CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2010 Northwestern

7–⁠6 (3–⁠5 Big Ten), coached by Pat Fitzgerald.

Schedule and results

Northwestern in 2010, game by game: won at Vanderbilt 23–21; won vs. Illinois State 37–3; won at Rice 30–13; won vs. Central Michigan 30–25; won at Minnesota 29–28; lost vs. Purdue 17–20; lost vs. No. 8 Michigan State 27–35; won at Indiana 20–17; lost at Penn State 21–35; won vs. No. 13 Iowa 21–17; lost vs. Illinois 27–48; lost at No. 5 Wisconsin 23–70; lost vs. Texas Tech 38–45+34−47Won 23–21 at Vanderbilt+2VanderbiltWon 37–3 vs. Illinois State+34Illinois StateWon 30–13 at Rice+17RiceWon 30–25 vs. Central Michigan+5Central MichiganWon 29–28 at Minnesota+1MinnesotaLost 17–20 vs. Purdue-3PurdueLost 27–35 vs. No. 8 Michigan State-8No. 8 Michigan StateWon 20–17 at Indiana+3IndianaLost 21–35 at Penn State-14Penn StateWon 21–17 vs. No. 13 Iowa+4No. 13 IowaLost 27–48 vs. Illinois-21IllinoisLost 23–70 at No. 5 Wisconsin-47No. 5 WisconsinLost 38–45 vs. Texas Tech-7Texas Tech
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 4atVanderbiltW 23–⁠2159%
Sep 11vsIllinois StateW 37–⁠384%
Sep 18atRiceW 30–⁠1365%
Sep 25vsCentral MichiganW 30–⁠2553%
Oct 2atMinnesotaW 29–⁠2863%
Oct 9vsPurdueL 17–⁠2075%
Oct 23vs8Michigan StateL 27–⁠3546%
Oct 30atIndianaW 20–⁠1760%
Nov 6atPenn StateL 21–⁠3534%
Nov 13vs13IowaW 21–⁠1734%
Nov 20vsIllinoisL 27–⁠4857%
Nov 27at5WisconsinL 23–⁠7020%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvsTexas TechTicketCity BowlL 38–⁠4539%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Texas Tech 45–⁠38 in the TicketCity Bowl; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 7th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 51st-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).

Record
7–⁠6
Conference
3–⁠5 tied for 7th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
343–⁠377
Coach
Pat Fitzgerald
Elo
1501 −33 this season
SP+ rating
-1.1 No. 66 of 120; offense No. 40, defense No. 84, special teams No. 40
SRS
−4.6 No. 76 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 67
Offensive coordinator
Mick McCall
Defensive coordinator
Mike Hankwitz
Captains
Dan Persa, Al Netter, Quentin Davie and Corbin Bryant
Offense
Spread
Defense
Multiple 4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense29th of 120
  • Defense99th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted37th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted110th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0946%0.8229th of 120
Defense0.1045%0.9199th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.07 off
0.08 def		46% off
44% def		—37th off
110th 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
Offense-0.1own 312% allowed
Defense-0.2own 292% 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.

Leaders

Passing yardsDan Persa QB2,581 yds
Passing touchdownsDan Persa QB15 TD
Rushing yardsMike Trumpy RB530 yds
Rushing touchdownsDan Persa QB9 TD
Receiving yardsJeremy Ebert WR953 yds
Receiving touchdownsJeremy Ebert WR8 TD
InterceptionsBrian Peters S3 INT

Top recruits in the 2010 class

Chance Carter WDE★★★No. 639
Rashad Lawrence WR★★★No. 804
Ibraheim Campbell S★★★No. 887
Sean McEvilly DT★★★No. 928
Chi Chi Ariguzo OLB★★★No. 954

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

The 2010 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs13.00.847
Receivers23.00.861
Defensive line33.00.863
Linebackers23.00.857
Defensive backs33.00.846
Athletes and specialists13.00.854
Whole class123.00.855

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.

Roster 103

The 2010 roster

103 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2010 line; 34 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Big Ten

2 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2010 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2010 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State7–⁠112–⁠15
Wisconsin7–⁠111–⁠27
Michigan State7–⁠111–⁠214
Iowa4–⁠48–⁠5
Penn State4–⁠47–⁠6
Illinois4–⁠47–⁠6
Michigan3–⁠57–⁠6
Northwestern3–⁠57–⁠6
Purdue2–⁠64–⁠8
Minnesota2–⁠63–⁠9
Indiana1–⁠75–⁠7

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