Northern Illinois Ends Losing Skid

It didn’t take long for Northern Illinois to get its name out of the NCAA record books.

Less than a month after Prairie View ended an NCAA-record 80-game losing streak, the Huskies ended the longest current major-college losing streak at 23 games on Saturday, using three field goals from Brian Clark for a soggy 16-6 victory over Central Michigan at Dekalb, Ill.

The Huskies (1-5 overall, 1-2 Mid-American Conference) won for the first time since Sept. 21, 1996, when they defeated Arkansas State, 31-30, in their first season under Coach Joe Novak.

It was also the first MAC victory for Northern Illinois since defeating Ohio University in November 1985. Northern dropped out of the MAC from 1986-96, rejoining last season.

Students rushed and took down goal posts after the victory.

The losing streak was the seventh longest in Division I-A. Northwestern’s 34-game losing streak was the longest, followed by 28-game streaks by Virginia and Kansas State, 27-game streaks by New Mexico State and Eastern Michigan and a 26-game streak by Colorado State.

For the Huskies, Mike Johnson gained 85 yards in 23 carries, including a 24-yard touchdown run with 10:17 left in the second quarter for a 7-0 lead over Central Michigan (3-3, 2-1).