2011 Northwestern Wildcats football team

2011 Northwestern Wildcats football
Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas vs. Texas A&M, L 22–33
Conference Big Ten Conference
Legends Division
2011 record 6–7 (3–4 Big Ten)
Head coach Pat Fitzgerald
Offensive coordinator Mick McCall
Offensive scheme Spread
Defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz
Base defense Multiple 4–3
Home stadium Ryan Field
Seasons
« 2010 2012 »
2011 Big Ten football standings
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
Legends
#12 Michigan State xy   7 – 1         11 – 3  
#13 Michigan ‡   6 – 2         11 – 2  
#21 Nebraska   5 – 3         9 – 4  
Iowa   4 – 4         7 – 6  
Northwestern   3 – 5         6 – 7  
Minnesota   2 – 6         3 – 9  
Leaders
#9 Wisconsin xy†   6 – 2         11 – 3  
#24 Penn State x   6 – 2         9 – 4  
Purdue   4 – 4         7 – 6  
Ohio State   3 – 5         6 – 7  
Illinois   2 – 6         7 – 6  
Indiana   0 – 8         1 – 11  
Championship: Wisconsin 42, Michigan State 39
† – BCS representative as champion
‡ – BCS at-large representative
x – Division champion/co-champions
y – Championship game participant
As of January 4, 2012 • Rankings from AP Poll

The 2011 Northwestern Wildcats football team represented Northwestern University during the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Pat Fitzgerald, in his sixth season at Northwestern, was the team's head coach. The Wildcats home games were played at Ryan Field in Evanston, Illinois. They are members of the Legends Division of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 6–7, 3–4 in Big Ten play to finish in fifth place in the Legends Division. They were invited to the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas where they were defeated by Texas A&M 22–33.

Contents

Previous season

In 2010 the Wildcats had a 7–6 record, ending the season with a 45–38 loss to Texas Tech in the 2011 TicketCity Bowl.

Preseason

Conference divisions

Starting in 2011, the Big Ten Conference created two divisions, "Legends" and "Leaders," following the University of Nebraska's membership into the conference. Northwestern was placed in the "Legends" division, with the University of Iowa, the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, the University of Minnesota and the University of Nebraska joining them.[1]

Schedule

The schedule is as follows:[2]

Date Time Opponent Site TV Result Attendance
September 3 11:00 a.m. at Boston College* Alumni Stadium • Chestnut Hill, MA ESPNU W 24–17   37,561[3]
September 10 2:30 p.m. Eastern Illinois* Ryan Field • Evanston, IL BTN W 42–21   28,042[4]
September 17 2:30 p.m. at Army* Michie Stadium • West Point, NY CBSSN L 14–21   35,784[5]
October 1 11:00 a.m. at #22 Illinois Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL (Land of Lincoln Trophy) ESPN2 L 35–38   53,243[6]
October 8 6:00 p.m. #11 Michigan Ryan Field • Evanston, IL BTN L 24–42   47,330[7]
October 15 6:00 p.m. at Iowa Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, IA BTN L 31–41   70,585[8]
October 22 6:00 p.m. #22 Penn State Ryan Field • Evanston, IL BTN L 24–34   40,004[9]
October 29 11:00 a.m. at Indiana Memorial Stadium • Bloomington, IN BTN W 59–38   39,239[10]
November 5 2:30 p.m. at #9 Nebraska Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, NE BTN W 28–25   85,115[11]
November 12 11:00 a.m. Rice* Ryan Field • Evanston, IL BTN W 28–6   26,886[12]
November 19 11:00 a.m. Minnesota Ryan Field • Evanston, IL BTN W 28–13   26,215[13]
November 26 11:00 a.m. #10 Michigan State Ryan Field • Evanston, IL BTN L 17–31   32,172[14]
December 31 11:00 a.m. Texas A&M* Reliant Stadium • Houston, TX (Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas) ESPN L 22–33   68,395
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. #Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to game. All times are in Central Time.

