2005 Northwestern Wildcats football team

2005 Big Ten Conference football standings
	$ – BCS representative as conference champion; % – BCS at-large representative; + – Conference co-champions; Rankings from AP Poll

2005 Northwestern Wildcats football
2005 Northwestern Wildcats football
Sun Bowl, L 38–50 vs. UCLA
Conference	Big Ten Conference
2005 record	7–5 (5–3 Big Ten)
Head coach	Randy Walker (7th season);
Offensive coordinator	Mike Dunbar (4th season)
Defensive coordinator	Greg Colby (4th season)
Captains	Brett Basanez; Zach Strief; Barry Cofield; Tim McGarigle;
Home stadium	Ryan Field (Capacity: 47,130)
	Seasons ← 2004 2006 →

The 2005 Northwestern Wildcats football team represented Northwestern University during the 2005 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. This was Randy's last season as the Wildcats' coach, as he would die from a heart attack following the season. The Wildcats finished tied for 3rd place in the Big Ten with a conference record of 5–3.

Schedule[]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	11:00 am	Ohio*		Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPNU	W 38–14	20,115
September 10	3:00 pm	Northern Illinois*		Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPNC	W 38–37	35,114
September 17	9:00 pm	at Arizona State*		Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ		L 21–52	55,029
September 24	11:00 am	Penn State		Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPN2	L 29–34	24,395
October 8	11:00 am	No. 14 Wisconsin		Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPN	W 51–48	33,859
October 15	11:00 am	at Purdue		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	ESPN2	W 34–29	62,866
October 22	11:00 am	at No. 22 Michigan State		Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	ESPN2	W 49–14	74,636
October 29	6:00 pm	No. 25 Michigan	No. 21	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPN	L 17–33	47,130
November 5	11:00 am	Iowa		Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPN	W 28–27	34,550
November 12	11:00 am	at No. 10 Ohio State	No. 25	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	ABC	L 7–48	105,181
November 19	11:00 am	at Illinois		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (Sweet Sioux Tomahawk)	ESPN+	W 38–21	31,465
December 30	1:00 pm	vs. No. 17 UCLA*		Sun Bowl Stadium El Paso, TX (Sun Bowl)	CBS	L 38–50	50,426
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Roster[]

2005 Northwestern Wildcats football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
TE, FB	`49`	Frayne Abernathy	So
QB	`14`	Brett Basanez	Sr
QB	`13`	Mike Kafka	Fr
G	`63`	Zach Strief	Sr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DT	`67`	Barry Cofield	Sr
DL	`79`	Adam Hahn	Fr
LB	`41`	Tim McGarigle	Sr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class

Head coach

Randy Walker

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Roster

Game summaries[]

Ohio[]

Northern Illinois[]

Arizona State[]

Penn State[]

Wisconsin[]

Brett Basanez 26/36, 361 Yds
Tyrell Sutton 29 Rush, 244 Yds

^[2]

UCLA (Sun Bowl)[]

The Wildcats were invited to play in the 2005 Sun Bowl. They lost 38–50 to the UCLA Bruins, who staged a 22-point comeback, a record for the Bruins at the time.

References[]

^ "Year-by-Year Results" (PDF). 2007. p. 150. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-03-16. Retrieved 2019-03-14.
^ "Northwestern Knocks Off No. 14 Wisconsin". Northwestern University Department of Athletics. October 8, 2005. Archived from the original on 2014-10-16. Retrieved October 12, 2014.

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[1] "Year-by-Year Results" (PDF). 2007. p. 150. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-03-16. Retrieved 2019-03-14.

[2] "Northwestern Knocks Off No. 14 Wisconsin". Northwestern University Department of Athletics. October 8, 2005. Archived from the original on 2014-10-16. Retrieved October 12, 2014.

[1]

[2]

v t Northwestern Wildcats football
Venues	Northwestern Field (1905–1925) Ryan Field (1926–present)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Illinois Michigan 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 1884 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

2005 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t	Conf				Overall
Team		W		L		W		L
No. 3 Penn State $+		7	–	1		11	–	1
No. 4 Ohio State %+		7	–	1		10	–	2
No. 15 Wisconsin		5	–	3		10	–	3
Michigan		5	–	3		7	–	5
Northwestern		5	–	3		7	–	5
Iowa		5	–	3		7	–	5
Minnesota		4	–	4		7	–	5
Purdue		3	–	5		5	–	6
Michigan State		2	–	6		5	–	6
Indiana		1	–	7		4	–	7
Illinois		0	–	8		2	–	9

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