2012 Northwestern Wildcats football team

2012 Northwestern Wildcats football
Gator Bowl Champions
Conference Big Ten Conference
Legends Division
Ranking
Coaches #16
AP #17
2012 record 10–3 (5–3 Big Ten)
Head coach Pat Fitzgerald
Offensive coordinator Mick McCall
Offensive scheme Spread
Defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz
Base defense Multiple 4–3
Captain Brian Arnfelt
Captain Kain Colter
Captain Brian Mulroe
Captain David Nwabuisi
Home stadium Ryan Field (Capacity: 47,130)
2012 Big Ten football standings
Conf     Overall
Team   W   L         W   L  
Legends Division
#25 Nebraska x   7 1         10 4  
#24 Michigan   6 2         8 5  
#17 Northwestern   5 3         10 3  
Michigan State   3 5         7 6  
Iowa   2 6         4 8  
Minnesota   2 6         6 7  
Leaders Division
#3 Ohio State* x   8 0         12 0  
Penn State*   6 2         8 4  
Wisconsin y$   4 4         8 6  
Purdue   3 5         6 7  
Indiana   2 6         4 8  
Illinois   0 8         2 10  
Championship: Wisconsin 70, Nebraska 31
  • $ BCS representative as conference champion
  • x Division champion/co-champions
  • y Championship game participant
  • Ohio State and Penn State ineligible for conference championship game and post-season bowl games due to NCAA sanctions
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2012 Northwestern Wildcats football team represented Northwestern University during the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Pat Fitzgerald, in his seventh season at Northwestern, was the team's head coach. The Wildcats home games were played at Ryan Field in Evanston, Illinois. They were members of the Legends Division of the Big Ten Conference. The Wildcats won their first bowl game since the 1949 Rose Bowl against California by defeating Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl 34–20.[1] They finished the season 10–3 (5–3 Big Ten).

Previous season

In 2011 the Wildcats had a 6–7 record, ending the season with a 33–22 loss to Texas A&M in the 2011 Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas.

Preseason

Recruiting

Northwestern signed 21 recruits to letters-of-intent on National Signing Day on February 1, 2012.[2]

Transfers

Wide receiver Kyle Prater transferred to Northwestern from USC on January 28, 2012, after being injured during most of the 2011 season and redshirting in 2010.[3] The Wildcats requested a waiver to allow Prater to play immediately in 2012, as he transferred to a school close to home in order to care for a family member.[4] Sophomore running back Adonis Smith, who was thought to be a candidate for the starting running back job in 2012 after rushing for 266 yards in 2011, announced his intent to transfer from Northwestern on February 22.[5] He decided to transfer to UNLV.[6] Defensive back Quinn Evans transferred to Northwestern after graduating from Stanford in June 2012. After missing the entire 2011 season because of injury, he chose to attend Northwestern as a graduate student with a year of college football eligibility remaining.[7]

Schedule

The schedule is as follows:[8]

Date Time Opponent# Rank# Site TV Result Attendance
September 1 11:00 AM at Syracuse* Carrier DomeSyracuse, NY ESPN2 W 4241   37,830[9]
September 8 7:00 PM Vanderbilt* Ryan FieldEvanston, IL BTN W 2313   31,644[10]
September 15 2:30 PM Boston College* Ryan Field • Evanston, IL BTN W 2213   32,597[11]
September 22 2:30 PM South Dakota* Ryan Field • Evanston, IL BTN W 387   28,641[12]
September 29 11:00 AM Indiana Ryan Field • Evanston, IL BTN W 4429   33,129[13]
October 6 11:00 AM at Penn State #24 Beaver StadiumUniversity Park, PA ESPN L 2839   95,796[14]
October 13 11:00 AM at Minnesota TCF Bank StadiumMinneapolis, MN ESPN2 W 2113   49,651[15]
October 20 2:30 PM Nebraska Ryan Field • Evanston, IL ABC/ESPN2 L 2829   47,330[16]
October 27 11:00 AM Iowadagger Ryan Field • Evanston, IL ESPN2 W 2817   44,121[17]
November 10 11:00 AM at Michigan #24 Michigan StadiumAnn Arbor, MI ESPN L 3138 OT  112,510[18]
November 17 11:00 AM at Michigan State Spartan StadiumEast Lansing, MI ESPN2 W 2320   75,101[19]
November 24 11:00 AM Illinois Ryan Field • Evanston, IL (Land of Lincoln Trophy) BTN W 5014   32,415[20]
January 1 11:00 AM vs. Mississippi State #21 EverBank FieldJacksonville, FL (Gator Bowl) ESPN2 W 3420   48,612[21]
*Non-conference game. daggerHomecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Central Time.

