1979 Northwestern Wildcats football team

1979 Northwestern Wildcats football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record1–10 (0–9 Big Ten)
Head coach
Captains
  • Kevin Berg[1]
  • Mike Fiedler
Home stadiumDyche Stadium
1979 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 4 Ohio State $ 8 – 0 – 0 11 – 1 – 0
No. 10 Purdue 7 – 1 – 0 10 – 2 – 0
No. 18 Michigan 6 – 2 – 0 8 – 4 – 0
No. 19 Indiana 5 – 3 – 0 8 – 4 – 0
Iowa 4 – 4 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
Minnesota 3 – 5 – 1 4 – 6 – 1
Michigan State 3 – 5 – 0 5 – 6 – 0
Wisconsin 3 – 5 – 0 4 – 7 – 0
Illinois 1 – 6 – 1 2 – 8 – 1
0 – 9 – 0 1 – 10 – 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The 1979 Northwestern Wildcats team represented Northwestern University during the 1979 Big Ten Conference football season. In their second year under head coach Rick Venturi, the Wildcats compiled a 1–10 record (0–9 against Big Ten Conference opponents) and finished in last place in the Big Ten Conference.[2]

The team's offensive leaders were quarterback Mike Kerrigan with 961 passing yards, Jeff Cohn with 426 rushing yards, and Todd Sheets with 614 receiving yards.[3]

Northwestern's 54–21 loss to Syracuse on September 22 began a 34-game losing streak, the longest in NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) history. The Wildcats did not win another game until September 25, 1982.

Schedule

DateOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 8at No. 7 Michigan
L 7–49100,790[4]
September 15Wyoming*
W 27–22[5]
September 22Syracuse*
  • Dyche Stadium
  • Evanston, IL
L 21–5420,121[6]
September 29at Minnesota
L 8–3833,998[7]
October 6at No. 8 Ohio State
L 7–1687,406[8]
October 13Iowa
  • Dyche Stadium
  • Evanston, IL
L 6–5827,224[9]
October 20at Indiana
L 0–3030,086[10]
October 27at No. 16 Purdue
L 16–2069,656[11]
November 3Michigan State
  • Dyche Stadium
  • Evanston, IL
L 7–4220,193[12]
November 10at Wisconsin
L 3–2868,229[13]
November 17Illinois
  • Dyche Stadium
  • Evanston, IL (rivalry)
L 13–2919,217[14]
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1979 Northwestern Wildcats football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
WR 84 Dave Bahoric So
QB 11 Chris Capstran So
G 67 Jim Crowder So
RB 30 Jeff Cohn Fr
QB 12 Mike Kerrigan So
TE 85 Wally Kaspryscki Sr
OT 55 Phil Reitz Sr
OT 75 Rob Taylor So
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DB 20 Mark Adams Jr
FS 15 Bobby Anderson Fr
DB 22 Dave Bayer Jr
DB 14 Ron Coleman Jr
LB 80 Chris Hinton Fr
LB 62 Jim Miller Sr
DT 74 Norm Wells Sr
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • Injured
  • Redshirt

Team players in the NFL

Player Position Round Pick NFL club
Norm Wells Guard 12 330 Dallas Cowboys

References

  1. ^ "Year-by-Year Results" (PDF). 2007. p. 148. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 16, 2019. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  2. ^ "1979 Northwestern Wildcats Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
  3. ^ "1979 Northwestern Wildcats Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
  4. ^ Mick McCabe (September 9, 1979). "U-M 'pass happy' in first test, 49-7". Detroit Free Press. pp. 1E, 4E – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Wildcats break long losing streak". The Dispatch. September 16, 1979. p. 15 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Hurley, Syracuse rip Northwestern". Wisconsin State Journal. September 23, 1979. Retrieved October 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Barber, Carlson spark Minnesota past NU". The Post-Crescent. September 30, 1979. Retrieved October 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "Ohio State survives Northwestern scare". Journal and Courier. October 7, 1979. Retrieved October 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Look out Big 10, Iowa is for real!". The Daily Nonpareil. October 14, 1979. Retrieved October 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ^ "Indiana romps past Northwestern, 30–0". The Des Moines Register. October 21, 1979. Retrieved October 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. ^ "Herrmann sets Big Ten record as Purdue nips Northwestern". The Courier-Journal. October 28, 1979. Retrieved October 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ^ "Reserve QB leads MSU over 'Cats". The Rock Island Argus. November 4, 1979. Retrieved October 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. ^ "Kalasmiki keys 28–3 Badger win". The Courier. November 11, 1979. Retrieved October 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ^ "Sub leads Illini to 29–13 victory". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. November 18, 1979. Retrieved October 27, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
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