2007 Northwestern Wildcats football team
| 2007 Northwestern Wildcats football | |
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| Conference | Big Ten Conference |
| 2007 record | 6–6 (3–5 Big Ten) |
| Head coach | Pat Fitzgerald |
| Home stadium | Ryan Field (Capacity: 47,130) |
| 2007 Big Ten football standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | W | L | W | L | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| #5 Ohio State $ | 7 | – | 1 | 11 | – | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| #18 Michigan | 6 | – | 2 | 9 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| #20 Illinois % | 6 | – | 2 | 9 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| #24 Wisconsin | 5 | – | 3 | 9 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Penn State | 4 | – | 4 | 9 | – | 4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Iowa | 4 | – | 4 | 6 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Purdue | 3 | – | 5 | 8 | – | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Indiana | 3 | – | 5 | 7 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Michigan State | 3 | – | 5 | 7 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Northwestern | 3 | – | 5 | 6 | – | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minnesota | 0 | – | 8 | 1 | – | 11 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The 2007 Northwestern Wildcats football team represented Northwestern University in the Big Ten Conference during the 2007–2008 college football season. Pat Fitzgerald, in his second season at Northwestern, was the team's head coach. The Wildcats played their homes games at Ryan Field in Evanston, Illinois.
Before the beginning of the 2007 season, Northwestern showed potential for improvement upon the previous year's record. ESPN.com's Mark Schlabach stated that Northwestern has the seventh easiest schedule in college football, [1] and SI.com's Steve Megargee claimed that Indiana was the only Big Ten school with an easier schedule.[2] Running back Tyrell Sutton was one of 64 players in college football to be put on the Maxwell Award watch list for the nation's best college football player.[3]
The Wildcats began the season with their first shutout since 1997 in a 27–0 win against the Northeastern Huskies.[4] On October 7, quarterback C. J. Bacher broke Brett Basanez's school record for single-game passing yards by throwing for 520 yards in a victory over Michigan State. Bacher went on to be named the Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week and the Big Ten Conference Offensive Player of the Week.[5] Another strong performance in a win against Minnesota earned Bacher Big Ten Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors for the second week in a row.[6]
Schedule
| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| September 1 | 11:00 AM | Northeastern* | Ryan Field • Evanston, IL | BTN | W 27–0 | 16,199 | |||
| September 8 | 11:00 AM | Nevada* | Ryan Field • Evanston, IL | BTN | W 36–31 | 17,653 | |||
| September 15 | 7:00 PM | Duke* | Ryan Field • Evanston, IL | BTN | L 14–20 | 23,716 | |||
| September 22 | 2:30 PM | at #9 Ohio State | Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH | ABC/ESPN | L 7–58 | 105,178 | |||
| September 29 | 11:00 AM | Michigan | Ryan Field • Evanston, IL | BTN | L 16–28 | 40,604 | |||
| October 6 | 11:00 AM | at Michigan State | Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI | BTN | W 48–41 OT | 67,378 | |||
| October 13 | 11:00 AM | Minnesota | Ryan Field • Evanston, IL | BTN | W 49–48 2OT | 23,314 | |||
| October 19 | 6:00 PM | at Eastern Michigan* | Ford Field • Detroit, MI | ESPNU | W 26–14 | 10,000 | |||
| October 27 | 11:00 AM | at Purdue | Ross-Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN | BTN | L 17–35 | 58,237 | |||
| November 3 | 11:00 AM | Iowa | Ryan Field • Evanston, IL | ESPN2 | L 17–28 | 30,173 | |||
| November 10 | 11:00 AM | Indiana | Ryan Field • Evanston, IL | ESPNC | W 31–28 | 20,466 | |||
| November 17 | 11:00 AM | at #21 Illinois | Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL (Sweet Sioux Tomahawk) | ESPN | L 22–41 | 54,116 | |||
*Non-conference game.  Homecoming. #Rankings from Coaches' Poll released prior to game. All times are in Central Time. |
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References
- ↑ ESPN - Easy schedules should help these teams succeed - College Football
- ↑ SI.com - NCAA Football - Big Ten schedule rankings
- ↑ Tyrell Sutton Named to Maxwell Award Watch List :: Sutton one of only 10 Big Ten players on list
- ↑ NCAA Football - Northeastern Huskies/Northwestern Wildcats Recap Saturday September 1, 2007 - Yahoo! Sports
- ↑ C.J. Bachér Named Big Ten's Offensive Player of the Week: Fans can also vote for C.J.; one of four nominees for the AT&T All-America Player of the Week award
- ↑ Big Ten Honors Quarterback C.J. Bachér Again With Offensive Player of the Week Award: Bachér also one of four nominees for the AT&T All-America Player of the Week award; fans can vote for C.J.!
