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1974 Northwestern

3–⁠8 (2–⁠6 Big Ten), coached by John Pont.

Schedule and results

Northwestern in 1974, game by game: lost at Michigan State 7–41; lost vs. No. 1 Notre Dame 3–49; lost at No. 10 Nebraska 7–49; won vs. Oregon 14–10; lost at Iowa 10–35; lost vs. Purdue 26–31; lost vs. No. 1 Ohio State 7–55; won at Minnesota 21–13; won vs. Indiana 24–22; lost vs. Wisconsin 7–52; lost at Illinois 14–28+8−48Lost 7–41 at Michigan State-34Michigan StateLost 3–49 vs. No. 1 Notre Dame-46No. 1 Notre DameLost 7–49 at No. 10 Nebraska-42No. 10 NebraskaWon 14–10 vs. Oregon+4OregonLost 10–35 at Iowa-25IowaLost 26–31 vs. Purdue-5PurdueLost 7–55 vs. No. 1 Ohio State-48No. 1 Ohio StateWon 21–13 at Minnesota+8MinnesotaWon 24–22 vs. Indiana+2IndianaLost 7–52 vs. Wisconsin-45WisconsinLost 14–28 at Illinois-14Illinois
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 14atMichigan StateL 7–⁠4130%
Sep 21vs1Notre DameL 3–⁠4919%
Sep 28at10NebraskaL 7–⁠4911%
Oct 5vsOregonW 14–⁠1043%
Oct 12atIowaL 10–⁠3547%
Oct 19vsPurdueL 26–⁠3141%
Oct 26vs1Ohio StateL 7–⁠5512%
Nov 2atMinnesotaW 21–⁠1328%
Nov 9vsIndianaW 24–⁠2261%
Nov 16vsWisconsinL 7–⁠5238%
Nov 23atIllinoisL 14–⁠2824%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Illinois 28–⁠14; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 7th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 108th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).

Players on this team

Before 2004 our records hold honors and the draft; these are the players whose college years here, from their Wikipedia articles or their honors, include 1974.

Record
3–⁠8
Conference
2–⁠6 tied for 7th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
140–⁠385
Coach
John Pont
Elo
1342 −72 this season
SP+ rating
-19.6 No. 116 of 124; offense No. 90, defense No. 122
SRS
−10.8 No. 101 of 129 major-college teams
Recruiting class
—
Captains
Paul Hiemenz and Larry Lilja

All-Big Ten

2 first team, 1 second team

First team

  • Steve YelvingtonEnds/receivers
  • Paul HiemenzOTAP-1; UPI-2

Second team

  • Jim PoolerRBAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1974 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1974 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan7–⁠110–⁠13
Ohio State7–⁠110–⁠24
Michigan State6–⁠1–⁠17–⁠3–⁠112
Wisconsin5–⁠37–⁠4
Illinois4–⁠3–⁠16–⁠4–⁠1
Purdue3–⁠54–⁠6–⁠1
Minnesota2–⁠64–⁠7
Northwestern2–⁠63–⁠8
Iowa2–⁠63–⁠8
Indiana1–⁠71–⁠10

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