By 
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, in the dumper after winning 9 straight games before their 10-2 Mid-American Conference championship game and quickly losing 26-21 to Ohio’s Miami. Two days later, his head coach, Jerry Kill, proved a real killjoy by leaving to become Minnesota’s new big coach in the Big Ten.
It doesn’t matter. “Tuke” (his player nickname for MaTUKEwicz) is Polish, he knows how to party. If he’s ever attended a Polish funeral, he knows how to have fun after the funeral. Tuke gave new meaning to the expression “hang up, mother goose.”
He was kidding until the start of the Humanitarian Bowl, and boy, did his Huskies respond by kicking the living filler out of the Fresno State Bulldogs with a 40-17 victory, 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-ranked 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 college team, and with a bowl win to boot.
The Husky players were effusive in crediting Tuke’s humor with keeping them loose and focused for their game of bowling, and it showed in their game.
Chandler Harnish (nominated for the most unlikely name for a college football quarterback) rushed for two touchdowns and threw another as Northern Illinois won its first bowl game since 2004. He went 17-for-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 on the sideline and a mid-route adjustment for 32 Willie Clark Yards. It was sweet for Northern Illinois.
Husky running back Chad Spann rolled 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 scoring lead.
While the final score may have been 40-17, Northern Illinois dominated Fresno State as the Huskies scored on 7 straight possessions and never punted in the game.
And the defense of Husky? I’m glad you asked. They sacked Bulldog 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 almost 300 yards in one game this year.
Fresno State finished the year with an 8-5 mark; Northern Illinois at 11-3.
A pair of rookie quarterbacks, Brigham Young’s Jake Heaps and Troy’s Corey Robinson, shone brightly as they joined Northern Illinois in leading their teams to victory the same day in two other bowl games.
Jake Heaps, a true freshman and one of college football’s top QB recruits, helped BYU topple UTEP (Texas-El Paso), 52-24, in the New Mexico Bowl. Last year, Heaps led Skyline High School to its third straight Washington State 4A 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 finishing couldn’t have been better.
The BYU Cougars went 1-4 to open the season and to get to a bowl game, let alone win one, seemed unlikely but, with everything going in Heaps’ favor, they finished 5-2 to become bowl-eligible with 6-6.
Jake Heaps completed 7 of his first 9 passes, with the 2 incompletions being dropped passes that should have been caught by receivers. Late in games, Heaps was 25-for-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. 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 through a broken rib he received 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 see his first year after he threw 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 touchdown passes in his career 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 of 73 (70%) for 628 yards and 5 TDs.
He did not disappoint against an 8-4 Ohio team, going 23 of 29 (79%) for 285 yards and 4 first-half touchdowns as Troy built a 38-7 lead and the Bobcats were fried. Ohio needed to play good on defense and control the ball on offense, and they 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 going 32 of 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 TD 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 punt until the 4th quarter. Troy overwhelmed the Ohio defense in the first two quarters, building a 371 to 39-yard lead. Corey Robinson, the 6-foot, 220-pound redshirt freshman, was named the Most Valuable Player.
While it’s rare for a true freshman or redshirt freshman to win a bowling game, it proves a point: you can’t train a kid to be talented, but when a player is talented, you can help him. train him to his potential.
Let it be said here and now: Jake Heaps and Corey Robinson are both talented. If in doubt, ask UTEP coach Mike Price or Ohio coach Frank Solich.
Copyright © 2010 Ed Bagley