GoDaddy.com Bowl
Northern Illinois vs. Arkansas State
Sunday, January 8, 2012 | 8 p.m. (CT)/ 9 p.m. (ET) | ESPN
Mobile, Ala. | Ladd-Peebles Stadium | 40,646
Northern Illinois concludes a championship season with a trip to Mobile, Ala. to take on Arkansas State in the GoDaddy.com Bowl. The Mid-American Conference Champion Huskies face the Sun Belt Conference Champion Red Wolves for the seventh time ever. The penultimate bowl game of 2011-12, the GoDaddy.com Bowl will be played Sunday, Jan. 8 at 8 p.m. (CT) in Mobile’s Ladd-Peebles Stadium. The contest will be televised by ESPN.
Four in a Row
Northern Illinois will conclude its season at a bowl game for the fourth consecutive season, the longest streak in Huskie history. In its last bowl outing, Northern Illinois defeated Fresno State, 40-17, in Boise, Idaho in last year’s uDrove Humanitarian Bowl. The Huskies played South Florida in the 2010 International Bowl in Toronto, Canada on January 2, 2010 at the end of the 2009 season. Northern Illinois began its current bowl streak at the 2008 Independence Bowl in Shreveport, La.
Success Story
Northern Illinois is one of the most consistently successful programs among non-automatic qualifying Bowl Championship Subdivision (BCS) teams. Northern Illinois is one of only SEVEN teams from “non-AQ” BCS leagues to win six or more games in each of the last four seasons (since 2008). The others with that distinction are Air Force, TCU, BYU, Southern Miss, Hawaii and Boise State. The Huskies have won at least six games 11 times in the past 12 years dating back to 2000.
MAC Champions
Northern Illinois defeated Ohio, 23-20, in the 2011 Marathon MAC Championship game at Ford Field in Detroit to earn its first Mid-American Conference Championship in 28 years. The Huskies’ title is the second MAC football crown in school history. Northern Illinois came back from a 20-0 defi cit to win the game on a last-second field goal by kicker Mathew Sims.
On the Edge
Following its win in the Marathon MAC Championship game, Northern Illinois was ranked 26th in the final regular season USA Today Coaches’ Poll with 14 points and earned a season-best seven points in the Associated Press poll to rank 30th. Last year, Northern Illinois achieved season high rankings of 24th (AP) and 23rd (USA Today) in week 14 (Nov. 28). Following its Humanitarian Bowl win, the Huskies were ranked 29th and 26th, respectively.
Doeren’s Debut Season
Dave Doeren has led Northern Illinois to a 10-3 record to become the winningest first-year head coach in school history. Doeren is completing his first season as a head coach after 16 seasons as a collegiate assistant. The 21st head football coach in school history, and the 10th since Northern Illinois became a major college program in 1969, Doeren came to Northern Illinois after five seasons at Wisconsin (2006-10), where he was linebackers coach and defensive coordinator.
Eight Straight
Northern Illinois enters the GoDaddy.com Bowl game riding an eight-game winning streak. A year ago, Northern Illinois had a nine-game winning streak snapped in the MAC title game. The 2002 and 2003 Huskies each won at least seven consecutive games during their 8-4 and 10-2 campaigns, respectively. Northern Illinois current win streak began Oct. 8 at home versus Kent State and has continued with MAC victories over Western Michigan, Buffalo, Toledo, Bowling Green, Ball State, Eastern Michigan and Ohio.
Series Summary
Northern Illinois and Arkansas State will meet for the eighth time when they play on Jan. 8 in Mobile. The teams played every year from 1990-96, including three times as members of the Big West Conference from 1993-95. The Huskies have won six of the seven series meetings, including the last one, a 31-30 Northern Illinois victory at Arkansas State in 1996. That victory, in Joe Novak’s first year as head coach, marked the Huskies’ only win of the season.
Special Senior Class
Nineteen Northern Illinois seniors will wear the Huskie uniform for the final time in the GoDaddy.com Bowl including 14 on offense, four defenders and one specialist. The group includes 13 fifth-year seniors, one player from the 2008 signing class, four who have been at Northern Illinois for four years and one two-year player. As a class, the seniors are tied for
the winningest Northern Illinois senior class all-time with 34 victories. They need a win over Arkansas State to break the tie with the 2005, 1966 and 1965 Huskie seniors. All 19 2011 seniors have seen playing time this year with 10 listed as starters on offense and three starting on defense. The 19 players have 308 career starts for the Huskies.
Dual Threat Quarterback
Northern Illinois quarterback Chandler Harnish ranks as the top dual threat quarterback in the nation. Harnish currently ranks 18th in the country, and is the FBS top quarterback, in rushing yards per game with 106.3. He also ranks 13th in the nation in passing efficiency with a 155.73 mark on 219-of-348 passing with 26 touchdowns and just five interceptions
for 2,942 yards. Harnish’s total offense yardage of 4,324 is third nationally, behind ONLY Houston’s Case Keenum and Heisman Trophy winner Robert Griffin III of Baylor. He broke his own school record for total offense yards in a season by 958 yards. On the ground, Harnish is averaging 7.47 yards per carry and is on pace to destroy the Northern Illinois single-season mark of 6.76 set by Adam Dach in 1990.
Never Before
Chandler Harnish needs 118 rushing and 58 passing yards to become the FIRST player in NCAA FBS history to gain 1,500 rushing and 3,000 passing yards in a single season. With 1,382 rushing and 2,986 passing yards, Harnish is surpassing milestones rarely seen in combination in NCAA history. All-time, only 10 NCAA FBS players have reached 1,000 yards rushing and 2,000 yards passing in a season; among those 10, Harnish’s rushing total ranks fourth, behind only UAB’s Joe Webb (2009), Auburn’s Cam Newton (2010) and
Michigan’s Denard Robinson (2010). Of that group, he has more passing yards than Webb and Robinson.
Quite a Career
While Harnish’s single season numbers are eye-opening, his career totals are just as impressive. Harnish enters his final game in a Northern Illinois uniform with 2,986 rushing and 8,670 passing yards. He needs 14 rushing yards to become only the third quarterback in FBS history to rush for 3,000 yards and pass for 8,000 in a career, joining Missouri’s Brad Smith (4,289 rush/8,799 pass from 2002-05) and Nevada’s Colin Kaepernick (4,112 rush/10,098 pass from 2007-10) with that distinction.
He’s Got Legs
Chandler Harnish has led the Huskies in rushing in eight games this season, including seven of Northern Illinois last eight contest, and has rushed for 100-plus yards six times. Harnish has surpassed Stacey Robinson (1988-90) as the top rushing quarterback in Northern Illinois history and he ranks eighth on the Huskies’ career rushing list with 2,986 yards on 529 carries. His 24 career rushing scores, including 11 in 2011, rank ninth all-time, while his 11 career 100-yard rushing games are tied for eighth.
Record Breaker
Chandler Harnish currently owns or shares 24 Northern Illinois records, including the single-game total offense record of 519 yards set versus Ball State with 338 passing and 181 rushing yards. Harnish has even broken several of his own single season records (set last year). In 46 career games (44 starts), Harnish has completed 669-of-1,074 passes for 8,670 yards (all records) with a school-record six 300-yard passing games, including three this season. He has 11,656 yards of total offense and 90 touchdowns (rushing and passing) in 1,603 plays - also school records, and has averaged 7.3 yards per play in his career.