Put yourself in the shoes of a typical Northern Illinois University football fan. In reality, success for the Huskie Nation had been a rare commodity with only ten winning seasons since moving to the major-college ranks in 1969. Okay, there was the 10-victory California Bowl team in 1983, the nine-win Stacey Robinson breakout season in 1989, but not much else to write home about in the interim.
Until 2003’s visit to the Fantasy Island college pigskin paradise, that is. Seven consecutive triumphs to open the season for the first time since 1963, ten Ws for only the third time at Northern Illinois and, overall, 16 successive weeks in both the Associated Press and ESPN / USA Today coaches polls—including the highest ranking in NIU history (No. 10 in the Bowl Championship Series ratings and No. 12 in the AP on October 12).
By beating No. 15-ranked (AP) Maryland, 20-13, in overtime, winning at No. 21-rated (AP) Alabama, 19-16, and besting Big 12 Conference representative Iowa State, 24-16, head coach Joe Novak’s Huskies became the first Mid-American Conference program to defeat two Top 25 BCS opponents and three BCS foes in a single season.
Coming off an 8-4 campaign in 2002 when NIU defeated Wake Forest, 42-41, in overtime and upset coach Urban Meyer’s No. 20 (AP) Bowling Green State club, 26-17, the locals were the pre-season favorites for the MAC crown and West Division title. “I thought we’d be a pretty good team,” Novak said in 2020. “(Actually) we were better than I ever thought we’d be.” Asked about the aggressive 2003 non-conference schedule, Novak replied: “I remember when (NIU AD) Cary (Groth) asked me about adding Alabama. We already had Maryland and Iowa State. I was afraid we bit off more than we could chew.”
But these Huskies could really bite. No longer an also-ran, Northern Illinois became Boise State East. As a result of the giddy achievement, record Huskie Stadium crowds (and people actually scalping tickets for the Maryland opener on Annie Glidden Road), and unprecedented national media exposure, there was talk of crashing the BCS playoffs.
On every level, the fun started August 28 vs. Maryland. That a.m., All-America tailback candidate Michael “The Burner” Turner was the highlighted cover story on the front page of the USA Today sports section. By 11 p.m., the NIU-Terrapin OT thriller was the No. 1 story on ESPN’s SportsCenter, thanks to a Fox Sports Net national cablecast that reached 95.4 million homes in the U.S.A. and overseas on the Armed Forces Network. With over 150 credentials issued for the game, the Huskie Stadium press box hosted the largest ever media contingent ever for a MAC home contest that included writers from USA Today, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun-Times, and Cleveland Plain-Dealer.
The next week, Northern Illinois outlasted NCAA 1-AA foe Tennessee Tech, 42-7, at home, but had to survive the sudden national onslaught from the Fourth Estate. “It’s been crazy,” Novak admitted. “New York, Los Angeles, Seattle. Radio talk shows all over (WFAN-AM in NYC, ESPN radio, Sporting News radio, etc.). It’s just hard to realize the magnitude of that (Maryland) game.” America, there was more NIU to come.
Twenty days after Maryland on September 20, Northern Illinois outlasted the Crimson Tide in Bryant-Denny Stadium before 83,018 spectators. For the second straight Huskie Top 25 victory, a QB Josh Haldi touchdown pass to WR Dan Sheldon marked the difference. The Alabama victory and the 3-0 record positioned NIU into the Top 25 polls (No. 20 in the AP and No. 22 in the ESPN / USA Today) for the first time. That Sunday’s newspaper headlines covered every angle: “Gone to the Dogs” (Huntsville Times), “Upset is old hat for Huskies” (Chicago Tribune), “Huskie heaven” (Daily Herald), “Party Crashers” (Houston Chronicle), and, maybe the best, “Bama burned” (Birmingham Times).
Post-game in the NIU locker room, president John Peters congratulated Novak, his staff, and the team after the ritual Huskie Fight Song and celebration. “You know, Joe,” Peters said, “I was the provost at Tennessee for 10 years. Five times we came to Alabama and lost each time. Now we come down with Northern and we win. I don’t know if the young men realize what they have accomplished here tonight.” Observed the Rockford Register-Star: “David left for Tuscaloosa. Goliath returned.” Turner led all rushers with 156 yards on 27 carries. That night on SportsCenter, ESPN anchor Chris Berman talked about Turner with a bottle of the infamous “Turner the Burner” hot sauce on his desk. The same hot sauce bottle the Des Moines Register (“Message in a Bottle”) would later immortalize on the front of its sports section.
By the next Wednesday, NIU Intercollegiate Athletics sold 1,367 unclaimed tickets for the Iowa State game in 75 minutes which resulted in the second Brigham Field sellout of the season. The No. 20-rated Huskies rallied from behind for the third time in 2003. “In my wildest dreams I never imagined we’d get off to a 4-0 start,” Novak admitted. In the role reversal quote of the game, ISU coach Dan McCarney rationalized the Cyclones’ loss to a mid-major, albeit a Top 25 one. “We showed character against a ranked team on the road,” McCarney said.
Three games later, the No. 12 Huskies were one of only five unbeaten NCAA I-A programs and headed to northeast Ohio, for the ultimate MAC showdown vs. No. 23 Bowling Green State and a national TV date on ESPN2 with the pre-game “GameDay” crew of ex-NIU coach Lee Corso, Chris Fowler, and Kirk Herbstreit camped near Doyt Perry Stadium. BGSU got revenge for 2002 with a 34-18 win. The clock had struck midnight for Cinderella Northern Illinois. And then again in a loss at Toledo.
At this juncture, injury attrition hit the Huskie line-up that was now missing at least four All-MAC performers. Of the nation’s top 23 programs, record-wise in 2003, 10-2 NIU wound up bowl-less despite tying for the ninth-best W-L record in the country. Back then, there were 28 1-A bowls games and the MAC only had two official tie-ins (Motor City and GMAC bowls). To some, it might have been one of the most egregious bowl snubs. “Our kids deserved better,” Novak insisted 17 years after the fact. “That was a bowl-worthy team.”
Despite the disappointment, Novak, typically, put things into perspective. “Football is far from the most important thing on campus,” he said, “but it certainly united the campus.” Because of the 2003 exposure, the sale of Huskie merchandise increased by 21 percent, applications to NIU approximately 40 percent, and alumni giving 16 percent. Those numbers were not Fantasy Island.
By Mike Korcek, Sports Information Director emeritus
Click on photos to enlarge