2019 Northwestern Wildcats football team

2019 Northwestern Wildcats football
2019 Northwestern Wildcats football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
	West Division
Record	3–9 (1–8 Big Ten)
Head coach	Pat Fitzgerald (14th season);
Offensive coordinator	Mick McCall (12th season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Mike Hankwitz (12th season)
Base defense	Multiple 4–3
Home stadium	Ryan Field
Uniform

2019 Big Ten Conference football standings

Team	W		L	W		L
East Division
No. 3 Ohio State xy$^	9	–	0	13	–	1
No. 9 Penn State	7	–	2	11	–	2
No. 18 Michigan	6	–	3	9	–	4
Indiana	5	–	4	8	–	5
Michigan State	4	–	5	7	–	6
Maryland	1	–	8	3	–	9
Rutgers	0	–	9	2	–	10
West Division
No. 11 Wisconsin xy	7	–	2	10	–	4
No. 10 Minnesota x	7	–	2	11	–	2
No. 15 Iowa	6	–	3	10	–	3
Illinois	4	–	5	6	–	7
Purdue	3	–	6	4	–	8
Nebraska	3	–	6	5	–	7
	1	–	8	3	–	9
Championship: Ohio State 34, Wisconsin 21
^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

The 2019 Northwestern Wildcats football team represented Northwestern University during the 2019 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Wildcats played their home games at Ryan Field in Evanston, Illinois and competed in the West Division of the Big Ten Conference. They were led by 14th-year head coach Pat Fitzgerald. They finished the season 3–9, 1–8 in Big Ten play to finish in last place in the West Division.

Preseason

Preseason Big Ten poll

Although the Big Ten Conference has not held an official preseason poll since 2010, Cleveland.com has polled sports journalists representing all member schools as a de facto preseason media poll since 2011. For the 2019 poll, Northwestern was projected to finish in fourth in the West Division.^[1]

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
Media poll (West Division)
1	Nebraska	198 (14)
2	Iowa	194.5 (14)
3	Wisconsin	172.5 (4)
4	Northwestern	142.5 (1)
5	Purdue	110.5
6	Minnesota	100 (1)
7	Illinois	34

Schedule

Northwestern will open its 2019 schedule with two non-conference games, first on the road against Stanford of the Pac-12 Conference, and then the season home opener against UNLV of the Mountain West Conference. Northwestern's third non-conference game, against independent UMass, will be played in November.

In Big Ten Conference play, Northwestern will play all fellow members of the West Division, and draws Michigan State, Ohio State, and Indiana from the East Division. Northwestern's game against Ohio State, a rematch of the 2018 Big Ten Championship Game, will be played on a Friday night, a decision by the Big Ten Conference which drew ire from Northwestern officials and head coach Pat Fitzgerald.^[2]

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	3:00 p.m.	at No. 25 Stanford*	Stanford Stadium Stanford, CA	FOX	L 7–17	37,179
September 14	2:30 p.m.	UNLV*	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	BTN	W 30–14	37,714
September 21	11:00 a.m.	Michigan State	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ABC	L 10–31	40,114
September 28	11:00 a.m.	at No. 8 Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	ABC	L 15–24	76,825
October 5	3:00 p.m.	at Nebraska	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE	FOX	L 10–13	89,348
October 18	7:30 p.m.	No. 4 Ohio State	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	BTN	L 3–52	47,130
October 26	11:00 a.m.	No. 20 Iowa	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPN2	L 0–20	42,104
November 2	6:00 p.m.	at Indiana	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN	FS1	L 3–34	40,924
November 9	11:00 a.m.	Purdue	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	BTN	L 22–24	37,194
November 16	11:00 a.m.	UMass*	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	BTN	W 45–6	29,447
November 23	11:00 a.m.	No. 10 Minnesota	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ABC	L 22–38	30,246
November 30	11:00 a.m.	at Illinois	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (Land of Lincoln Trophy)	FS1	W 29–10	35,895
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings (after November 5) released prior to game All times are in Central time

Source:^[3]

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	RV	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Coaches	25	RV	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
CFP	Not released										—	—	—	—	—	—	Not released

Game summaries

At Stanford

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	0	0	0	7	7
No. 25 Cardinal	0	10	0	7	17

