2011 Northwestern Wildcats football team

2011 Northwestern Wildcats football
Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas, L 22–33 vs. Texas A&M
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Division	Legends Division
Record	6–7 (3–5 Big Ten)
Head coach	Pat Fitzgerald (6th season)
Offensive coordinator	Mick McCall (4th season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Mike Hankwitz (4th season)
Base defense	Multiple 4–3
Captains	Jordan Mabin Al Netter (2nd year) Dan Persa (2nd year) Brian Peters
Home stadium	Ryan Field

2011 Big Ten Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Legends Division
No. 11 Michigan State x		7	–	1					11	–	3
No. 12 Michigan %		6	–	2					11	–	2
No. 24 Nebraska		5	–	3					9	–	4
Iowa		4	–	4					7	–	6
Northwestern		3	–	5					6	–	7
Minnesota		2	–	6					3	–	9
Leaders Division
No. 10 Wisconsin xy$		6	–	2					11	–	3
Penn State x		6	–	2					9	–	4
Purdue		4	–	4					7	–	6
Ohio State		3	–	5					6	–	7
Illinois		2	–	6					7	–	6
Indiana		0	–	8					1	–	11
Championship: Wisconsin 42, Michigan State 39
$ – BCS representative as conference champion % – BCS at-large representative x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

The 2011 Northwestern Wildcats football team represented Northwestern University during the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Pat Fitzgerald, in his sixth season at Northwestern, was the team's head coach. The Wildcats home games were played at Ryan Field in Evanston, Illinois. They are members of the Legends Division of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 6–7, 3–4 in Big Ten play to finish in fifth place in the Legends Division. They were invited to the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas where they were defeated by Texas A&M 22–33.

Preseason

Conference divisions

Starting in 2011, the Big Ten Conference created two divisions, "Legends" and "Leaders", following the University of Nebraska's membership into the conference. Northwestern was placed in the "Legends" division, with the University of Iowa, the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, the University of Minnesota and the University of Nebraska joining them.

Schedule

The schedule is as follows:

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	11:00 am	at Boston College*	Alumni Stadium Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts	ESPNU	W 24–17	37,561
September 10	2:30 pm	Eastern Illinois*	Ryan Field Evanston, Illinois	BTN	W 42–21	28,042
September 17	2:30 pm	at Army*	Michie Stadium West Point, New York	CBSSN	L 14–21	35,784
October 1	11:00 am	at No. 22 Illinois	Memorial Stadium Champaign, Illinois (Land of Lincoln Trophy)	ESPN2	L 35–38	53,243
October 8	6:00 pm	No. 11 Michigan	Ryan Field Evanston, Illinois (rivalry)	BTN	L 24–42	47,330
October 15	6:00 pm	at Iowa	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, Iowa	BTN	L 31–41	70,585
October 22	6:00 pm	No. 22 Penn State	Ryan Field Evanston, Illinois	BTN	L 24–34	40,004
October 29	11:00 am	at Indiana	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, Indiana	BTN	W 59–38	39,239
November 5	2:30 pm	at No. 9 Nebraska	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, Nebraska	BTN	W 28–25	85,115
November 12	11:00 am	Rice*	Ryan Field Evanston, Illinois	BTN	W 28–6	26,886
November 19	11:00 am	Minnesota	Ryan Field Evanston, Illinois	BTN	W 28–13	26,215
November 26	11:00 am	No. 10 Michigan State	Ryan Field Evanston, Illinois	BTN	L 17–31	32,172
December 31	11:00 am	Texas A&M*	Reliant Stadium Houston, Texas (Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas)	ESPN	L 22–33	68,395
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Regular season

Boston College

See also: 2011 Boston College Eagles football team

1 2 3 4 Total • Northwestern 3 7 7 7 24 Boston College 3 7 0 7 17 Date: September 3 Location: Alumni Stadium, Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts Game start: 11:00 a.m. CDT Elapsed time: 3:25 Game attendance: 37,561 Referee: Dave Witvoet TV announcers (ESPNU): Rob Stone (Play-by-play) & Danny Kanell (Color)

