1971 Northern Illinois Huskies football team

1971 Northern Illinois Huskies football
Conference	Independent
1971 record	5–5–1
Head coach	Jerry Ippoliti (1st season)
Home stadium	Huskie Stadium (Capacity: 20,257)
Seasons

1971 NCAA University Division independents football records
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 5 Penn State			–					11	–	1	–	0
Boston College			–					9	–	2	–	0
No. 17 Houston			–					9	–	3	–	0
No. 13 Notre Dame			–					8	–	2	–	0
Utah State			–					8	–	3	–	0
Florida State			–					8	–	4	–	0
Cincinnati			–					7	–	4	–	0
West Virginia			–					7	–	4	–	0
Temple			–					6	–	2	–	1
Air Force			–					6	–	4	–	0
Army			–					6	–	4	–	0
Colgate			–					6	–	4	–	0
Villanova			–					6	–	4	–	1
South Carolina			–					6	–	5	–	0
Southern Miss			–					6	–	5	–	0
Georgia Tech			–					6	–	6	–	0
New Mexico State			–					5	–	5	–	1
Northern Illinois			–					5	–	5	–	1
Syracuse			–					5	–	5	–	1
Dayton			–					5	–	6	–	0
Miami (FL)			–					4	–	7	–	0
Rutgers			–					4	–	7	–	0
Virginia Tech			–					4	–	7	–	0
Navy			–					3	–	8	–	0
Pittsburgh			–					3	–	8	–	0
Tulane			–					3	–	8	–	0
Xavier			–					1	–	9	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1971 Northern Illinois Huskies football team represented Northern Illinois University in the 1971 college football season. The Huskies competed as an independent in the University Division, which became Division I in 1973. They were led by new head coach Jerry Ippoliti, where he led the Huskies to this first .500 season, and played their home games on campus at Huskie Stadium in DeKalb.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result
September 11	at Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, Wisconsin	L 0–31
September 18	Long Beach State	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, Illinois	W 48–38
September 25	at Western Michigan	Waldo Stadium Kalamazoo, Michigan	L 17–27
October 2	at San Diego State	San Diego Stadium San Diego, CA	L 10–30
October 9	Marshall	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, Illinois	W 33–18
October 16	at West Texas State	Kimbrough Memorial Stadium Canyon, Texas	W 22–19
October 23	Ball State	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, Illinois	T 10–10
October 30	at Kent State	Memorial Stadium Kent, Ohio	W 26–7
November 6	No. 14 Toledo	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, Illinois	L 8–23
November 13	at Boston College	Alumni Stadium Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts	L 10–20
November 20	Xavier	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, Illinois	W 14–9
Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to the game

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