2016 Northern Illinois Huskies football team

The 2016 Northern Illinois Huskies football team represented Northern Illinois University in the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Huskies competed in the West Division of the Mid-American Conference. They were led by fourth-year head coach Rod Carey. They played their home games at Huskie Stadium in DeKalb, Illinois. They finished the season 5–7, 5–3 in MAC play to finish in third place in the West Division.

Previous season
The Huskies finished the 2015 season 8–6, 6–2 in MAC play to finish in a four-way tie for the West Division title. They represented the West Division in the MAC Championship Game where they lost to Bowling Green. They were invited to the Poinsettia Bowl where they lost to Boise State.

Preseason
For the second straight year, the Huskies were picked to finish third in the division in 2016 in the poll released during the 2016 MAC Media Day at Ford Field in Detroit.

Schedule
The 2016 Northern Illinois Huskies schedule is:

All-MAC
Source

Wyoming
The Cowboys beat the Huskies in triple overtime, 40–34. NIU quarterback Drew Hare went 24-for-39 for 327 yards, with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Receiver Kenny Golladay gained 144 yards on 10 catches with one touchdown and got 82 yards and another touchdown rushing. However, the Huskies had 12 penalties for 108 yards. The game was scheduled to start at 8:30 p.m. Mountain Time, but began almost two hours late due to lightning. The game ended at 2:35 a.m. MT, which was 3:35 a.m. for NIU fans back in Illinois.

Toledo
The Huskies lost to the Rockets 31–24. The loss eliminated Northern Illinois from bowl game eligibility, ending their conference-record streak of eight straight bowl games. NIU had beaten Toledo in their six previous matchups. This was the first football game ever played at Guaranteed Rate Field, the recently-renamed stadium of the Chicago White Sox.