Before the 1983 season, expectations for the Northern Illinois University football team weren’t very high.
The Huskies had finished 5-5 in 1982 and were picked sixth in the Mid-American Conference preseason poll.
Yet NIU coach Bill Mallory didn’t let the doubts creep in. He expected to win the MAC, and he expected to represent the conference in the California Bowl in Fresno, Calif.
Before the season, Mallory showed the team tape of the previous year’s game between Fresno State and Bowling Green.
“I know we talked about winning the title and getting to the Cal bowl. I showed them film of the bowl the previous year. I remember doing that in preseason,” said Mallory, who finished his college coaching career with a 165-121-4 record and had stops at Miami (Ohio), Colorado and Indiana in addition to being in DeKalb for four years. “We wanted to win the MAC and get there.”
The Huskies completed a season for the ages in 1983, including a win over a major conference school, the school’s first and only MAC title, as well as its first major bowl appearance.
“It was a committed team,” Mallory said. “I think every one of us, from staff through players, it was just a good family. Good family atmosphere, very focused.”
The season started with a 37-34 win against a major conference school in Kansas, members of the then-Big Eight Conference. At Kansas’ Memorial Stadium, NIU kicker Vince Scott kicked a game-winning field goal to give the Huskies their first triumph over a Big Eight program.
“We end up really handling Kansas,” said quarterback Tim Tyrrell, who went on to win the Jefferson Trophy as the MAC’s top player that year. “It was a phenomenal game, just well coached. We did these sneak plays, we just had a really good game plan.”
NIU didn’t pass its next test, again against a major conference opponent, with a 37-9 loss to Wisconsin. But after that, the Huskies rolled right through the MAC, with their only hiccup in conference play being a 30-14 loss at Central Michigan.
The team’s best victory came on Oct. 22, against Bowling Green, when the Huskies were down 20-0 at halftime, only to come roaring back in the second half and win, 24-23.
Some fans had left the game when the Huskies were losing, but returned to Huskie Stadium for the finish.
“Bowling Green was really an incredible comeback,” Tyrell said. “All the students heard it on the radio. They all came back to the game and tore down both goal posts.”
The team clinched the MAC title with a 41-17 win against Ohio during the final week of the regular season (the MAC Championship Game didn’t begin until 1997), once again tearing down the goal posts.
They were headed to the same bowl game that Mallory showed them film of the previous season.
“Super insane,” nose tackle Doug Bartlett said of winning the MAC title. “Super insane.”
The final test was the California Bowl in Fresno against Cal State Fullerton in the school’s first major bowl game. Fullback Lou Wicks led the way for NIU, rushing for 119 yards on 14 carries to win the game’s MVP award, while tailback Darryl Richardson ran for two touchdowns in a 20-13 NIU win, bringing the Huskies final record to 10-2.
It was Mallory’s last game as NIU coach before heading to Indiana for the 1984 season.
“It wasn’t the Rose Bowl, but for Northern people it meant a great deal,” former NIU sports information director and Daily Chronicle contributor Mike Korcek said.
A good argument could be made that the 1983 team is the school’s best ever. It had the talent, as seven players from the squad went on to be selected in the NFL draft, while 19 players played professionally at some level. They had the coaching, as well. Mallory has 165 wins as a head coach, while his defensive coordinator that year was future NIU head coach Joe Novak.
“Bottom line is, players got to play the game, but we had some hellified coaches, starting with Mallory at the top. We really had that professional guidance.” said Bartlett, who is now the defensive line coach at Hope High School in Chicago. “Everything I coach comes from Mallory. He made a big influence for you when he was coaching. He was a premium guy to follow.
“He would search you straight. Uncle Bill would put up with no [garbage]. It’s that kind of leadership that really put us on top.”
NIU hasn’t won a MAC title since, and it didn’t play in a bowl game until defeating Troy in the 2004 Silicon Valley Classic.
Granted, the team had some lean years in the ‘80s and ‘90s, not to mention NIU wasn’t even a member of the MAC from 1986-1996. But even during Joe Novak’s glory days from 2000-06, when the Huskies put together five straight winning seasons, they never got that coveted MAC championship. Of course, there were some close calls. There was the 10-2 season in 2003 when NIU defeated three major conference programs (Maryland, Alabama, and Iowa State), only to falter in conference play with losses at Bowling Green and Toledo.
In 2005, there was the heart-breaking, one-point loss to Akron in the MAC title game, with Akron wide receiver Domenik Hixon catching a touchdown pass with 10 seconds left in the game.
So while it could change in three months or so, Mallory’s 1983 squad remains the only NIU team known as a MAC champion. But, the members of the 1983 team are high on this year’s version of NIU football.