UNLV

	1	2	3	4	Total
Rebels	7	7	0	0	14
Wildcats	10	6	7	7	30

Michigan State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Spartans	7	7	10	7	31
Wildcats	0	3	0	7	10

At Wisconsin

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	3	0	0	12	15
No. 8 Badgers	7	0	7	10	24

At Nebraska

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	0	3	7	0	10
Cornhuskers	7	3	0	3	13

Ohio State

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 4 Buckeyes	7	24	7	14	52
Wildcats	3	0	0	0	3

Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 20 Hawkeyes	7	3	7	3	20
Wildcats	0	0	0	0	0

At Indiana

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	0	3	0	0	3
Hoosiers	10	14	7	3	34

Purdue

	1	2	3	4	Total
Boilermakers	0	7	14	3	24
Wildcats	14	2	0	6	22

UMass

	1	2	3	4	Total
Minutemen	3	3	0	0	6
Wildcats	0	21	3	21	45

Minnesota

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 10 Golden Gophers	14	7	7	10	38
Wildcats	0	9	7	6	22

At Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	3	7	7	12	29
Fighting Illini	0	7	3	0	10

Roster

2019 Northwestern Wildcats football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
WR	`4`	Berkeley Holman	So
WR	`5`	Jace James	So
RB	`6`	Drake Anderson	Fr
QB	`7`	Andrew Marty	So
WR	`8`	Kyric McGowan	Jr
QB	`10`	T. J. Green	Sr
QB	`11`	Aidan Smith	Jr
WR	`12`	J. J. Jefferson	So
QB	`13`	Jason Whittaker	Fr
WR	`14`	Malik Washington	Fr
QB	`15`	Hunter Johnson	So
WR	`16`	Zac Krause	Fr
WR	`17`	Bryce Kirtz	Fr
WR	`18`	Genson Hooper Price	Fr
WR	`19`	Riley Lees	Jr
RB	`20`	John Moten IV	Sr
RB	`22`	Connor Newhouse	Fr
WR	`23`	Raymond Niro III	Fr
RB	`25`	Isaiah Bowser	So
RB	`26`	Evan Hull	Fr
RB	`36`	Jesse Brown	Jr
RB	`39`	Marcus Cisco	Fr
SB	`45`	Tommy Carnifax	Jr
OL	`52`	Sam Gerak	So
OL	`54`	Conrad Rowley	Fr
OL	`56`	Sam Stovall	Fr
OL	`57`	Cam Kolwich	Jr
OL	`61`	Jason Goosen	Jr
OL	`63`	Dom D'Antonio	Fr
OL	`65`	Jared Thomas	Sr
OL	`66`	Nik Urban	Jr
OL	`69`	Charlie Schmidt	Fr
OL	`70`	Rashawn Slater	Jr
OL	`73`	Gunnar Vogel	Jr
OL	`74`	Payne He'Bert	Fr
OL	`75`	Connor Foster	Fr
OL	`76`	Ethan Wiederkehr	So
OL	`77`	Jesse Meyler	Jr
OL	`79`	Zachary Franks	Fr
SB	`80`	Trey Pugh	Jr
WR	`81`	Ramaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman	Jr
WR	`82`	Braeden Heald	Fr
SB	`82`	Alex Oelsner	So
SB	`83`	Trent Goens	Sr
WR	`84`	Will Lansbury	So
WR	`85`	Jack Kennedy	Fr
WR	`86`	Wayne Dennis Jr.	Fr
SB	`86`	Cody Link	Jr
SB	`87`	Thomas Gordon	Fr
WR	`88`	Ben Skowronek	Sr
WR	`89`	Preston Bacon	Fr
SB	`89`	Charlie Mangieri	So

