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2011 Northwestern

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

Schedule and results

Northwestern in 2011, game by game: won at Boston College 24–17; won vs. Eastern Illinois 42–21; lost at Army 14–21; lost at No. 24 Illinois 35–38; lost vs. No. 12 Michigan 24–42; lost at Iowa 31–41; lost vs. Penn State 24–34; won at Indiana 59–38; won at No. 9 Nebraska 28–25; won vs. Rice 28–6; won vs. Minnesota 28–13; lost vs. No. 11 Michigan State 17–31; lost vs. Texas A&M 22–33+22−18Won 24–17 at Boston College+7Boston CollegeWon 42–21 vs. Eastern Illinois+21Eastern IllinoisLost 14–21 at Army-7ArmyLost 35–38 at No. 24 Illinois-3No. 24 IllinoisLost 24–42 vs. No. 12 Michigan-18No. 12 MichiganLost 31–41 at Iowa-10IowaLost 24–34 vs. Penn State-10Penn StateWon 59–38 at Indiana+21IndianaWon 28–25 at No. 9 Nebraska+3No. 9 NebraskaWon 28–6 vs. Rice+22RiceWon 28–13 vs. Minnesota+15MinnesotaLost 17–31 vs. No. 11 Michigan State-14No. 11 Michigan StateLost 22–33 vs. Texas A&M-11Texas A&M
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 3atBoston CollegeW 24–⁠1738%
Sep 10vsEastern IllinoisW 42–⁠2187%
Sep 17atArmyL 14–⁠2156%
Oct 1at24IllinoisL 35–⁠3831%
Oct 8vs12MichiganL 24–⁠4245%
Oct 15atIowaL 31–⁠4126%
Oct 22vsPenn StateL 24–⁠3436%
Oct 29atIndianaW 59–⁠3854%
Nov 5at9NebraskaW 28–⁠2517%
Nov 12vsRiceW 28–⁠674%
Nov 19vsMinnesotaW 28–⁠1378%
Nov 26vs11Michigan StateL 17–⁠3136%
Dec 31Bowls & playoffvsTexas A&MMeineke Car Care Bowl of TexasL 22–⁠3337%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Texas A&M 33–⁠22 in the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 8th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 54th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).

Record
6–⁠7
Conference
3–⁠5 tied for 8th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
376–⁠360
Coach
Pat Fitzgerald
Elo
1492 −8 this season
SP+ rating
0.6 No. 62 of 120; offense No. 28, defense No. 79, special teams No. 107
SRS
0.4 No. 58 of 120 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 61
Offensive coordinator
Mick McCall
Defensive coordinator
Mike Hankwitz
Captains
Jordan Mabin, Al Netter, Dan Persa and Brian Peters
Offense
Spread
Defense
Multiple 4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense20th of 120
  • Defense111th of 120
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted16th of 120
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted125th of 120
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1146%0.8520th of 120
Defense0.1444%1.06111th of 120
Opponent-adjusted0.10 off
0.11 def		47% off
43% def		—16th off
125th 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-0.2own 302% allowed
Defense0.0own 313% 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 QB2,376 yds
Passing touchdownsDan Persa QB17 TD
Rushing yardsKain Colter QB654 yds
Rushing touchdownsKain Colter QB9 TD
Receiving yardsJeremy Ebert WR1,060 yds
Receiving touchdownsJeremy Ebert WR11 TD
InterceptionsBrian Peters S5 INT

Top recruits in the 2011 class

Andrew Smith OLB★★★No. 902
Geoff Mogus OG★★★No. 948
Jarrell Williams CB★★★No. 955
Mark Szott TE★★★No. 975
Matt Frazier OG★★★No. 1062

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

The 2011 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs13.00.826
Receivers33.00.829
Offensive line23.00.837
Defensive line22.50.812
Linebackers13.00.843
Defensive backs23.00.832
Whole class112.90.829

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 2012

The 2012 draft
Rd 7Drake Dunsmore FBTampa Bay Buccaneers
Rd 7Jeremy Ebert WRNew England Patriots

Roster 108

The 2011 roster

108 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2011 line; 31 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Big Ten

2 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2011 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2011 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan State7–⁠111–⁠311
Michigan6–⁠211–⁠212
Wisconsin6–⁠211–⁠310
Penn State6–⁠29–⁠4
Nebraska5–⁠39–⁠424
Iowa4–⁠47–⁠6
Purdue4–⁠47–⁠6
Ohio State3–⁠56–⁠7
Northwestern3–⁠56–⁠7
Illinois2–⁠67–⁠6
Minnesota2–⁠63–⁠9
Indiana0–⁠81–⁠11

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