CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2008 Northwestern

9–⁠4 (5–⁠3 Big Ten), coached by Pat Fitzgerald.

Schedule and results

Northwestern in 2008, game by game: won vs. Syracuse 30–10; won at Duke 24–20; won vs. Southern Illinois 33–7; won vs. Ohio 16–8; won at Iowa 22–17; lost vs. No. 23 Michigan State 20–37; won vs. Purdue 48–26; lost at Indiana 19–21; won at No. 20 Minnesota 24–17; lost vs. No. 12 Ohio State 10–45; won at Michigan 21–14; won vs. Illinois 27–10; lost vs. No. 19 Missouri 23–30+26−35Won 30–10 vs. Syracuse+20SyracuseWon 24–20 at Duke+4DukeWon 33–7 vs. Southern Illinois+26Southern Illino…Won 16–8 vs. Ohio+8OhioWon 22–17 at Iowa+5IowaLost 20–37 vs. No. 23 Michigan State-17No. 23 Michigan StateWon 48–26 vs. Purdue+22PurdueLost 19–21 at Indiana-2IndianaWon 24–17 at No. 20 Minnesota+7No. 20 MinnesotaLost 10–45 vs. No. 12 Ohio State-35No. 12 Ohio StateWon 21–14 at Michigan+7MichiganWon 27–10 vs. Illinois+17IllinoisLost 23–30 vs. No. 19 Missouri-7No. 19 Missouri
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsSyracuseW 30–⁠1070%
Sep 6atDukeW 24–⁠2059%
Sep 13vsSouthern IllinoisW 33–⁠757%
Sep 20vsOhioW 16–⁠869%
Sep 27atIowaW 22–⁠1743%
Oct 11vs23Michigan StateL 20–⁠3751%
Oct 18vsPurdueW 48–⁠2664%
Oct 25atIndianaL 19–⁠2166%
Nov 1at20MinnesotaW 24–⁠1737%
Nov 8vs12Ohio StateL 10–⁠4535%
Nov 15atMichiganW 21–⁠1446%
Nov 22vsIllinoisW 27–⁠1063%
Dec 29Bowls & playoffvs19MissouriAlamo BowlL 23–⁠3038%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Missouri 30–⁠23 in the Alamo Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 24th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 14: 24
  2. Wk 15: 24
Record
9–⁠4
Conference
5–⁠3 tied for 4th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 24
Points
317–⁠262
Coach
Pat Fitzgerald
Elo
1570 +100 this season
SP+ rating
7.3 No. 41 of 120; offense No. 60, defense No. 34, special teams No. 61
SRS
4.2 No. 44 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 71
Offensive coordinator
Mick McCall
Defensive coordinator
Mike Hankwitz
Captains
C.J. Bachér, Prince Kwateng, Eric Peterman and Brendan Smith
Offense
Spread
Defense
Multiple 4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense80th of 120
  • Defense27th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted94th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted39th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense-0.0044%0.7680th of 120
Defense-0.0140%0.9027th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.01 off
0.01 def		44% off
41% def		—94th off
39th def
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. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense0.0own 322% allowed
Defense-0.1own 302% 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 2008 class

Quentin Williams TE★★★No. 492
Nick Adamle OG★★★No. 901
Chuck Porcelli OT★★★No. 938
Alex Daniel APB★★★No. 1095
Neal Deiters OT★★★No. 1139

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

The 2008 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs13.00.832
Receivers42.80.802
Offensive line33.00.837
Defensive line22.00.744
Linebackers23.00.814
Defensive backs42.30.758
Athletes and specialists22.50.796
Whole class182.60.794

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.

All-Big Ten

1 first team

First team

From Wikipedia’s 2008 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2008 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Penn State7–⁠111–⁠28
Ohio State7–⁠110–⁠39
Michigan State6–⁠29–⁠424
Northwestern5–⁠39–⁠4
Iowa5–⁠39–⁠420
Wisconsin3–⁠57–⁠6
Minnesota3–⁠57–⁠6
Illinois3–⁠55–⁠7
Purdue2–⁠64–⁠8
Michigan2–⁠63–⁠9
Indiana1–⁠73–⁠9

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