1977 Northern Illinois Huskies football team

The 1977 Northern Illinois Huskies football team represented Northern Illinois University as a member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC) during 1977 NCAA Division I football season. Led by second-year head coach Pat Culpepper, the Huskies compiled an overall record of 3–8 with a mark of 2–5 in conference play, placing eighth in the MAC. Northern Illinois played home games at Huskie Stadium in DeKalb, Illinois.

1977 Northern Illinois Huskies football
Conference	Mid-American Conference
Record	3–8 (2–5 MAC)
Head coach	Pat Culpepper (2nd season)
MVP	Dave Petzke, Frank Lewandoski
Captain	All seniors
Home stadium	Huskie Stadium

1977 Mid-American Conference football standings

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

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
September 3	Eastern Michigan	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL	L 2–25
September 10	at Louisville*	Fairgrounds Stadium Louisville, KY	L 0–38
September 17	at Wisconsin*	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	L 3–14	64,475
September 24	at Western Michigan	Waldo Stadium Kalamazoo, MI	L 21–49
October 1	at Illinois State*	Hancock Stadium Normal, IL	L 7–16
October 8	Central Michigan	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL	L 21–25
October 15	at Ball State	Ball State Stadium Muncie, IN (rivalry)	L 6–31
October 22	Southern Illinois*	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL	W 28–0	10,262
October 29	at Kent State	Dix Stadium Kent, OH	W 21–18
November 5	Toledo	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL	L 9–27
November 19	Ohio	Huskie Stadium DeKalb, IL	W 20–6
*Non-conference game