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 Final 
AP NR RV RV RV RV 24 RV RV NR RV RV RV RV 22 21 17 
Coaches' NR RV RV RV RV 22 RV RV RV RV 21 RV RV 20 17 16 
Harris Not released RV RV RV RV 24 RV RV 21 20 Not released 
BCS Not released NR NR NR 24 NR NR 22 20 Not released

Game Notes

Syracuse

1 234Total
Northwestern 7 14147 42
Syracuse 6 71414 41
Overall Record Last Meeting Result[23]
45 2009 SYR 3734

The game got off to a slow start with some notable miscues on Northwestern's special teams play. All of which was quickly forgotten when Venric Mark scored an 82-yard touchdown on a punt return, the first return touchdown of his career. Northwestern continued to dominate offensively on the work of Mark and Kain Colter, taking a 35–13 lead in the middle of the 3rd quarter. The Orange then scored 4 straight touchdowns to lead 41–35 by attacking the young Northwestern secondary with deep passes to the outside. With under 3 minutes left and needing a score to win, Northwestern changed quarterbacks. Trevor Siemian came on to lead a 75-yard drive that scored the go-ahead touchdown. Northwestern survived to win and remain 7–0 in season openers under Pat Fitzgerald.

Vanderbilt

1 234Total
Vanderbilt 7 303 13
Northwestern 3 0317 23
Overall Record Last Meeting Result[25]
111 2010 NU 2321

Boston College

1 234Total
Boston College 3 703 13
Northwestern 6 637 22
  • Date: September 15
  • Location: Ryan Field, Evanston, IL
  • Game start: 2:43 p.m. CDT
  • Elapsed time: 3:19
  • Game attendance: 32,597
  • Game weather: 75°F, sunny, 8mph-NE wind
  • Referee: Gary Patterson
  • TV announcers (BTN): Josh Lewin (Play-by-play), Jon Jansen (Color) & Evan Fitzgerald (Sideline)
Overall Record Last Meeting Result[27]
31 2011 NU 2417

South Dakota

1 234Total
South Dakota 0 070 7
Northwestern 14 1473 38
  • Date: September 22
  • Location: Ryan Field, Evanston, IL
  • Game start: 2:42 p.m. CDT
  • Elapsed time: 2:58
  • Game attendance: 28,641
  • Game weather: 55°F, mostly sunny, 15mph-WNW wind
  • Referee: Todd Geerlings
  • TV announcers (BTN): Wayne Larrivee (Play-by-play), Jon Jansen (Color) & Evan Fitzgerald (Sideline)
Overall Record Last Meeting Result[29]
40 1927 NU 472

Indiana

1 234Total
Indiana 0 0218 29
Northwestern 7 13177 44
  • Date: September 29
  • Location: Ryan Field, Evanston, IL
  • Game start: 11:01 a.m. CDT
  • Elapsed time: 3:18
  • Game attendance: 33,129
  • Game weather: 66°F, partly cloudy, 6mph-WNW wind
  • Referee: Mike Cannon
  • TV announcers (BTN): Kevin Kugler (Play-by-play) & Chris Martin (Color)
Overall Record Last Meeting Result[31]
45341 2011 NU 5938

Penn State

1 234Total
#24 Northwestern 0 14140 28
Penn State 3 7722 39
Overall Record Last Meeting Result[32]
312 2011 PSU 3424

Roster

2012 Northwestern Wildcats roster[33][34]

Quarterbacks

  • 2 Kain Colter (C)Junior
  • 10 Zack Oliver – Freshman
  • 13 Trevor SiemianSophomore
  • 15 P.J. Carollo – Freshman
  • 18 Christian Salem – Freshman

Running Backs

  • 3 Tyris Jones – Senior
  • 5 Venric MarkJunior
  • 20 Malin Jones – Freshman
  • 21 Jordan Perkins – Freshman
  • 22 Treyvon Green – Sophomore
  • 25 Jordan Perkins – Freshman
  • 27 Mike Panico – Freshman
  • 28 Tim Hanrahan – Sophomore
  • 29 Stephen Buckley – Freshman
  • 32 Mike Trumpy – Junior
  • 34 Michael Odom – Freshman

