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 led by seventh-year head coach Randy Walker. 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)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Greg Colby (4th season)
Base defense	4–3
Captains	Brett Basanez[1] Zach Strief Barry Cofield Tim McGarigle
Home stadium	Ryan Field
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

This would be Walker's last season as the Wildcats' coach, as he would die suddenly from a heart attack on June 29, 2006 at the age of 52. Linebackers coach/recruiting coordinator and Northwestern alum Pat Fitzgerald would be promoted to head coach on July 7, 2006.^[2][3]

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 No. 18 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 (rivalry)	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 WR 1 Jonathan Fields Sr WR 3 Shaun Herbert Jr RB 4 Akeem Hunter  Fr WR 7 Jeff Yarbrough  Fr WR 8 Rasheed Ward Fr WR 9 Mark Philmore Sr WR 10 Eric Peterman Fr RB 11 Brandon Roberson So QB 12 Andrew Brewer Fr QB 13 Mike Kafka Fr QB 14 Brett Basanez Sr WR 17 Anthony Ward Jr QB 18 C. J. Bachér  Fr RB 19 Tyrell Sutton Fr RB, WR 23 Gerard Hamlett  Fr RB 26 Terrell Jordan Sr RB 29 Omar Conteh Fr WR 32 Sam Cheatham So FB 35 Mark Woodsum Fr TE 44 Erryn Cobb Jr TE, FB 49 Frayne Abernathy So OL 51 Joe Tripodi Jr OL 52 Joel Belding  Fr OL 56 Ryan Keenan Jr OL 59 Alex Rucks  Fr OL 60 Ramon Diaz Fr OL 62 Austin Matthews So OL 63 Zach Strief Sr OL 65 Thomas Bemenderfer Fr OL 68 Tyler Compton Fr OL 73 Fred McConnell So OL 74 Dylan Thiry So OL 75 Vince Clarke Sr OL 77 Adam Crum So OL 78 Kurt Mattes Fr WR 80 Kevin Mitchell Fr WR 81 Kevin Frymire Fr TE 83 Sean Mansfield Sr WR 84 Kim Thompson So WR 87 T. J. Jones So TE 88 Colin Kennedy Fr WR 89 Ross Lane  Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class CB 6 Cory Dious Jr CB 16 David Oredugba  Fr CB 20 Marquice Cole Jr S 21 Bryan Heinz Jr CB 22 Deante Battle So S 24 Herschel Henderson Jr S 25 Frederic Tarver Sr S 27 Reggie McPherson So LB 31 Mike Dinard Fr S 34 André Butler  Fr CB 35 Ryan Black So LB 36 Prince Kwateng Fr LB 37 Campbell Black Jr LB 38 Nick Roach Jr DB 39 Brendan Smith Fr LB 40 Eddie Simpson So LB 41 Tim McGarigle Sr LB 42 Demetrius Eaton Jr LB 43 Adam Kadela So S, LB 44 Todd Dockery Fr S 45 Ben Rothrauff So LB 46 Malcolm Arrington Fr CB 47 Chaz Richart  Fr LB 48 Rejaie Johnson  Fr CB 49 Tim Downing  Fr LB 50 Chris Jeske Fr DL 53 Trevor Schultz Jr LB 55 Kyle Wagner So DL 57 Matt Clark  Fr DE 58 Warren Anderson So DE 61 Dave Harper  Fr DT 64 Ron Bardwell Jr DT 67 Barry Cofield Sr DT 70 John Gill Fr DL 71 Tanner Highlen Fr DL 72 David Ngene So DL 76 Desmond Taylor Fr DL 79 Adam Hahn Fr LB 86 Phil Brunner  Fr DE 91 Mark Koehn So DL 92 Keegan Kennedy Fr DE 95 Kevin Mims  Fr DE 99 Corey Wootton Fr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class PK 15 Slade Larscheid Jr PK 85 Michael Awadalla Fr P 90 Ryan Pederson Sr PK 93 Joel Howells Jr PK 96 Amado Villarreal  Fr PK 97 Kyle Daley  Fr LS 98 Chris Horton Sr	Head coach Randy Walker Coordinators/assistant coaches Jerry Brown Assistant head coach/Defensive backs Mike Dunbar Offensive coordinator Greg Colby Defensive coordinator Adam Cushing Tight ends/Fullbacks Pat Fitzgerald Linebackers/Recruiting coordinator Kevin Johns Running backs Garrick McGee Wide receivers James Patton Offensive line Eric Washington Defensive line Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt Roster

Game summaries

Ohio

See also: 2005 Ohio Bobcats football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bobcats	0	7	0	7	14
Wildcats	3	28	7	0	38

