2008 Northwestern Wildcats football team

The 2008 Northwestern Wildcats football team represented Northwestern University in the Big Ten Conference during the 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Pat Fitzgerald, in his third season at Northwestern, was the team's head coach. The Wildcats played their homes games at Ryan Field in Evanston, Illinois.

2008 Northwestern Wildcats football
Alamo Bowl, L 23–30 ^OT vs. Missouri
Conference	Big Ten Conference
2008 record	9–4 (5–3 Big Ten)
Head coach	Pat Fitzgerald (3rd as HC) (7th overall season)
Offensive coordinator	Mick McCall (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Mike Hankwitz (1st season)
Captains	C.J. Bachér[1] Prince Kwateng Eric Peterman Brendan Smith
Home stadium	Ryan Field (Capacity: 47,130)

2008 Big Ten Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 8 Penn State $+		7	–	1					11	–	2
No. 9 Ohio State %+		7	–	1					10	–	3
No. 24 Michigan State		6	–	2					9	–	4
Northwestern		5	–	3					9	–	4
No. 20 Iowa		5	–	3					9	–	4
Wisconsin		3	–	5					7	–	6
Minnesota		3	–	5					7	–	6
Illinois		3	–	5					5	–	7
Purdue		2	–	6					4	–	8
Michigan		2	–	6					3	–	9
Indiana		1	–	7					3	–	9
$ – BCS representative as conference champion % – BCS at-large representative + – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

Previous season

The 2007 team finished the season with a win-loss record of 6–6 and did not receive a bowl invitation.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 30	11:00 AM[2]	Syracuse*		Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPN2[2]	W 30–10	20,015[3]
September 6	6:00 PM[4]	at Duke*		Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC		W 24–20	23,614[3]
September 13	11:00 AM[2]	Southern Illinois*		Ryan Field Evanston, IL	BTN[2]	W 33–7	19,062[3]
September 20	11:00 AM[2]	Ohio*		Ryan Field Evanston, IL	BTN[2]	W 16–8	22,069[3]
September 27	11:00 AM[5]	at Iowa		Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	ESPNC[6]	W 22–17	70,585[3]
October 11	2:30 PM[6]	No. 23 Michigan State		Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPN2[6]	L 20–37	32,527[3]
October 18	11:00 AM[5]	Purdue		Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPN2[5]	W 48–26	27,163[3]
October 25	11:00 AM[5]	at Indiana		Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN	BTN[5]	L 19–21	30,698[3]
November 1	11:00 AM[5]	at No. 20 Minnesota		Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN	ESPN2[6]	W 24–17	54,122[3]
November 8	11:00 AM[6]	No. 12 Ohio State		Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPN2[6]	L 10–45	47,130[3]
November 15	11:00 AM[6]	at Michigan		Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI	ESPN2	W 21–14	107,856[3]
November 22	2:30 PM[6]	Illinois		Ryan Field Evanston, IL (Sweet Sioux Tomahawk)	BTN	W 27–10	32,166[3]
December 29	7:00 PM	vs. No. 25 Missouri	No. 22	Alamodome San Antonio, TX (Alamo Bowl)	ESPN	L 23–30 ^OT	55,986[3]
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Game summaries

Syracuse

	1	2	3	4	Total
Orange	3	0	7	0	10
Wildcats	0	9	14	7	30

Duke

See also: 2008 Duke Blue Devils football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	7	10	0	7	24
Blue Devils	7	3	3	7	20

Southern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Salukis	7	0	0	0	7
Wildcats	6	10	10	7	33

Ohio

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bobcats	0	0	8	0	8
Wildcats	6	10	0	0	16

Iowa

See also: 2008 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	0	10	6	6	22
Hawkeyes	3	14	0	0	17

Michigan State

See also: 2008 Michigan State Spartans football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Spartans	17	7	10	3	37
Wildcats	0	7	10	3	20

Purdue

See also: 2008 Purdue Boilermakers football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Boilermakers	6	6	0	14	26
Wildcats	0	24	10	14	48

