Northern Illinois Wins School-Record 11th Game With Victory In The Humanitarian Bowl

Northern Illinois linebacker coach Tom Matukewicz decided to make his 15 minutes of fame fun after being named the interim head coach for the Huskies Humanitarian Bowl game against Fresno State.

Things were, after all, in the dumper after winning 9 straight games going into their Mid-American Conference championship game at 10-2 and promptly losing 26-21 to Miami of Ohio. Two days later their head coach Jerry Kill proved a real killjoy by leaving to become the new big-time coach at Minnesota in the Big Ten.

No matter. "Tuke" (his players nickname for MaTUKEwicz) is Polish, he knows how to party. If you have ever attended a Polish funeral, you know how to party down after the burial. Tuke gave new meaning to the expression, "hang loose, mother goose".

He was wise-cracking right up to the kickoff of the Humanitarian Bowl, and boy, did his Huskies respond by kicking the living stuffing right out of the Fresno State Bulldogs with a 40-17 victory, giving Northern Illinois a school-record 11th win to end its season on a high note.

Never at a loss for words, Tuke said, "We better start next season in the Top 25. If you've got a vote, put us in there."

When next season starts, the new head coach of Northern Illinois will be Dave Doeren, the current defensive coordinator for the 4th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers (11-1), who will face TCU (12-0) in the Rose Bowl on New Year's Day. Tuke will remain as the linebackers coach.

If nothing else, Tom Matukewicz has a perfect record (1-0) as head coach of a major college team, and with a bowl victory to boot.

The Husky players were effusive in crediting Tuke's humor with keeping them loose and focused for their bowl game, and it showed in their play.

Chandler Harnish (nominated for the most unlikely name for a college football quarterback) ran for two touchdowns and threw for another as Northern Illinois won its first bowl game since 2004. He went 17-for-26 (65%) while passing for 300 yards and added another 72 yards rushing. Harnish, a junior, ranks 15th nationally in passing efficiency.

The Husky offensive line kept Fresno State's rush defensive away from Harnish, allowing two great circus catches - a fingertip snatch by Perez Ashford on the sideline and a mid-route adjustment for 32 yards by Willie Clark. It was sweet for Northern Illinois.

Husky running back Chad Spann rolled for 95 yards and two touchdowns, giving him 22 rushing TDs for the season, tying LaMichael James of Oregon and Vai Taua of Nevada for the national scoring lead.

While the final score may have been 40-17, Northern Illinois dominated Fresno State as the Huskies scored on 7 straight possessions and never had to punt in the game. And the Husky defense? I'm glad you asked. They sacked the Bulldog's QB, Ryan Colburn, 6 times, including 3 by Jake (you can call him "The Animal") Coffman. They also held Fresno's crack running back Robbie Rouse to 32 yards; Rouse ran for nearly 300 yards in one game this year.

Fresno State ended the year at 8-5; Northern Illinois at 11-3.

A couple of freshman quarterbacks - Jake Heaps from Brigham Young and Corey Robinson from Troy - shined brightly while joining Northern Illinois in leading their teams to victory the same day in two other bowl games.

Jake Heaps, a true freshman and one of college football's top QB recruits, helped BYU blow past UTEP (Texas-El Paso), 52-24, in the New Mexico Bowl. Last year Heaps was leading Skyline High School to its 3rd straight 4A (big school) Washington State championship. He passed for 9,196 yards and 114 touchdowns in his prep career.

Heaps, who shared QB time with Riley Nelson before he was injured, initially struggled as the starter, but his finish could not have been better.

The BYU Cougars went 1-4 to open the season and getting to a bowl game, much less winning one, looked improbable but, with everything on Heaps back, they finished 5-2 to become bowl eligible at 6-6.

Jake Heaps completed 7 of his first 9 passes, and the 2 that were incomplete were dropped passes that should have been caught by the receivers. By games end, Heaps went 25-of-34 (73%) for 264 yards and 4 touchdowns; Cody Hoffman caught 3 of them for 31, 29 and 3 yards.

The 4 TD passes gave Heaps 15 for the year, breaking Ty Detmer's 22-year-old freshman record. Detmer played 14 years in the NFL for 6 different teams.

Heaps, who became the first freshman to start for BYU in the Cougars 29 bowl-game appearances, was named the New Mexico Bowl's Offensive Player of the Game. Not too shabby for a 6-foot-2, 205-pound true freshman. He is tough too. Heaps played with a broken rib he received in BYU's 17-16 last-game loss on the road at Utah.

Mike Price and his UTEP Miners had the opposite experience this season - they started the season at 5-1 but finished 1-6. UTEP did reach a bowl game for the first time since 2005 but dropped to 0-5 in bowl play since beating Mississippi 14-7 in the 1967 Sun Bowl.

Corey Robinson, a redshirt freshman, learned his lessons well. It had to be difficult for Robinson to watch his first year after throwing for 5,872 yards and a national-record 91 touchdowns during his senior year at Lone Oak High School in Paducah (KY). The prep was intercepted just 4 times in 520 attempts as a senior, had 132 career TD passes, and was named Kentucky's top player.

Going into the New Orleans Bowl, Robinson had passed for 3,339 yards and 24 touchdowns. In the two prior games that Troy Trojans needed to stay competitive for its 5th straight Sun Belt Conference title, Robinson went 51-of-73 (70%) for 628 yards and 5 TDs.

He did not disappoint against an 8-4 Ohio team, going 23-of-29 (79%) for 285 yards and 4 touchdowns in the first half as Troy built a 38-7 lead and the Bobcats were toast. Ohio needed to play well on defense and control the ball on offense, and could do neither.

Troy won the New Orleans Bowl, 48-21, and left Ohio coach Frank Solich wondering what happened. Ohio's all-time bowl game record is still winless at 0-5. Robinson would finish the game going 32-of-42 (76%) for 387 yards. He had plenty of outstanding support.

Senior wide receiver Tebiarus Gill had a New Orleans Bowl-record 3 TD catches for 31, 26 and 17 yards. Fellow senior Jerrel Jernigan had a 16-yard scoring catch. Ohio made a huge mistake in trying to cover Troy's receivers man-to-man. Troy finished with 602 offensive yards, another New Orleans Bowl record.

The Trojans were so dominate that they did not punt until the 4th quarter. Troy overwhelmed Ohio's defense in the first two quarters, piling up a 371 to 39-yard advantage. Corey Robinson, the 6-foot, 220-pound redshirt freshman, was named the Most Valuable Player.

While it is rare for a true freshman or a redshirt freshman to win a bowl game, it does prove one point - you cannot coach up a kid to talent, but when a player has talent, you can help coach him up to his potential.

Let it be said here and now - both Jake Heaps and Corey Robinson have talent. If you doubt it, just ask UTEP coach Mike Price or Ohio coach Frank Solich.