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2012 Northern Illinois

12–⁠2 (8–⁠0 Mid-American Conference), coached by Dave Doeren, then Rod Carey (interim, bowl game), finished No. 22 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Northern Illinois in 2012, game by game: lost vs. Iowa 17–18; won vs. UT Martin 35–7; won at Army 41–40; won vs. Kansas 30–23; won vs. Central Michigan 55–24; won at Ball State 35–23; won vs. Buffalo 45–3; won at Akron 37–7; won at Western Michigan 48–34; won vs. Massachusetts 63–0; won vs. Toledo 31–24; won at Eastern Michigan 49–7; won vs. No. 18 Kent State 44–37; lost vs. No. 13 Florida State 10–31+63−21Lost 17–18 vs. Iowa-1IowaWon 35–7 vs. UT Martin+28UT MartinWon 41–40 at Army+1ArmyWon 30–23 vs. Kansas+7KansasWon 55–24 vs. Central Michigan+31Central MichiganWon 35–23 at Ball State+12Ball StateWon 45–3 vs. Buffalo+42BuffaloWon 37–7 at Akron+30AkronWon 48–34 at Western Michigan+14Western MichiganWon 63–0 vs. Massachusetts+63MassachusettsWon 31–24 vs. Toledo+7ToledoWon 49–7 at Eastern Michigan+42Eastern MichiganWon 44–37 vs. No. 18 Kent State+7No. 18 Kent StateLost 10–31 vs. No. 13 Florida State-21No. 13 Florida State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1vsIowaL 17–⁠1858%
Sep 8vsUT MartinW 35–⁠787%
Sep 15atArmyW 41–⁠4072%
Sep 22vsKansasW 30–⁠2383%
Sep 29vsCentral MichiganW 55–⁠2483%
Oct 6atBall StateW 35–⁠2365%
Oct 13vsBuffaloW 45–⁠390%
Oct 20atAkronW 37–⁠788%
Oct 27atWestern MichiganW 48–⁠3472%
Nov 3vsMassachusettsW 63–⁠095%
Nov 14vsToledoW 31–⁠2467%
Nov 23atEastern MichiganW 49–⁠786%
Nov 30vs18Kent StateMid-American Championship GameW 44–⁠3759%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvs13Florida StateOrange BowlL 10–⁠3148%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Florida State 31–⁠10 in the Orange Bowl; No. 22 in the final AP poll; Mid-American Conference champions.

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

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 13: 24
  2. Wk 14: 19
  3. Wk 15: 16
  4. Final: 22

Mid-American Conference champions8–⁠0 in the conference, won the Mid-American Championship Game

Record
12–⁠2
Conference
8–⁠0 shared first in Mid-American Conference
AP final
No. 22 peak No. 16
Points
540–⁠278
Coach
Dave Doeren, then Rod Carey (interim, bowl game)
Elo
1687 +77 this season
SP+ rating
12.4 No. 33 of 124; offense No. 29, defense No. 54, special teams No. 10
SRS
4.7 No. 49 of 124 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 103
Offensive coordinators
Mike Dunbar and Rod Carey
Defensive coordinators
Jay Niemann and Ryan Nielsen
Captains
Nabal Jefferson, Jordan Lynch, Sean Progar and Jason Schepler
Most valuable player
Jordan Lynch
Offense
Multiple
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense45th of 124
  • Defense22nd of 124
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted60th of 124
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted33rd of 124
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0843%0.9345th of 124
Defense0.0041%0.8322nd of 124
Opponent-adjusted0.06 off
0.03 def		42% off
42% def		—60th off
33rd def
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense-0.1own 321% allowed
Defense0.0own 283% 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.

Leaders

Passing yardsJordan Lynch QB3,138 yds
Passing touchdownsJordan Lynch QB25 TD
Rushing yardsJordan Lynch QB1,815 yds
Rushing touchdownsJordan Lynch QB19 TD
Receiving yardsMartel Moore WR1,083 yds
Receiving touchdownsMartel Moore WR13 TD
InterceptionsJimmie Ward S3 INT

Top recruits in the 2012 class

Mike Cotton OLB★★★No. 884
Scott Taylor OT★★★No. 1231
Matthew Baltimore SDE★★★No. 1384
Mario Jones DT★★★No. 1476
Michael Ippolito WDE★★★No. 1636

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2012 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks32.00.749
Running backs22.00.719
Receivers42.00.700
Offensive line62.30.780
Defensive line62.50.782
Linebackers52.20.747
Defensive backs42.00.708
Athletes and specialists12.00.700
Whole class312.20.746

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Roster 109

The 2012 roster

109 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2012 line; 38 have a stat line. See the roster

2012 Mid-American Conference standings

TeamConf.OverallAP final
Northern Illinois8–⁠012–⁠222
Kent State8–⁠011–⁠3
Toledo6–⁠29–⁠4
Ball State6–⁠29–⁠4
Bowling Green6–⁠28–⁠5
Ohio4–⁠49–⁠4
Central Michigan4–⁠47–⁠6
Miami (OH)3–⁠54–⁠8
Buffalo3–⁠54–⁠8
Western Michigan2–⁠64–⁠8
Eastern Michigan1–⁠72–⁠10
Massachusetts1–⁠71–⁠11
Akron0–⁠81–⁠11

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