Regular season

Boston College

See also: 2011 Boston College Eagles football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Wildcats 3 7 7 7 24
Eagles 3 7 0 7 17
Overall Record Last Meeting Result[15]
2–1 1993 NU, 22–21


Eastern Illinois

See also: 2011 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Panthers 0 7 7 7 21
Wildcats 14 14 7 7 42
Overall Record Last Meeting Result[16]
0–0 First Meeting N/A


Army

See also: 2011 Army Black Knights football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Wildcats 0 7 0 7 14
Black Knights 7 0 7 7 21
Overall Record Last Meeting Result[17]
3–1 1988 Army, 23–7


Illinois

See also: 2011 Illinois Fighting Illini football team and Land of Lincoln Trophy
1 2 3 4 Total
Wildcats 0 14 14 7 35
#22 Fighting Illini 7 3 7 21 38
Overall Record Last Meeting Result[18]
46–53–5 2010 Ill, 48–27


Michigan

See also: 2011 Michigan Wolverines football team
1 2 3 4 Total
#11 Wolverines 7 7 14 14 42
Wildcats 14 10 0 0 24
Overall Record Last Meeting Result[19]
15–52–2 2008 NU, 21–14


Iowa

See also: 2011 Iowa Hawkeyes football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Wildcats 0 7 10 14 31
Hawkeyes 10 7 0 24 41
Overall Record Last Meeting Result[20]
23–46–3 2010 NU, 21–17


Penn State

See also: 2011 Penn State Nittany Lions football team
1 2 3 4 Total
#22 Nittany Lions 14 13 7 0 34
Wildcats 14 10 0 0 24
Overall Record Last Meeting Result[21]
3–11 2010 PSU, 35–21


Indiana

See also: 2011 Indiana Hoosiers football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Wildcats 17 21 14 7 59
Hoosiers 7 14 10 7 38
Overall Record Last Meeting Result[22]
44–34–1 2010 NU, 20–17


Nebraska

See also: 2011 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Wildcats 7 0 7 14 28
#9 Cornhuskers 0 3 7 15 25
Overall Record Last Meeting Result[23]
2–3 2000 UNL, 66–17


Rice

1 2 3 4 Total
Owls 0 0 0 6 6
Wildcats 7 14 0 7 28
See also: 2011 Rice Owls football team
Overall Record Last Meeting Result[24]
3–4 2010 NU, 30–13


Minnesota

See also: 2011 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Golden Gophers 7 3 0 3 13
Wildcats 21 0 0 7 28
Overall Record Last Meeting Result[25]
31–50–5 2010 NU, 29–28


Michigan State

See also: 2011 Michigan State Spartans football team
1 2 3 4 Total
#10 Spartans 3 14 7 7 31
Wildcats 0 3 7 7 17
Overall Record Last Meeting Result[26]
16–35 2010 MSU, 35–27


Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas

Texas A&M

See also: 2011 Texas A&M Aggies football team and 2011 Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas
1 2 3 4 Total
Aggies 3 17 10 3 33
Wildcats 0 7 0 15 22
Overall Record Last Meeting Result[16]
0–0 First Meeting N/A


Rankings

Ranking Movement[27]
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week. RV=Receiving votes. NR=Not ranked.
Poll Pre Wk 1 Wk 2 Wk 3 Wk 4 Wk 5 Wk 6 Wk 7 Wk 8 Wk 9 Wk 10 Wk 11 Wk 12 Wk 13 Wk 14 Final
AP RV RV RV NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR
Coaches RV RV RV RV RV NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR
Harris Not released NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR
BCS Not released NR NR NR NR NR NR NR NR

Roster

2011 Northwestern Wildcats roster[28][29]

Quarterbacks

  • 2 Kain Colter – Sophomore
  • 7 Dan Persa (C) – Senior
  • 10 Zack Oliver – Freshman
  • 13 Trevor Siemian – Freshman
  • 15 P.J. Carollo – Freshman
  • 18 Evan Watkins – Sophomore

Running Backs

  • 4 Adonis Smith – Sophomore
  • 21 Jordan Perkins – Freshman
  • 22 Treyvon Green – Freshman
  • 28 Tim Hanrahan – Freshman
  • 29 Mike Trumpy – Sophomore
  • 34 Tyris Jones – Junior
  • 39 Jacob Schmidt – Senior

