2015 Northwestern Wildcats football team

2015 Northwestern Wildcats football
Outback Bowl vs. Tennessee, L 6–45
Conference	Big Ten Conference West Division
Ranking
Coaches	#22
AP	#23
2015 record	10–3 (6–2 Big Ten)
Head coach	Pat Fitzgerald (10th as HC) (15th overall year)
Offensive coordinator	Mick McCall (8th year)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Mike Hankwitz (8th year)
Base defense	Multiple 4–3
Captain	Christian Jones (5th year)
Captain	Dan Vitale (4th year)
Captain	Traveon Henry (4th year)
Captain	Deonte Gibson (5th year)
Home stadium	Ryan Field (Capacity: 47,130)

2015 Big Ten football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
#6 Michigan State xy$^		7	–	1					12	–	2
#4 Ohio State x		7	–	1					12	–	1
#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
#9 Iowa xy		8	–	0					12	–	2
#23 Northwestern		6	–	2					10	–	3
#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 As of January 2, 2016; Rankings from AP Poll

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.

Previous season

The 2014 Northwestern Wildcats football team finished the regular season 5–7, 3–5 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for fifth place in the West Division. They had highlight wins against #18 Notre Dame and #17 Wisconsin.

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 will host Big Ten foes Iowa, Minnesota, Penn State, and Purdue and will travel to Illinois, Michigan, Nebraska, and Wisconsin.

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.

Date	Time	Opponent#	Rank#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 5	11:00 a.m.	#21 Stanford*		Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	ESPN	W 16–6	36,024
September 12	3:00 p.m.	Eastern Illinois*		Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	ESPNews	W 41–0	29,131
September 19	11:30 a.m.	at Duke*	#23	Wallace Wade Stadium • Durham, NC	ACCN	W 19–10	24,127
September 26	7:00 p.m.	Ball State*	#17	Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	BTN	W 24–19	30,107
October 3	11:00 a.m.	Minnesota	#16	Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	BTN	W 27–0	30,044
October 10	2:30 p.m.	at #18 Michigan	#13	Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI	BTN	L 0–38	110,452
October 17	11:00 a.m.	#17 Iowa	#20	Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	ABC/ESPN2	L 10–40	44,135
October 24	11:00 a.m.	at Nebraska		Memorial Stadium • Lincoln, NE	ESPN2	W 30–28	89,493
November 7	11:00 a.m.	Penn State		Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	ESPNU	W 23–21	34,116
November 14	11:00 a.m.	Purdue	#24	Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	BTN	W 21–14	30,003
November 21	2:30 PM	at #21 Wisconsin	#20	Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI	BTN	W 13–7	75,276
November 28	2:30 PM	at Illinois	#17	Soldier Field • Chicago, IL (Rivalry)	ESPNU	W 24–14	33,514
January 1, 2016	11:00 a.m.	vs. Tennessee*	#12	Raymond James Stadium • Tampa, FL (Outback Bowl)	ESPN2	L 6–45	53,202
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Central Time Zone.

Schedule Source:

Rankings

Further information: 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	NR	RV	23	17	16	13	20	RV	RV	RV	24	20	17	13	12	23
Coaches'	NR	RV	24	19	17	14	21	RV	RV	RV	24	21	17	13	12	22
CFP	Not released									21	18	20	16	14	13	Not 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 Parker 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 Hill  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 Pat Fitzgerald 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 Redshirt Roster Last update: December 30, 2015