2021 Northwestern Wildcats football team

The 2021 Northwestern Wildcats football team represented Northwestern University during the 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Wildcats played their home games at Ryan Field in Evanston, Illinois, and competed in the West Division of the Big Ten Conference. They were led by 16th-year head coach Pat Fitzgerald. They finished the season 3–9, 1–8 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for last place in the West division.

2021 Northwestern Wildcats football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Division	West Division
Record	3–9 (1–8 Big Ten)
Head coach	Pat Fitzgerald (16th season)
Offensive coordinator	Mike Bajakian (2nd season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Jim O'Neil (1st season)
Base defense	4–3/3–4 hybrid
Home stadium	Ryan Field
Seasons ← 2020 2022 →

2021 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
East Division
No. 3 Michigan xy$^		8	–	1					12	–	2
No. 6 Ohio State x		8	–	1					11	–	2
No. 9 Michigan State		7	–	2					11	–	2
Penn State		4	–	5					7	–	6
Maryland		3	–	6					7	–	6
Rutgers		2	–	7					5	–	8
Indiana		0	–	9					2	–	10
West Division
No. 23 Iowa xy		7	–	2					10	–	4
Minnesota		6	–	3					9	–	4
Wisconsin		6	–	3					9	–	4
Purdue		6	–	3					9	–	4
Illinois		4	–	5					5	–	7
Nebraska		1	–	8					3	–	9
Northwestern		1	–	8					3	–	9
Championship: Michigan 42, Iowa 3
^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	8:00 p.m.	Michigan State	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPN	L 21–38	34,248
September 11	11:00 a.m.	Indiana State*	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	BTN	W 24–6	26,181
September 18	3:00 p.m.	at Duke*	Wallace Wade Stadium Durham, NC	ACCN	L 23–30	12,323
September 25	11:00 a.m.	Ohio*	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	BTN	W 35–6	27,129
October 2	6:30 p.m.	at Nebraska	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE	BTN	L 7–56	87,364
October 16	11:00 a.m.	Rutgers	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	BTN	W 21–7	30,218
October 23	11:00 a.m.	at No. 6 Michigan	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (George Jewett Trophy)	FOX	L 7–33	109,449
October 30	2:30 p.m.	Minnesota	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	BTN	L 14–41	28,158
November 6	6:00 p.m.	No. 22 Iowa	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	BTN	L 12–17	38,141
November 13	11:00 a.m.	at No. 18 Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	ESPN2	L 7–35	73,194
November 20	11:00 a.m.	Purdue	Wrigley Field Chicago, IL	BTN	L 14–32	31,500
November 27	2:30 p.m.	at Illinois	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (Land of Lincoln Trophy)	BTN	L 14–47	27,624
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP and CFP Rankings after November 2 All times are in Central time

Source^[1]

