2015 Northwestern Wildcats football team

2015 Northwestern Wildcats football
Outback Bowl vs. Tennessee, L 6–45
Conference	Big Ten Conference West Division
Ranking
Coaches	#22
AP	#23
2015 record	10–3 (6–2 Big Ten)
Head coach	Pat Fitzgerald (10th as HC) (15th overall year)
Offensive coordinator	Mick McCall (8th year)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Mike Hankwitz (8th year)
Base defense	Multiple 4–3
Captain	Christian Jones (5th year)
Captain	Dan Vitale (4th year)
Captain	Traveon Henry (4th year)
Captain	Deonte Gibson (5th year)
Home stadium	Ryan Field (Capacity: 47,130)

2015 Big Ten football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
#6 Michigan State xy$^		7	–	1					12	–	2
#4 Ohio State x		7	–	1					12	–	1
#12 Michigan		6	–	2					10	–	3
Penn State		4	–	4					7	–	6
Indiana		2	–	6					6	–	7
Rutgers		1	–	7					4	–	8
Maryland		1	–	7					3	–	9
West Division
#9 Iowa xy		8	–	0					12	–	2
#23 Northwestern		6	–	2					10	–	3
#21 Wisconsin		6	–	2					10	–	3
Nebraska		3	–	5					6	–	7
Minnesota		2	–	6					6	–	7
Illinois		2	–	6					5	–	7
Purdue		1	–	7					2	–	10
Championship: Michigan State 16, Iowa 13
^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant As of January 2, 2016; Rankings from AP Poll

The 2015 Northwestern Wildcats football team represented Northwestern University during the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. It was Pat Fitzgerald's tenth season as the team's head coach. The Wildcats home games were played at Ryan Field in Evanston, Illinois. They were members of the West Division of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the regular season 10-2, 6-2 in conference play. As a result, they were invited to the Outback Bowl, where they were beaten heavily by Tennessee, 45-6.

Previous season

The 2014 Northwestern Wildcats football team finished the regular season 5–7, 3–5 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for fifth place in the West Division. They had highlight wins against #18 Notre Dame and #17 Wisconsin.

Schedule

Northwestern announced their 2015 football schedule on June 3, 2013. The 2015 schedule consist of 7 home and 5 away games in the regular season. The Wildcats will host Big Ten foes Iowa, Minnesota, Penn State, and Purdue and will travel to Illinois, Michigan, Nebraska, and Wisconsin.^[1]

The Wildcats hosted three of their four non conference games against Ball State, Eastern Illinois and Stanford. Northwestern traveled to Durham, North Carolina to face Duke of the Atlantic Coast Conference on September 19.

Date	Time	Opponent^#	Rank^#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 5	11:00 a.m.	#21 Stanford*		Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	ESPN	W 16–6	36,024
September 12	3:00 p.m.	Eastern Illinois*		Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	ESPNews	W 41–0	29,131
September 19	11:30 a.m.	at Duke*	#23	Wallace Wade Stadium • Durham, NC	ACCN	W 19–10	24,127
September 26	7:00 p.m.	Ball State*	#17	Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	BTN	W 24–19	30,107
October 3	11:00 a.m.	Minnesota	#16	Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	BTN	W 27–0	30,044
October 10	2:30 p.m.	at #18 Michigan	#13	Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI	BTN	L 0–38	110,452
October 17	11:00 a.m.	#17 Iowa	#20	Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	ABC/ESPN2	L 10–40	44,135
October 24	11:00 a.m.	at Nebraska		Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, NE	ESPN2	W 30–28	89,493
November 7	11:00 a.m.	Penn State		Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	ESPNU	W 23–21	34,116
November 14	11:00 a.m.	Purdue	#24	Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	BTN	W 21–14	30,003
November 21	2:30 PM	at #21 Wisconsin	#20	Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI	BTN	W 13–7	75,276
November 28	2:30 PM	at Illinois	#17	Soldier Field • Chicago, IL (Rivalry)	ESPNU	W 24–14	33,514
January 1, 2016	11:00 a.m.	vs. Tennessee*	#12	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL (Outback Bowl)	ESPN2	L 6–45	53,202
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. ^#Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Central Time Zone.

