2012 Northwestern Wildcats football Gator Bowl champion
Conference Big Ten Conference Division Legends Division Ranking Coaches No. 16 AP No. 17 2012 record 10–3 (5–3 Big Ten) Head coach Pat Fitzgerald (7th as HC) (11th overall season)Offensive coordinator Mick McCall (5th season) Offensive scheme Spread Defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz (5th season)Base defense Multiple 4–3 Captain Brian Arnfelt Captain Kain Colter Captain Brian Mulroe Captain David Nwabuisi Home stadium Ryan Field (Capacity: 47,130)Seasons
The 2012 Northwestern Wildcats football team represented Northwestern University during the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season . Pat Fitzgerald , in his seventh season at Northwestern, was the team's head coach. The Wildcats home games were played at Ryan Field in Evanston, Illinois . They were members of the Legends Division of the Big Ten Conference . The Wildcats won their first bowl game since the 1949 Rose Bowl against California by defeating Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl 34–20.[1] They finished the season 10–3 (5–3 Big Ten).
Previous season [ edit ]
In 2011 the Wildcats had a 6–7 record, ending the season with a 33–22 loss to Texas A&M in the 2011 Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas .
Preseason [ edit ]
Recruiting [ edit ]
Northwestern signed 21 recruits to letters-of-intent on National Signing Day on February 1, 2012.[2]
Transfers [ edit ]
Wide receiver Kyle Prater transferred to Northwestern from USC on January 28, 2012, after being injured during most of the 2011 season and redshirting in 2010 .[3] The Wildcats requested a waiver to allow Prater to play immediately in 2012, as he transferred to a school close to home in order to care for a family member.[4] Sophomore running back Adonis Smith , who was thought to be a candidate for the starting running back job in 2012 after rushing for 266 yards in 2011, announced his intent to transfer from Northwestern on February 22.[5] He decided to transfer to UNLV .[6] Defensive back Quinn Evans transferred to Northwestern after graduating from Stanford in June 2012. After missing the entire 2011 season because of injury, he chose to attend Northwestern as a graduate student with a year of college football eligibility remaining.[7]
Schedule [ edit ]
The schedule is as follows:[8]
Date
Time
Opponent#
Rank #
Site
TV
Result
Attendance
September 1
11:00 AM
at Syracuse *
Carrier Dome • Syracuse, NY
ESPN2
W 42–41
37,830[9]
September 8
7:00 PM
Vanderbilt *
Ryan Field • Evanston, IL
BTN
W 23–13
31,644[10]
September 15
2:30 PM
Boston College *
Ryan Field • Evanston, IL
BTN
W 22–13
32,597[11]
September 22
2:30 PM
South Dakota *
Ryan Field • Evanston, IL
BTN
W 38–7
28,641[12]
September 29
11:00 AM
Indiana
Ryan Field • Evanston, IL
BTN
W 44–29
33,129[13]
October 6
11:00 AM
at Penn State
No. 24
Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA
ESPN
L 28–39
95,796[14]
October 13
11:00 AM
at Minnesota
TCF Bank Stadium • Minneapolis, MN
ESPN2
W 21–13
49,651[15]
October 20
2:30 PM
Nebraska
Ryan Field • Evanston, IL
ABC/ESPN2
L 28–29
47,330[16]
October 27
11:00 AM
Iowa
Ryan Field • Evanston, IL
ESPN2
W 28–17
44,121[17]
November 10
11:00 AM
at Michigan
No. 24
Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI
ESPN
L 31–38 OT
112,510[18]
November 17
11:00 AM
at Michigan State
Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI
ESPN2
W 23–20
75,101[19]
November 24
11:00 AM
Illinois
Ryan Field • Evanston, IL (Land of Lincoln Trophy )
BTN
W 50–14
32,415[20]
January 1
11:00 AM
vs. Mississippi State
No. 21
EverBank Field • Jacksonville, FL (Gator Bowl )
ESPN2
W 34–20
48,612[21]
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. # Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game. All times are in Central Time .
Rankings [ edit ]
Ranking movementsLegend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. ( ) = First place votes.
