2011 Northern Illinois Huskies football team

2011 Northern Illinois Huskies football
2011 Northern Illinois Huskies football
MAC champion; MAC West Division co-champion; GoDaddy.com Bowl champion
MAC Championship Game, W 23–20 vs. Ohio
GoDaddy.com Bowl, W 38–20 vs. Arkansas State
Conference	Mid-American Conference
	West
Record	11–3 (7–1 MAC)
Head coach	Dave Doeren (1st season);
Offensive coordinator	Matt Canada (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Jay Niemann (1st season)
MVP	Chandler Harnish
Captain	Chandler Harnish, Trevor Olson, Sean Progar, Pat Schiller
Home stadium	Huskie Stadium
	Seasons ← 2010 2012 →

2011 Mid-American Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
East Division
Ohio xy	6	–	2	10	–	4
Temple	5	–	3	9	–	4
Kent State	4	–	4	5	–	7
Bowling Green	3	–	5	5	–	7
Miami (OH)	3	–	5	4	–	8
Buffalo	2	–	6	3	–	9
Akron	0	–	8	1	–	11
West Division
Northern Illinois xy$	7	–	1	11	–	3
Toledo x	7	–	1	9	–	4
Western Michigan	5	–	3	7	–	6
Ball State	4	–	4	6	–	6
Eastern Michigan	4	–	4	6	–	6
Central Michigan	2	–	6	3	–	9
Championship: Northern Illinois 23, Ohio 20
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant

The 2011 Northern Illinois Huskies football team represented Northern Illinois University as a member of the West Division of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) during the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Led by first-year head coach Dave Doeren, the Huskies compiled an overall record of 11–3 with a mark of 7–1 in conference play, sharing the MAC West Division title with Toledo. By virtue of their head-to-head win over Toledo, Northern Illinois advance to the MAC Championship Game, where the defeated Ohio to win the program's second MAC title.^[2] The Huskies were invited to the GoDaddy.com Bowl, where they beat Arkansas State. This was the fourth consecutive season in which Northern Illinois made a trip to a bowl game. The team played home games at Huskie Stadium in DeKalb, Illinois.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance	Source
September 3	6:00 p.m.	Army*	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL	ESPN3	W 49–26	17,003	^[3]
September 10	6:00 p.m.	at Kansas*	Memorial Stadium Lawrence, KS	FCS	L 42–45	48,084	^[4]
September 17	2:30 p.m.	vs. No. 7 Wisconsin*	Soldier Field Chicago, IL	ESPN3	L 7–49	41,068	^[5]
September 24	2:30 p.m.	Cal Poly*	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL		W 47–30	14,321	^[6]
October 1	2:30 p.m.	at Central Michigan	Kelly/Shorts Stadium Mount Pleasant, MI	ESPN3	L 41–48	16,539	^[7]
October 8	2:30 p.m.	Kent State	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL		W 40–10	14,251	^[8]
October 15	2:30 p.m.	Western Michigan	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL	CSNC	W 51–22	20,277	^[9]
October 22	11:00 a.m.	at Buffalo	University at Buffalo Stadium Amherst, NY	ESPN Plus	W 31–30	13,370	^[10]
November 1	6:00 p.m.	at Toledo	Glass Bowl Toledo, OH	ESPN2	W 63–60	19,004	^[11]
November 8	7:00 p.m.	at Bowling Green	Doyt Perry Stadium Bowling Green, OH	ESPN2	W 45–14	13,752	^[12]
November 15	7:00 p.m.	Ball State	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL (Bronze Stalk Trophy)	ESPNU	W 41–38	12,391	^[13]
November 25	10:00 a.m.	Eastern Michigan	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL	ESPNU	W 18–12	15,111	^[14]
December 2	7:00 p.m.	vs. Ohio	Ford Field Detroit, MI (MAC Championship Game)	ESPN2	W 23–20	13,052	^[15]
January 8, 2012	8:00 p.m.	vs. Arkansas State*	Ladd–Peebles Stadium Mobile, AL (GoDaddy.com Bowl)	ESPN	W 38–20	38,734	^[16]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time