2017 QUICK LANE BOWL
Northern Illinois (8-4, 6-2 MAC) vs. Duke (6-6, 3-6 Atlantic Coast Conference)
Tuesday, December 26, 2017 • 5:15 pm ET • Detroit, Mich. • Ford Field (65,000)
ESPN Announcers: Mike Couzens (play-by-play), Ray Bentley (analyst), Allison Williams (sideline reporter)
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NIU Notes: NIU Notes;
MAC Notes
The NIU Huskies make another postseason visit to Detroit’s Ford Field, their first for a bowl game, when NIU and Duke meet for the first time, in the fourth Quick Lane Bowl.
• NIU is playing in a postseason bowl game for the ninth time in the last 10 seasons and the 10th time since 2006.
• The Huskies’ are 3-4 in seven previous games in Ford Field - all for Marathon MAC Championship Games - beginning in 2005 and then in six consecutive seasons from 2010-15.
• Entering bowl season, NIU ranks in the Top 25 nationally in six defensive statistical categories, including total defense (18th), rushing defense (11th), pass efficiency defense (25th) and third down conversion percentage defense (6th).
• Behind NCAA individual leader and consensus All-American Sutton Smith, NIU leads the nation in team tackles for loss (8.8/game) and ranks second nationally in sacks per game (3.4) with 41 on the year.
• Smith became just the second consensus All-American in NIU history, after running back LeShon Johnson, who was a unanimous All-American in 1993 after leading the nation in rushing and all-purpose yards.
• Smith leads the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) in quarterback sacks with 14 and in tackles for loss with 28.5. He broke the NIU school records in both categories and also set the school mark with two fumble return touchdowns in 2017.
• MAC Freshman of the Year Marcus Childers makes his eighth career start at quarterback for the Huskies in the Quick Lane Bowl. Childers took over under center for NIU early in the MAC opener vs. Kent State and has thrown for 1,440 yards and 15 touchdowns while rushing for 454 yards and five scores on the season.
• NIU Head Coach Rod Carey owns a 44-23 record (.657%) in five plus seasons as the Huskies’ head coach and ranks fourth all-time at NIU in wins, winning percentage and games coached. Carey made his head coaching debut with NIU in the 2013 Orange Bowl.
• With its trip to the Quick Lane Bowl, NIU looks for its first bowl win since the 2011 season when the Huskies defeated Arkansas State in the 2012 GoDaddy.com Bowl.
Huskies In Bowls:
NIU will play in its 12th bowl game as a Division I FBS program and its 17th bowl all-time with this year’s trip to the Quick Lane Bowl. The Huskies appeared in a MAC-record eight consecutive bowl games from 2008 15. NIU will be playing in its 11th bowl game in the last 14 seasons dating back to a 2004 appearance in the Silicon Valley Classic. NIU is 4-7 (FBS) and 5-11 overall in bowl games. The Huskies’ modern bowl history began in 1983 at the California Bowl under head coach Bill Mallory.
NIU-ACC Bowl History:
NIU’s bowl match-up with Duke is its second all-time versus an opponent from the ACC and the first since the Huskies faced off against Florida State in the Discover Orange Bowl on Jan. 1, 2013. The Seminoles won that meeting, 31-10, after scoring a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns to break open a 17-10 game.
Turning Over Points:
The Huskies have converted 13 of the 21 turnovers forced on the season into 83 points. Last season, NIU tallied just 33 points off 15 turnovers. NIU has turned three fumble recoveries into touchdowns – either on the actual recovery itself, or subsequently by the offense. In addition to its three INT return touchdowns, the Huskies have come up with touchdowns on three drives after interceptions.
Sack-Sational Defense:
NIU’s 41 sacks this season rank second all-time in school history. The school record for sacks in a season is 47 set in 2002. NIU’s defense tied the 2012 team with three sacks at Central Michigan.
