2008 Northwestern Wildcats football team

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2008 Northwestern Wildcats football
NorthwesternWildcats.png
Alamo Bowl, L 23–30 OT vs. Missouri
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
2008 record9–4 (5–3 Big Ten)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorMick McCall (1st season)
Offensive schemeSpread
Defensive coordinatorMike Hankwitz (1st season)
Captains
  • C.J. Bachér[1]
  • Prince Kwateng
  • Eric Peterman
  • Brendan Smith
Home stadiumRyan Field (Capacity: 47,130)
Seasons
← 2007
2009 →
2008 Big Ten Conference football standings
  • v
  • t
 Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 8 Penn State $+   7 – 1     11 – 2  
No. 9 Ohio State %+   7 – 1     10 – 3  
No. 24 Michigan State   6 – 2     9 – 4  
Northwestern   5 – 3     9 – 4  
No. 20 Iowa   5 – 3     9 – 4  
Wisconsin   3 – 5     7 – 6  
Minnesota   3 – 5     7 – 6  
Illinois   3 – 5     5 – 7  
Purdue   2 – 6     4 – 8  
Michigan   2 – 6     3 – 9  
Indiana   1 – 7     3 – 9  
  • $ – BCS representative as conference champion
  • % – BCS at-large representative
  • + – Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

The 2008 Northwestern Wildcats football team represented Northwestern University in the Big Ten Conference during the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Pat Fitzgerald, in his third season at Northwestern, was the team's head coach. The Wildcats played their homes games at Ryan Field in Evanston, Illinois.

Previous season[]

The 2007 team finished the season with a win-loss record of 6–6 and did not receive a bowl invitation.

Schedule[]

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendanceSource
August 3011:00 am[2]Syracuse*
ESPN2[2]W 30–1020,015
September 66:00 pm[3]at Duke*
W 24–2023,614
September 1311:00 am[2]Southern Illinois*
  • Ryan Field
  • Evanston, IL
BTN[2]W 33–719,062[4]
September 2011:00 am[2]Ohio*
  • Ryan Field
  • Evanston, IL
BTN[2]W 16–822,069
September 2711:00 am[5]at Iowa
ESPNC[6]W 22–1770,585
October 112:30 pm[6]No. 23 Michigan State
  • Ryan Field
  • Evanston, IL
ESPN2[6]L 20–3732,527
October 1811:00 am[5]Purduedagger
  • Ryan Field
  • Evanston, IL
ESPN2[5]W 48–2627,163
October 2511:00 am[5]at Indiana
BTN[5]L 19–2130,698
November 111:00 am[5]at No. 20 Minnesota
ESPN2[6]W 24–1754,122
November 811:00 am[6]No. 12 Ohio State
  • Ryan Field
  • Evanston, IL
ESPN2[6]L 10–4547,130
November 1511:00 am[6]at Michigan
ESPN2W 21–14107,856
November 222:30 pm[6]Illinois
BTNW 27–1032,166
December 297:00 pmvs. No. 25 MissouriNo. 22
ESPNL 23–30 OT55,986
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Central time

[7]

Game summaries[]

Syracuse[]

See also: 2008 Syracuse Orange football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Orange 3 0 7 0 10
Wildcats 0 9 14 7 30

Duke[]

See also: 2008 Duke Blue Devils football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Wildcats 7 10 0 7 24
Blue Devils 7 3 3 7 20

Southern Illinois[]

1 2 3 4 Total
Salukis 7 0 0 0 7
Wildcats 6 10 10 7 33

Ohio[]

1 2 3 4 Total
Bobcats 0 0 8 0 8
Wildcats 6 10 0 0 16

Iowa[]

See also: 2008 Iowa Hawkeyes football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Wildcats 0 10 6 6 22
Hawkeyes 3 14 0 0 17

Michigan State[]

See also: 2008 Michigan State Spartans football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Spartans 17 7 10 3 37
Wildcats 0 7 10 3 20

Purdue[]

See also: 2008 Purdue Boilermakers football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Boilermakers 6 6 0 14 26
Wildcats 0 24 10 14 48

Indiana[]

See also: 2008 Indiana Hoosiers football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Wildcats 3 6 10 0 19
Hoosiers 7 7 7 0 21

Minnesota[]

