2008 Northwestern Wildcats football team

2008 Northwestern Wildcats football
Alamo Bowl, L 23-30 OT vs. Missouri
Conference Big Ten Conference
2008 record 94 (53 Big Ten)
Head coach Pat Fitzgerald
Offensive coordinator Mick McCall
Offensive scheme Spread
Defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz
Home stadium Ryan Field (Capacity: 47,130)
2008 Big Ten football standings
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
#8 Penn State $+   7 1         11 2  
#9 Ohio State %+   7 1         10 3  
#24 Michigan State   6 2         9 4  
Northwestern   5 3         9 4  
#20 Iowa   5 3         9 4  
Wisconsin   3 5         7 6  
Minnesota   3 5         7 6  
Illinois   3 5         5 7  
Purdue   2 6         4 8  
Michigan   2 6         3 9  
Indiana   1 7         3 9  
  • $ BCS representative as conference champion
  • % BCS at-large representative
  • + Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2008 Northwestern Wildcats football team represented Northwestern University in the Big Ten during the 20082009 college football season. Pat Fitzgerald, in his third season at Northwestern, was the team's head coach. The Wildcats played their homes games at Ryan Field in Evanston, Illinois.

Previous season

The 2007 team finished the season with a win-loss record of 6–6 and did not receive a bowl invitation.

Schedule

Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Result Attendance
August 30 11:00 AM[1] Syracuse* Ryan FieldEvanston, IL ESPN2[1] W 3010   20,015[2]
September 6 6:00 PM[3] at Duke* Wallace Wade StadiumDurham, NC W 2420   23,614[2]
September 13 11:00 AM[1] Southern Illinois* Ryan Field • Evanston, IL BTN[1] W 337   19,062[2]
September 20 11:00 AM[1] Ohio* Ryan Field • Evanston, IL BTN[1] W 168   22,069[2]
September 27 11:00 AM[4] at Iowa Kinnick StadiumIowa City, IA ESPNC[5] W 2217   70,585[2]
October 11 2:30 PM[5] #23 Michigan State Ryan Field • Evanston, IL ESPN2[5] L 2037   32,527[2]
October 18 11:00 AM[4] Purduedagger Ryan Field • Evanston, IL ESPN2[4] W 4826   27,163[2]
October 25 11:00 AM[4] at Indiana Memorial StadiumBloomington, IN BTN[4] L 1921   30,698[2]
November 1 11:00 AM[4] at #20 Minnesota Hubert H. Humphrey MetrodomeMinneapolis, MN ESPN2[5] W 2417   54,122[2]
November 8 11:00 AM[5] #12 Ohio State Ryan Field • Evanston, IL ESPN2[5] L 1045   47,130[2]
November 15 11:00 AM[5] at Michigan Michigan StadiumAnn Arbor, MI ESPN2 W 2114   107,856[2]
November 22 2:30 PM[5] Illinois Ryan Field • Evanston, IL (Sweet Sioux Tomahawk) BTN W 2710   32,166[2]
December 29 7:00 PM vs. #25 Missouri #22 AlamodomeSan Antonio, TX (Alamo Bowl) ESPN L 2330 OT  55,986[2]
*Non-conference game. daggerHomecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Central Time.

