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2013 Northwestern

5–⁠7 (1–⁠7 Big Ten), coached by Pat Fitzgerald.

Schedule and results

Northwestern in 2013, game by game: won at California 44–30; won vs. Syracuse 48–27; won vs. Western Michigan 38–17; won vs. Maine 35–21; lost vs. No. 4 Ohio State 30–40; lost at Wisconsin 6–35; lost vs. Minnesota 17–20; lost at Iowa 10–17; lost at Nebraska 24–27; lost vs. Michigan 19–27; lost vs. No. 13 Michigan State 6–30; won at Illinois 37–34+21−29Won 44–30 at California+14CaliforniaWon 48–27 vs. Syracuse+21SyracuseWon 38–17 vs. Western Michigan+21Western MichiganWon 35–21 vs. Maine+14MaineLost 30–40 vs. No. 4 Ohio State-10No. 4 Ohio StateLost 6–35 at Wisconsin-29WisconsinLost 17–20 vs. Minnesota-3MinnesotaLost 10–17 at Iowa-7IowaLost 24–27 at Nebraska-3NebraskaLost 19–27 vs. Michigan-8MichiganLost 6–30 vs. No. 13 Michigan State-24No. 13 Michigan StateWon 37–34 at Illinois+3Illinois
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 31atCaliforniaW 44–⁠3060%
Sep 7vsSyracuseW 48–⁠2765%
Sep 14vsWestern MichiganW 38–⁠1784%
Sep 21vsMaineW 35–⁠2183%
Oct 5vs4Ohio StateL 30–⁠4047%
Oct 12atWisconsinL 6–⁠3541%
Oct 19vsMinnesotaL 17–⁠2072%
Oct 26atIowaL 10–⁠1749%
Nov 2atNebraskaL 24–⁠2736%
Nov 16vsMichiganL 19–⁠2746%
Nov 23vs13Michigan StateL 6–⁠3030%
Nov 30atIllinoisW 37–⁠3458%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Illinois 37–⁠34; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 10th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 48th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 1: 22
  2. Wk 2: 19
  3. Wk 3: 17
  4. Wk 4: 18
  5. Wk 5: 17
  6. Wk 6: 16
  7. Wk 7: 19
Record
5–⁠7
Conference
1–⁠7 tied for 10th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked peak No. 16
Points
314–⁠325
Coach
Pat Fitzgerald
Elo
1510 −69 this season
SP+ rating
4.2 No. 61 of 125; offense No. 60, defense No. 59, special teams No. 42
SRS
0.8 No. 64 of 125 in FBS
Recruiting class
No. 53
Offensive coordinator
Mick McCall
Defensive coordinator
Mike Hankwitz
Captains
Kain Colter, Rashad Lawrence, Damien Proby, Tyler Scott and Brandon Vitabile
Offense
Spread
Defense
Multiple 4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense54th of 125
  • Defense63rd of 125
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted42nd of 125
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted65th of 125
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0947%0.8354th of 125
Defense0.0846%0.8663rd of 125
Opponent-adjusted0.10 off
0.08 def		47% off
45% def		—42nd off
65th 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-0.3own 282% allowed
Defense-0.3own 293% 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 QB2,149 yds
Passing touchdownsTrevor Siemian QB11 TD
Rushing yardsTreyvon Green RB736 yds
Rushing touchdownsTreyvon Green RB8 TD
Receiving yardsChristian Jones WR668 yds
Receiving touchdownsChristian Jones WR4 TD
InterceptionsChi Chi Ariguzo LB4 INT

Top recruits in the 2013 class

Matt Alviti DUAL★★★★No. 222
Godwin Igwebuike ATH★★★No. 374
Tyler Lancaster OC★★★No. 427
Sam Coverdale OT★★★No. 717
Kyle Queiro ATH★★★No. 803

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

The 2013 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks23.50.861
Running backs23.00.830
Receivers33.00.837
Offensive line23.00.867
Defensive line13.00.824
Athletes and specialists32.70.841
Whole class133.00.844

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 112

The 2013 roster

112 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2013 line; 31 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Big Ten

1 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2013 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2013 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Michigan State8–⁠013–⁠13
Ohio State8–⁠012–⁠212
Wisconsin6–⁠29–⁠422
Nebraska5–⁠39–⁠4
Iowa5–⁠38–⁠5
Minnesota4–⁠48–⁠5
Penn State4–⁠47–⁠5
Michigan3–⁠57–⁠6
Indiana3–⁠55–⁠7
Northwestern1–⁠75–⁠7
Illinois1–⁠74–⁠8
Purdue0–⁠81–⁠11

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