FanBoardHQ

Northern Illinois

Northern Illinois University · 2023 · Mid-American

FanBoardHQ CFP
#84
Efficiency
-7.6
94th FBS
Record
7-6
Conf. record
5-3
Conf. finish
T-4th
of 12
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Northern Illinois went 7-6 and was ranked 84th in the FanBoardHQ CFP Rankings (blended resume and efficiency). Their 69th-ranked defense carried them, with a 103rd-ranked offense. They ran the ball on 54% of offensive plays with a 48th-ranked rushing attack and passed the ball on the remaining 46% of plays with a 102nd-ranked passing attack.

Quadrant record

By opponent strength, adjusted for where the game was played.

Q1
0-0
Q2
0-1
Q3
1-1
Q4
6-4

Projected wins

Per-game win probabilities combined across the full schedule.

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
Expected: 7.0 wins
Strength of Record
82nd
-4.5 wins above a 25th-ranked team's expectation
Strength of Schedule
to date
132nd
full season
132nd
AP poll
Unranked
Conf. sched. difficulty
126th
a 25th-ranked team would win ~7.3 conference games on this schedule

The resume

Every game on the schedule. Click a row for the game breakdown (played) or the matchup projection (upcoming).

WkOpponentConfOpp rankResultExp. marginWin probGameScoreQuad
1@ Boston CollegeACC#73W 2724-5.3100%-1.3Q3
2vs Southern IllinoisMVFCL 1114-4.10%-7.3Q4
3@ NebraskaBig Ten#79L 1135-10.10%-21.3Q3
4vs TulsaAmerican Athletic#113L 1422+10.60%-25.0Q4
5@ ToledoMid-American#43L 3335-11.20%3.2Q2
6@ AkronMid-American#132W 5514+12.5100%16.2Q4
7vs OhioMid-American#54W 2313-1.6100%5.6Q4
8vs Eastern MichiganMid-American#112W 2013+16.3100%-15.6Q4
10@ Central MichiganMid-American#107L 3137+4.90%-19.3Q4
11vs Ball StateMid-American#116L 1720+10.30%-21.0Q4
12vs Western MichiganMid-American#117W 240+12.9100%9.0Q4
13@ Kent StateMid-American#133W 3727+20.1100%-16.9Q4
Postseason
vs Arkansas StateSun Belt#91W 2119+1.8100%-5.5Q4

13 played · 7-6. Expected margin and gamescore use the latest ratings — a completed game shows what the model would say now, not that week.

The season

The model’s read on Northern Illinois, recomputed after every week. Toggle between overall, offensive, and defensive efficiency (each with a dot for that week’s game) or the FanBoardHQ CFP rank.

-21.7-4.4+12.9-1-7-21-253166-16-19-219-17Week 0Week 17
Line = the model's read each week; dots = that week's game (green above the line, red below).

Passing & rushing

Opponent-adjusted, FBS-only. The bar is the blended Eff rank — EPA/play (scoring value), success rate (staying on schedule), and yards/play (explosiveness), each standardized against the FBS field. The three ranks below each bar are those components, so you can see what's driving it.

Offense
PassingEff 102nd
SR 100thYPP 109thEPA 99th
RushingEff 48th
SR 68thYPP 24thEPA 50th
Defense
Pass defenseEff 85th
SR 67thYPP 93rdEPA 90th
Rush defenseEff 100th
SR 120thYPP 70thEPA 93rd
Dropback rate 46%Tempo -0.2 snaps/game vs. averageFaced pass defenses ranked 90th on average
Success rate by down

Their offense vs. what their defense allows.

1st · Offense: 45%1st · Defense allowed: 43%1st2nd · Offense: 38%2nd · Defense allowed: 35%2nd3rd/4th · Offense: 45%3rd/4th · Defense allowed: 41%3rd/4th
OffenseDefense allowed
Points by quarter

Scored vs. allowed, all regular-season games.

Q1 · Scored: 65.0Q1 · Allowed: 59.0Q1Q2 · Scored: 62.0Q2 · Allowed: 77.0Q2Q3 · Scored: 72.0Q3 · Allowed: 58.0Q3Q4 · Scored: 85.0Q4 · Allowed: 58.0Q4
ScoredAllowed

What kind of team is this?

Every team by offensive and defensive efficiency (points/game vs. an average team, higher is better on both). Click a dot for that team.

elite bothdefense-ledrebuildingoffense-ledNorthern IllinoisOffenseDefense
Northern Illinois Offense vs Defense, 2023
Offensive EffRanked 103rd
-6.1
Field position: -1.4Finishing drives: -4.7
Field position -1.4Finishing drives -4.7= -6.1
Offensive Eff efficiency split into field position and finishing

Field position 112th · Finishing 100th

Defensive EffRanked 69th
-0.6
Field position: -1.3Finishing drives: +0.6
Field position -1.3Finishing drives +0.6= -0.6
Defensive Eff efficiency split into field position and finishing

Field position 106th · Finishing 60th

1.89 points per drive on offense, 1.63 allowed — starting, on average, at their own 29.

Play-calling & efficiency

What the offense did, by quarter and by down — raw, not opponent-adjusted.

By quarter
Quarter (att.)Pass / rushSuccessYd/play
Q1(193)46% / 54%47%6.3
Q2(212)48% / 52%41%6.2
Q3(180)43% / 57%43%7.2
Q4(229)46% / 54%40%5.2
how play-calling and results shifted through games — (n) = plays, season total
Passing by down
Down (att.)Avg. to goSuccessYd/play
1st(130)10.345%6.0
2nd(126)8.537%6.4
3rd(107)7.535%6.8
4th(10)5.040%5.1
All (373)39%6.3
Rushing by down
Down (att.)Avg. to goSuccessYd/play
1st(227)9.745%6.0
2nd(141)7.138%6.6
3rd(63)4.560%4.9
4th(9)1.967%5.0
All (441)45%6.0

Northern Illinois, all games.