Northern Illinois linebackers coach Tom Matukewicz decided to make his 15 minutes of fame fun after being named interim head coach for the Huskies Humanitarian Bowl game against Fresno State.
Things were, after all, on the dumper after winning 9 straight games going into their Mid-American Conference championship game at 10-2 and quickly losing 26-21 to Miami from Ohio. Two days later, his head coach, Jerry Kill, proved to be a real killjoy by leaving to become Minnesota’s new big coach in the Big Ten.
No matter. “Tuke” (his players nickname for MaTUKEwicz) is Polish, he knows how to party. If he has ever attended a Polish funeral, he knows how to party after the funeral. Tuke gave new meaning to the expression “hang on, mother goose.”
He was kidding around until the start of the Humanitarian Bowl, and boy, did his Huskies respond by kicking the living stuffing out of the Fresno State Bulldogs with a 40-17 win, giving Northern Illinois a school record 11th win. to end his season on a high note.
Never at a loss for words, Tuke said, “We better start next season in the Top 25. If you have a vote, put us there.”
When next season begins, Northern Illinois’ new head coach will be Dave Doeren, the current defensive coordinator for the fourth-seeded Wisconsin Badgers (11-1), who will face TCU (12-0) in the Rose Bowl in New Year. Day. Tuke will remain as linebackers coach.
If nothing else, Tom Matukewicz has a perfect record (1-0) as the head coach of a major varsity team, and with a bowl win to boot.
The Husky players were effusive in crediting Tuke’s humor for keeping them loose and focused for their bowling game, and it showed in his game.
Chandler Harnish (nominated for the most unlikely name for a college football quarterback) rushed for two touchdowns and threw for another as Northern Illinois won its first bowl game since 2004. He was 17-of-26 (65%) while passing for 300 yards. and added another 72 rushing yards. Harnish, a junior, ranks 15th nationally in passing efficiency.
Husky’s offensive line kept Fresno State’s defensive run away from Harnish, allowing for two big circus catches: a Perez Ashford fingertip steal down the sideline and a midway adjustment for 32. Willie Clark Yards. It was sweet for Northern Illinois.
Husky running back Chad Spann rushed for 95 yards and two touchdowns, giving him 22 rushing touchdowns on the season, tying Oregon’s LaMichael James and Nevada’s Vai Taua for the national lead in scoring.
While the final score may have been 40-17, Northern Illinois dominated Fresno State as the Huskies scored on 7 straight possessions and never had to punt in the game.
And the Husky defense? I’m glad you asked. They sacked Bulldogs quarterback Ryan Colburn 6 times, including 3 from Jake (you can call him “The Animal”) Coffman. They also held Fresno star running back Robbie Rouse to 32 yards; Rouse rushed for nearly 300 yards in a game this year.
Fresno State finished the year 8-5; Northern Illinois at 11-3.
A pair of rookie quarterbacks, Brigham Young’s Jake Heaps and Troy’s Corey Robinson, shone brightly as they teamed with Northern Illinois to lead their teams to victory on the same day in two other bowl games.
Jake Heaps, a true freshman and one of college football’s top QB recruits, helped BYU beat UTEP (Texas-El Paso), 52-24, in the New Mexico Bowl. Last year, Heaps led Skyline High School to its third consecutive Washington State 4A (big school) championship. He passed for 9,196 yards and 114 touchdowns in his prep career.
Heaps, who shared time at quarterback with Riley Nelson before he was injured, initially struggled as a starter, but his finish couldn’t have been better.
The BYU Cougars went 1-4 to open the season and reaching a bowl game, let alone winning one, seemed unlikely but, with everything going for Heaps, they went 5-2 to become bowl-eligible with 6-6.
Jake Heaps completed 7 of his first 9 passes, and the 2 that were incomplete were dropped passes that should have been caught by receivers. At the end of games, Heaps was 25 of 34 (73%) for 264 yards and 4 touchdowns; Cody Hoffman caught 3 of them for 31, 29 and 3 yards.
The 4 TD passes gave Heaps 15 per year, breaking Ty Detmer’s freshman record of 22 years old. Detmer played 14 years in the NFL for 6 different teams.
Heaps, who became the first freshman to start for BYU in the Cougars’ 29 bowl game appearances, was named the New Mexico Bowl Offensive Player of the Game. Not bad for a 6-foot-2, 205-pound true freshman. He is tough too. Heaps played with a broken rib he sustained in BYU’s last-game 17-16 loss at Utah.
Mike Price and his UTEP Miners had the opposite experience this season: they started the season 5-1 but finished 1-6. UTEP reached a bowl game for the first time since 2005, but fell to 0-5 in bowl games since beating Mississippi 14-7 in the 1967 Sun Bowl.
Corey Robinson, a redshirt freshman, learned his lessons well. It had to be hard for Robinson to watch his first year after throwing for 5,872 yards and a national record 91 touchdowns during his senior year at Lone Oak High School in Paducah, KY. The setup man was intercepted just 4 times in 520 attempts his senior year, had 132 career touchdown passes and was named Kentucky’s best player.
Entering the New Orleans Bowl, Robinson had thrown for 3,339 yards and 24 touchdowns. In the previous two games the Troy Trojans needed to stay competitive for their fifth straight Sun Belt Conference title, Robinson was 51-for-73 (70%) for 628 yards and 5 TDs.
He didn’t disappoint against an 8-4 Ohio team, going 23-of-29 (79%) for 285 yards and 4 touchdowns in the first half as Troy built a 38-7 lead and the Bobcats were toast. Ohio needed to play well on defense and control the ball on offense, and it couldn’t do either.
Troy won the New Orleans Bowl, 48-21, leaving Ohio coach Frank Solich wondering what happened. Ohio’s all-time bowl game record remains winless at 0-5.
Robinson would finish the game 32-for-42 (76%) for 387 yards. He had a lot of exceptional support.
Senior wide receiver Tebiarus Gill had a New Orleans Bowl record 3 TD receptions for 31, 26 and 17 yards. Fellow senior Jerrel Jernigan had a 16-yard touchdown reception. Ohio made a big mistake trying to cover Troy’s receivers man-to-man. Troy finished with 602 offensive yards, another New Orleans Bowl record.
The Trojans dominated so much that they didn’t pun until the 4th quarter. Troy overwhelmed the Ohio defense in the first two quarters, building a 371-yard lead with 39 yards. Corey Robinson, the 6-foot, 220-pound redshirt freshman, was named the Most Valuable Player.
While it’s rare for a real freshman or redshirt freshman to win a game of bowling, it does prove a point: You can’t train a kid to be talented, but when a player is talented, you can help them. to train him to his potential.
Let it be said here and now: Both Jake Heaps and Corey Robinson are talented. If in doubt, ask UTEP coach Mike Price or Ohio coach Frank Solich.
Copyright © 2010 Ed Bagley