Game notes

Syracuse

1 2 3 4 Total
Orange 3 0 7 0 10
Wildcats 0 9 14 7 30

Duke

1 2 3 4 Total
Wildcats 7 10 0 7 24
Blue Devils 7 3 3 7 20

Southern Illinois

1 2 3 4 Total
Salukis 7 0 0 0 7
Wildcats 6 10 10 7 33

Ohio

1 2 3 4 Total
Bobcats 0 0 8 0 8
Wildcats 6 10 0 0 16

Iowa

1 2 3 4 Total
Wildcats 0 10 6 6 22
Hawkeyes 3 14 0 0 17

Michigan State

1 2 3 4 Total
Spartans 17 7 10 3 37
Wildcats 0 7 10 3 20

Purdue

1 2 3 4 Total
Boilermakers 6 6 0 14 26
Wildcats 0 24 10 14 48

Indiana

1 2 3 4 Total
Wildcats 3 6 10 0 19
Hoosiers 7 7 7 0 21

Minnesota

1 2 3 4 Total
Wildcats 10 7 0 7 24
Golden Gophers 0 17 0 0 17

Ohio State

1 2 3 4 Total
Buckeyes 7 17 7 14 45
Wildcats 7 0 3 0 10

Michigan

1 2 3 4 Total
Wildcats 7 0 14 0 21
Wolverines 7 7 0 0 14

Illinois

1 2 3 4 Total
Fighting Illini 0 0 7 3 10
Wildcats 6 7 3 11 27

Alamo Bowl, v. Missouri

1 2 3 4OT Total
Tigers 0 10 10 37 30
Wildcats 7 3 13 00 23

Rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. ( ) = First place votes.
Week
Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Final 
AP NR NR NR RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV 24 24 22 RV 
Coaches' NR NR RV RV RV RV 22 RV 24 RV 25 RV 24 20 22 20 RV 
Harris Not released 23 RV RV RV RV RV RV 24 22 21 Not released 
BCS Not released 22 NR 24 NR NR 24 22 23 Not released

Statistics

Team

Team Opp
Scoring    
  Points per Game    
First Downs    
  Rushing    
  Passing    
  Penalty    
Total Offense    
  Avg per Play    
  Avg per Game    
Fumbles-Lost    
Penalties-Yards    
  Avg per Game    
Team Opp
Punts-Yards    
  Avg per Punt    
Time of Possession/Game    
3rd Down Conversions    
4th Down Conversions    
Touchdowns Scored    
Field Goals-Attempts-Long    
PAT-Attempts    
Attendance    
  Games/Avg per Game    

Scores by quarter

1 2 3 4 Total
Northwestern 52 100 80 62 294
Opponents 64 78 49 41 232

Offense

Rushing

Name GP-GS Att Gain Loss Net Avg TD Long Avg/G
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
TEAM                  
Total                  
Opponents                  

Passing

Name CMP ATT YDS CMP% YPA LNG TD INT SACK RAT
C.J. Bacher 218 365 2128 59.7 5.83 53 14 14 9 113.68
Mike Kafka 32 46 330 69.6 7.17 36 2 3 6 131.13
Eric Peterman 2 2 55 100.0 27.50 30 1 0 0 496.0
Total 252 413 2513 61.0 6.08 53 17 17 15 116.9
Opponents                  

Receiving

Name GP-GS No. Yds Avg TD Long Avg/G
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
Total                  
Opponents                  

Defense

Name GP Tackles Sacks Pass Defense Interceptions Fumbles Blkd
Kick
Solo Ast Total TFL-Yds No-Yds BrUp QBH No.-Yds Avg TD Long Rcv-Yds FF
Total

Special teams

Name Punting Kickoffs
No. Yds Avg Long TB FC I20 Blkd No. Yds Avg TB OB
Total
Name Punt Returns Kick Returns
No. Yds Avg TD Long No. Yds Avg TD Long
Total

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Kickoff Times Announced For NU's First Three Home Games". Northwestern University Department of Athletics. July 2, 2008. Archived from the original on July 5, 2008. Retrieved July 4, 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Cumulative Season Statistics". Northwestern University Department of athletics. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
  3. "Kickoff Times Set For Duke's First Three Football Games". Duke University Department of Athletics. June 3, 2008. Retrieved June 6, 2008.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Big Ten Announces Start Times for 2008 Homecoming Games". Northwestern University Department of Athletics. May 12, 2008. Retrieved May 12, 2008.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Northwestern Official Athletics Site". Northwestern University Department of Athletics. September 29, 2008. Archived from the original on September 28, 2008. Retrieved September 29, 2008.
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