Week
Poll
Pre
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
Final
AP
NR
RV
RV
RV
RV
24
RV
RV
NR
RV
RV
RV
RV
22
21
17
Coaches'
NR
RV
RV
RV
RV
22
RV
RV
RV
RV
21
RV
RV
20
17
16
Harris
Not released
RV
RV
RV
RV
24
RV
RV
21
20
Not released
BCS
Not released
NR
NR
NR
24
NR
NR
22
20
Not released
Game summaries [ edit ]
Syracuse [ edit ]
1
2 3 4 Total
• Northwestern
7
14 14 7
42
Syracuse
6
7 14 14
41
Scoring summary 1 10:47 SYR Ross Krautman 22 yd field goal SYR 0–3
1 3:57 SYR Ross Krautman 33 yd field goal SYR 0–6
1 0:23 NU Venric Mark 82 yd punt return (Jeff Budzien kick) NU 7–6
2 10:58 SYR Prince-Tyson Gulley 14 yd run (Ross Krautman kick) SYR 7–13
2 6:53 NU Venric Mark 21 yd pass from Kain Colter (Jeff Budzien kick) NU 14–13
2 3:49 NU Christian Jones 14 yd pass from Kain Colter (Jeff Budzien kick) NU 21–13
3 13:32 NU Chi Chi Ariguzo 33 yd fumble return (Jeff Budzien kick) NU 28–13
3 7:34 NU Kain Colter 1 yd run (Jeff Budzien kick) NU 35–13
3 2:21 SYR Marcus Sales 7 yd pass from Ryan Nassib (Ross Krautman kick) NU 35–20
3 0:00 SYR Jeremiah Kobena 50 yd pass from Ryan Nassib (Ross Krautman kick) NU 35–27
4 6:42 SYR Jeremiah Kobena 7 yd pass from Ryan Nassib (two-point conversion failed) NU 35–33
4 2:40 SYR Christopher Clark 20 yd pass from Ryan Nassib (Prince-Tyson Gulley run for two-point conversion) SYR 35–41
4 0:44 NU Demetrius Fields 9 yd pass from Trevor Siemian (Jeff Budzien kick) Nu 42–41
Overall Record
Last Meeting
Result[23]
4–5
2009
SYR 37–34
The game got off to a slow start with some notable miscues on Northwestern's special teams play. All of which was quickly forgotten when Venric Mark scored an 82-yard touchdown on a punt return, the first return touchdown of his career. Northwestern continued to dominate offensively on the work of Mark and Kain Colter, taking a 35–13 lead in the middle of the 3rd quarter. The Orange then scored 4 straight touchdowns to lead 41–35 by attacking the young Northwestern secondary with deep passes to the outside. With under 3 minutes left and needing a score to win, Northwestern changed quarterbacks. Trevor Siemian came on to lead a 75-yard drive that scored the go-ahead touchdown. Northwestern survived to win and remain 7–0 in season openers under Pat Fitzgerald.
Vanderbilt [ edit ]
1
2 3 4 Total
Vanderbilt
7
3 0 3
13
• Northwestern
3
0 3 17
23
Scoring summary 1 10:11 Vandy Jordan Matthews 22 yd pass from Jordan Rodgers (Carey Spear kick) Vandy 7–0
1 7:14 NU Jeff Budzien 40 yd field goal Vandy 7–3
2 12:38 Vandy Carey Spear 32 yd field goal Vandy 10–3
3 10:16 NU Jeff Budzien 37 yd field goal Vandy 10–6
4 9:28 NU Venric Mark 7 yd run (Jeff Budzien kick) NU 10–13
4 5:21 Vandy Carey Spear 26 yd field goal Tied 13–13
4 2:01 NU Jeff Budzien 18 yd field goal NU 13–16
4 1:24 NU Kain Colter 29 yd run (Jeff Budzien kick) NU 13–23
Overall Record
Last Meeting
Result[25]
1–1–1
2010
NU 23–21
Boston College [ edit ]
1
2 3 4 Total
Boston College
3
7 0 3
13
• Northwestern
6
6 3 7
22
Date: September 15Location: Ryan Field , Evanston, IL Game start: 2:43 p.m. CDT Elapsed time: 3:19Game attendance: 32,597Game weather: 75°F, sunny, 8mph-NE windReferee: Gary PattersonTV announcers (BTN): Josh Lewin (Play-by-play), Jon Jansen (Color) & Evan Fitzgerald (Sideline)