Scoring summary 1 12:49 BC Nate Freese 19-yard field goal BC 3–0 1 7:01 NW Jeff Budzien 43-yard field goal Tied 3–3 2 8:03 BC Andre Williams 6-yard run (Nate Freese kick) BC 10–3 2 0:38 NW Kain Colter 3-yard run (Jeff Budzien kick) Tied 10–10 3 11:53 NW Mike Trumpy 5-yard run (Jeff Budzien kick) NW 17–10 4 9:24 NW Adonis Smith 1-yard run (Jeff Budzien kick) NW 24–10 4 6:00 BC Andre Williams 1-yard run (Nate Freese kick) NW 24–17

Eastern Illinois

See also: 2011 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team

1 2 3 4 Total Eastern Illinois 0 7 7 7 21 • Northwestern 14 14 7 7 42 Date: September 10 Location: Ryan Field, Evanston, Illinois Game start: 2:30 p.m. CDT Elapsed time: 3:03 Game attendance: 28,042 Referee: Bill LeMonnier TV announcers (BTN): Matt Devlin (Play-by-play), Glen Mason (Color) & Rhett Kleinschmidt (Sideline)

Army

See also: 2011 Army Black Knights football team

1 2 3 4 Total Northwestern 0 7 0 7 14 • Army 7 0 7 7 21 Date: September 17 Location: Michie Stadium, West Point, New York Game start: 2:30 p.m. CST Elapsed time: 3:03 Game attendance: 35,784 Referee: Ron Cherry TV announcers (CBSSN): Gary Thorne (Play-by-play) & Randy Cross (Color)

Illinois

See also: 2011 Illinois Fighting Illini football team and Illinois–Northwestern football rivalry

1 2 3 4 Total Northwestern 0 14 14 7 35 • Illinois 7 3 7 21 38 Date: October 1 Location: Memorial Stadium, Champaign, Illinois Game start: 11:00 a.m. CDT Elapsed time: 3:16 Game attendance: 53,243 Referee: John O'Neill TV announcers (ESPN2): Beth Mowins (Play-by-play) & Mike Bellotti (Color)

Michigan

See also: 2011 Michigan Wolverines football team

1 2 3 4 Total • Michigan 7 7 14 14 42 Northwestern 14 10 0 0 24 Date: October 8 Location: Ryan Field, Evanston, Illinois Game start: 6:00 p.m. CDT Elapsed time: 3:16 Game attendance: 47,330 Referee: Scott McElwee TV announcers (BTN): Tom Hart (Play-by-play), Derek Rackley (Color) & Lisa Byington (Sideline)

Iowa

See also: 2011 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

1 2 3 4 Total Northwestern 0 7 10 14 31 • Iowa 10 7 0 24 41 Date: October 15 Location: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa Game start: 6:00 p.m. CDT Elapsed time: 3:10 Game attendance: 70,585 Referee: Dennis Lipski TV announcers (BTN): Eric Collins (Play-by-play), Chris Martin (Color) & Dionne Miller (Sideline)

Penn State

See also: 2011 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

1 2 3 4 Total • Penn State 14 13 7 0 34 Northwestern 14 10 0 0 24 Date: October 22 Location: Ryan Field, Evanston, Illinois Game start: 6:00 p.m. CDT Elapsed time: 3:15 Game attendance: 40,004 Referee: Bill LeMonnier TV announcers (BTN): Tom Hart (Play-by-play), Derek Rackley (Color) & Lisa Byington (Sideline)

Indiana

See also: 2011 Indiana Hoosiers football team

1 2 3 4 Total • Northwestern 17 21 14 7 59 Indiana 7 14 10 7 38 Date: October 29 Location: Memorial Stadium, Bloomington, Indiana Game start: 11:00 a.m. CDT Elapsed time: 3:14 Game attendance: 39,239 Referee: John O'Neill TV announcers (BTN): Tom Hart (Play-by-play), Derek Rackley (Color) & Lisa Byington (Sideline)

