2015 Northwestern Wildcats football
Outback Bowl, L 6–45 vs. Tennessee
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
DivisionWest Division
Ranking
CoachesNo. 22
APNo. 23
Record10–3 (6–2 Big Ten)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorMick McCall (8th season)
Offensive schemeSpread
Defensive coordinatorMike Hankwitz (8th season)
Base defenseMultiple 4–3
Home stadiumRyan Field
Seasons
← 2014
2016 →
2015 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
East Division
No. 6 Michigan State xy$^   7 – 1     12 – 2  
No. 4 Ohio State x   7 – 1     12 – 1  
No. 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
No. 9 Iowa xy   8 – 0     12 – 2  
No. 23 Northwestern   6 – 2     10 – 3  
No. 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
Rankings from AP Poll
Northwestern Wildcats football team represented Northwestern University during the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season.

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 season 10–3, 6–2 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for second place in the West Division. They were invited to the Outback Bowl where they were defeated by Tennessee 45–6.

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 hosted Big Ten foes Iowa, Minnesota, Penn State, and Purdue and travelled 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.

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 511:00 a.m.No. 21 Stanford*
ESPNW 16–636,024
September 123:00 p.m.Eastern Illinois*
  • Ryan Field
  • Evanston, IL
ESPNewsW 41–029,131
September 1911:30 a.m.at Duke*No. 23
ACCNW 19–1024,127
September 267:00 p.m.Ball State*No. 17
  • Ryan Field
  • Evanston, IL
BTNW 24–1930,107
October 311:00 a.m.MinnesotaNo. 16
  • Ryan Field
  • Evanston, IL
BTNW 27–030,044
October 102:30 p.m.at No. 18 MichiganNo. 13
BTNL 0–38110,452
October 1711:00 a.m.No. 17 IowadaggerNo. 20
  • Ryan Field
  • Evanston, IL
ABC/ESPN2L 10–4044,135
October 2411:00 a.m.at Nebraska
ESPN2W 30–2889,493
November 711:00 a.m.Penn StateNo. 21
  • Ryan Field
  • Evanston, IL
ESPNUW 23–2134,116
November 1411:00 a.m.PurdueNo. 18
  • Ryan Field
  • Evanston, IL
BTNW 21–1430,003
November 212:30 pmat No. 25 WisconsinNo. 20
BTNW 13–775,276
November 282:30 pmat IllinoisNo. 16
ESPNUW 24–1433,514
January 1, 201611:00 a.m.vs. No. 23 Tennessee*No. 13
ESPN2L 6–4553,202
Schedule Source:[2]

Rankings

Further information: 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings
Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre1234567891011121314Final
AP—RV2317161320RVRVRV242017131223
Coaches—RV2419171421RVRVRV242117131222
CFPNot released211820161413Not released

Roster

2015 Northwestern Wildcats football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
WR 2 Christian Salem  Jr
RB 4 Solomon Vault So
WR 5 Miles Shuler  Sr
WR 6 Mike McHugh  Jr
QB 7 Matt Alviti  So
WR 8 Stephen Buckley  Jr
SB 9 Garrett Dickerson So
QB 10 Zack Oliver  Sr
QB 11 T. J. Green Fr
WR 11 Pierre Youngblood-Ary  Sr
RB 12 Auston Anderson  Fr
RB 13 Warren Long Jr
WR 14 Christian Jones (C)  Sr
QB 14 Lloyd Yates Fr
WR 15 Macan Wilson  So
WR 16 Quinn Baker  So
QB 17 Daniel Kubiuk  Fr
QB 18 Clayton Thorson  Fr
WR 19 Cameron Dickerson  Sr
RB 20 John Moten IV Fr
RB 21 Justin Jackson So
WR 24 Mark Gorogianis  So
WR 25 Luke Dauch  Sr
WR 36 Corey Acker  So
SB 40 Dan Vitale (C) Sr
WR 43 Cole Johnson  So
SB 46 Eric Lutzen  Fr
OL 53 Geoff Mogus  Sr
OL 57 Matt Frazier  Sr
OL 59 J. B. Butler  Fr
OL 63 Ian Park  Jr
OL 64 Andrew Otterman Fr
OL 65 Jared Thomas Fr
OL 68 Connor Mahoney  Jr
OL 69 Brad North  So
OL 70 Shane Mertz  Sr
OL 71 Tommy Doles  Fr
OL 72 Blake Hance  Fr
OL 73 Adam DePietro  Jr
OL 74 Graham Bullmore  So
OL 76 Eric Oloson  Jr
OL 78 Adam Lemke-Bell Fr
OL 79 Sam Coverdale  So
WR 80 Austin Carr  Jr
WR 81 Jelani Roberts Fr
WR 82 Andrew Scanlan  Jr
WR 83 Chad Hanaoka So
WR 84 Cameron Green Fr
WR 85 Chris Cliff Fr
SB 85 Mark Szott  Sr
WR 86 Flynn Nagel Fr
WR 87 Garrett Kidd  Sr
SB 88 Jayme Taylor  So
WR 89 Charlie Fessler Fr
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DL 1 Max Chapman  Sr
S 2 Traveon Henry (C) Sr
CB 3 Keith Watkins II  So
DL 7 Ifeadi Odenigbo  Jr
DB 10 Jake Murray Fr
DL 13 Deonte Gibson (C)  Sr
S 16 Godwin Igwebuike  So
CB 17 Marcus McShepard  So
LB 18 Anthony Walker  So
S 21 Kyle Queiro  So
CB 22 Parrker Westphal  Fr
CB 23 Nick VanHoose  Sr
CB 24 Montre Hartage Fr
S 26 Terrance Brown  Jr
CB 27 Matthew Harris Jr
DB 28 Alonzo Mayo Fr
DB 29 Trae Williams Fr
LB 31 Tommy Vitale Fr
LB 32 Nate Hall  Fr
DB 33 Steven Reese Fr
LB 34 Simba Short Fr
LB 35 Tom Hruby Jr
DB 38 Dami Arowolaju Jr
S 41 Jared McGee  Fr
LB 42 Joseph Jones  Jr
DL 44 James Prather  Fr
LB 45 Nathan Fox Fr
LB 46 Anthony Pierce-Adams  Fr
DB 47 Joe Bergin Fr
S 48 Tommy Odell  So
LB 49 Josh Roberts  So
LB 51 Jaylen Prater  Jr
LB 53 Cameron Queiro  Fr
DL 54 Trent Goens Fr
LB 55 Drew Smith  Sr
LB 56 Brett Walsh  So
DL 58 Heath Reineke  Fr
DL 67 Tyler Lancaster  So
DL 90 C. J. Robbins  Sr
DL 92 Kenton Playko  Fr
DL 93 Greg Kuhar  Jr
DL 94 Dean Lowry Sr
DL 95 Jordan Thompson Fr
DL 97 Joe Gaziano Fr
DL 98 Xavier Washington So
DL 99 Ben Oxley  Fr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K 7 Jack Mitchell  Jr
K, P 33 Matt Micucci  Jr
K 38 Arthur Omilian  Sr
K 38 Mason Weissenhofer Fr
LS 52 Chaz Fitzpatrick  Jr
P, K 96 Hunter Niswander  So
Head coach
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 Injured
  • Redshirt 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. Archived from the original on January 19, 2015. Retrieved January 17, 2015.
  2. ^ "2015 Northwestern Wildcats Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved January 17, 2015.
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