2010 Northern Illinois Huskies football team
The 2010 Northern Illinois Huskies football team represented Northern Illinois University in the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Huskies competed in the West Division of the Mid-American Conference. They were led by head coach Jerry Kill in his third season at NIU. The Huskies finished the season 11–3, 8–0 in MAC play to win the West Division Title, but lost to Miami (OH) in the MAC Championship Game. They were invited to the Humanitarian Bowl where they defeated Fresno State 40–17.

Following the MAC Championship game, head coach Jerry Kill resigned to accept the head coaching position at Minnesota. Kill did not coach in the bowl game. Tom Matukewicz coached the Huskies as interim head coach for the bowl game.

The season marked the Huskies third consecutive trip to a bowl game and their first bowl game win since 2004.

Preseason 
 NIU was considered the favorite in the Pre-season Poll to win the West Division for the MAC.

Recruiting

 Recruited Jasmin Hopkins from Fort Scott Community College where he rushed for 1,931 yards on 300 carries and recorded 18 touchdowns in his Sophomore campaign.

Notable Returning Players 
 #28- (Sr.) RB Chad Spann First team all MAC in 2009 (T-5 in NCAA with 19 touchdowns in 2009)
 #54- (Sr.) DE Jake Coffman 2nd Team all MAC in 2009
 #20- (So.) DB Tommy Davis 3rd Team all MAC in 2009 as a Punt Return Specialist

Post Season Awards

Award Watch Lists

All MAC https://web.archive.org/web/20101228121733/http://www.niuhuskies.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/niu-m-footbl-mtt.html

Schedule
 Average Home Attendance: 17,760 (59.1%)

Scores by quarter

Source:

Rankings

Regular season

Iowa State

Despite being without the services of starting QB Chandler Harnish, the Huskies pulled within a touchdown midway through the 4th quarter on a 1-yard touchdown run by backup signal caller DeMarcus Grady. But an Iowa State touchdown drive immediately thereafter put the game away for the Cyclones.

North Dakota

Hours after the 23-17 win against North Dakota, Coach Jerry Kill was hospitalized for dehydration. He would be released and return to coach the Huskies against Illinois the following week.

Illinois

The Huskie defense was scorched on the ground, allowing 319 rushing yards to the Fighting Illini, and NIU star tailback Chad Spann was held to only 15 yards on 13 carries. QB Chandler Harnish had a strong performance, but lost a fumble in Illinois territory in the 4th quarter that proved to be costly.
 P-Josh Wilber was named the Mid-American Conference West Division Special Teams Player of the Week. Wilber Averaged 49.0 yards on five punts, with 3 punt's over 50 yards.

Minnesota

The win was the third over a Big Ten school in the history of the program, and the second in as many years.
 RB-Chad Spann was named Mid-American Conference West Division Offensive Player of the Week and Walter Camp Football Foundation Player of the Week. Spann rushed for 223 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries.

Akron

 QB-Chandler Harnish was named Mid-American Conference West Division Offensive Player of the Week. Harnish completed 16-of-20 passes for 281 yards and three touchdowns in three quarters of action while leading the Huskies to a 50-14 victory at Akron.

Temple

In a matchup of preseason MAC favorites, the Huskies took over in the second half thanks in large part to a dominant and balanced offensive performance that wore the Owls down on a warm day in DeKalb.

 QB-Chandler Harnish was named Mid-American Conference West Division Offensive Player of the Week. Harnish accounted for 282 yards of total offense with 211 yards passing and 71 rushing in NIU's 31-17 victory over Temple.

Buffalo

 S-Jimmie Ward was named Mid-American Conference West Division Special Teams Player of the Week. The Freshman from Mobile, Alabama recorded his second blocked punt of the season in a 45-14 win over Buffalo.

Central Michigan

NIU continues its 2nd-half dominance against MAC foes, not allowing a point in the 2nd half for the third straight week.
 LB- Tyrone Clark was named Mid-American Conference West Division Defensive Player of the Week. Clark picked off two passes in NIU's 33-7 win over Central Michigan. Clark’s two interceptions came in the second quarter, both coming off of tipped balls.

Western Michigan

Quarterback Chandler Harnish found Willie Clark with a 21-yard TD pass with 3:42 to play to lift the Huskies (7-2, 5-0 Mid-American Conference) to their six straight victory, their longest winning streak since 2004.

 DE- Jake Coffman was named Mid-American Conference West Division Defensive Player of the Week. Coffman came down with a win-clinching interception during the Huskies' 28-21 victory at Western Michigan. Coffman also had four tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and half a sack.

Toledo

Toledo could not hold on against NIU's offense as the Huskies dominated the Rockets with Chad Spann scoring 3 touchdowns and Chandler Harnish going 11-of-16 for 162 yards. The Huskies (8-2, 6-0 Mid-American) now have a 7-game winning streak and are edging closer to the MAC championship.
 QB-Chandler Harnish was named Mid-American Conference West Division Offensive Player of the Week for the third time this season. He went 11-of-16 for 162 yards and rushed for 149 yards as well as scoring a touchdown on a 28-yard run.

Ball State

While winning its eighth straight game and clinching the Mid-American Conference West Division title, the NIU Huskies excelled on offense, defense and special teams en route to a 59-21 victory.

 LB- Jordan Delegal was named Mid-American Conference West Division Special Teams Player of the Week. Delegal blocked two punts  in a 59-21 win at Ball State and the Huskies set a school record with three blocked punts in the game.

Eastern Michigan

The Huskies had 654 yards on 46 plays, rushing for 552 yards, with most of the starters on the sideline for the second half. The Huskies (10-2, 8-0 MAC) swept MAC play for the first time in school history and will play Miami (8-4, 7-1) in the MAC Championship. It was the 5th most points scored by the Huskies in school History.

 DE- Jake Coffman was named Mid-American Conference West Division Defensive Player of the Week. Coffman finished with five solo tackles, one sack, two tackles for loss and a forced fumble as he led the way for NIU 71-3 win at Eastern Michigan.

MAC Championship: Miami (OH)

Armand Robinson caught a 33-yard touchdown pass from Austin Boucher with 33 seconds remaining, lifting Miami to a stunning 26-21 upset of No. 25 NIU in the 2010 Marathon MAC Championship Game at Ford Field. The win marked the second time the RedHawks had won the league title game and completed a worst-to-first league finish.

2010 uDrove Humanitarian Bowl: Fresno State