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2017 Northwestern

10–⁠3 (7–⁠2 Big Ten), coached by Pat Fitzgerald, finished No. 17 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Northwestern in 2017, game by game: won vs. Nevada 31–20; lost at Duke 17–41; won vs. Bowling Green 49–7; lost at No. 10 Wisconsin 24–33; lost vs. No. 4 Penn State 7–31; won at Maryland 37–21; won vs. Iowa 17–10; won vs. No. 16 Michigan State 39–31; won at Nebraska 31–24; won vs. Purdue 23–13; won vs. Minnesota 39–0; won at Illinois 42–7; won vs. Kentucky 24–23+42−24Won 31–20 vs. Nevada+11NevadaLost 17–41 at Duke-24DukeWon 49–7 vs. Bowling Green+42Bowling GreenLost 24–33 at No. 10 Wisconsin-9No. 10 WisconsinLost 7–31 vs. No. 4 Penn State-24No. 4 Penn StateWon 37–21 at Maryland+16MarylandWon 17–10 vs. Iowa+7IowaWon 39–31 vs. No. 16 Michigan State+8No. 16 Michigan StateWon 31–24 at Nebraska+7NebraskaWon 23–13 vs. Purdue+10PurdueWon 39–0 vs. Minnesota+39MinnesotaWon 42–7 at Illinois+35IllinoisWon 24–23 vs. Kentucky+1Kentucky
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Sep 2vsNevadaW 31–⁠2074%
Sep 9atDukeL 17–⁠4156%
Sep 16vsBowling GreenW 49–⁠775%
Sep 30at10WisconsinL 24–⁠3323%
Oct 7vs4Penn StateL 7–⁠3137%
Oct 14atMarylandW 37–⁠2148%
Oct 21vsIowaW 17–⁠1053%
Oct 28vs16Michigan StateW 39–⁠3154%
Nov 4atNebraskaW 31–⁠2451%
Nov 11vsPurdueW 23–⁠1376%
Nov 18vsMinnesotaW 39–⁠069%
Nov 25atIllinoisW 42–⁠782%
Dec 29Bowls & playoffvsKentuckyMusic City BowlW 24–⁠2369%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Kentucky 24–⁠23 in the Music City Bowl; No. 17 in the final AP poll; tied for 3rd in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 2nd-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 13: 23
  2. Wk 14: 20
  3. Wk 15: 20
  4. Final: 17
Record
10–⁠3
Conference
7–⁠2 tied for 3rd in Big Ten
AP final
No. 17 peak No. 17
Points
380–⁠261
Coach
Pat Fitzgerald
Elo
1664 +96 this season
SP+ rating
11.2 No. 27 of 128; offense No. 59, defense No. 17, special teams No. 76
SRS
11.4 No. 24 of 130 in FBS
Returning
64% of last season’s EPA, No. 59 of 128
Recruiting class
No. 50 roster talent No. 41 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Mick McCall
Defensive coordinator
Mike Hankwitz
Offense
Spread
Defense
Multiple 4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense72nd of 130
  • Defense11th of 130
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted70th of 130
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted18th of 130
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.0744%1.0472nd of 130
Defense-0.0539%1.2211th of 130
Opponent-adjusted0.08 off
-0.02 def		43% off
39% def		—70th off
18th 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
Offense3.6own 3015% allowed
Defense2.6own 3120% caused

CORE rating 5.5, 42nd of 130 (offense -3.5, defense -9.0).

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. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsClayton Thorson QB2,844 yds
Passing touchdownsClayton Thorson QB15 TD
Rushing yardsJustin Jackson RB1,311 yds
Rushing touchdownsJustin Jackson RB11 TD
Receiving yardsBen Skowronek WR644 yds
Receiving touchdownsBen Skowronek WR5 TD
TacklesPaddy Fisher LB111 tkl
SacksJoe Gaziano DL9 sacks
InterceptionsKyle Queiro S5 INT

Top recruits in the 2017 class

Earnest Brown SDE★★★★No. 215
Sam Miller DT★★★No. 389
Trevor Kent SDE★★★No. 408
J.R. Pace S★★★No. 582
Rashawn Slater OG★★★No. 645

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

The 2017 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.841
Running backs13.00.840
Receivers42.80.830
Offensive line33.00.855
Defensive line43.00.865
Linebackers33.00.840
Defensive backs52.80.837
Athletes and specialists23.00.814
Whole class232.90.841

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 2018

The 2018 draft
Rd 7Justin Jackson RBLos Angeles Chargers

Roster 99

The 2017 roster

99 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2017 line; 65 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Big Ten

4 second team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2017 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2017 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Wisconsin9–⁠013–⁠17
Ohio State8–⁠112–⁠25
Penn State7–⁠211–⁠28
Northwestern7–⁠210–⁠317
Michigan State7–⁠210–⁠315
Michigan5–⁠48–⁠5
Iowa4–⁠58–⁠5
Purdue4–⁠57–⁠6
Rutgers3–⁠64–⁠8
Nebraska3–⁠64–⁠8
Minnesota2–⁠75–⁠7
Indiana2–⁠75–⁠7
Maryland2–⁠74–⁠8
Illinois0–⁠92–⁠10

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