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
DB	`1`	Joe Bergin	Sr
DB	`2`	Greg Newsome II	So
DB	`3`	Trae Williams	Sr
DB	`7`	Travis Whillock	Jr
DB	`9`	Roderick Campbell	Sr
DB	`10`	Jeremiah McDonald	Fr
DB	`11`	A. J. Hampton	Fr
DB	`13`	J. R. Pace	Jr
DB	`16`	Brandon Joseph	Fr
DB	`18`	Cameron Ruiz	So
DB	`21`	Cameron Mitchell	Fr
DB	`22`	Bryce Jackson	So
DB	`23`	Donovan Sermons	So
DB	`24`	Rod Heard II	Fr
DB	`26`	Brian Bullock	Jr
DB	`27`	Coco Azema	Fr
LB	`28`	Chris Bergin	Jr
CB	`29`	Tyler Haskins	Fr
LB	`31`	Jaylen Rivers	Fr
LB	`32`	Bryce Gallagher	Fr
LB	`33`	Michael Jansey Jr.	Fr
LB	`35`	Erik Mueller	Jr
LB	`40`	Peter McIntyre	So
LB	`41`	Grayson Mann	Fr
LB	`42`	Paddy Fisher	Jr
LB	`44`	Khalid Jones	Fr
DL	`46`	Devin O'Rourke	Fr
LB	`47`	Troy Hudetz	Jr
DL	`49`	Adetomiwa Adebawore	Fr
DL	`50`	P. J. Spencer	Fr
LB	`51`	Blake Gallagher	Jr
DL	`53`	Eku Leota	Fr
DE	`55`	Mark Gooden	Jr
DL	`68`	Wyatt Blake	Fr
DL	`78`	Luka Trifunovic	Fr
DT	`90`	Jake Saunders	Jr
DL	`91`	Samdup Miller	Jr
DL	`92`	Willy Boatman	Fr
DL	`93`	Joe Spivak	Jr
DE	`94`	Jason Gold Jr.	Fr
DL	`95`	Alex Miller	Sr
DE	`96`	Trevor Kent	So
DL	`97`	Joe Gaziano	Sr
DL	`98`	Duke Olges	Fr
DE	`99`	Earnest Brown IV	Jr

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K	`14`	Charlie Kuhbander	Jr
K, P	`15`	Trey Finison	Fr
P	`17`	Daniel Kubiuk	Sr
P	`34`	Andrew David	Fr
P	`37`	Cody Gronewold	So
K, P	`38`	Drew Luckenbaugh	Jr
LS	`43`	Tyler Gillikin	Jr
LS	`48`	Peter Snodgrass	So
P	`90`	Jake Genyk	Fr

Head coach

Pat Fitzgerald

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Kurt Anderson (offensive line)
Lou Ayeni (running backs / recruiting coordinator)
Jeff Genyk (special teams coordinator)
Mike Hankwitz (defensive coordinator)
Bob Heffner (Superbacks)
Marty Long (defensive line)
Matt McPherson (Associate head coach / defensive backs)
Mick McCall (offensive coordinator / quarterbacks)
Tim McGarigle (linebackers)
Dennis Springer (wide receivers)
Cody Cejda (director of football operations)
Darby Dunnagan (director of Video Operations)
Jay Hooten (director of Sports Performance for Football)
Jacob Schmidt (director of player development)
Bryan Payton (director of Recruiting Communications)
Jonny Kovach (director of Recruiting Operations)
Todd McShane (director of Scouting)
John Holloway (assistant director of football operations)
Kevin Koch (defensive graduate assistant)

Legend

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

Injured
Redshirt

Roster
Last update: October 13, 2019

References

^ Lesmerises, Doug (July 18, 2019). "Michigan named Big Ten football favorite in cleveland.com 2019 preseason poll". Cleveland.com.
^ Greenstein, Teddy (December 18, 2018). "Pat Fitzgerald 'not happy' after Big Ten schedules Ohio State-Northwestern for a Friday night". Chicago Tribune.
^ "2019 Northwestern Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved February 14, 2019.

[1] Lesmerises, Doug (July 18, 2019). "Michigan named Big Ten football favorite in cleveland.com 2019 preseason poll". Cleveland.com.

[2] Greenstein, Teddy (December 18, 2018). "Pat Fitzgerald 'not happy' after Big Ten schedules Ohio State-Northwestern for a Friday night". Chicago Tribune.

[3] "2019 Northwestern Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved February 14, 2019.

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Northwestern Wildcats football
Venues	Northwestern Field (1905–1925) Ryan Field (1926–2023) Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium (2024–2025)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Illinois Michigan: George Jewett Trophy Notre Dame
Culture and lore	Willie the Wildcat "Go U Northwestern" Marching band 2006 Michigan State game
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