Indiana

See also: 2008 Indiana Hoosiers football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	3	6	10	0	19
Hoosiers	7	7	7	0	21

Minnesota

See also: 2008 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	10	7	0	7	24
Golden Gophers	0	17	0	0	17

Ohio State

See also: 2008 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Buckeyes	7	17	7	14	45
Wildcats	7	0	3	0	10

Michigan

See also: 2008 Michigan Wolverines football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	7	0	14	0	21
Wolverines	7	7	0	0	14

Illinois

See also: 2008 Illinois Fighting Illini football team and Illinois–Northwestern football rivalry

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Illini	0	0	7	3	10
Wildcats	6	7	3	11	27

Alamo Bowl, v. Missouri

See also: 2008 Missouri Tigers football team and 2008 Alamo Bowl

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Tigers	0	10	10	3	7	30
Wildcats	7	3	13	0	0	23

Rankings

See also: 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	Final
AP	NR	NR	NR	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	24	24	22	RV
Coaches	NR	NR	RV	RV	RV	RV	22	RV	24	RV	25	RV	24	20	22	20	RV
Harris	Not released						23	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	24	22	21	Not released
BCS	Not released								22	NR	24	NR	NR	24	22	23	Not released

Statistics

Team

Team Opp Scoring       Points per Game     First Downs       Rushing       Passing       Penalty     Total Offense       Avg per Play       Avg per Game     Fumbles-Lost     Penalties-Yards       Avg per Game

Team Opp Punts-Yards       Avg per Punt     Time of Possession/Game     3rd Down Conversions     4th Down Conversions     Touchdowns Scored     Field Goals-Attempts-Long     PAT-Attempts     Attendance       Games/Avg per Game

Scores by quarter

1 2 3 4 Total Northwestern 52 100 80 62 294 Opponents 64 78 49 41 232

Offense

Rushing

Name	GP-GS	Att	Gain	Loss	Net	Avg	TD	Long	Avg/G
TEAM
Total
Opponents

Passing

Name	CMP	ATT	YDS	CMP%	YPA	LNG	TD	INT	SACK	RAT
C. J. Bachér	218	365	2128	59.7	5.83	53	14	14	9	113.68
Mike Kafka	32	46	330	69.6	7.17	36	2	3	6	131.13
Eric Peterman	2	2	55	100.0	27.50	30	1	0	0	496.0
Total	252	413	2513	61.0	6.08	53	17	17	15	116.9
Opponents

Receiving

Name	GP-GS	No.	Yds	Avg	TD	Long	Avg/G
Total
Opponents

Defense

Name	GP	Tackles				Sacks	Pass Defense		Interceptions				Fumbles		Blkd Kick
		Solo	Ast	Total	TFL-Yds	No-Yds	BrUp	QBH	No.-Yds	Avg	TD	Long	Rcv-Yds	FF
Total

Special teams

Name	Punting								Kickoffs
	No.	Yds	Avg	Long	TB	FC	I20	Blkd	No.	Yds	Avg	TB	OB
Total

Name	Punt Returns					Kick Returns
	No.	Yds	Avg	TD	Long	No.	Yds	Avg	TD	Long
Total

References

1. "Year-by-Year Results" (PDF). 2018. p. 93. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-03-16. Retrieved 2019-03-14.
2. "Kickoff Times Announced For NU's First Three Home Games". Northwestern University Department of Athletics. July 2, 2008. Archived from the original on July 5, 2008. Retrieved July 4, 2008.
3. "Cumulative Season Statistics". Northwestern University Department of athletics. Archived from the original on April 5, 2012. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
4. "Kickoff Times Set For Duke's First Three Football Games". Duke University Department of Athletics. June 3, 2008. Retrieved June 6, 2008.
5. "Big Ten Announces Start Times for 2008 Homecoming Games". Northwestern University Department of Athletics. May 12, 2008. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved May 12, 2008.
6. "Northwestern Official Athletics Site". Northwestern University Department of Athletics. September 29, 2008. Archived from the original on September 28, 2008. Retrieved September 29, 2008.