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2014 Northwestern

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

Schedule and results

Northwestern in 2014, game by game: lost vs. California 24–31; lost vs. Northern Illinois 15–23; won vs. Western Illinois 24–7; won at Penn State 29–6; won vs. No. 17 Wisconsin 20–14; lost at Minnesota 17–24; lost vs. No. 19 Nebraska 17–38; lost at Iowa 7–48; lost vs. Michigan 9–10; won at No. 15 Notre Dame 43–40; won at Purdue 38–14; lost vs. Illinois 33–47+24−41Lost 24–31 vs. California-7CaliforniaLost 15–23 vs. Northern Illinois-8Northern Illino…Won 24–7 vs. Western Illinois+17Western IllinoisWon 29–6 at Penn State+23Penn StateWon 20–14 vs. No. 17 Wisconsin+6No. 17 WisconsinLost 17–24 at Minnesota-7MinnesotaLost 17–38 vs. No. 19 Nebraska-21No. 19 NebraskaLost 7–48 at Iowa-41IowaLost 9–10 vs. Michigan-1MichiganWon 43–40 at No. 15 Notre Dame+3No. 15 Notre DameWon 38–14 at Purdue+24PurdueLost 33–47 vs. Illinois-14Illinois
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsCaliforniaL 24–⁠3175%
Sep 6vsNorthern IllinoisL 15–⁠2336%
Sep 20vsWestern IllinoisW 24–⁠780%
Sep 27atPenn StateW 29–⁠624%
Oct 4vs17WisconsinW 20–⁠1440%
Oct 11atMinnesotaL 17–⁠2438%
Oct 18vs19NebraskaL 17–⁠3842%
Nov 1atIowaL 7–⁠4831%
Nov 8vsMichiganL 9–⁠1053%
Nov 15at15Notre DameW 43–⁠4018%
Nov 22atPurdueW 38–⁠1459%
Nov 29vsIllinoisL 33–⁠4772%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Illinois 47–⁠33; unranked in the final AP poll; tied for 8th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 59th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).

Record
5–⁠7
Conference
3–⁠5 tied for 8th in Big Ten
AP final
Unranked
Points
276–⁠302
Coach
Pat Fitzgerald
Elo
1484 −23 this season
SP+ rating
1.5 No. 66 of 128; offense No. 94, defense No. 30, special teams No. 90
SRS
−0.2 No. 64 of 128 in FBS
Returning
74% of last season’s EPA, No. 35 of 125
Recruiting class
No. 47
Offensive coordinator
Mick McCall
Defensive coordinator
Mike Hankwitz
Captains
Brandon Vitabile, Ibraheim Campbell, Collin Ellis, Paul Jorgensen and Trevor Siemian
Offense
Spread
Defense
Multiple 4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense109th of 128
  • Defense38th of 128
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted111th of 128
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted45th of 128
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0440%1.09109th of 128
Defense0.1042%1.1538th of 128
Opponent-adjusted0.08 off
0.13 def		42% off
40% def		—111th off
45th 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
Offense2.9own 312% allowed
Defense3.0own 322% 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 QB2,214 yds
Passing touchdownsTrevor Siemian QB7 TD
Rushing yardsJustin Jackson RB1,187 yds
Rushing touchdownsJustin Jackson RB10 TD
Receiving yardsKyle Prater WR535 yds
Receiving touchdownsKyle Prater WR2 TD
InterceptionsGodwin Igwebuike S3 INT

Top recruits in the 2014 class

Parrker Westphal CB★★★★No. 138
Justin Jackson APB★★★★No. 159
Clayton Thorson PRO★★★★No. 190
Garrett Dickerson WDE★★★★No. 223
Blake Hance TE★★★No. 737

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

The 2014 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks14.00.924
Running backs14.00.932
Receivers13.00.856
Offensive line23.00.856
Defensive line33.30.857
Linebackers12.00.793
Defensive backs23.00.864
Whole class113.20.865

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 2015

The 2015 draft
Rd 4Ibraheim Campbell SCleveland Browns
Rd 7Trevor Siemian QBDenver Broncos

Roster 113

The 2014 roster

113 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2014 line; 36 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Big Ten

2 second team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2014 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2014 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State8–⁠014–⁠11
Michigan State7–⁠111–⁠25
Wisconsin7–⁠111–⁠313
Nebraska5–⁠39–⁠4
Minnesota5–⁠38–⁠5
Maryland4–⁠47–⁠6
Iowa4–⁠47–⁠6
Rutgers3–⁠58–⁠5
Illinois3–⁠56–⁠7
Michigan3–⁠55–⁠7
Northwestern3–⁠55–⁠7
Penn State2–⁠67–⁠6
Indiana1–⁠74–⁠8
Purdue1–⁠73–⁠9

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