See also: 2008 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Wildcats 10 7 0 7 24
Golden Gophers 0 17 0 0 17

Ohio State[]

See also: 2008 Ohio State Buckeyes football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Buckeyes 7 17 7 14 45
Wildcats 7 0 3 0 10

Michigan[]

See also: 2008 Michigan Wolverines football team
1 2 3 4 Total
Wildcats 7 0 14 0 21
Wolverines 7 7 0 0 14

Illinois[]

See also: 2008 Illinois Fighting Illini football team and Illinois–Northwestern football rivalry
1 2 3 4 Total
Fighting Illini 0 0 7 3 10
Wildcats 6 7 3 11 27

Alamo Bowl, v. Missouri[]

See also: 2008 Missouri Tigers football team and 2008 Alamo Bowl
1 2 3 4OT Total
Tigers 0 10 10 37 30
Wildcats 7 3 13 00 23

Rankings[]

See also: 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings


Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.
Week
Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Final 
AP NR NR NR RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV RV 24 24 22 RV 
Coaches NR NR RV RV RV RV 22 RV 24 RV 25 RV 24 20 22 20 RV 
Harris Not released 23 RV RV RV RV RV RV 24 22 21 Not released 
BCS Not released 22 NR 24 NR NR 24 22 23 Not released

Statistics[]

Team[]

Team Opp
Scoring    
  Points per Game    
First Downs    
  Rushing    
  Passing    
  Penalty    
Total Offense    
  Avg per Play    
  Avg per Game    
Fumbles-Lost    
Penalties-Yards    
  Avg per Game    
Team Opp
Punts-Yards    
  Avg per Punt    
Time of Possession/Game    
3rd Down Conversions    
4th Down Conversions    
Touchdowns Scored    
Field Goals-Attempts-Long    
PAT-Attempts    
Attendance    
  Games/Avg per Game    

Scores by quarter[]

1 2 3 4 Total
Northwestern 52 100 80 62 294
Opponents 64 78 49 41 232

Offense[]

Rushing[]

Name GP-GS Att Gain Loss Net Avg TD Long Avg/G
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
TEAM                  
Total                  
Opponents                  

Passing[]

Name CMP ATT YDS CMP% YPA LNG TD INT SACK RAT
218 365 2128 59.7 5.83 53 14 14 9 113.68
Mike Kafka 32 46 330 69.6 7.17 36 2 3 6 131.13
Eric Peterman 2 2 55 100.0 27.50 30 1 0 0 496.0
Total 252 413 2513 61.0 6.08 53 17 17 15 116.9
Opponents                  

Receiving[]

Name GP-GS No. Yds Avg TD Long Avg/G
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
                   
Total                  
Opponents                  

Defense[]

Name GP Tackles Sacks Pass Defense Interceptions Fumbles Blkd
Kick
Solo Ast Total TFL-Yds No-Yds BrUp QBH No.-Yds Avg TD Long Rcv-Yds FF
Total

Special teams[]

Name Punting Kickoffs
No. Yds Avg Long TB FC I20 Blkd No. Yds Avg TB OB
Total
Name Punt Returns Kick Returns
No. Yds Avg TD Long No. Yds Avg TD Long
Total

References[]

  1. ^ "Year-by-Year Results" (PDF). 2018. p. 93. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-03-16. Retrieved 2019-03-14.
  2. ^ a b c d e f "Kickoff Times Announced For NU's First Three Home Games". Northwestern University Department of Athletics. July 2, 2008. Archived from the original on July 5, 2008. Retrieved July 4, 2008.
  3. ^ "Kickoff Times Set For Duke's First Three Football Games". Duke University Department of Athletics. June 3, 2008. Retrieved June 6, 2008.
  4. ^ Ryan, Shannon (September 14, 2008). "Wildcats keep a firm grip". Chicago Tribune. p. 3:4. Retrieved December 12, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "Big Ten Announces Start Times for 2008 Homecoming Games". Northwestern University Department of Athletics. May 12, 2008. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved May 12, 2008.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h "Northwestern Official Athletics Site". Northwestern University Department of Athletics. September 29, 2008. Archived from the original on September 28, 2008. Retrieved September 29, 2008.
  7. ^ "Cumulative Season Statistics". Northwestern University Department of athletics. Archived from the original on April 5, 2012. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
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