Schedule Source:^[2]

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	23	17	16	13	20	RV	RV	RV	24	20	17	13	12	23
Coaches'	NR	RV	24	19	17	14	21	RV	RV	RV	24	21	17	13	12	22
CFP	Not released									21	18	20	16	14	13	Not released

Roster

2015 Northwestern Wildcats football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 2 Salem, ChristianChristian Salem  Jr RB 4 Vault, SolomonSolomon Vault So WR 5 Shuler, MilesMiles Shuler  Sr WR 6 McHugh, MikeMike McHugh  Jr QB 7 Alviti, MattMatt Alviti  So WR 8 Buckley, StephenStephen Buckley  Jr SB 9 Dickerson, GarrettGarrett Dickerson So QB 10 Oliver, ZackZack Oliver  Sr QB 11 Green, T. J.T. J. Green Fr WR 11 Youngblood-Ary, PierrePierre Youngblood-Ary  Sr RB 12 Anderson, AustonAuston Anderson  Fr RB 13 Long, WarrenWarren Long Jr WR 14 Jones, ChristianChristian Jones (C)  Sr QB 14 Yates, LloydLloyd Yates Fr WR 15 Wilson, MacanMacan Wilson  So WR 16 Baker, QuinnQuinn Baker  So QB 17 Kubiuk, DanielDaniel Kubiuk  Fr QB 18 Thorson, ClaytonClayton Thorson  Fr WR 19 Dickerson, CameronCameron Dickerson  Sr RB 20 Moten IV, JohnJohn Moten IV Fr RB 21 Jackson, JustinJustin Jackson So WR 24 Gorogianis, MarkMark Gorogianis  So WR 25 Dauch, LukeLuke Dauch  Sr WR 36 Acker, CoreyCorey Acker  So SB 40 Vitale, DanDan Vitale (C) Sr WR 43 Johnson, ColeCole Johnson  So SB 46 Lutzen, EricEric Lutzen  Fr OL 53 Mogus, GeoffGeoff Mogus  Sr OL 57 Frazier, MattMatt Frazier  Sr OL 59 Butler, J. B.J. B. Butler  Fr OL 63 Park, IanIan Park  Jr OL 64 Otterman, AndrewAndrew Otterman Fr OL 65 Thomas, JaredJared Thomas Fr OL 68 Mahoney, ConnorConnor Mahoney  Jr OL 69 North, BradBrad North  So OL 70 Mertz, ShaneShane Mertz  Sr OL 71 Doles, TommyTommy Doles  Fr OL 72 Hance, BlakeBlake Hance  Fr OL 73 DePietro, AdamAdam DePietro  Jr OL 74 Bullmore, GrahamGraham Bullmore  So OL 76 Oloson, EricEric Oloson  Jr OL 78 Lemke-Bell, AdamAdam Lemke-Bell Fr OL 79 Coverdale, SamSam Coverdale  So WR 80 Carr, AustinAustin Carr  Jr WR 81 Roberts, JelaniJelani Roberts Fr WR 82 Scanlan, AndrewAndrew Scanlan  Jr WR 83 Hanaoka, ChadChad Hanaoka So WR 84 Green, CameronCameron Green Fr WR 85 Cliff, ChrisChris Cliff Fr SB 85 Szott, MarkMark Szott  Sr WR 86 Nagel, FlynnFlynn Nagel Fr WR 87 Kidd, GarrettGarrett Kidd  Sr SB 88 Taylor, JaymeJayme Taylor  So WR 89 Fessler, CharlieCharlie Fessler Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DL 1 Chapman, MaxMax Chapman  Sr S 2 Henry, TraveonTraveon Henry (C) Sr CB 3 Watkins II, KeithKeith Watkins II  So DL 7 Odenigbo, IfeadiIfeadi Odenigbo  Jr DB 10 Murray, JakeJake Murray Fr DL 13 Gibson, DeonteDeonte Gibson (C)  Sr S 16 Igwebuike, GodwinGodwin Igwebuike  So CB 17 McShepard, MarcusMarcus McShepard  So LB 18 Walker, AnthonyAnthony Walker  So S 21 Queiro, KyleKyle Queiro  So CB 22 Westphal, ParkerParker Westphal  Fr CB 23 