1978 Northwestern Wildcats football team

1978 Northwestern Wildcats football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	0–10–1 (0–8–1 Big Ten)
Head coach	Rick Venturi (1st season)
Captains	Pat Geegan Mike Kranz
Home stadium	Dyche Stadium

1978 Big Ten Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 5 Michigan +	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 12 Michigan State +	7	–	1	–	0			8	–	3	–	0
No. 13 Purdue	6	–	1	–	1			9	–	2	–	1
Ohio State	6	–	2	–	0			7	–	4	–	1
Minnesota	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Wisconsin	3	–	4	–	2			5	–	4	–	2
Indiana	3	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Iowa	2	–	6	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
Illinois	0	–	6	–	2			1	–	8	–	2
Northwestern	0	–	8	–	1			0	–	10	–	1
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 1978 Northwestern Wildcats team represented Northwestern University during the 1978 Big Ten Conference football season. In their first year under head coach Rick Venturi, the Wildcats compiled a 0–10–1 record (0–8–1 against Big Ten Conference opponents) and finished in last place in the Big Ten Conference.

The team's offensive leaders were quarterback Kevin Strasser with 1,526 passing yards, Mike Cammon with 322 rushing yards, and Steve Bogan with 353 receiving yards.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result
September 9	at Illinois	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (Sweet Sioux Tomahawk)	T 0–0
September 16	at Iowa	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	L 3–20
September 23	Wisconsin	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	L 7–28
September 30	at No. 16 Colorado*	Folsom Field Boulder, CO	L 7–55
October 7	Arizona State*	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	L 14–56
October 14	at Indiana	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN	L 10–38
October 21	Minnesota	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	L 14–38
October 28	at Ohio State	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	L 20–63
November 4	at No. 14 Purdue	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	L 0–31
November 11	No. 7 Michigan	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	L 14–59
November 18	No. 16 Michigan State	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	L 3–52
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game