1978 Northern Illinois Huskies football team

The 1978 Northern Illinois Huskies football team represented Northern Illinois University as a member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) during 1978 NCAA Division I-A football season. Led by third-year head coach Pat Culpepper, the Huskies compiled an overall record of 5–6 with a mark of 2–4 in conference play, placing seventh in the MAC. Northern Illinois played home games at Huskie Stadium in DeKalb, Illinois.

1978 Northern Illinois Huskies football
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Record	5–6 (2–4 MAC)
Head coach	Pat Culpepper (3rd season)
MVPs	Pete Kraker Dave Petzke Mark Stuart
Captain	All seniors
Home stadium	Huskie Stadium
Seasons ← 1977 1979 →

1978 Mid-American Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Ball State $	8	–	0	–	0			10	–	1	–	0
Central Michigan	8	–	1	–	0			9	–	2	–	0
Miami (OH)	5	–	2	–	0			8	–	2	–	1
Western Michigan	5	–	4	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Bowling Green	3	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Ohio	3	–	5	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Northern Illinois	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Kent State	2	–	6	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Toledo	2	–	7	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
Eastern Michigan	1	–	5	–	0			3	–	7	–	0
$ – Conference champion

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 16	Western Michigan	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL	L 30–44		[1]
September 23	at Northeast Louisiana*	Malone Stadium Monroe, LA	L 10–27		[2]
September 30	Illinois State*	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL	W 49–21		[3]
October 7	at Long Beach State*	Anaheim Stadium Anaheim, CA	L 19–24	6,225	[4]
October 14	Western Illinois*	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL	W 24–20		[5]
October 21	at Central Michigan	Perry Shorts Stadium Mount Pleasant, MI	L 7–34	23,380	[6]
October 28	at Southern Illinois*	McAndrew Stadium Carbondale, IL	W 14–13	16,489	[7]
November 4	Kent State	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL	W 27–21		[8]
November 11	at Toledo	Glass Bowl Toledo, OH	L 16–35		[9]
November 18	Ball State	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL (rivalry)	L 13–31	8,041	[10]
November 25	at Ohio	Peden Stadium Athens, OH	W 23–14		[11]
*Non-conference game

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