2007 Northwestern Wildcats football team

2007 Northwestern Wildcats football

Conference	Big Ten Conference
2007 record	6–6 (3–5 Big Ten)
Head coach	Pat Fitzgerald
Home stadium	Ryan Field (Capacity: 47,130)

2007 Big Ten football standings
	Conf				Overall
Team		W		L		W		L
#5 Ohio State $		7	–	1		11	–	2
#18 Michigan		6	–	2		9	–	4
#20 Illinois %		6	–	2		9	–	4
#24 Wisconsin		5	–	3		9	–	4
Penn State		4	–	4		9	–	4
Iowa		4	–	4		6	–	6
Purdue		3	–	5		8	–	5
Indiana		3	–	5		7	–	6
Michigan State		3	–	5		7	–	6
Northwestern		3	–	5		6	–	6
Minnesota		0	–	8		1	–	11

$ – BCS representative as conference champion % – BCS at-large representative Rankings from AP Poll

The 2007 Northwestern Wildcats football team represented Northwestern University in the Big Ten Conference during the 2007–2008 college football season. Pat Fitzgerald, in his second season at Northwestern, was the team's head coach. The Wildcats played their homes games at Ryan Field in Evanston, Illinois.

Before the beginning of the 2007 season, Northwestern showed potential for improvement upon the previous year's record. ESPN.com's Mark Schlabach stated that Northwestern has the seventh easiest schedule in college football, ^[1] and SI.com's Steve Megargee claimed that Indiana was the only Big Ten school with an easier schedule.^[2] Running back Tyrell Sutton was one of 64 players in college football to be put on the Maxwell Award watch list for the nation's best college football player.^[3]

The Wildcats began the season with their first shutout since 1997 in a 27–0 win against the Northeastern Huskies.^[4] On October 7, quarterback C. J. Bacher broke Brett Basanez's school record for single-game passing yards by throwing for 520 yards in a victory over Michigan State. Bacher went on to be named the Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week and the Big Ten Conference Offensive Player of the Week.^[5] Another strong performance in a win against Minnesota earned Bacher Big Ten Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors for the second week in a row.^[6]

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 1	11:00 AM	Northeastern*	Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	BTN	W 27–0	16,199
September 8	11:00 AM	Nevada*	Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	BTN	W 36–31	17,653
September 15	7:00 PM	Duke*	Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	BTN	L 14–20	23,716
September 22	2:30 PM	at #9 Ohio State	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH	ABC/ESPN	L 7–58	105,178
September 29	11:00 AM	Michigan	Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	BTN	L 16–28	40,604
October 6	11:00 AM	at Michigan State	Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI	BTN	W 48–41 ^OT	67,378
October 13	11:00 AM	Minnesota	Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	BTN	W 49–48 ^2OT	23,314
October 19	6:00 PM	at Eastern Michigan*	Ford Field • Detroit, MI	ESPNU	W 26–14	10,000
October 27	11:00 AM	at Purdue	Ross-Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN	BTN	L 17–35	58,237
November 3	11:00 AM	Iowa	Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	ESPN2	L 17–28	30,173
November 10	11:00 AM	Indiana	Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	ESPNC	W 31–28	20,466
November 17	11:00 AM	at #21 Illinois	Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL (Sweet Sioux Tomahawk)	ESPN	L 22–41	54,116
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. ^#Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to game. All times are in Central Time.

References

Northwestern Wildcats football

Venues	Northwestern Field (1905–1925) Ryan Field (1926–present)

Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Illinois (Sweet Sioux Tomahawk, 1945–2008; Land of Lincoln Trophy, 2009–present) Notre Dame (Shillelagh Trophy 1930–c. 1973)

Culture & lore	Willie the Wildcat "Go U Northwestern" Marching band 2006 Michigan State game

People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders

Seasons	1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

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