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1971 Northwestern

7–⁠4 (6–⁠3 Big Ten), coached by Alex Agase.

Schedule and results

Northwestern in 1971, game by game: lost vs. No. 4 Michigan 6–21; lost at No. 2 Notre Dame 7–50; won vs. Syracuse 12–6; won vs. Wisconsin 24–11; won at Iowa 28–3; lost vs. No. 20 Purdue 20–21; won at Indiana 24–10; lost at Illinois 7–24; won vs. Minnesota 41–20; won at No. 16 Ohio State 14–10; won vs. No. 19 Michigan State 28–7+25−43Lost 6–21 vs. No. 4 Michigan-15No. 4 MichiganLost 7–50 at No. 2 Notre Dame-43No. 2 Notre DameWon 12–6 vs. Syracuse+6SyracuseWon 24–11 vs. Wisconsin+13WisconsinWon 28–3 at Iowa+25IowaLost 20–21 vs. No. 20 Purdue-1No. 20 PurdueWon 24–10 at Indiana+14IndianaLost 7–24 at Illinois-17IllinoisWon 41–20 vs. Minnesota+21MinnesotaWon 14–10 at No. 16 Ohio State+4No. 16 Ohio StateWon 28–7 vs. No. 19 Michigan State+21No. 19 Michigan State
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 11vs4MichiganL 6–⁠2141%
Sep 18at2Notre DameL 7–⁠5020%
Sep 25vsSyracuseW 12–⁠652%
Oct 2vsWisconsinW 24–⁠1162%
Oct 9atIowaW 28–⁠361%
Oct 16vs20PurdueL 20–⁠2158%
Oct 23atIndianaW 24–⁠1071%
Oct 30atIllinoisL 7–⁠2471%
Nov 6vsMinnesotaW 41–⁠2066%
Nov 13at16Ohio StateW 14–⁠1026%
Nov 20vs19Michigan StateW 28–⁠754%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Michigan State 28–⁠7; unranked in the final AP poll; 2nd in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 21st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 20
  2. Wk 14: 19
Record
7–⁠4
Conference
6–⁠3 2nd in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 19
Points
211–⁠183
Coach
Alex Agase
Elo
1580 +63 this season
SP+ rating
8.1 No. 40 of 120; offense No. 62, defense No. 29
SRS
10.1 No. 26 of 128 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Maurie Daigneau and Eric Hutchinson

Drafted in 1972

The 1972 draft
Rd 7Eric Hutchinson DBHouston Oilers

All-Big Ten

4 first team, 6 second team

First team

  • Maurie DaigneauQBAP-1; UPI-1
  • Barry PearsonE
  • Tom McCreightOTAP-1
  • Eric HutchinsonDBAP-1; UPI-1

Second team

  • Al RobinsonRBAP-2
  • Wil HembyDEUPI-2
  • Jim AndersonDTUPI-2
  • John VoorheesLBAP-2
  • Jerry BrownDBAP-2
  • Jack DustonDBUPI-2

From Wikipedia’s 1971 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1971 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan8–⁠011–⁠16
Northwestern6–⁠37–⁠4
Ohio State5–⁠36–⁠4
Michigan State5–⁠36–⁠5
Illinois5–⁠35–⁠6
Wisconsin3–⁠54–⁠6–⁠1
Minnesota3–⁠54–⁠7
Purdue3–⁠53–⁠7
Indiana2–⁠63–⁠8
Iowa1–⁠81–⁠10

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.