1996 Northern Illinois Huskies football team

1996 Northern Illinois Huskies football
Conference	Independent
1996 record	1–10
Head coach	Joe Novak (1st year)
Home stadium	Huskie Stadium (Capacity: 31,000)

1996 Division I-A independents football records
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
#25 Army			–						10	–	2
Navy			–						9	–	3
#19 Notre Dame			–						9	–	3
East Carolina			–						8	–	3
Louisiana Tech			–						6	–	5
UAB			–						5	–	6
UCF			–						5	–	6
Southwestern Louisiana			–						5	–	6
Northeast Louisiana			–						5	–	6
Arkansas State			–						4	–	7
Northern Illinois			–						1	–	10
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1996 Northern Illinois Huskies football team represented Northern Illinois University. The Huskies competed in the highest division of football, Division I-A. They were led by first year head coach Joe Novak and they played their home games at Huskie Stadium.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	6:00 PM	at Maryland*	Byrd Stadium • College Park, MD		L 6–30	32,517
September 7	6:30 PM	Western Illinois*	Huskie Stadium • DeKalb, IL		L 0–17	21,370
September 14	11:00 AM	at #6 Penn State*	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA	ESPN+	L 0–49	95,589
September 21	6:00 PM	at Arkansas State	ASU Stadium • Jonesboro, AR		W 31–30	12,217
September 28	3:00 PM	UTEP*	Huskie Stadium • DeKalb, IL		L 6–37	10,229
October 5	3:00 PM	North Texas*	Huskie Stadium • DeKalb, IL	SCC	L 21–24	16,549
October 19	2:00 PM	at Louisville*	Cardinal Stadium • Louisville, KY	SCC	L 3–27	36,467
October 26	3:00 PM	Akron*	Huskie Stadium • DeKalb, IL	SCC	L 17–34	10,465
November 2	1:00 PM	Louisiana Tech	Huskie Stadium • DeKalb, IL		L 14–40	6,208
November 9	7:00 PM	at Southwestern Louisiana	Cajun Field • Lafayette, LA		L 31–45	15,721
November 16	3:00 PM	at Oregon State*	Parker Stadium • Corvallis, OR		L 28–67	17,215
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. #Rankings from Coaches Poll released prior to game. All times are in Central Time.