Northern Illinois Vs. Arkansas State: MAC Takes Season’s Final Exhibition

27.0: Value, in equivalent points, of Arkansas State’s five turnovers. The Red Wolves just killed themselves throughout the final three quarters. They muffed a punt late in the first half, then they committed four turnovers in the second half. Northern Illinois’ starting field position after the five turnovers: ASU’s 43, ASU’s 43, ASU’s 7, ASU’s 28, and ASU’s end zone after a pick six. It is difficult to win while committing five turnovers; it is even more difficult when committing five turnovers on your side of the 50. They also extended a couple of NIU drives with silly penalties. The surprise, really, is that ASU only lost by 18.

14: Length, in real-time minutes, of Northern Illinois’ first touchdown drive. The drive included a long replay review and mass confusion following an incredibly iffy spot on a NIU fake field goal. First down? FIRST DOWN!

Red Wolves quarterback Aplin threw three interceptions, marring a night on which he threw for 352 yards and a touchdown and ran for another.

For more college football, stay tuned to SB Nation’s college football news coverage. And visit our many college football blogs. For more on Northern Illinois, keep it locked to SB Nation Chicago and our Huskies team blog, Red and Black Attack. For more on Mid-American Conference football, visit Hustle Belt.

The GoDaddy.com Bowl may not have one of the more distinguished names of the 2011-12 bowl season, but the two teams playing in it, Northern Illinois and Arkansas State, are putting on a perfectly respectable show. Northern Illinois leads, 21-13, at halftime.

For more college football, stay tuned to SB Nation’s college football news coverage. And visit our many college football blogs. For more on Northern Illinois, keep it locked to SB Nation Chicago and our Huskies team blog, Red and Black Attack. For more on Mid-American Conference football, visit Hustle Belt.

This man is probably the fan of the year -- this is college football; our year runs until the end of the BCS Championship. If nothing else, the man brought the most creative sign you’ll probably ever see. It wasn’t just some play on words, it was ... well, just see for yourself.

Via Amanda Kaschube and Illegal Shift

Not sure this is how tackling is taught. It seems to me like a professional wrestling match broke out in the middle of the GoDaddy.com Bowl, which is completely fine by me!

NOTE: Confused? See the quick glossary at the bottom.

When the bowl pairings were announced, a few matchups immediately stood out. Obviously the matchups of top teams (Alabama-LSU, Oklahoma State-Stanford, Oregon-Wisconsin, Kansas State-Arkansas) were interesting, and games like Florida State-Notre Dame had obvious “big-name helmet” draws. But for pure, back-and-forth action and fireworks, Northern Illinois-Arkansas State had to be at or near the top of most MACtion nerds’ lists. If ASU coach Hugh Freeze’s departure for Ole Miss doesn’t sully the proceedings, this one could be a whole lot of fun, even if Arkansas State plays a lot more defense than we think. Save the defense for Monday night, guys; let’s have ourselves one last points explosion tonight.

Game date, time: 9:00 p.m. ET, Sunday, January 8

Location: Lad Peebles Stadium, Mobile, AL

According to Bowl spokeswoman Julie Jeter, the game is almost sold out.

$45 sideline seats and $15 end-zone seats are still available if you want to be up close and personal when the battle to determine whether the MAC or Sun Belt is superior is decided.

According to our sports betting partner OddsShark, Arkansas State entered the week a mere one-point favorite and are now favored by 1.5.

Northern Illinois is on an eight-game winning streak after it lost its MAC opener to Central Michigan in a shoot out. The Huskies come into the bowl with a 10-3 record after rallying from 20 down to win the MAC Championship game 23-20 over Ohio University for their first conference title in 28 years. First year head coach Dave Doeren had a great deal of success this season as he led the program to its fourth-straight bowl appearance.

Arkansas State lost head coach Hugh Freeze to Ole Miss in December, and since that time the school has appointed an interim head coach and hired Auburn offensive coordinator Gus Malzahn to be the team’s new head coach. Northern Illinois coach Dave Doeren was asked how this might affect his preparation:

This sort of scenario tends to arise every year, and teams usually stick to what worked in the regular season.