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1991 Northwestern

3–⁠8 (2–⁠6 Big Ten), coached by Francis Peay.

Schedule and results

Northwestern in 1991, game by game: lost vs. Rice 7–36; lost at Rutgers 18–22; won vs. Wake Forest 41–14; lost vs. Purdue 14–17; lost at Indiana 6–44; lost vs. No. 18 Ohio State 3–34; won vs. No. 17 Illinois 17–11; won at Michigan State 16–13; lost at No. 4 Michigan 14–59; lost vs. No. 9 Iowa 10–24; lost at Wisconsin 14–32+27−45Lost 7–36 vs. Rice-29RiceLost 18–22 at Rutgers-4RutgersWon 41–14 vs. Wake Forest+27Wake ForestLost 14–17 vs. Purdue-3PurdueLost 6–44 at Indiana-38IndianaLost 3–34 vs. No. 18 Ohio State-31No. 18 Ohio StateWon 17–11 vs. No. 17 Illinois+6No. 17 IllinoisWon 16–13 at Michigan State+3Michigan StateLost 14–59 at No. 4 Michigan-45No. 4 MichiganLost 10–24 vs. No. 9 Iowa-14No. 9 IowaLost 14–32 at Wisconsin-18Wisconsin
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 14vsRiceL 7–⁠3644%
Sep 21atRutgersL 18–⁠2232%
Sep 28vsWake ForestW 41–⁠1445%
Oct 5vsPurdueL 14–⁠1752%
Oct 12atIndianaL 6–⁠4419%
Oct 19vs18Ohio StateL 3–⁠3417%
Oct 26vs17IllinoisW 17–⁠1120%
Nov 2atMichigan StateW 16–⁠1326%
Nov 9at4MichiganL 14–⁠598%
Nov 16vs9IowaL 10–⁠2419%
Nov 23atWisconsinL 14–⁠3246%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Wisconsin 32–⁠14; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 8th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 112th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).

Record
3–⁠8
Conference
2–⁠6 tied for 8th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
160–⁠306
Coach
Francis Peay
Elo
1331 −21 this season
SP+ rating
-13.8 No. 88 of 104; offense No. 85, defense No. 76
SRS
−9.8 No. 84 of 107 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
—
Defensive coordinator
Mike Knoll
Captains
Darryl Ashmore, Dan Freveletti, Dwight James and Ed Sutter

Drafted in 1992

The 1992 draft
Rd 7Darryl Ashmore OTLos Angeles Rams

All-Big Ten

2 second team

Second team

  • Mark BensonWRAP-2
  • Willie LindseyDBAP-2

From Wikipedia’s 1991 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

1991 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan8–⁠010–⁠26
Iowa7–⁠110–⁠1–⁠110
Ohio State5–⁠38–⁠4
Indiana5–⁠37–⁠4–⁠1
Illinois4–⁠46–⁠6
Purdue3–⁠54–⁠7
Michigan State3–⁠53–⁠8
Wisconsin2–⁠65–⁠6
Northwestern2–⁠63–⁠8
Minnesota1–⁠72–⁠9

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