Wide Receivers

  • 6 Tony Jones – Sophomore
  • 8 Demetrius Fields – Senior
  • 8 Jack Mitchell - Freshman
  • 11 Pierre Youngblood-Ary - Freshman
  • 12 Cermak Bland – Freshman
  • 14 Christian Jones – Sophomore
  • 17 Rashad Lawrence – Junior
  • 19 Cameron Dickerson – Freshman
  • 21 Kyle PraterSophomore
  • 80 Mike Jensen – Junior
  • 82 Andrew Scanlan - Freshman
  • 83 Mike McHugh – Freshman
  • 84 Drew Moulton – Junior
  • 89 Austin Carr – Freshman

Superbacks

  • 40 Dan Vitale - Freshman
  • 41 Doug Diedrick - Freshman
  • 43 Tim Riley - Junior
  • 81 Evan Watkins – Junior
  • 85 Mark Szott – Freshman
  • 86 Jack Schwaba - Freshman
  • 87 Brian Smith - Junior
 

Offensive Line

  • 53 Geoff Mogus – Freshman
  • 57 Matt Frazier – Freshman
  • 61 Alex Pietrzak – Freshman
  • 62 Taylor Paxton – Junior
  • 63 Ian Park - Freshman
  • 65 Hayden Baker – Sophomore
  • 66 Brandon Vitabile – Sophomore
  • 70 Patrick Ward – Senior
  • 71 Shane Mertz – Freshman
  • 72 Brian Mulroe (C)Senior
  • 73 Adam DePietro – Freshman
  • 74 Chuck Porcelli – Senior
  • 75 Jack Konopka – Sophomore
  • 76 Eric Olson – Freshman
  • 77 Kenton Playko – Freshman
  • 79 Neal Deiters – Senior
  • 81 Paul Jorgensen – Sophomore

Defensive Line

  • 1 Bo Cisek – Senior
  • 67 Sean McEvilly - Sophomore
  • 68 Connor Mahoney - Freshman
  • 88 Quentin Williams - Senior
  • 89 Max Chapman - Freshman
  • 90 C.J. Robbins – Freshman
  • 91 Brian Arnfelt (C) - Senior
  • 92 Will Hampton - Junior
  • 93 Greg Kuhar - Freshman
  • 94 Dean Lowry - Freshman
  • 95 Davon Custis - Junior
  • 96 Anthony Battle - Junior
  • 97 Tyler Scott - Junior
  • 98 Deonte Gibson - Freshman
  • 99 Chance Carter - Sophomore
 

Linebackers

  • 18 Ifeadi Odenigbo - Freshman
  • 33 David Nwabuisi (C)Senior
  • 35 Eric Wilson - Freshman
  • 44 Chi Chi Ariguzo – Sophomore
  • 45 Collin Ellis – Sophomore
  • 46 Damien Proby – Junior
  • 48 Roderick Goodlow – Senior
  • 50 Timmy Vernon – Junior
  • 51 Jaylen Prater - Freshman
  • 54 Eric Hauser - Freshman
  • 55 Drew Smith – Freshman
  • 56 Will Studlien – Junior

Defensive Backs

  • 3 Sean Oliver - Freshman
  • 4 Jarrell Williams - Freshman
  • 9 Jimmy Hall - Sophomore
  • 15 Daniel Jones – Sophomore
  • 16 Davion Fleming – Junior
  • 23 Nick VanHoose - Freshman
  • 24 Ibraheim Campbell - Sophomore
  • 36 Mike Eshun - Sophomore
  • 39 Joe Cannon - Sophomore
  • 47 Troy Sheppard - Freshman

Cornerbacks

  • 2 Dwight White - Freshman
  • 13 C.J. Bryant – Sophomore
  • 22 Demetrius Dugar – Senior
  • 31 Quinn Evans - Senior

Safeties

  • 7 Hunter Bates – Senior
  • 10 Traveon Henry – Freshman
  • 26 Terrance Brown - Freshman
  • 27 Jared Carpenter – Senior
  • 42 Joseph Jones - Freshman
 

Punters

  • 31 Chris Gradone – Freshman
  • 39 Zak Kucera - Freshman
  • 49 Brandon Williams – Junior

