illinois5–⁠45–⁠5
Ball State4–⁠45–⁠6
Eastern Michigan1–⁠7–⁠11–⁠9–⁠1
Kent State0–⁠90–⁠11

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.