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2001 Northern Illinois

6–⁠5 (4–⁠3 Mid-American Conference), coached by Joe Novak.

Schedule and results

Northern Illinois in 2001, game by game: won vs. South Florida 20–17; lost at Illinois 12–17; won vs. Sam Houston 41–16; lost at No. 25 Toledo 20–41; lost vs. Marshall 15–37; lost at Kent State 34–44; won vs. Western Michigan 20–12; won at Central Michigan 33–24; won vs. Eastern Michigan 40–17; won vs. Ball State 33–29; lost at Wake Forest 35–38+25−22Won 20–17 vs. South Florida+3South FloridaLost 12–17 at Illinois-5IllinoisWon 41–16 vs. Sam Houston+25Sam HoustonLost 20–41 at No. 25 Toledo-21No. 25 ToledoLost 15–37 vs. Marshall-22MarshallLost 34–44 at Kent State-10Kent StateWon 20–12 vs. Western Michigan+8Western MichiganWon 33–24 at Central Michigan+9Central MichiganWon 40–17 vs. Eastern Michigan+23Eastern MichiganWon 33–29 vs. Ball State+4Ball StateLost 35–38 at Wake Forest-3Wake Forest
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsSouth FloridaW 20–⁠1765%
Sep 8atIllinoisL 12–⁠1734%
Sep 22vsSam HoustonW 41–⁠1676%
Sep 29at25ToledoL 20–⁠4121%
Oct 6vsMarshallL 15–⁠3743%
Oct 13atKent StateL 34–⁠4465%
Oct 20vsWestern MichiganW 20–⁠1234%
Oct 27atCentral MichiganW 33–⁠2457%
Nov 3vsEastern MichiganW 40–⁠1781%
Nov 17vsBall StateW 33–⁠2970%
Nov 24atWake ForestL 35–⁠3849%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Wake Forest 38–⁠35; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 6th in the Mid-American Conference.

In program history: The 22nd-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 2001.

MAC West champions4–⁠3 in the conference, shared with Ball State and Toledo

Record
6–⁠5
Conference
4–⁠3 tied for 6th in Mid-American Conference
AP final
Unranked
Points
303–⁠292
Coach
Joe Novak
Elo
1466 −3 this season
SP+ rating
-2.0 No. 74 of 117; offense No. 64, defense No. 69
SRS
−5.0 No. 79 of 117 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Offensive coordinator
Dan Roushar
Captains
Trent Clemen, Darrell Hill, Chris Finlen, Alan Rood and Larry Williams
Most valuable player
Darrell Hill and Nick Duffy

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense-0.2own 33— allowed
Defense0.0own 39— caused

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. From CollegeFootballData.com.

Drafted in 2002

The 2002 draft
Rd 7Darrell Hill WRTennessee Titans

2001 Mid-American Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Marshall8–⁠011–⁠2
Miami (OH)6–⁠27–⁠5
Toledo5–⁠210–⁠223
Bowling Green5–⁠38–⁠3
Kent State5–⁠36–⁠5
Northern Illinois4–⁠36–⁠5
Ball State4–⁠35–⁠6
Western Michigan4–⁠45–⁠6
Akron4–⁠44–⁠7
Central Michigan2–⁠63–⁠8
Eastern Michigan1–⁠62–⁠9
Buffalo1–⁠73–⁠8
Ohio1–⁠71–⁠10

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