Statistics	OHIO	NU
First downs	13	28
Total yards	239	550
Rushing yards	62	194
Passing yards	177	356
Turnovers	3	3
Time of possession	20:58	39:02

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Ohio	Passing	Austin Everson	10/26, 157 yards, INT
	Rushing	Kalvin McRae	10 rushes, 34 yards
	Receiving	Scott Mayle	4 receptions, 100 yards
Northwestern	Passing	Brett Basanez	27/37, 353 yards, 2 TD
	Rushing	Tyrell Sutton	17 rushes, 104 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Kim Thompson	5 receptions, 99 yards

Northern Illinois

See also: 2005 Northern Illinois Huskies football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Huskies	7	7	14	9	37
Wildcats	3	21	7	7	38

Statistics	NIU	NU
First downs	28	33
Total yards	539	502
Rushing yards	256	282
Passing yards	283	220
Turnovers	2	1
Time of possession	32:08	27:52

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Northern Illinois	Passing	Phil Horvath	24/36, 283 yards, TD, INT
	Rushing	Garrett Wolfe	34 rushes, 245 yards, 3 TD
	Receiving	Sam Hurd	7 receptions, 90 yards, TD
Northwestern	Passing	Brett Basanez	21/32, 220 yards
	Rushing	Tyrell Sutton	30 rushes, 214 yards, 4 TD
	Receiving	Shaun Herbert	6 receptions, 73 yards

At No. 18 Arizona State

See also: 2005 Arizona State Sun Devils football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	7	7	0	7	21
No. 18 Sun Devils	7	31	7	7	52

Statistics	NU	ASU
First downs	24	30
Total yards	416	773
Rushing yards	180	290
Passing yards	236	483
Turnovers	1	1
Time of possession	24:13	35:47

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Northwestern	Passing	Brett Basanez	24/37, 224 yards, 2 TD
	Rushing	Tyrell Sutton	15 rushes, 98 yards
	Receiving	Ross Lane	4 receptions, 73 yards
Arizona State	Passing	Sam Keller	20/31, 409 yards, 4 TD
	Rushing	Keegan Herring	23 rushes, 197 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Matt Miller	3 receptions, 103 yards, TD

Penn State

See also: 2005 Penn State Nittany Lions football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Nittany Lions	0	14	3	17	34
Wildcats	10	13	0	6	29

Statistics	PSU	NU
First downs	21	24
Total yards	480	427
Rushing yards	209	198
Passing yards	271	229
Turnovers	4	1
Time of possession	20:01	39:59

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Penn State	Passing	Michael Robinson	17/36, 271 yards, 3 TD, 3 INT
	Rushing	Tony Hunt	13 rushes, 99 yards
	Receiving	Jordan Norwood	5 receptions, 83 yards
Northwestern	Passing	Brett Basanez	20/38, 229 yards, INT
	Rushing	Tyrell Sutton	32 rushes, 112 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Jonathan Fields	4 receptions, 70 yards

No. 14 Wisconsin

See also: 2005 Wisconsin Badgers football team

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 14 Badgers	7	10	10	21	48
• Wildcats	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 (12 °C); wind 17 mph (27 km/h) 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

Statistics	WIS	NU
First downs	27	28
Total yards	515	674
Rushing yards	189	313
Passing yards	326	361
Turnovers	2	2
Time of possession	30:36	29:24

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Wisconsin	Passing	John Stocco	24/31, 326 yards, 4 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Brian Calhoun	23 rushes, 122 yards, TD
	Receiving	Brian Calhoun	11 receptions, 128 yards
Northwestern	Passing	Brett Basanez	26/36, 361 yards, 3 TD
	Rushing	Tyrell Sutton	29 rushes, 244 yards, 3 TD
	Receiving	Mark Philmore	6 receptions, 97 yards, TD

At Purdue

See also: 2005 Purdue Boilermakers football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	14	14	0	6	34
Boilermakers	3	6	14	6	29

Statistics	NU	PUR
First downs	32	30
Total yards	603	505
Rushing yards	128	127
Passing yards	475	378
Turnovers	1	4
Time of possession	27:50	32:10

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Northwestern	Passing	Brett Basanez	37/55, 463 yards, 3 TD
	Rushing	Tyrell Sutton	13 rushes, 89 yards, TD
	Receiving	Shaun Herbert	11 receptions, 96 yards
Purdue	Passing	Brandon Kirsch	37/58, 360 yards, 2 INT
	Rushing	Jerod Void	7 rushes, 37 yards, TD
	Receiving	Dorien Bryant	16 receptions, 153 yards