Scoring summary 1 12:25 NU Jeff Budzien 42 yd field goal NU 0–3
1 8:03 BC Nate Freese 21 yd field goal Tied 3–3
1 3:36 NU Jeff Budzien 20 yd field goal NU 3–6
2 13:21 NU Jeff Budzien 29 yd field goal NU 3–9
2 1:38 BC Johnathan Coleman 31 yd pass from Chase Rettig (Nate Freese kick) BC 10–9
2 0:02 NU Jeff Budzien 41 yd field goal NU 10–12
3 2:50 NU Jeff Budzien 19 yd field goal NU 10–15
4 14:50 BC Nate Freese 34 yd field goal NU 13–15
4 1:37 NU Mike Trumpy 27 yd run (Jeff Budzien kick) NU 13–22
Overall Record
Last Meeting
Result[27]
3–1
2011
NU 24–17
South Dakota [ edit ]
1
2 3 4 Total
South Dakota
0
0 7 0
7
• Northwestern
14
14 7 3
38
Date: September 22Location: Ryan Field , Evanston, IL Game start: 2:42 p.m. CDT Elapsed time: 2:58Game attendance: 28,641Game weather: 55°F, mostly sunny, 15mph-WNW windReferee: Todd GeerlingsTV announcers (BTN): Wayne Larrivee (Play-by-play), Jon Jansen (Color) & Evan Fitzgerald (Sideline)
Scoring summary 1 11:29 NU Venric Mark 3 yd run (Jeff Budzien kick) NU 0–7
1 7:28 NU Tyris Jones 5 yd run (Jeff Budzien kick) NU 0–14
2 8:16 NU Venric Mark 6 yd run (Jeff Budzien kick) NU 0–21
2 0:52 NU Venric Mark 4 yd run (Jeff Budzien kick) NU 0–28
3 11:33 NU Treyvon Green 33 yd run (Jeff Budzien kick) NU 0–35
3 4:10 SD Josh Vander Maten 4 yd run (Kevin Robb kick) NU 7–35
4 10:00 NU Steve Flaherty 39 yd field goal NU 7–38
Overall Record
Last Meeting
Result[29]
4–0
1927
NU 47–2
Indiana [ edit ]
1
2 3 4 Total
Indiana
0
0 21 8
29
• Northwestern
7
13 17 7
44
Date: September 29Location: Ryan Field , Evanston, IL Game start: 11:01 a.m. CDT Elapsed time: 3:18Game attendance: 33,129Game weather: 66°F, partly cloudy, 6mph-WNW windReferee: Mike CannonTV announcers (BTN): Kevin Kugler (Play-by-play) & Chris Martin (Color)
Scoring summary 1 5:52 NU Kain Colter 8 yd run (Jeff Budzien kick) NU 0–7
2 11:41 NU Jeff Budzien 44 yd field goal) NU 0–10
2 7:59 NU Kain Colter 8 yd run (Jeff Budzien kick) NU 0–17
2 0:56 NU Jeff Budzien 34 yd field goal) NU 0–20
3 11:52 NU Kain Colter 15 yd run (Jeff Budzien kick) NU 0–27
3 9:24 IU Stephen Houston 20 yd run (Mitch Ewald kick) NU 7–27
3 7:28 IU Kofi Hughes 35 yd pass from Nate Sudfeld (Mitch Ewald kick) NU 14–27
3 4:43 NU Venric Mark 1 yd run (Jeff Budzien kick) NU 14–34
3 4:29 IU Tevin Coleman 96 yd kickoff return (Mitch Ewald kick)NU 21–34
3 1:16 NU Jeff Budzien 29 yd field goal NU 21–37
4 14:06 IU D'Angelo Roberts 2 yd run (Kofi Hughes run for two-point conversion) NU 29–37
4 5:07 NU Kain Colter 22 yd run (Jeff Budzien kick) NU 29–44
Overall Record
Last Meeting
Result[31]
45–34–1
2011
NU 59–38
Penn State [ edit ]
1
2 3 4 Total
#24 Northwestern
0
14 14 0
28
• Penn State
3
7 7 22
39
Overall Record
Last Meeting
Result[32]
3–12
2011
PSU 34–24
References [ edit ]
^ Greenstein, Teddy (January 1, 2013). "Northwestern Wins Gator Bowl to End Drought" . Chicago Tribune . Retrieved January 1, 2013 .
^ Taylor, John (February 1, 2012). "Northwestern announces 2012 recruiting class" . NBC Sports . Retrieved February 22, 2012 .
^ "WR Prater transfers from So. Cal to Northwestern" . Sports Illustrated . January 28, 2012. Retrieved February 22, 2012 .
^ Greenstein, Teddy (June 27, 2012). "Prater, NU Expect to Hear From NCAA in July" . Chicago Tribune . Retrieved June 29, 2012 .
