Huskies and Chanticleers meet in today’s Cure Bowl game

Northern Illinois underwent one of the most successful turnarounds in college football history, with the Huskies bouncing back from an 0-6 season in 2020 to 9-4 this season, with the Mid-American Conference championship in tow.

Northern Illinois will take on Coastal Carolina in the Tailgreeter Cure Bowl set for a 5 p.m. start today.

The Cure Bowl follows the Bahamas Bowl featuring Middle Tennessee taking on Toledo, marking the first bowl game of this year's bowl schedule.

Northern Illinois quarterback Rocky Lombard is fourth in the MAC in total offense, with 2,822 total yards, including 2,416 yards passing with 13 touchdowns,

Seven of NIU’s wins were by eight points or less and four were by two points or less.

The Huskies will need an edge against Coastal Carolina (10-2), which has had double-digit wins for the second straight season.

The Chanticleers have been one of the rising programs among the Group of Five schools, rising to as high as No. 9 in The Associated Press top 25 rankings in 2020.

Coastal Carolina utilizes a spread option offense that has the Chanticleers ranked sixth in the nation in scoring (40.4 points per game) and rushing offense (231 yards per game). It will be a challenge for an NIU defense ranked near the bottom of the MAC in stopping the run.

Saturday's games include the Boca Raton Bowl with Western Kentucky and App State at 10 a.m., followed by the New Mexico Bowl with UTEP and Fresno State, the Independence Bowl between UAB and Brigham Young, the Lending Tree Bowl pitting Eastern Michigan against Liberty, the L.A. Bowl with Utah State and Oregon State and the final game of Saturday's schedule, the New Orleans Bowl with Louisiana Lafayette taking on Marshall.