1995 Northwestern Wildcats football team
1995 Northwestern Wildcats football | |
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Big Ten Champions | |
Rose Bowl vs. USC, L 32–41 | |
Conference | Big Ten Conference |
Ranking | |
Coaches | #7 |
AP | #8 |
1995 record | 10–2 (8–0 Big Ten) |
Head coach | Gary Barnett |
Home stadium | Dyche Stadium (Capacity: 49,256) |
1995 Big Ten football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Team | W | L | T | W | L | T | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
#8 Northwestern † | 8 | – | 0 | – | 0 | 10 | – | 2 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
#6 Ohio State | 7 | – | 1 | – | 0 | 11 | – | 2 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
#13 Penn State | 5 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 3 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
#17 Michigan | 5 | – | 3 | – | 0 | 9 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Michigan State | 4 | – | 3 | – | 1 | 6 | – | 5 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
#25 Iowa | 4 | – | 4 | – | 0 | 8 | – | 4 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Illinois | 3 | – | 4 | – | 1 | 5 | – | 5 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Wisconsin | 3 | – | 4 | – | 1 | 4 | – | 5 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Purdue | 2 | – | 5 | – | 1 | 4 | – | 6 | – | 1 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Minnesota | 1 | – | 7 | – | 0 | 3 | – | 8 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Indiana | 0 | – | 8 | – | 0 | 2 | – | 9 | – | 0 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
† – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll |
The 1995 Northwestern Wildcats football team represented Northwestern University in the 1995 NCAA Division I-A college football season.
Season
Northwestern finished the season with a 10–2 record. Under head coach Gary Barnett, the trio of quarterback Steve Schnur, running back Darnell Autry, and linebacker Pat Fitzgerald led the Wildcats to a dramatic turnaround for the program. "Expect Victory" was the motto even as Northwestern began the season as 28-point underdogs. A surprising 17–15 season-opening win over heavily favored Notre Dame, along with subsequent wins over Michigan, 19–13, and Penn State, 21–10, drove the team into the national spotlight and helped make them media darlings. Northwestern achieved a ranking of #3 in the nation and won the Big Ten Conference title. They faced off against USC in the Rose Bowl where the Wildcats' Cinderella season came to a halt with a 41–32 loss.
Schedule
Date | Time | Opponent# | Rank# | Site | TV | Result | Attendance | |
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September 2 | 1:30 PM | at #9 Notre Dame* | Notre Dame Stadium • Notre Dame, IN | NBC | W 17–15 | 59,075 | ||
September 16 | 11:00 AM | Miami (OH)* | #25 | Dyche Stadium • Evanston, IL | ESPN2 | L 28–30 | 26,352 | |
September 23 | 11:30 AM | Air Force* | Dyche Stadium • Evanston, IL | ESPN | W 30–6 | 26,037 | ||
September 30 | 1:00 PM | Indiana | Dyche Stadium • Evanston, IL | W 31–7 | 29,223 | |||
October 7 | 11:30 AM | at #7 Michigan | #25 | Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI | ESPN | W 19–13 | 104,642 | |
October 14 | 1:00 PM | at Minnesota | #14 | Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome • Minneapolis, MN | W 27–17 | 50,504 | ||
October 21 | 11:30 AM | #24 Wisconsin | #11 | Dyche Stadium • Evanston, IL | ESPN2 | W 35–0 | 49,256 | |
October 28 | 11:00 AM | at Illinois | #8 | Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL | SCC | W 17–14 | 65,425 | |
November 4 | 2:30 PM | #12 Penn State | #6 | Dyche Stadium • Evanston, IL | ABC | W 21–10 | 49,256 | |
November 11 | 11:00 AM | Iowa | #5 | Dyche Stadium • Evanston, IL | Creative | W 31–20 | 49,256 | |
November 18 | 2:30 PM | at Purdue | #5 | Ross–Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN | ABC | W 23–8 | 47,172 | |
January 1 | 3:30 PM | vs. #17 USC* | #3 | Rose Bowl • Pasadena, CA (Rose Bowl) | ABC | L 32–41 | 100,102 | |
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. #Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to game. All times are in Central Time. |
1995 team players in the NFL
Awards and honors
- Gary Barnett, Paul "Bear" Bryant Award
- Gary Barnett, Walter Camp Coach of the Year
- Pat Fitzgerald, LB, Chuck Bednarik Award
- Pat Fitzgerald, LB, Bronko Nagurski Trophy
References
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