2008 Northwestern Wildcats football team

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.

2008 Northwestern Wildcats football
Alamo Bowl, L 23–30 OT vs. Missouri
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
2008 record9–4 (5–3 Big Ten)
Head coachPat Fitzgerald (3rd as HC) (7th overall season)
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)
2008 Big Ten Conference football standings
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

Previous season

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

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

Game summaries

Syracuse
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
TeamOpp
Scoring  
  Points per Game  
First Downs  
  Rushing  
  Passing  
  Penalty  
Total Offense  
  Avg per Play  
  Avg per Game  
Fumbles-Lost  
Penalties-Yards  
  Avg per Game  
TeamOpp
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
NameGP-GSAttGainLossNetAvgTDLongAvg/G
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
TEAM         
Total         
Opponents         

Passing
NameCMPATTYDSCMP%YPALNGTDINTSACKRAT
C. J. Bachér218365212859.75.835314149113.68
Mike Kafka324633069.67.1736236131.13
Eric Peterman2255100.027.5030100496.0
Total252413251361.06.0853171715116.9
Opponents         

Receiving
NameGP-GSNo.YdsAvgTDLongAvg/G
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
          
Total         
Opponents         

Defense
Name GP Tackles Sacks Pass Defense Interceptions Fumbles Blkd
Kick
SoloAstTotalTFL-YdsNo-YdsBrUpQBHNo.-YdsAvgTDLongRcv-YdsFF
Total

Special teams
Name Punting Kickoffs
No.YdsAvgLongTBFCI20Blkd No.YdsAvgTBOB
Total
Name Punt Returns Kick Returns
No.YdsAvgTDLongNo.YdsAvgTDLong
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. "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. "Cumulative Season Statistics". Northwestern University Department of athletics. Archived from the original on April 5, 2012. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
  4. "Kickoff Times Set For Duke's First Three Football Games". Duke University Department of Athletics. June 3, 2008. Retrieved June 6, 2008.
  5. "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. "Northwestern Official Athletics Site". Northwestern University Department of Athletics. September 29, 2008. Archived from the original on September 28, 2008. Retrieved September 29, 2008.
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