At No. 22 Michigan State

See also: 2005 Michigan State Spartans football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	7	14	21	7	49
No. 22 Spartans	7	0	0	7	14

Statistics	NU	MSU
First downs	31	28
Total yards	533	480
Rushing yards	202	189
Passing yards	331	291
Turnovers	1	4
Time of possession	27:25	32:35

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Northwestern	Passing	Brett Basanez	24/30, 331 yards, 2 TD
	Rushing	Tyrell Sutton	21 rushes, 109 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Shaun Herbert	10 receptions, 138 yards
Michigan State	Passing	Drew Stanton	20/38, 234 yards, TD, 3 INT
	Rushing	Javon Ringer	18 rushes, 104 yards
	Receiving	Kyle Brown	1 reception, 53 yards

No. 25 Michigan

See also: 2005 Michigan Wolverines football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 25 Wolverines	14	13	0	6	33
No. 21 Wildcats	7	10	0	0	17

Statistics	MICH	NU
First downs	22	18
Total yards	427	415
Rushing yards	253	89
Passing yards	174	326
Turnovers	4	3
Time of possession	38:01	21:59

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Michigan	Passing	Chad Henne	17/30, 174 yards, TD, 3 INT
	Rushing	Jerome Jackson	24 rushes, 105 yards
	Receiving	Jason Avant	5 receptions, 67 yards
Northwestern	Passing	Brett Basanez	26/49, 326 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Tyrell Sutton	10 rushes, 50 yards
	Receiving	Mark Philmore	9 receptions, 139 yards, 2 TD

Iowa

See also: 2005 Iowa Hawkeyes football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hawkeyes	14	10	0	3	27
Wildcats	0	7	7	14	28

Statistics	IOWA	NU
First downs	27	25
Total yards	492	453
Rushing yards	216	115
Passing yards	276	338
Turnovers	0	2
Time of possession	30:42	29:18

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Iowa	Passing	Drew Tate	21/35, 273 yards
	Rushing	Albert Young	38 rushes, 202 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Herb Grigsby	7 receptions, 84 yards
Northwestern	Passing	Brett Basanez	31/51, 338 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Tyrell Sutton	17 rushes, 65 yards, 2 TD
	Receiving	Mark Philmore	10 receptions, 123 yards

At No. 10 Ohio State

See also: 2005 Ohio State Buckeyes football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 25 Wildcats	7	0	0	0	7
No. 10 Buckeyes	14	14	10	10	48

Statistics	NU	OSU
First downs	16	23
Total yards	251	422
Rushing yards	98	317
Passing yards	153	105
Turnovers	2	1
Time of possession	25:38	34:22

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Northwestern	Passing	Brett Basanez	15/31, 121 yards, TD, INT
	Rushing	Tyrell Sutton	14 rushes, 93 yards
	Receiving	Jonathan Fields	4 receptions, 45 yards
Ohio State	Passing	Troy Smith	7/12, 77 yards, INT
	Rushing	Antonio Pittman	18 rushes, 132 yards, TD
	Receiving	Santonio Holmes	3 receptions, 49 yards

At Illinois

See also: 2005 Illinois Fighting Illini football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	7	17	7	7	38
Fighting Illini	0	21	0	0	21

Statistics	NU	ILL
First downs	36	24
Total yards	596	440
Rushing yards	356	199
Passing yards	240	241
Turnovers	0	1
Time of possession	32:24	27:36

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Northwestern	Passing	Brett Basanez	25/31, 240 yards, 2 TD
	Rushing	Tyrell Sutton	34 rushes, 212 yards
	Receiving	Mark Philmore	5 receptions, 62 yards, TD
Illinois	Passing	Tim Brasic	20/35, 241 yards, 2 TD, INT
	Rushing	Pierre Thomas	18 rushes, 97 yards, TD
	Receiving	Kendrick Jones	3 receptions, 95 yards

Vs. No. 17 UCLA (Sun Bowl)

See also: 2005 Sun Bowl and 2005 UCLA Bruins football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	22	0	3	13	38
No. 17 Bruins	7	22	7	14	50

Statistics	NU	UCLA
First downs	33	24
Total yards	584	453
Rushing yards	168	310
Passing yards	416	143
Turnovers	3	4
Time of possession	30:50	29:10

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Northwestern	Passing	Brett Basanez	38/70, 416 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT
	Rushing	Tyrell Sutton	18 rushes, 84 yards
	Receiving	Ross Lane	7 receptions, 136 yards
UCLA	Passing	Drew Olson	10/24, 143 yards, 3 TD, 3 INT
	Rushing	Chris Markey	24 rushes, 161 yards
	Receiving	Ryan Moya	1 reception, 58 yards, TD

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.