Nebraska

See also: 2011 Nebraska Cornhuskers football team

1 2 3 4 Total • Northwestern 7 0 7 14 28 Nebraska 0 3 7 15 25 Date: November 5 Location: Memorial Stadium, Lincoln, Nebraska Game start: 2:30 p.m. CDT Elapsed time: 3:15 Game attendance: 85,115 Referee: Dave Witvoet TV announcers (BTN): Eric Collins (Play-by-play), Chris Martin (Color) & Dionne Miller (Sideline)

Scoring summary 1 2:08 NW Jacob Schmidt 2-yard run (Jeff Budzien kick) NW 7–0 2 2:26 NEB Brett Maher 36-yard field goal NW 7–3 3 12:13 NW Kain Colter 3-yard run (Jeff Budzien kick) NW 14–3 3 3:52 NEB Tim Marlowe 15-yard pass from Taylor Martinez (Brett Maher kick) NW 14–10 4 12:16 NW Jeremy Ebert 81-yard pass from Kain Colter (Jeff Budzien kick) NW 21–10 4 8:55 NEB Rex Burkhead 1-yard run (Taylor Martinez run) NW 21–18 4 1:34 NW Kain Colter 1-yard run (Jeff Budzien kick) NW 28–18 4 0:18 NEB Kenny Bell 18-yard pass from Taylor Martinez (Brett Maher kick) NW 28–25

Rice

1 2 3 4 Total Rice 0 0 0 6 6 • Northwestern 7 14 0 7 28 Date: November 12 Location: Ryan Field, Evanston, Illinois Game start: 11:00 a.m. CST Elapsed time: 2:56 Game attendance: 26,886 Referee: Steve LaMantia TV announcers (BTN): Matt Devlin (Play-by-play), Glen Mason (Color) & Jon Jansen (Sideline)

See also: 2011 Rice Owls football team

Minnesota

See also: 2011 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

1 2 3 4 Total Minnesota 7 3 0 3 13 • Northwestern 21 0 0 7 28 Date: November 19 Location: Ryan Field, Evanston, Illinois Game start: 11:00 a.m. CST Elapsed time: 2:59 Game attendance: 26,215 Referee: Scott McElwee TV announcers (BTN): Wayne Larrivee (Play-by-play), Glen Mason (Color) & Jon Jansen (Sideline)

Michigan State

See also: 2011 Michigan State Spartans football team

1 2 3 4 Total • Michigan State 3 14 7 7 31 Northwestern 0 3 7 7 17 Date: November 26 Location: Ryan Field, Evanston, Illinois Game start: 11:00 a.m. CST Elapsed time: 3:02 Game attendance: 32,172 Referee: Dan Capron TV announcers (BTN): Eric Collins (Play-by-play), Chris Martin (Color) & Dionne Miller (Sideline)

Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas

Texas A&M

See also: 2011 Texas A&M Aggies football team and 2011 Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas

1 2 3 4 Total • Texas A&M 3 17 10 3 33 Northwestern 0 7 0 15 22 Date: December 31 Location: Reliant Stadium, Houston, Texas Game start: 11:00 a.m. CST Elapsed time: 3:19 Game attendance: 68,395 Referee: Matt Loeffler TV announcers (ESPN): Bob Wischusen (Play-by-play), Brian Griese (Color) & Eamon McAnaney (Sideline)

Rankings

See also: 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football 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	Final
AP	RV	RV	RV	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Coaches	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—
Harris	Not released						—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	Not released
BCS	Not released							—	—	—	—	—	—	—	—	Not released

