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1998 Northern Illinois

2–⁠9 (2–⁠6 Mid-American Conference), coached by Joe Novak.

Schedule and results

Northern Illinois in 1998, game by game: lost at Western Michigan 23–37; lost at No. 5 Kansas State 7–73; lost vs. Eastern Illinois 10–24; lost at Ball State 13–18; lost at UCF 17–38; won vs. Central Michigan 16–6; won at Eastern Michigan 26–14; lost vs. Toledo 3–16; lost vs. Miami (OH) 10–41; lost at Ohio 12–28; lost vs. Bowling Green 23–34+12−66Lost 23–37 at Western Michigan-14Western MichiganLost 7–73 at No. 5 Kansas State-66No. 5 Kansas StateLost 10–24 vs. Eastern Illinois-14Eastern IllinoisLost 13–18 at Ball State-5Ball StateLost 17–38 at UCF-21UCFWon 16–6 vs. Central Michigan+10Central MichiganWon 26–14 at Eastern Michigan+12Eastern MichiganLost 3–16 vs. Toledo-13ToledoLost 10–41 vs. Miami (OH)-31Miami (OH)Lost 12–28 at Ohio-16OhioLost 23–34 vs. Bowling Green-11Bowling Green
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 3atWestern MichiganL 23–⁠3717%
Sep 12at5Kansas StateL 7–⁠736%
Sep 19vsEastern IllinoisL 10–⁠2454%
Oct 3atBall StateL 13–⁠1825%
Oct 10atUCFL 17–⁠3810%
Oct 17vsCentral MichiganW 16–⁠632%
Oct 24atEastern MichiganW 26–⁠1427%
Oct 31vsToledoL 3–⁠1626%
Nov 7vsMiami (OH)L 10–⁠4114%
Nov 14atOhioL 12–⁠2822%
Nov 21vsBowling GreenL 23–⁠3434%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Bowling Green 34–⁠23; unranked in the final AP poll; 10th in the Mid-American Conference.

In program history: The 54th-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 1998.

Record
2–⁠9
Conference
2–⁠6 10th in Mid-American Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
160–⁠329
Coach
Joe Novak
Elo
1248 −29 this season
SP+ rating
-12.6 No. 90 of 112; offense No. 100, defense No. 70
SRS
−17.7 No. 104 of 112 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Dan Roushar
Captains
Perry Amoo, Orlando Bowen and Deon Mitchell
Most valuable player
Duane Hawthorne and Deon Mitchell

1998 Mid-American Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Marshall7–⁠112–⁠1
Miami (OH)7–⁠110–⁠1
Toledo6–⁠27–⁠5
Western Michigan5–⁠37–⁠4
Central Michigan5–⁠36–⁠5
Bowling Green5–⁠35–⁠6
Ohio5–⁠35–⁠6
Akron3–⁠64–⁠7
Eastern Michigan3–⁠63–⁠8
Northern Illinois2–⁠62–⁠9
Ball State1–⁠71–⁠10
Kent State0–⁠80–⁠11

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