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1985 Northern Illinois

4–⁠7 (4–⁠4 Mid-American Conference), coached by Jerry Pettibone.

Schedule and results

Northern Illinois in 1985, game by game: won vs. Western Michigan 17–0; lost at Wisconsin 17–38; lost at No. 4 Iowa 20–48; lost at Northwestern 16–38; lost at Ball State 0–29; won vs. Toledo 16–3; lost at Miami (OH) 15–32; lost vs. Bowling Green 14–34; won at Eastern Michigan 3–0; won vs. Ohio 35–7; lost at Central Michigan 21–30+28−29Won 17–0 vs. Western Michigan+17Western MichiganLost 17–38 at Wisconsin-21WisconsinLost 20–48 at No. 4 Iowa-28No. 4 IowaLost 16–38 at Northwestern-22NorthwesternLost 0–29 at Ball State-29Ball StateWon 16–3 vs. Toledo+13ToledoLost 15–32 at Miami (OH)-17Miami (OH)Lost 14–34 vs. Bowling Green-20Bowling GreenWon 3–0 at Eastern Michigan+3Eastern MichiganWon 35–7 vs. Ohio+28OhioLost 21–30 at Central Michigan-9Central Michigan
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 7vsWestern MichiganW 17–⁠061%
Sep 14atWisconsinL 17–⁠3834%
Sep 21at4IowaL 20–⁠4824%
Sep 28atNorthwesternL 16–⁠3856%
Oct 5atBall StateL 0–⁠2951%
Oct 19vsToledoW 16–⁠352%
Oct 26atMiami (OH)L 15–⁠3231%
Nov 2vsBowling GreenL 14–⁠3422%
Nov 9atEastern MichiganW 3–⁠044%
Nov 16vsOhioW 35–⁠766%
Nov 23atCentral MichiganL 21–⁠3023%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Central Michigan 30–⁠21; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Mid-American Conference.

In program history: The 32nd-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 1985.

Record
4–⁠7
Conference
4–⁠4 tied for 4th in Mid-American Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
174–⁠259
Coach
Jerry Pettibone
Elo
1415 −60 this season
SP+ rating
-10.8 No. 82 of 106; offense No. 98, defense No. 62
SRS
−15.2 No. 96 of 110 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Pat Ruel
Defensive coordinator
Ted Huber
Captains
Tim Griffin, Scott Kellar and Curt Pardridge
Most valuable player
Tim Griffin

Drafted in 1986

The 1986 draft
Rd 5Scott Kellar DEIndianapolis Colts
Rd 6Curt Pardridge WRSan Diego Chargers
Rd 7Steve O’Malley DTIndianapolis Colts

1985 Mid-American Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Bowling Green9–⁠011–⁠1
Miami (OH)7–⁠1–⁠18–⁠2–⁠1
Central Michigan6–⁠37–⁠3
Western Michigan4–⁠4–⁠14–⁠6–⁠1
Northern Illinois4–⁠44–⁠7
Ball State3–⁠64–⁠7
Toledo3–⁠64–⁠7
Eastern Michigan3–⁠64–⁠7
Kent State2–⁠63–⁠8
Ohio2–⁠72–⁠9

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