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2018 Northwestern

9–⁠5 (8–⁠1 Big Ten), coached by Pat Fitzgerald, finished No. 21 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Northwestern in 2018, game by game: won at Purdue 31–27; lost vs. Duke 7–21; lost vs. Akron 34–39; lost vs. No. 14 Michigan 17–20; won at No. 20 Michigan State 29–19; won vs. Nebraska 34–31; won at Rutgers 18–15; won vs. No. 20 Wisconsin 31–17; lost vs. No. 3 Notre Dame 21–31; won at Iowa 14–10; won at Minnesota 24–14; won vs. Illinois 24–16; lost vs. No. 6 Ohio State 24–45; won vs. No. 20 Utah 31–20+14−21Won 31–27 at Purdue+4PurdueLost 7–21 vs. Duke-14DukeLost 34–39 vs. Akron-5AkronLost 17–20 vs. No. 14 Michigan-3No. 14 MichiganWon 29–19 at No. 20 Michigan State+10No. 20 Michigan StateWon 34–31 vs. Nebraska+3NebraskaWon 18–15 at Rutgers+3RutgersWon 31–17 vs. No. 20 Wisconsin+14No. 20 WisconsinLost 21–31 vs. No. 3 Notre Dame-10No. 3 Notre DameWon 14–10 at Iowa+4IowaWon 24–14 at Minnesota+10MinnesotaWon 24–16 vs. Illinois+8IllinoisLost 24–45 vs. No. 6 Ohio State-21No. 6 Ohio StateWon 31–20 vs. No. 20 Utah+11No. 20 Utah
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30atPurdueW 31–⁠2755%
Sep 8vsDukeL 7–⁠2165%
Sep 15vsAkronL 34–⁠3975%
Sep 29vs14MichiganL 17–⁠2048%
Oct 6at20Michigan StateW 29–⁠1931%
Oct 13vsNebraskaW 34–⁠3180%
Oct 20atRutgersW 18–⁠1579%
Oct 27vs20WisconsinW 31–⁠1742%
Nov 3vs3Notre DameL 21–⁠3138%
Nov 10atIowaW 14–⁠1036%
Nov 17atMinnesotaW 24–⁠1462%
Nov 24vsIllinoisW 24–⁠1687%
Dec 1vs6Ohio StateBig Ten Championship GameL 24–⁠4532%
Dec 31Bowls & playoffvs20UtahHoliday BowlW 31–⁠2046%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Beat Utah 31–⁠20 in the Holiday Bowl; No. 21 in the final AP poll; tied for first in the Big Ten.

In program history: The 5th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 133 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 12: 24
  2. Wk 13: 20
  3. Wk 14: 21
  4. Final: 21

Big Ten West champions8–⁠1 in the conference

Record
9–⁠5
Conference
8–⁠1 shared first in Big Ten
AP final
No. 21 peak No. 20
Points
339–⁠325
Coach
Pat Fitzgerald
Elo
1657 +48 this season
SP+ rating
1.9 No. 68 of 130; offense No. 93, defense No. 29, special teams No. 119
SRS
6.0 No. 40 of 130 in FBS
Returning
62% of last season’s EPA, No. 71 of 130
Recruiting class
No. 58 roster talent No. 44 in FBS
Offensive coordinator
Mick McCall
Defensive coordinator
Mike Hankwitz
Offense
Spread
Defense
Multiple 4–⁠3

How good, play by play

  • Offense112th of 130
  • Defense24th of 130
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted107th of 130
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted24th of 130
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense-0.0240%1.18112th of 130
Defense0.0142%1.0424th of 130
Opponent-adjusted0.03 off
0.02 def		41% off
40% def		—107th off
24th 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
Offense3.3own 3116% allowed
Defense3.1own 2916% caused

CORE rating -1.9, 82nd of 130 (offense -6.7, defense -4.8).

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 QB3,181 yds
Passing touchdownsClayton Thorson QB17 TD
Rushing yardsIsaiah Bowser RB868 yds
Rushing touchdownsClayton Thorson QB9 TD
Receiving yardsFlynn Nagel WR780 yds
Receiving touchdownsCameron Green 4 TD
TacklesBlake Gallagher LB120 tkl
SacksJoe Gaziano DL7.5 sacks
InterceptionsJ.R. Pace DB4 INT

Top recruits in the 2018 class

Devin O’Rourke SDE★★★★No. 296
Eku Leota WDE★★★No. 654
Khalid Jones II ILB★★★No. 676
Wyatt Blake OG★★★No. 677
Greg Newsome CB★★★No. 698

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

The 2018 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks13.00.860
Running backs23.00.850
Receivers23.00.848
Offensive line43.00.849
Defensive line23.50.885
Linebackers23.00.853
Defensive backs33.00.856
Athletes and specialists23.00.843
Whole class183.10.854

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 2019

The 2019 draft
Rd 5Clayton Thorson QBPhiladelphia Eagles

Roster 96

The 2018 roster

96 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2018 line; 58 have a stat line. See the roster

All-Big Ten

2 first team, 1 second team

First team

Second team

From Wikipedia’s 2018 all-conference team article, with the selectors that named each player (AP-1: the Associated Press’s first team).

2018 Big Ten standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Ohio State8–⁠113–⁠13
Michigan8–⁠110–⁠314
Northwestern8–⁠19–⁠521
Penn State6–⁠39–⁠417
Iowa5–⁠49–⁠425
Wisconsin5–⁠48–⁠5
Michigan State5–⁠47–⁠6
Purdue5–⁠46–⁠7
Minnesota3–⁠67–⁠6
Maryland3–⁠65–⁠7
Nebraska3–⁠64–⁠8
Indiana2–⁠75–⁠7
Illinois2–⁠74–⁠8
Rutgers0–⁠91–⁠11

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