^ Powers, Scott (February 22, 2012). "Adonis Smith Leaving Northwestern" . ESPN . Retrieved February 22, 2012 .
^ Taylor, John (March 8, 2012). "Ex-Northwestern RB Headed to UNLV" . NBC Sports . Retrieved March 8, 2012 .
^ "Northwestern Announces Addition of Transfer Quinn Evans" . Northwestern University Department of Athletics. June 11, 2012. Retrieved June 11, 2012 .
^ "2012 Northwestern Football Schedule" . Northwestern University Department of Athletics. Archived from the original on June 20, 2010. Retrieved February 22, 2012 .
^ a b "Northwestern Wildcats vs. Syracuse Orange Box Score" . ESPN . September 1, 2012. Retrieved September 30, 2012 .
^ a b "Vanderbilt Commodores vs. Northwestern Wildcats Box Score" . ESPN . September 8, 2012. Retrieved September 30, 2012 .
^ a b "Boston College Eagles vs. Northwestern Wildcats Box Score" . ESPN . September 15, 2012. Retrieved September 30, 2012 .
^ a b "South Dakota Coyotes vs. Northwestern Wildcats Box Score" . ESPN . September 22, 2012. Retrieved September 30, 2012 .
^ a b "Indiana Hoosiers vs. Northwestern Wildcats Box Score" . ESPN . September 29, 2012. Retrieved September 30, 2012 .
^ "Northwestern Wildcats vs. Penn State Nittany Lions Box Score" . ESPN . October 6, 2012. Retrieved October 7, 2012 .
^ "Northwestern Wildcats vs. Minnesota Golden Gophers Box Score" . ESPN . October 13, 2012. Retrieved October 13, 2012 .
^ "Nebraska Cornhuskers vs. Northwestern Wildcats Box Score" . ESPN . October 20, 2012. Retrieved October 21, 2012 .
^ "Iowa Hawkeyes vs. Northwestern Wildcats Box Score" . ESPN . October 27, 2012. Retrieved October 27, 2012 .
^ "Northwestern Wildcats vs. Michigan Wolverines Box Score" . ESPN . November 10, 2012. Retrieved November 12, 2012 .
^ "Northwestern Wildcats vs. Michigan State Spartans Box Score" . ESPN . November 17, 2012. Retrieved November 17, 2012 .
^ "Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Northwestern Wildcats Box Score" . ESPN . November 24, 2012. Retrieved November 24, 2012 .
^ "Mississippi State Bulldogs vs. Northwestern Wildcats Box Score" . ESPN . January 1, 2013. Retrieved January 1, 2013 .
^ "Northwestern 42, Syracuse 41" . Northwestern University Department of Athletics. September 1, 2012. Retrieved September 1, 2012 .
^ DeLassus, David. "Northwestern vs Syracuse (NY)" . College Football Data Warehouse. Retrieved December 27, 2014 .
^ "Northwestern 23, Vanderbilt 13" . Northwestern University Department of Athletics. September 8, 2012. Retrieved September 8, 2012 .
^ DeLassus, David. "Northwestern vs Vanderbilt (TN)" . College Football Data Warehouse. Retrieved December 27, 2014 .
^ "Northwestern 22, Boston College 13" . Northwestern University Department of Athletics. September 15, 2012. Retrieved September 16, 2012 .
^ DeLassus, David. "Northwestern vs Boston College (MA)" . College Football Data Warehouse. Retrieved December 27, 2014 .
^ "Northwestern 38, South Dakota 7" . Northwestern University Department of Athletics. September 22, 2012. Retrieved September 23, 2012 .
^ DeLassus, David. "Northwestern vs South Dakota" . College Football Data Warehouse. Retrieved December 27, 2014 .
^ "Indiana vs Northwestern" . Northwestern University Department of Athletics. September 29, 2012. Retrieved September 30, 2012 .
^ DeLassus, David. "Northwestern vs Indiana" . College Football Data Warehouse. Retrieved December 27, 2014 .
^ DeLassus, David. "Northwestern vs Penn State" . College Football Data Warehouse. Retrieved December 27, 2014 .
^ "2012 Northwestern Wildcats football roster" . Archived from the original on July 29, 2014. Retrieved October 4, 2012 .
^ 2012 Northwestern Wildcats captains announcement
External links [ edit ]
Media related to 2012 Northwestern Wildcats football team at Wikimedia Commons
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