2004 Northwestern Wildcats football

Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	6–6 (5–3 Big Ten)
Head coach	Randy Walker (6th season)
Offensive coordinator	Mike Dunbar (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Greg Colby (3rd season)
Base defense	4–3
Captains	John Pickens^[1] Luis Castillo Noah Herron Matt Ulrich
Home stadium	Ryan Field
Seasons ← 2003 2005 →

2004 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 14 Michigan $+	7	–	1	9	–	3
No. 8 Iowa +	7	–	1	10	–	2
No. 17 Wisconsin	6	–	2	9	–	3
Northwestern	5	–	3	6	–	6
No. 20 Ohio State	4	–	4	8	–	4
Purdue	4	–	4	7	–	5
Michigan State	4	–	4	5	–	7
Minnesota	3	–	5	7	–	5
Penn State	2	–	6	4	–	7
Illinois	1	–	7	3	–	8
Indiana	1	–	7	3	–	8

$ – BCS representative as conference champion + – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 2004 Northwestern Wildcats football team represented Northwestern University during the 2004 NCAA Division I-A football season. They played their home games at Ryan Field and participated as members of the Big Ten Conference. They were coached by Randy Walker. Despite finishing the season bowl eligible and third in the conference standings, the team was not invited to a bowl game.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	8:30 pm	at TCU*	Amon G. Carter Stadium Fort Worth, TX	ESPN2	L 45–48 ^OT	26,843
September 11	11:00 am	Arizona State*	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPN2	L 21–30	21,939
September 18	1:00 pm	Kansas*	Ryan Field Evanston, IL		W 20–17	24,817
September 25	11:00 am	at No. 19 Minnesota	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN	ESPN2	L 17–43	44,657
October 2	8:00 pm	No. 7 Ohio State	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPN2	W 33–27 ^OT	47,130
October 9	11:00 am	Indiana	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPN+	W 31–24 ^2OT	22,688
October 23	11:00 am	at No. 6 Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	ESPN	L 12–24	82,468
October 30	11:00 am	No. 21 Purdue	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPN	W 13–10	30,312
November 6	11:00 am	at Penn State	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	ESPN+	W 14–7	100,353
November 13	11:00 am	at No. 7 Michigan	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)	ABC	L 20–42	111,347
November 20	11:00 am	Illinois	Ryan Field Evanston, IL (Sweet Sioux Tomahawk)	ESPN+	W 28–21 ^OT	23,563
November 27	11:00 pm	at Hawaii*	Aloha Stadium Honolulu, HI	FSN	L 41–49	33,846
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from BCS Poll or AP Poll if BCS not available All times are in Central time

Roster

2004 Northwestern Wildcats football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
QB	`14`	Brett Basanez	Jr
OL	`76`	Trai Essex	Sr
RB	`33`	Noah Herron	Sr
OL	`60`	Ikechuku Ndukwe	Sr
OL	`63`	Zach Strief	Jr
OL	`64`	Matt Ulrich	Sr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DT	`94`	Luis Castillo	Sr
DT	`67`	Barry Cofield	Jr
S	`20`	Marquice Cole	So
LB	`41`	Tim McGarigle	Jr
LB	`38`	Nick Roach	So

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
No. 7 Ohio State	3	7	7	10	0	27
• Northwestern	3	10	7	7	6	33

Date: October 2
Location: Ryan Field, Evanston, IL
Game start: 8:00 p.m. CST
Game attendance: 47,130
TV announcers (ESPN2): Eric Collins (Play-by-play), Andre Ware (Color) & Jimmy Dykes (Sideline)

Scoring summary

1	9:24	Northwestern	Brian Huffman 41 yard field goal	Northwestern 3-0

1	5:09	Ohio St	Mike Nugent 34 yard field goal	Tie 3-3

2	13:39	Northwestern	Noah Herron 14 yard pass from Brett Basanez (Brian Huffman kick)	Northwestern 10-3

2	3:18	Ohio St	Santonio Holmes 63 yard punt return (Mike Nugent kick)	Tie 10-10

2	:00	Northwestern	Brian Huffman 40 yard field goal	Northwestern 13-10

3	11:35	Northwestern	Mark Philmore 27 yard pass from Brett Basanez (Brian Huffman kick)	Northwestern 20-10

3	3:55	Ohio St	Lydell Ross 2 yard run (Mike Nugent kick)	Northwestern 20-17

4	14:45	Northwestern	Noah Herron 1 yard run (Brian Huffman kick)	Northwestern 27-17

4	8:46	Ohio St	Mike Nugent 46 yard field goal	Northwestern 27-20

4	1:54	Ohio St	Santonio Holmes 21 yard pass from Justin Zwick (Mike Nugent kick)	Tie 27-27

OT		Northwestern	Noah Herron 1 yard run	Northwestern 33-27

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 21 Purdue	10	0	0	0	10
• Northwestern	7	0	0	6	13

Date: October 30
Location: Ryan Field, Evanston, IL
Game start: 11:00 a.m. CST
Game attendance: 30,312
TV announcers (ESPN): Mark Jones (Play-by-play), Bob Davie (Color) & Holly Rowe (Sideline)

Scoring summary

1	9:08	NW	Terrell Jordan 14 yard run (Brian Huffman kick)	Northwestern 7–0

1	8:03	PUR	Ben Jones 23 yard field goal	Northwestern 7–3

1	1:03	PUR	Dorien Bryant 12 yard pass from Kyle Orton (Ben Jones kick)	Purdue 10–7

4	:38	NW	Noah Herron 3 yard run (kick failed)	Northwestern 13–10

Northwestern Wildcats football

Northwestern Wildcats football
Venues	Northwestern Field (1905–1925) Ryan Field (1926–2023)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Illinois Michigan: George Jewett Trophy Notre Dame
Culture and lore	Willie the Wildcat "Go U Northwestern" Marching band 2006 Michigan State game
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1876 1877–1881 1882 1883–1885 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 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024