Outside of Arizona, no team has given a worse effort in a bowl game this season than Northern Illinois, which lost 27-3 to South Florida in the International Bowl on Saturday. And at least the Wildcats had an excuse for being so inept: They were playing Nebraska and the Cornhuskers’ outstanding defense.
The Huskies racked up just 130 total yards, went 3-for-13 on third downs and turned the ball over twice. They had one decent drive the entire game on offense, which netted a 21-yard field goal.
With NIU’s loss, the Mid-American Conference is now 0-4 in the International Bowl, which is the only bowl game played outside of the United States. Cincinnati beat Western Michigan in the first International Bowl in 2007, then Rutgers defeated Ball State in 2008 and Connecticut topped Buffalo in 2009.
The MAC must feel cursed in bowl games. The conference is now 0-4 in bowl games this season, which includes Bowling Green’s heartbreaking loss to Idaho on Wednesday and Temple’s near win over UCLA on Tuesday.
The MAC’s lone hope for a win this year will come down to next Wednesday when Central Michigan takes on Troy in the GMAC Bowl. Thankfully, the Chippewas are the class of the conference and aren’t likely to turn in the horrendous effort the Huskies did today.