VanHoose, NickNick VanHoose  Sr CB 24 Hartage, MontreMontre Hartage Fr S 26 Brown, TerranceTerrance Brown  Jr CB 27 Harris, MatthewMatthew Harris  Jr DB 28 Mayo, AlonzoAlonzo Mayo Fr DB 29 Williams, TraeTrae Williams Fr LB 31 Vitale, TommyTommy Vitale Fr LB 32 Hill, NateNate Hill  Fr DB 33 Reese, StevenSteven Reese Fr LB 34 Short, SimbaSimba Short Fr LB 35 Hruby, TomTom Hruby Jr DB 38 Arowolaju, DamiDami Arowolaju Jr S 41 McGee, JaredJared McGee  Fr LB 42 Jones, JosephJoseph Jones  Jr DL 44 Prather, JamesJames Prather  Fr LB 45 Fox, NathanNathan Fox Fr LB 46 Pierce-Adams, AnthonyAnthony Pierce-Adams  Fr DB 47 Bergin, JoeJoe Bergin Fr S 48 Odell, TommyTommy Odell  So LB 49 Roberts, JoshJosh Roberts  So LB 51 Prater, JaylenJaylen Prater  Jr LB 53 Queiro, CameronCameron Queiro  Fr DL 54 Goens, TrentTrent Goens Fr LB 55 Smith, DrewDrew Smith  Sr LB 56 Walsh, BrettBrett Walsh  So DL 58 Reineke, HeathHeath Reineke  Fr DL 67 Lancaster, TylerTyler Lancaster  So DL 90 Robbins, C. J.C. J. Robbins  Sr DL 92 Playko, KentonKenton Playko  Fr DL 93 Kuhar, GregGreg Kuhar  Jr DL 94 Lowry, DeanDean Lowry Sr DL 95 Thompson, JordanJordan Thompson Fr DL 97 Gaziano, JoeJoe Gaziano Fr DL 98 Washington, XavierXavier Washington So DL 99 Oxley, BenBen Oxley  Fr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 7 Mitchell, JackJack Mitchell  Jr K, P 33 Micucci, MattMatt Micucci  Jr K 38 Omilian, ArthurArthur Omilian  Sr K 38 Weissenhofer, MasonMason Weissenhofer Fr LS 52 Fitzpatrick, ChazChaz Fitzpatrick  Jr P, K 96 Niswander, HunterHunter Niswander  So	Head coach Pat Fitzgerald Coordinators/assistant coaches Randy Bates (Linebackers) Jerry Brown (Defensive Backs) Adam Cushing (Offensive Line) Mike Hankwitz (Defensive Coordinator) Bob Heffner (Superbacks) Marty Long (Defensive Line) Matt MacPherson (Running Backs / Recruiting Coordinator) Mick McCall (Offensive Coordinator / Quarterbacks) Dennis Springer (Wide Receivers) Clay Bignell (Defensive Graduate Assistant) Chris Bowers (Director of Player Personnel) Cody Cejda (Director of Football Operations) Darby Dunnagan (Director of Video Operations) David Girardi (Defensive Graduate Assistant) Dan Hernandez (Offensive Graduate Assistant) Jay Hooten (Director of Sports Performance for Football) Tommy Rees (Offensive Graduate Assistant) Jacob Schmidt (Director of Player Development) Troy Sutton (Assistant Director of Sports Performance for Football) Mike Jasinski (Recruiting Intern) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster Last update: December 30, 2015

References

1. "B1G Releases 2015 Big Ten Football Schedule" (Press release). Northwestern University Department of Athletics. June 3, 2013. Retrieved January 17, 2015.
2. "2015 Northwestern Wildcats Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved January 17, 2015.