2005 Northwestern Wildcats football team

The 2005 Northwestern Wildcats football team represented Northwestern University during the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season. They played their home games at Ryan Field and participated as members of the Big Ten Conference. They were coached by Randy Walker. This was Randy's last season as the Wildcats' coach, as he would die from a heart attack following the season. The Wildcats finished tied for 3rd place in the Big Ten with a conference record of 5–3.

2005 Northwestern Wildcats football
Sun Bowl, L 38–50 vs. UCLA
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	7–5 (5–3 Big Ten)
Head coach	Randy Walker (7th season)
Offensive coordinator	Mike Dunbar (4th season)
Defensive coordinator	Greg Colby (4th season)
Captains	Brett Basanez^[1] Zach Strief Barry Cofield Tim McGarigle
Home stadium	Ryan Field (Capacity: 47,130)
Seasons ← 2004 2006 →

2005 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 3 Penn State $+		7	–	1					11	–	1
No. 4 Ohio State %+		7	–	1					10	–	2
No. 15 Wisconsin		5	–	3					10	–	3
Michigan		5	–	3					7	–	5
Northwestern		5	–	3					7	–	5
Iowa		5	–	3					7	–	5
Minnesota		4	–	4					7	–	5
Purdue		3	–	5					5	–	6
Michigan State		2	–	6					5	–	6
Indiana		1	–	7					4	–	7
Illinois		0	–	8					2	–	9
$ – BCS representative as conference champion % – BCS at-large representative + – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	11:00 am	Ohio*		Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPNU	W 38–14	20,115
September 10	3:00 pm	Northern Illinois*		Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPNC	W 38–37	35,114
September 17	9:00 pm	at Arizona State*		Sun Devil Stadium Tempe, AZ		L 21–52	55,029
September 24	11:00 am	Penn State		Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPN2	L 29–34	24,395
October 8	11:00 am	No. 14 Wisconsin		Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPN	W 51–48	33,859
October 15	11:00 am	at Purdue		Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	ESPN2	W 34–29	62,866
October 22	11:00 am	at No. 22 Michigan State		Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	ESPN2	W 49–14	74,636
October 29	6:00 pm	No. 25 Michigan	No. 21	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPN	L 17–33	47,130
November 5	11:00 am	Iowa		Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPN	W 28–27	34,550
November 12	11:00 am	at No. 10 Ohio State	No. 25	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	ABC	L 7–48	105,181
November 19	11:00 am	at Illinois		Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (Sweet Sioux Tomahawk)	ESPN+	W 38–21	31,465
December 30	1:00 pm	vs. No. 17 UCLA*		Sun Bowl Stadium El Paso, TX (Sun Bowl)	CBS	L 38–50	50,426
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

Roster

2005 Northwestern Wildcats football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 14 Brett Basanez Sr OL 70 John Gill Fr QB 13 Mike Kafka Fr WR 10 Eric Peterman Fr G 63 Zach Strief Sr RB 19 Tyrell Sutton Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DT 67 Barry Cofield Sr CB 20 Marquice Cole Jr LB 41 Tim McGarigle Sr LB 38 Nick Roach Jr DE 99 Corey Wootton Fr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Randy Walker Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible   Injured   Redshirt

Game summaries

Ohio

Northern Illinois

Arizona State

Penn State

Wisconsin

1 2 3 4 Total Wisconsin 7 10 10 21 48 • Northwestern 0 10 27 14 51 Date: October 8 Location: Ryan Field, Evanston, IL Game start: 11:00 a.m. CST Elapsed time: 3:47 Game attendance: 33,859 Game weather: Overcast; 54°F; wind 17 NE Referee: Dan Capron TV announcers (ESPN2): Pam Ward (Play-by-play), David Norrie (Color) & Jimmy Dykes (Sideline)

Scoring summary Q1 8:47 WIS Orr 15 yard pass from Stocco (Mehlhaff kick) WIS 7–0 Q2 12:25 NW Basanez 4 yard run (Howells kick) Tie 7–7 Q2 6:36 WIS Stanley 5 yard run (Mehlhaff kick) WIS 14–7 Q2 1:59 WIS Mehlhaff 27 yard field goal WIS 17–7 Q2 0:04 NW Howells 21 yard field goal WIS 17–10 Q3 12:43 NW Philmore 4 yard pass from Basanez (kick blocked) WIS 17–16 Q3 5:52 NW Sutton 1 yard run (Howells kick) NW 23–17 Q3 3:34 WIS Mehlhaff 46 yard field goal NW 23–20 Q3 2:22 NW Thompson 52 yard pass from Basanez (Howells kick) NW 30–20 Q3 1:15 WIS Calhoun 1 yard run (Mehlhaff kick) NW 30–27 Q3 0:47 NW Sutton 14 yard run (Howells kick) NW 37–27 Q4 14:13 WIS Orr 9 yard pass from Stocco (Mehlhaff kick) NW 37–34 Q4 9:44 NW Sutton 9 yard pass from Basanez (Howells kick) NW 44–34 Q4 4:22 NW Sutton 62 yard run (Howells kick) NW 51–34 Q4 3:53 WIS Orr 13 yard pass from Stocco (Mehlhaff kick) NW 51–41 Q4 2:48 WIS Orr 21 yard pass from Stocco (Mehlhaff kick) NW 51–48

• Brett Basanez 26/36, 361 Yds
• Tyrell Sutton 29 Rush, 244 Yds

^[2]

UCLA (Sun Bowl)

See also: 2005 Sun Bowl

The Wildcats were invited to play in the 2005 Sun Bowl. They lost 38–50 to the UCLA Bruins, who staged a 22-point comeback, a record for the Bruins at the time.

References

1. "Year-by-Year Results" (PDF). 2007. p. 150. (PDF) from the original on 2019-03-16. Retrieved 2019-03-14.
2. . Northwestern University Department of Athletics. October 8, 2005. Archived from the original on 2014-10-16. Retrieved October 12, 2014.