Roster

2021 Northwestern Wildcats football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 0 Cole Freeman Fr WR 2 Jordan Mosley Fr WR 3 J. J. Jefferson Sr WR 4 Berkeley Holman Sr WR 5 Stephon Robinson Jr. GS WR 6 Malik Washington Jr QB 7 Andrew Marty Sr WR 8 Wayne Dennis Jr. So QB 9 Carl Richardson So QB 10 Brendan Sullivan Fr RB 11 Andrew Clair GS QB 12 Ryan Hilinski So WR 13 Preston Bacon So WR 14 Donnie Gray Fr QB 15 Hunter Johnson Sr QB 16 Zac Krause So WR 17 Bryce Kirtz So WR 18 Genson Hooper Price So WR 19 Jacob Gill Fr RB 20 Cam Porter So RB 22 Connor Newhouse So WR 23 Raymond Niro II Jr RB 26 Evan Hull So RB 27 Anthony Tyus III Fr RB 29 Marcus Cisco So RB 31 Jake Arthurs So QB 35 Jasper Stratton Fr OL 52 Sam Gerak Sr OL 55 Conrad Rowley Jr OL 56 Josh Thompson Fr OL 62 Max Skidmore So OL 63 Dom D'Antonio So OL 65 Jackson Carsello Fr OL 66 Braeden Edwards Fr OL 68 Josh Priebe So OL 69 Charlie Schmidt Jr OL 71 Ben Wrather So OL 72 Caleb Tiernan Fr OL 74 Payne He'Bert Jr OL 75 Connor Foster So OL 76 Ethan Wiederkehr Sr OL 77 Peter Skoronski So OL 78 Luke Trifunovic So OL 79 Zachary Franks So TE 80 Trey Pugh Sr WR 81 Calvin Johnson II Fr WR 82 Braeden Heald   Jr WR 83 Will Lansbury Sr TE 84 Hunter Welcing So WR 85 Jack Kennedy So TE 86 Lawson Albright Fr TE 87 Thomas Gordon So WR 87 Jack Moses So TE 88 Marshall Lang So TE 89 Charlie Mangieri Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 0 Coco Azema So DL 1 Joe Spivak GS DB 2 Cameron Mitchell So DL 5 Jeffery Pooler Jr. GS CB 7 Ore Adeyi Fr DT 8 Te-Rah Edwards So DB 9 Donovan Sermons Sr CB 10 Theran Johnson Fr CB 11 A. J. Hampton Jr DB 12 Nigel Williams So DB 13 Garnett Hollis Jr. So S 16 Brandon Joseph So S 18 Garner Wallace Fr DB 20 Trent Carrington GS DB 21 Tyler Haskins So DB 22 Bryce Jackson Sr DB 24 Rod Heard II So DB 25 Jaheem Joseph So LB 28 Chris Bergin GS LB 31 Jaylen Rivers Jr LB 32 Bryce Gallagher So LB 33 Michael Jansey Jr. So LB 34 Xander Mueller So LB 37 Mac Uihlein Fr DB 38 Joe DeHaan So DL 39 Aidan Hubbard Fr LB 40 Peter McIntyre Sr LB 41 Grayson Mann Jr LB 44 Khalid Jones Jr LB 45 Cullen Coleman So DL 46 Devin O'Rourke Jr LB 47 Troy Hudetz GS LB 48 Owen Bergin So DL 50 P. J. Spencer So DL 52 Jordan Butler So DE 53 Jaiden Cameron So DL 54 Jeremy Meiser GS LB 57 Greyson Metz So DL 58 Najee Story Fr DL 60 Carmine Bastone Fr DL 90 Wyatt Blake Jr DL 91 Samdup Miller GS DT 94 Jason Gold Jr. Jr DT 96 Trevor Kent Jr DL 97 Sean McLaughlin So DL 98 Duke Olges So DL 99 Adetomiwa Adebawore Jr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class K 14 Charlie Kuhbander GS K/P 15 Trey Finison Jr P 36 Derek Adams GS LS 43 Will Halkyard So P 46 Hunter Renner So LS 48 Peter Snodgrass Sr K/P 49 Jacob Tabibian Fr P 90 Jake Genyk Jr K 92 Jack Olsen So	Head coach Pat Fitzgerald Coordinators/assistant coaches Mike Bajakian – Offensive coordinator/Quarterbacks Jim O'Neil – Defensive coordinator Kurt Anderson – Offensive Line Lou Ayeni – Running backs/Recruiting coordinator Jeff Genyk – Special teams coordinator Marty Long – Defensive line Matt MacPherson – Associate head coach/Defensive backs Tim McGarigle – Linebackers Dennis Springer – Wide receivers Bob Heffner – Tight ends Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible   Injured   Redshirt Roster

Rankings

Further information: 2021 NCAA Division I FBS football rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: RV = Received votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	RV
Coaches	RV
CFP	Not released															Not released

References

1. "2021 Northwestern Football Schedule". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved February 2, 2021.