2020 Northwestern Wildcats football team

The 2020 Northwestern Wildcats football team was to represent Northwestern University during the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Wildcats were to play their home games at Ryan Field in Evanston, Illinois and compete in the West Division of the Big Ten Conference. They were to be led by 15th-year head coach Pat Fitzgerald.

2020 Northwestern Wildcats football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Division	West Division
2020 record	0–0 (0–0 Big Ten)
Head coach	Pat Fitzgerald (15th season)
Offensive coordinator	Mike Bajakian (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Mike Hankwitz (13th season)
Home stadium	Ryan Field (Capacity: 47,130)
Uniform

2020 Big Ten Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
Indiana			–							–
Maryland			–							–
Michigan			–							–
Michigan State			–							–
Ohio State			–							–
Penn State			–							–
Rutgers			–							–
West Division
Illinois			–							–
Iowa			–							–
Minnesota			–							–
Nebraska			–							–
Northwestern			–							–
Purdue			–							–
Wisconsin			–							–
Championship: TBA
$ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Note: Due to COVID-19, the Big Ten suspended the 2020 football season. As of August 14, 2020; Rankings from AP Poll.

On August 11, 2020, the Big Ten Conference cancelled all fall sports competitions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The conference expressed the possibility that a season could be played in the spring of 2021.[1]

Previous season

The Wildcats finished the 2019 season 3–9, 1–8 in Big Ten play to finish in last place in the West Division.

Schedule

Northwestern had games scheduled against Tulane, Central Michigan, and Morgan State, but cancelled these games on July 9 due to the Big Ten Conference's decision to play a conference-only schedule due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[2]

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 5		at Michigan State	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI
September 26		at Penn State	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA
October 3		Nebraska	Ryan Field Evanston, IL
October 17		Maryland	Ryan Field Evanston, IL
October 24		at Iowa	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA
October 31		at Purdue	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN
November 7		Wisconsin	Ryan Field Evanston, IL
November 21		at Minnesota	TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN
November 28		Illinois	Ryan Field Evanston, IL (rivalry)
Rankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings (after November 3) released prior to game All times are in Central time

[3]

References

1. "Big Ten Statement on 2020-21 Fall Season". bigten.org. August 11, 2020. Retrieved August 11, 2020.
2. Myerberg, Paul. "Big Ten football reduces season schedule to only conference games, maybe setting stage for others to follow". USA TODAY. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
3. "2020 Northwestern Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved February 29, 2020.