2006 Northwestern Wildcats football team

2006 Northwestern Wildcats football

Conference	Big Ten Conference
2006 record	4–8 (2–6 Big Ten)
Head coach	Pat Fitzgerald
Home stadium	Ryan Field (Capacity: 47,130)

2006 Big Ten football standings
	Conf				Overall
Team		W		L		W		L
#2 Ohio State $		8	–	0		12	–	1
#7 Wisconsin		7	–	1		12	–	1
#8 Michigan %		7	–	1		11	–	2
#24 Penn State		5	–	3		9	–	4
Purdue		5	–	3		8	–	6
Minnesota		3	–	5		6	–	7
Indiana		3	–	5		5	–	7
Iowa		2	–	6		6	–	7
Northwestern		2	–	6		4	–	8
Michigan State		1	–	7		4	–	8
Illinois		1	–	7		2	–	10

$ – BCS representative as conference champion % – BCS at-large representative Rankings from AP Poll

The 2006 Northwestern Wildcats football team represented Northwestern University in the Big Ten Conference during the 2006 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Head coach Randy Walker died unexpectedly on June 29, 2006 of an apparent heart attack at the age of 52. Pat Fitzgerald, seen by many before the tragedy as Walker's eventual successor, was promoted from linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator to head coach on July 7. The Wildcats also had to replace their offensive coordinator, offensive line coach, and Brett Basanez, the team's former four-year starter at quarterback and holder of dozens of school records. Not surprisingly, the 2006 season was not as successful as previous years.

Northwestern began their season with a win at Miami, Walker's alma mater, in an emotional game that featured several tributes to the late coach.^[1] However, the season went downhill from there. The second game was a blowout loss to I-AA New Hampshire. The low point of the season came on October 21 with a home loss to Michigan State in which the Spartans staged the largest comeback in Division I-A history. A win against Illinois in the final game gave the Wildcats a 4–8 record for the year and saved them from finishing last in the Big Ten. The high point of the season, despite coming in defeat, was Northwestern's surprisingly close and competitive play against undefeated and #3 ranked Michigan. Despite being held to -13 rushing yards, the Wildcats came within one-possession of tying the game early in the third quarter and prevented the Wolverines from scoring in the fourth quarter en route to a 17–3 final.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent^#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 31	6:30 PM	at Miami (Ohio)*	Yager Stadium • Oxford, OH	ESPNU	W 21–3	20,476
September 9	1:00 PM	New Hampshire*	Ryan Field • Evanston, IL		L 17–34	20,108
September 16	1:00 PM	Eastern Michigan*	Ryan Field • Evanston, IL		W 14–6	21,935
September 22	7:00 PM	at Nevada*	Mackay Stadium • Reno, NV	ESPN2	L 21–31	16,176
September 30	2:30 PM	at Penn State	Beaver Stadium • University Park, PA	ABC	L 7–33	108,837
October 7	11:00 AM	at Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium • Madison, WI	ESPN+	L 9–41	81,704
October 14	11:00 AM	Purdue	Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	ESPN+	L 10–31	27,171
October 21	11:00 AM	Michigan State	Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	ESPN+	L 38–41	29,387
October 28	11:00 AM	at No. 2 Michigan	Michigan Stadium • Ann Arbor, MI	ESPN	L 3–17	109,114
November 4	11:00 AM	at Iowa	Kinnick Stadium • Iowa City, IA	ESPN+	W 21–7	70,585
November 11	2:30 PM	No. 1 Ohio State	Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	ABC	L 10–54	47,130
November 18	12:00 PM	Illinois	Ryan Field • Evanston, IL (Sweet Sioux Tomahawk)	ESPN360	W 27–16	22,242
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Central Time.

References

↑ Miami (Ohio) RedHawks, NCAA Football, Northwestern Wildcats - CBSSports.com

Northwestern Wildcats football

Venues	Northwestern Field (1905–1925) Ryan Field (1926–present)

Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Illinois Notre Dame

Culture & lore	Willie the Wildcat "Go U Northwestern" Marching band 2006 Michigan State game

People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders

Seasons	1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

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