The Machine

Northern Illinois

Mountain West · 0-9CFP unranked

Northern Illinois is 0-9 and No. 133 of 138 in the machine's ratings, 20.7 points below an average FBS team. Last game: lost 30-19 at San José State in Week 10.

Week 11: vs Nevada, Saturday, Nov 14: the matchup, unit by unit

Machine rankNo. 133of all FBS teams
Rating now−20.720.7 points below an average FBS team
Since July−6.2from −14.5 in the preseason rating

Why Northern Illinois is No. 133

  • Northern Illinois's rating is −20.7: the machine's estimate that Northern Illinois is 20.7 points worse than an average FBS team on a neutral field. That is No. 133 of 138. For scale, 0 is an average FBS team: right now the closest to it is No. 68 Arizona State (0.2).
  • It started the season at −14.5, ESPN's preseason Football Power Index from July. Its results since have moved it down 6.2.
  • The biggest weekly moves: −2.4 after Week 4 (L 14-35 at Georgia State) and −2.0 after Week 8 (L 21-56 vs Hawai'i).
  • Its record is 0-9. The 9 losses were to No. 17 Iowa, No. 26 Arizona, No. 82 Air Force, No. 91 UNLV, No. 95 Georgia State, No. 103 Wyoming, No. 104 Hawai'i, No. 116 San José State, Illinois State (FCS), by 20.2 points on average. The rating weighs how much a team won or lost by and against whom, not just the win-loss count.
  • Its FBS opponents so far average No. 79 in the machine's ratings.
  • Just above is No. 132 Kent State (−20.5); just below is No. 134 Sam Houston (−21.8).

The rating, week by week

Strengths and weak spots

Head coach

Rob Harley is in his 1st season at Northern Illinois. This season: 0-9.

Data provided by CollegeFootballData.com.

Team stats

Season totals and averages over 9 games, each with its national rank among 138 FBS teams (No. 1 = best). The game-by-game story is in the season, week by week.

Passing

Completions-attempts192-302
Passing yards1923
Touchdowns-interceptions9-8
Yards per attempt*6.4No. 119 of 138
Explosive pass rate7.9%No. 125 of 138
Sacks allowed (rate)8.2%No. 123 of 138

Rushing

Carries-yards274-1082
Yards per carry3.9No. 101 of 138
10-plus-yard runs (rate)18.9%No. 5 of 138
Stuffed at or behind the line (rate)17.7%No. 76 of 138

Scoring

Points per game16.6No. 136 of 138
Yards per play5.25No. 113 of 138
Third-down rate33.3%No. 120 of 138
Red-zone TD rate50.0%No. 114 of 138
Giveaways15No. 120 of 138

Defense

Points allowed per game36.8No. 135 of 138
Yards per play allowed6.45No. 126 of 138
Yards per pass attempt allowed8.3No. 130 of 138
Yards per carry allowed5.2No. 127 of 138
Sack rate3.7%No. 121 of 138
Takeaways9No. 104 of 138
Third-down rate allowed54.4%No. 138 of 138

Totals are the official box score. * Yards per attempt and the rates come from the play-by-play, where passing yards count on completions only, so they can differ from the box score by a play or two.

Data provided by CollegeFootballData.com.

Player leaders

The top 3 in each category over the same games. Passing yards count every completion (official box score).

Passing

  1. Taron Dickens183-283, 1876 yds, 9 TD, 7 INT
  2. Brady Davidson4-6, 27 yds, 0 TD, 0 INT
  3. Jalen Macon5-13, 20 yds, 0 TD, 1 INT

Rushing

  1. Telly Johnson Jr.110 carries, 629 yds, 6 TD
  2. Elijah Porter66 carries, 312 yds, 2 TD
  3. Taron Dickens72 carries, 73 yds, 1 TD

Receiving

  1. DeAree Rogers70 catches, 719 yds, 5 TD
  2. La'Don Bryant33 catches, 379 yds, 1 TD
  3. George Dimopoulos21 catches, 259 yds, 1 TD

Tackles

  1. Jack Murray68
  2. Brady Kerperin61
  3. Kyon Conyers58

Sacks

  1. Avery Jones2
  2. Kimar Nelson1.5
  3. Amari Washington1

Interceptions

  1. Yassine Falke4
  2. Andruw Ellis1
  3. Brady Kerperin1

Data provided by CollegeFootballData.com.

Who's playing

Based on who has actually played this season, from the box scores, not the team's published depth chart. Each bar is that player's share of the team's attempts, carries (quarterbacks left out), catches or tackles. The box score lists no positions, so there is no offensive line here.

Throwing

  1. Taron DickensMost passes in the last game9 games283 attempts94%
  2. Jalen Macon2 games13 attempts4%

Carrying

  1. Telly Johnson Jr.9 games110 carries58%
  2. Elijah Porter9 games66 carries35%
  3. Jaidaun Cranford5 games9 carries5%

Catching

  1. DeAree Rogers9 games70 catches36%
  2. La'Don Bryant9 games33 catches17%
  3. George Dimopoulos7 games21 catches11%
  4. Cam Thompson7 games16 catches8%

Tackling

  1. Jack Murray9 games68 tackles11%
  2. Brady Kerperin9 games61 tackles10%
  3. Kyon Conyers9 games58 tackles10%
  4. Kimar Nelson7 games54 tackles9%

Data provided by CollegeFootballData.com.

The season, week by week

  1. Week 1 L 0–40 at Iowa. The run defense gave ground: Iowa got 7.6 yards a carry, 3.7 over what it usually gains. The offense gave up 6 sacks.
  2. Week 2 L 24–28 vs Illinois State. Illinois State is an FCS team, so there is no FBS baseline to grade this one against.
  3. Week 3 L 17–42 at Arizona. No unit was far from the usual. The biggest gap was the run defense: Arizona got 3.1 yards a carry, 0.7 under what it usually gains.
  4. Week 4 L 14–35 at Georgia State. The pass defense gave ground: Georgia State got 9.5 yards an attempt, 2.1 over what it usually gains. The offense gave up 5 sacks.
  5. Week 6 L 7–28 vs Air Force. The run defense gave ground: Air Force got 6.6 yards a carry, 1.7 over what it usually gains.
  6. Week 7 L 23–41 at Wyoming. The pass defense gave ground: Wyoming got 10.3 yards an attempt, 3.9 over what it usually gains. The offense gave up 5 sacks.
  7. Week 8 L 21–56 vs Hawai'i. The pass defense gave ground: Hawai'i got 9.7 yards an attempt, 3.6 over what it usually gains. Lost the turnover battle by 4.
  8. Week 9 L 24–31 at UNLV. The run defense gave ground: UNLV got 6.4 yards a carry, 2.1 over what it usually gains. Its most yards a carry of the season.
  9. Week 10 L 19–30 at San José State. The pass defense gave ground: San José State got 8.6 yards an attempt, 1.3 over what it usually gains. Lost the turnover battle by 2.

How to read this