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2005 Northwestern

7–⁠5 (5–⁠3 Big Ten), coached by Randy Walker.

Schedule and results

Northwestern in 2005, game by game: won vs. Ohio 38–14; won vs. Northern Illinois 38–37; lost at No. 18 Arizona State 21–52; lost vs. Penn State 29–34; won vs. No. 14 Wisconsin 51–48; won at Purdue 34–29; won at No. 22 Michigan State 49–14; lost vs. No. 25 Michigan 17–33; won vs. Iowa 28–27; lost at No. 10 Ohio State 7–48; won at Illinois 38–21; lost vs. No. 11 UCLA 38–50+35−41Won 38–14 vs. Ohio+24OhioWon 38–37 vs. Northern Illinois+1Northern Illino…Lost 21–52 at No. 18 Arizona State-31No. 18 Arizona StateLost 29–34 vs. Penn State-5Penn StateWon 51–48 vs. No. 14 Wisconsin+3No. 14 WisconsinWon 34–29 at Purdue+5PurdueWon 49–14 at No. 22 Michigan State+35No. 22 Michigan StateLost 17–33 vs. No. 25 Michigan-16No. 25 MichiganWon 28–27 vs. Iowa+1IowaLost 7–48 at No. 10 Ohio State-41No. 10 Ohio StateWon 38–21 at Illinois+17IllinoisLost 38–50 vs. No. 11 UCLA-12No. 11 UCLA
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 3vsOhioW 38–⁠1472%
Sep 10vsNorthern IllinoisW 38–⁠3752%
Sep 17at18Arizona StateL 21–⁠5236%
Sep 24vsPenn StateL 29–⁠3451%
Oct 8vs14WisconsinW 51–⁠4835%
Oct 15atPurdueW 34–⁠2937%
Oct 22at22Michigan StateW 49–⁠1435%
Oct 29vs25MichiganL 17–⁠3347%
Nov 5vsIowaW 28–⁠2745%
Nov 12at10Ohio StateL 7–⁠4823%
Nov 19atIllinoisW 38–⁠2172%
Dec 30Bowls & playoffvs11UCLASun BowlL 38–⁠5040%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to UCLA 50–⁠38 in the Sun Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 35th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 9: 21
  2. Wk 11: 25
Record
7–⁠5
Conference
5–⁠3 tied for 3rd in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 21
Points
388–⁠407
Coach
Randy Walker
Elo
1533 +34 this season
SP+ rating
8.0 No. 39 of 118; offense No. 12, defense No. 84
SRS
6.7 No. 33 of 119 in Division I-A
Recruiting class
No. 54
Offensive coordinator
Mike Dunbar
Defensive coordinator
Greg Colby
Captains
Brett Basanez, Zach Strief, Barry Cofield and Tim McGarigle
Offense
Spread
Defense
4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense12th of 119
  • Defense111th of 119
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1545%0.9812th of 119
Defense0.1647%1.02111th of 119
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense-0.1own 282% allowed
Defense-0.1own 323% caused

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. From CollegeFootballData.com.

Top recruits in the 2005 class

Tyler Compton OG★★★No. 829
Thomas Bemenderfer OG★★★No. 829
Malcolm Arrington OLB★★★No. 829
John Gill OG★★No. 1132
Mike Dinard OLB★★No. 1132

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2005 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Offensive line32.70.796
Defensive line32.00.744
Linebackers32.30.759
Whole class92.30.767

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Drafted in 2006

The 2006 draft
Rd 4Barry Cofield DTNew York Giants
Rd 7Zach Strief OTNew Orleans Saints
Rd 7Tim McGarigle LBSt. Louis Rams

All-Big Ten

1 first team, 6 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2005 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2005 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Penn State7–⁠111–⁠13
Ohio State7–⁠110–⁠24
Wisconsin5–⁠310–⁠315
Iowa5–⁠37–⁠5
Northwestern5–⁠37–⁠5
Michigan5–⁠37–⁠5
Minnesota4–⁠47–⁠5
Purdue3–⁠55–⁠6
Michigan State2–⁠65–⁠6
Indiana1–⁠74–⁠7
Illinois0–⁠82–⁠9

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