CollegeFootballDigestfrom CooperSearch

2015 Northwestern

10–⁠3 (6–⁠2 Big Ten), coached by Pat Fitzgerald, finished No. 23 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Northwestern in 2015, game by game: won vs. No. 21 Stanford 16–6; won vs. Eastern Illinois 41–0; won at Duke 19–10; won vs. Ball State 24–19; won vs. Minnesota 27–0; lost at No. 18 Michigan 0–38; lost vs. No. 17 Iowa 10–40; won at Nebraska 30–28; won vs. Penn State 23–21; won vs. Purdue 21–14; won at No. 21 Wisconsin 13–7; won vs. Illinois 24–14; lost vs. Tennessee 6–45+41−39Won 16–6 vs. No. 21 Stanford+10No. 21 StanfordWon 41–0 vs. Eastern Illinois+41Eastern IllinoisWon 19–10 at Duke+9DukeWon 24–19 vs. Ball State+5Ball StateWon 27–0 vs. Minnesota+27MinnesotaLost 0–38 at No. 18 Michigan-38No. 18 MichiganLost 10–40 vs. No. 17 Iowa-30No. 17 IowaWon 30–28 at Nebraska+2NebraskaWon 23–21 vs. Penn State+2Penn StateWon 21–14 vs. Purdue+7PurdueWon 13–7 at No. 21 Wisconsin+6No. 21 WisconsinWon 24–14 vs. Illinois+10IllinoisLost 6–45 vs. Tennessee-39Tennessee
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 5vs21StanfordW 16–⁠636%
Sep 12vsEastern IllinoisW 41–⁠083%
Sep 19atDukeW 19–⁠1034%
Sep 26vsBall StateW 24–⁠1968%
Oct 3vsMinnesotaW 27–⁠059%
Oct 10at18MichiganL 0–⁠3844%
Oct 17vs17IowaL 10–⁠4050%
Oct 24atNebraskaW 30–⁠2834%
Nov 7vsPenn StateW 23–⁠2151%
Nov 14vsPurdueW 21–⁠1483%
Nov 21at21WisconsinW 13–⁠727%
Nov 28vsIllinoisW 24–⁠1470%
Jan 1Bowls & playoffvsTennesseeOutback BowlL 6–⁠4545%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Tennessee 45–⁠6 in the Outback Bowl; No. 23 in the final AP poll; tied for 4th in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 20th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 3: 23
  2. Wk 4: 17
  3. Wk 5: 16
  4. Wk 6: 13
  5. Wk 7: 20
  6. Wk 11: 24
  7. Wk 12: 20
  8. Wk 13: 17
  9. Wk 14: 13
  10. Wk 15: 12
  11. Final: 23
Record
10–⁠3
Conference
6–⁠2 tied for 4th in Big Ten
AP final
No. 23 peak No. 12
Points
254–⁠242
Coach
Pat Fitzgerald
Elo
1581 +92 this season
SP+ rating
0.2 No. 75 of 128; offense No. 121, defense No. 7, special teams No. 109
SRS
5.4 No. 51 of 128 in FBS
Returning
41% of last season’s EPA, No. 103 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 55 roster talent No. 48 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Mick McCall
Defensive coordinator
Mike Hankwitz
Offense
Spread
Defense
Multiple 4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense114th of 128
  • Defense12th of 128
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted116th of 128
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted7th of 128
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense-0.0634%1.17114th of 128
Defense-0.0537%1.1212th of 128
Opponent-adjusted-0.03 off
-0.04 def		37% off
37% def		—116th off
7th 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
Offense2.7own 272% allowed
Defense2.4own 311% 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 yardsClayton Thorson QB1,522 yds
Passing touchdownsClayton Thorson QB7 TD
Rushing yardsJustin Jackson RB1,418 yds
Rushing touchdownsClayton Thorson QB5 TD
Receiving yardsAustin Carr WR302 yds
Receiving touchdownsAustin Carr WR2 TD
InterceptionsMatthew Harris CB4 INT

Top recruits in the 2015 class

Simba Short S★★★No. 788
John Moten RB★★★No. 788
Tommy Vitale OLB★★★No. 872
Lloyd Yates DUAL★★★No. 1299
Andrew Otterman OG★★★No. 1581

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

The 2015 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.836
Running backs13.00.857
Receivers23.00.819
Offensive line13.00.824
Linebackers13.00.853
Defensive backs42.80.815
Whole class102.90.827

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 2016

The 2016 draft
Rd 4Dean Lowry DEGreen Bay Packers
Rd 6Dan Vitale FBTampa Bay Buccaneers

Roster 103

The 2015 roster

103 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2015 line; 33 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Big Ten

1 first team, 4 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2015 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2015 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Iowa8–⁠012–⁠29
Ohio State7–⁠112–⁠14
Michigan State7–⁠112–⁠26
Northwestern6–⁠210–⁠323
Wisconsin6–⁠210–⁠321
Michigan6–⁠210–⁠312
Penn State4–⁠47–⁠6
Nebraska3–⁠56–⁠7
Minnesota2–⁠66–⁠7
Indiana2–⁠66–⁠7
Illinois2–⁠65–⁠7
Rutgers1–⁠74–⁠8
Maryland1–⁠73–⁠9
Purdue1–⁠72–⁠10

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