Wide Receivers

  • 5 Venric Mark – Sophomore
  • 6 Charles Brown – Senior
  • 8 Demetrius Fields – Junior
  • 11 Jeremy Ebert – Senior
  • 12 Tony Jones – Sophomore
  • 14 Christian Jones – Freshman
  • 17 Rashad Lawrence – Sophomore
  • 23 E.J. Webb – Freshman
  • 27 Cermak Bland – Freshman
  • 80 Mike Jensen – Sophomore
  • 81 Cameron Dickerson – Freshman
  • 84 Drew Moulton – Sophomore
  • 86 Brendan Barber – Junior
  • 88 Torin Dupper – Freshman
  • 89 Pierre Youngblood-Ary – Freshman

Superbacks

  • 9 Drake Dunsmore – Senior
  • 40 Brett Nagel – Junior
  • 82 John Plasencia – Sophomore
  • 83 Jack Konopka – Freshman
  • 85 Mark Szott – Freshman
  

Offensive Line

  • 53 Geoff Mogus – Freshman
  • 57 Matt Frazier – Freshman
  • 61 Alex Pietrzak – Freshman
  • 62 Taylor Paxton – Sophomore
  • 64 Doug Bartels – Senior
  • 65 Ben Burkett – Senior
  • 66 Brandon Vitabile – Freshman
  • 68 Hayden Baker – Freshman
  • 70 Patrick Ward – Junior
  • 71 Shane Mertz – Freshman
  • 72 Brian Mulroe – Junior
  • 73 Colin Armstrong – Senior
  • 74 Chuck Porcelli – Junior
  • 75 Al Netter (C) – Senior
  • 76 Brian Smith – Sophomore
  • 78 Paul Jorgensen – Freshman
  • 79 Neal Deiters – Junior

Defensive Line

  • 42 Kevin Watt – Senior
  • 55 Bo Cisek – Junior
  • 58 Max Chapman – Freshman
  • 60 Jake Gregus – Sophomore
  • 67 Sean McEvilly – Freshman
  • 79 C.J. Robbins – Freshman
  • 88 Quentin Williams – Junior
  • 90 Jack DiNardo – Senior
  • 91 Brian Arnfelt – Junior
  • 92 Will Hampton – Sophomore
  • 93 Niko Mafuli – Senior
  • 94 Vince Browne – Senior
  • 95 Davon Custis – Sophomore
  • 96 Anthony Battle – Sophomore
  • 97 Tyler Scott – Sophomore
  • 98 Deonte Gibson – Freshman
  • 99 Chance Carter – Freshman
  

Linebackers

  • 31 Stone Pinckney – Junior
  • 33 David Nwabuisi – Junior
  • 35 Ben Johnson – Senior
  • 41 Doug Diedrick – Freshman
  • 43 Tim Riley – Sophomore
  • 44 Chi Chi Ariguzo – Freshman
  • 45 Collin Ellis – Freshman
  • 46 Damien Proby – Sophomore
  • 48 Roderick Goodlow – Junior
  • 50 Timmy Vernon – Sophomore
  • 51 Bryce McNaul – Senior
  • 54 Drew Smith – Freshman
  • 56 Will Studlien – Sophomore

Defensive Backs

  • 15 Daniel Jones – Freshman
  • 16 Davion Fleming – Sophomore
  • 18 Matt Carpenter – Freshman
  • 19 Jimmy Hall – Freshman
  • 20 Austin Kassner – Freshman
  • 23 Nick VanHoose – Freshman
  • 24 Ibraheim Campbell – Freshman
  • 25 Jarrell Williams – Freshman
  • 36 Mike Eshun – Freshman
  • 39 Joe Cannon – Freshman

Cornerbacks

  • 3 Jeravin Matthews – Senior
  • 13 C.J. Bryant – Freshman
  • 20 Tim Weak – Junior
  • 21 Mike Bolden – Senior
  • 22 Demetrius Dugar – Junior
  • 26 Jordan Mabin (C) – Senior
  • 47 Ricky Weina – Senior

Safeties

  • 7 Hunter Bates – Junior
  • 10 Brian Peters (C) – Senior
  • 27 Jared Carpenter – Junior
  • 32 David Arnold – Senior
  

