1997 Northern Illinois Huskies football team

American college football season

1997 Northern Illinois Huskies football
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Division	West Division
Record	0–11 (0–8 MAC)
Head coach	Joe Novak (2nd season)
MVP	Deon Mitchell, Steve Smith
Captain	Kent Booth, Jamie Macdonald, Steve Smith
Home stadium	Huskie Stadium
Seasons← 1996 1998 →

1997 Mid-American Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
East Division
Marshall x$	7	–	1	10	–	3
Miami (OH)	6	–	2	8	–	3
Ohio	6	–	2	8	–	3
Bowling Green	3	–	5	3	–	8
Kent State	3	–	5	3	–	8
Akron	2	–	7	2	–	9
West Division
Toledo x	7	–	1	9	–	3
Western Michigan	6	–	2	8	–	3
Ball State	4	–	4	5	–	6
Eastern Michigan	4	–	5	4	–	7
Central Michigan	1	–	7	2	–	9
Northern Illinois	0	–	8	0	–	11
Championship: Marshall 34, Toledo 14
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions

The 1997 Northern Illinois Huskies football team represented Northern Illinois University as a member of the West Division of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) during the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by second-year head coach Joe Novak, the Huskies compiled an overall record of 0–11 with a mark of 0–8 in conference play, placing last out of six teams in the MAC's West Division. Northern Illinois played home games at Huskie Stadium in DeKalb, Illinois.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 28	6:30 pm	at Central Michigan	Kelly/Shorts Stadium Mount Pleasant, MI	SCC	L 10–44	19,495
September 6	6:30 pm	No. 21 Kansas State*	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL		L 7–47	26,873
September 13	3:00 pm	Western Michigan	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL		L 13–21	8,003
September 20	6:00 pm	at NC State*	Carter–Finley Stadium Raleigh, NC		L 14–41	51,500
October 4	1:00 pm	at Bowling Green	Doyt Perry Stadium Bowling Green OH		L 10–35	17,148
October 11	3:00 pm	Vanderbilt*	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL		L 7–17	17,567
October 18	1:00 pm	at Toledo	Glass Bowl Toledo, OH		L 14–41	22,183
October 25	3:00 pm	Ball State	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL (rivalry)	SCC	L 14–21	10,031
November 1	1:00 pm	Ohio	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL		L 30–35	10,215
November 8	1:00 pm	Eastern Michigan	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL		L 10–38	5,866
November 15	12:00 pm	at Miami (OH)	Yager Stadium Oxford, OH		L 0–42	6,508
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

"N.C. State hands NIU another loss". Chicago Tribune. September 21, 1997. Retrieved July 26, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"Northern fumbles its big chance". Chicago Tribune. October 12, 1997. Retrieved July 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
"1997 Northern Illinois Huskies Schedule and Results". Sports-Reference. Retrieved December 5, 2013.

v t e Northern Illinois Huskies football
Venues	Glidden Field (1903–1948, 1951–1965) Dekalb Township High School football field (1949–1950) Huskie Stadium (1965–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Ball State: Bronze Stalk Trophy
Culture & lore	"Huskie Fight Song" Huskie Band
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917–1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
National championship seasons in bold

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