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2012 Northwestern

10–⁠3 (5–⁠3 Big Ten), coached by Pat Fitzgerald, finished No. 17 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Northwestern in 2012, game by game: won at Syracuse 42–41; won vs. Vanderbilt 23–13; won vs. Boston College 22–13; won vs. South Dakota 38–7; won vs. Indiana 44–29; lost at Penn State 28–39; won at Minnesota 21–13; lost vs. Nebraska 28–29; won vs. Iowa 28–17; lost at Michigan 31–38; won at Michigan State 23–20; won vs. Illinois 50–14; won vs. Mississippi State 34–20+36−11Won 42–41 at Syracuse+1SyracuseWon 23–13 vs. Vanderbilt+10VanderbiltWon 22–13 vs. Boston College+9Boston CollegeWon 38–7 vs. South Dakota+31South DakotaWon 44–29 vs. Indiana+15IndianaLost 28–39 at Penn State-11Penn StateWon 21–13 at Minnesota+8MinnesotaLost 28–29 vs. Nebraska-1NebraskaWon 28–17 vs. Iowa+11IowaLost 31–38 at Michigan-7MichiganWon 23–20 at Michigan State+3Michigan StateWon 50–14 vs. Illinois+36IllinoisWon 34–20 vs. Mississippi State+14Mississippi Sta…
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 1atSyracuseW 42–⁠4148%
Sep 8vsVanderbiltW 23–⁠1361%
Sep 15vsBoston CollegeW 22–⁠1361%
Sep 22vsSouth DakotaW 38–⁠782%
Sep 29vsIndianaW 44–⁠2975%
Oct 6atPenn StateL 28–⁠3936%
Oct 13atMinnesotaW 21–⁠1352%
Oct 20vsNebraskaL 28–⁠2951%
Oct 27vsIowaW 28–⁠1759%
Nov 10atMichiganL 31–⁠3832%
Nov 17atMichigan StateW 23–⁠2036%
Nov 24vsIllinoisW 50–⁠1485%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvsMississippi StateGator BowlW 34–⁠2051%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Mississippi State 34–⁠20 in the Gator Bowl; No. 17 in the final AP poll; 5th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 10th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 6: 24
  2. Wk 14: 22
  3. Wk 15: 21
  4. Final: 17
Record
10–⁠3
Conference
5–⁠3 5th in Big Ten
AP final
No. 17 peak No. 17
Points
412–⁠293
Coach
Pat Fitzgerald
Elo
1620 +125 this season
SP+ rating
7.2 No. 47 of 124; offense No. 51, defense No. 50, special teams No. 32
SRS
8.1 No. 32 of 124 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 55
Offensive coordinator
Mick McCall
Defensive coordinator
Mike Hankwitz
Captains
Brian Arnfelt, Kain Colter, Brian Mulroe and David Nwabuisi
Offense
Spread
Defense
Multiple 4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense54th of 124
  • Defense56th of 124
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted48th of 124
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted62nd of 124
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0643%0.8854th of 124
Defense0.0643%0.9056th of 124
Opponent-adjusted0.07 off
0.06 def		43% off
43% def		—48th off
62nd 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 303% allowed
Defense-0.5own 295% 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 yardsTrevor Siemian QB1,312 yds
Passing touchdownsKain Colter QB8 TD
Rushing yardsVenric Mark RB1,366 yds
Rushing touchdownsKain Colter QB12 TD
Receiving yardsChristian Jones WR412 yds
Receiving touchdownsTony Jones WR4 TD
InterceptionsDavid Nwabuisi LB3 INT

Top recruits in the 2012 class

Ifeadi Odenigbo OLB★★★★No. 67
Malin Jones RB★★★No. 549
Adam DePietro OG★★★No. 676
Greg Kuhar DT★★★No. 732
Dean Lowry WDE★★★No. 771

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

The 2012 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Running backs23.00.842
Receivers33.00.817
Offensive line53.00.847
Defensive line23.00.860
Linebackers14.00.969
Defensive backs33.00.829
Athletes and specialists52.60.809
Whole class213.00.838

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 108

The 2012 roster

108 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2012 line; 35 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Big Ten

1 first team, 2 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2012 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2012 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State8–⁠012–⁠03
Nebraska7–⁠110–⁠425
Penn State6–⁠28–⁠4
Michigan6–⁠28–⁠524
Northwestern5–⁠310–⁠317
Wisconsin4–⁠48–⁠6
Michigan State3–⁠57–⁠6
Purdue3–⁠56–⁠7
Minnesota2–⁠66–⁠7
Indiana2–⁠64–⁠8
Iowa2–⁠64–⁠8
Illinois0–⁠82–⁠10

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