Punters

  • 31 Chris Gradone – Freshman
  • 49 Brandon Williams – Sophomore

Kickers

  • 34 Steve Flaherty – Junior
  • 37 Jeff Budzien – Sophomore
  • 38 Arthur Omilian – Freshman

Long Snappers

  • 59 Pat Hickey – Sophomore
Head coach
  • Pat Fitzgerald
Coordinators/Assistant coaches
  • Randy Bates – Linebackers Coach
  • Jerry Brown – Assistant Head Coach/Defensive Backs Coach
  • Adam Cushing – Offensive Line Coach
  • Mike Hankwitz – Defensive Coordinator
  • Bob Heffner – Superbacks Coach
  • Marty Long – Defensive Line Coach
  • Matt MacPherson – Running Backs Coach/Recruiting Coordinator
  • Mick McCall – Offensive Coordinator/QB's Coach
  • Dennis Springer – Wide Receivers Coach
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Redshirt

References

  1. ^ "Big Ten divisions: Legends, Leaders". ESPN.com. December 13, 2010. http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5915147. Retrieved 2011-01-12. 
  2. ^ Northwestern Football Schedule
  3. ^ "Northwestern Wildcats at Boston College Eagles Box Score". ESPN.com. November 14, 2011. http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=312460103. 
  4. ^ "Northwestern Wildcats vs. Eastern Illinois Panthers Box Score". ESPN.com. November 14, 2011. http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=312530077. 
  5. ^ "Northwestern Wildcats at Army Black Knights Box Score". ESPN.com. November 14, 2011. http://espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=312600349. 
  6. ^ "Northwestern Wildcats at Illinois Fighting Illini Box Score". ESPN.com. November 14, 2011. http://espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=312740356. 
  7. ^ "Northwestern Wildcats vs. Michigan Wolverines Box Score". ESPN.com. November 14, 2011. http://espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=312810077. 
  8. ^ "Northwestern Wildcats vs. Iowa Hawkeyes Box Score". ESPN.com. October 15, 2011. http://scores.espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=312882294. 
  9. ^ "Northwestern Wildcats vs. Penn State Nittany Lions Box Score". ESPN.com. November 14, 2011. http://espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=312950077. 
  10. ^ "Northwestern Wildcats at Indiana Hoosiers Box Score". ESPN.com. November 14, 2011. http://espn.go.com/ncf/boxscore?gameId=313020084. 
  11. ^ "Northwestern University Official Athletic Site – Football". nusports.com. November 12, 2011. http://www.nusports.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2011-2012/110511.html. 
  12. ^ "Northwestern University Official Athletic Site – Football". nusports.com. November 12, 2011. http://www.nusports.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2011-2012/111211.html. 
  13. ^ "Northwestern University Official Athletic Site – Football". nusports.com. November 19, 2011. http://www.nusports.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2011-2012/111911.html. 
  14. ^ "Northwestern University Official Athletic Site – Football". nusports.com. November 26, 2011. http://www.nusports.com/sports/m-footbl/stats/2011-2012/112611.html. 
  15. ^ Northwestern Wildcats record against Boston College Golden Eagles
  16. ^ a b Northwestern records by opponent
  17. ^ Northwestern Wildcats record against Army Black Knights
  18. ^ Northwestern Wildcats record against Illinois Fighting Illini
  19. ^ Northwestern Wildcats record against Michigan Wolverines
  20. ^ Northwestern Wildcats record against Iowa Hawkeyes
  21. ^ Northwestern Wildcats record against Penn State Nittany Lions
  22. ^ Northwestern Wildcats record against Indiana Hoosiers
  23. ^ Northwestern Wildcats record against Nebraska Cornhuskers
  24. ^ Northwestern Wildcats record against Rice Owls
  25. ^ Northwestern Wildcats record against Minnesota Golden Gophers
  26. ^ Northwestern Wildcats record against Michigan State Spartans
  27. ^ College football rankings
  28. ^ 2011 Northwestern Wildcats roster
  29. ^ 2011 Northwestern Wildcats captains announcement

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