Roster

2011 Northwestern Wildcats roster
Quarterbacks 2 Kain Colter – Sophomore 7 Dan Persa (C) – Senior 10 Zack Oliver – Freshman 13 Trevor Siemian – Freshman 15 P.J. Carollo – Freshman 18 Evan Watkins – Sophomore Running backs 4 Adonis Smith – Sophomore 21 Jordan Perkins – Freshman 22 Treyvon Green – Freshman 28 Tim Hanrahan – Freshman 29 Mike Trumpy – Sophomore 34 Tyris Jones – Junior 39 Jacob Schmidt – Senior Wide receivers 5 Venric Mark – Sophomore 6 Charles Brown – Senior 8 Demetrius Fields – Junior 11 Jeremy Ebert – Senior 12 Tony Jones – Sophomore 14 Christian Jones – Freshman 17 Rashad Lawrence – Sophomore 23 E.J. Webb – Freshman 27 Cermak Bland – Freshman 80 Mike Jensen – Sophomore 81 Cameron Dickerson – Freshman 84 Drew Moulton – Sophomore 86 Brendan Barber – Junior 88 Torin Dupper – Freshman 89 Pierre Youngblood-Ary – Freshman Superbacks 9 Drake Dunsmore – Senior 40 Brett Nagel – Junior 82 John Plasencia – Sophomore 83 Jack Konopka – Freshman 85 Mark Szott – Freshman		Offensive line 53 Geoff Mogus – Freshman 57 Matt Frazier – Freshman 61 Alex Pietrzak – Freshman 62 Taylor Paxton – Sophomore 64 Doug Bartels – Senior 65 Ben Burkett – Senior 66 Brandon Vitabile – Freshman 68 Hayden Baker – Freshman 70 Patrick Ward – Junior 71 Shane Mertz – Freshman 72 Brian Mulroe – Junior 73 Colin Armstrong – Senior 74 Chuck Porcelli – Junior 75 Al Netter (C) – Senior 76 Brian Smith – Sophomore 78 Paul Jorgensen – Freshman 79 Neal Deiters – Junior Defensive line 42 Kevin Watt – Senior 55 Bo Cisek – Junior 58 Max Chapman – Freshman 60 Jake Gregus – Sophomore 67 Sean McEvilly – Freshman 79 C.J. Robbins – Freshman 88 Quentin Williams – Junior 90 Jack DiNardo – Senior 91 Brian Arnfelt – Junior 92 Will Hampton – Sophomore 93 Niko Mafuli – Senior 94 Vince Browne – Senior 95 Davon Custis – Sophomore 96 Anthony Battle – Sophomore 97 Tyler Scott – Sophomore 98 Deonte Gibson – Freshman 99 Chance Carter – Freshman		Linebackers 31 Stone Pinckney – Junior 33 David Nwabuisi – Junior 35 Ben Johnson – Senior 41 Doug Diedrick – Freshman 43 Tim Riley – Sophomore 44 Chi Chi Ariguzo – Freshman 45 Collin Ellis – Freshman 46 Damien Proby – Sophomore 48 Roderick Goodlow – Junior 50 Timmy Vernon – Sophomore 51 Bryce McNaul – Senior 54 Drew Smith – Freshman 56 Will Studlien – Sophomore Defensive backs 15 Daniel Jones – Freshman 16 Davion Fleming – Sophomore 18 Matt Carpenter – Freshman 19 Jimmy Hall – Freshman 20 Austin Kassner – Freshman 23 Nick VanHoose – Freshman 24 Ibraheim Campbell – Freshman 25 Jarrell Williams – Freshman 36 Mike Eshun – Freshman 39 Joe Cannon – Freshman Cornerbacks 3 Jeravin Matthews – Senior 13 C.J. Bryant – Freshman 20 Tim Weak – Junior 21 Mike Bolden – Senior 22 Demetrius Dugar – Junior 26 Jordan Mabin (C) – Senior 47 Ricky Weina – Senior Safeties 7 Hunter Bates – Junior 10 Brian Peters (C) – Senior 27 Jared Carpenter – Junior 32 David Arnold – Senior		Punters 31 Chris Gradone – Freshman 49 Brandon Williams – Sophomore Kickers 34 Steve Flaherty – Junior 37 Jeff Budzien – Sophomore 38 Arthur Omilian – Freshman Long snappers 59 Pat Hickey – Sophomore Head coach Pat Fitzgerald Coordinators/Assistant coaches Randy Bates – Linebackers coach Jerry brown – Assistant head coach/defensive backs coach Adam Cushing – Offensive line coach Mike Hankwitz – Defensive coordinator Bob heffner – Superbacks coach Marty long – Defensive line coach Matt macpherson – Running backs coach/recruiting coordinator Mick mccall – Offensive coordinator/QBs coach Dennis springer – Wide receivers coach Legend (C) Team captain Redshirt