DeKalb | Huskies fans mourned the team’s Friday loss of the MAC title game at Ford Field.

The game marked NIU’s fourth consecutive trip to its conference’s championship, and NIU’s victory over the Bowling Green Falcons would have meant a trip to a BCS bowl. Instead, the Huskies shocked fans with a 47-27 defeat.

“I thought they were going to come out and play a lot harder,” said Ryan Morris, freshman computer science major. “Jordan Lynch didn’t play up to what I thought he would, and I was surprised that they didn’t play as hard as they usually do.”

NIU sold out of travel packages to the game as fans were eager to go to Ford Field in Detroit. Some who couldn’t make the hours-long trip watched from their homes and residence hall rooms.

“I was expecting us to win. We were 12 and zero, they were nine and three,” said Matt McGurn, freshman computer science major. “We were favored to win, we had the best offense in the MAC…. I was expecting us to win and go to the Fiesta Bowl.”

Some Huskies fans thought the team would pull through and win the game, as NIU has made second-half comebacks throughout its up-until-then undefeated season.

“I lost hope of us winning around the second or third quarter because the score difference was too big, our defense was doing terrible and our offense wasn’t getting enough yards,” said freshman biology major Tyler Pera.