Punters/Kickers

  • 33 Matt Micucci - Freshman

Kickers

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

Long Snappers

  • 52 Chris Fitzpatrick - Freshman
  • 59 Pat Hickey – Junior
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. Greenstein, Teddy (January 1, 2013). "Northwestern Wins Gator Bowl to End Drought". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved January 1, 2013.
  2. Taylor, John (February 1, 2012). "Northwestern announces 2012 recruiting class". NBC Sports. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
  3. "WR Prater transfers from So. Cal to Northwestern". Sports Illustrated. January 28, 2012. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
  4. Greenstein, Teddy (June 27, 2012). "Prater, NU Expect to Hear From NCAA in July". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved June 29, 2012.
  5. Powers, Scott (February 22, 2012). "Adonis Smith Leaving Northwestern". ESPN. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
  6. Taylor, John (March 8, 2012). "Ex-Northwestern RB Headed to UNLV". NBC Sports. Retrieved March 8, 2012.
  7. "Northwestern Announces Addition of Transfer Quinn Evans". Northwestern University Department of Athletics. June 11, 2012. Retrieved June 11, 2012.
  8. "2012 Northwestern Football Schedule". Northwestern University Department of Athletics. Retrieved February 22, 2012.
  9. 1 2 "Northwestern Wildcats vs. Syracuse Orange Box Score". ESPN. September 1, 2012. Retrieved September 30, 2012.
  10. 1 2 "Vanderbilt Commodores vs. Northwestern Wildcats Box Score". ESPN. September 8, 2012. Retrieved September 30, 2012.
  11. 1 2 "Boston College Eagles vs. Northwestern Wildcats Box Score". ESPN. September 15, 2012. Retrieved September 30, 2012.
  12. 1 2 "South Dakota Coyotes vs. Northwestern Wildcats Box Score". ESPN. September 22, 2012. Retrieved September 30, 2012.
  13. 1 2 "Indiana Hoosiers vs. Northwestern Wildcats Box Score". ESPN. September 29, 2012. Retrieved September 30, 2012.
  14. "Northwestern Wildcats vs. Penn State Nittany Lions Box Score". ESPN. October 6, 2012. Retrieved October 7, 2012.
  15. "Northwestern Wildcats vs. Minnesota Golden Gophers Box Score". ESPN. October 13, 2012. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
  16. "Nebraska Cornhuskers vs. Northwestern Wildcats Box Score". ESPN. October 20, 2012. Retrieved October 21, 2012.
  17. "Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Northwestern Wildcats Box Score". ESPN. October 27, 2012. Retrieved October 27, 2012.
  18. "Northwestern Wildcats vs. Michigan Wolverines Box Score". ESPN. November 10, 2012. Retrieved November 12, 2012.
  19. "Northwestern Wildcats vs. Michigan State Spartans Box Score". ESPN. November 17, 2012. Retrieved November 17, 2012.
  20. "Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Northwestern Wildcats Box Score". ESPN. November 24, 2012. Retrieved November 24, 2012.
  21. "Mississippi State Bulldogs vs. Northwestern Wildcats Box Score". ESPN. January 1, 2013. Retrieved January 1, 2013.
  22. "Northwestern 42, Syracuse 41". Northwestern University Department of Athletics. September 1, 2012. Retrieved September 1, 2012.
  23. DeLassus, David. "Northwestern vs Syracuse (NY)". College Football Data Warehouse. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
  24. "Northwestern 23, Vanderbilt 13". Northwestern University Department of Athletics. September 8, 2012. Retrieved September 8, 2012.
  25. DeLassus, David. "Northwestern vs Vanderbilt (TN)". College Football Data Warehouse. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
  26. "Northwestern 22, Boston College 13". Northwestern University Department of Athletics. September 15, 2012. Retrieved September 16, 2012.
  27. DeLassus, David. "Northwestern vs Boston College (MA)". College Football Data Warehouse. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
  28. "Northwestern 38, South Dakota 7". Northwestern University Department of Athletics. September 22, 2012. Retrieved September 23, 2012.
  29. DeLassus, David. "Northwestern vs South Dakota". College Football Data Warehouse. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
  30. "Indiana vs Northwestern". Northwestern University Department of Athletics. September 29, 2012. Retrieved September 30, 2012.
  31. DeLassus, David. "Northwestern vs Indiana". College Football Data Warehouse. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
  32. DeLassus, David. "Northwestern vs Penn State". College Football Data Warehouse. Retrieved December 27, 2014.
  33. 2012 Northwestern Wildcats football roster
  34. 2012 Northwestern Wildcats captains announcement

External links

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