# 2015 Northwestern Wildcats football team

The 2015 Northwestern Wildcats football team represented Northwestern University during the 2015 NCAA Division I FBS football season. It was Pat Fitzgerald's tenth season as the team's head coach. The Wildcats home games were played at Ryan Field in Evanston, Illinois. They were members of the West Division of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 10–3, 6–2 in Big Ten play to finish in a tie for second place in the West Division. They were invited to the Outback Bowl where they were defeated by Tennessee 45–6.

## Schedule

Northwestern announced their 2015 football schedule on June 3, 2013. The 2015 schedule consist of 7 home and 5 away games in the regular season. The Wildcats hosted Big Ten foes Iowa, Minnesota, Penn State, and Purdue and travelled to Illinois, Michigan, Nebraska, and Wisconsin.
The Wildcats hosted three of their four non conference games against Ball State, Eastern Illinois and Stanford. Northwestern traveled to Durham, North Carolina to face Duke of the Atlantic Coast Conference on September 19.
| Date | Time | Opponent | Rank | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 5 | 11:00 a.m. | No. 21 Stanford* | | Ryan FieldEvanston, IL | ESPN | W 16–6 | 36,024 |
| September 12 | 3:00 p.m. | Eastern Illinois* | | Ryan FieldEvanston, IL | ESPNews | W 41–0 | 29,131 |
| September 19 | 11:30 a.m. | at Duke* | No. 23 | Wallace Wade StadiumDurham, NC | ACCN | W 19–10 | 24,127 |
| September 26 | 7:00 p.m. | Ball State* | No. 17 | Ryan FieldEvanston, IL | BTN | W 24–19 | 30,107 |
| October 3 | 11:00 a.m. | Minnesota | No. 16 | Ryan FieldEvanston, IL | BTN | W 27–0 | 30,044 |
| October 10 | 2:30 p.m. | at No. 18 Michigan | No. 13 | Michigan StadiumAnn Arbor, MI (rivalry) | BTN | L 0–38 | 110,452 |
| October 17 | 11:00 a.m. | No. 17 Iowa | No. 20 | Ryan FieldEvanston, IL | ABC/ESPN2 | L 10–40 | 44,135 |
| October 24 | 11:00 a.m. | at Nebraska | | Memorial StadiumLincoln, NE | ESPN2 | W 30–28 | 89,493 |
| November 7 | 11:00 a.m. | Penn State | No. 21 | Ryan FieldEvanston, IL | ESPNU | W 23–21 | 34,116 |
| November 14 | 11:00 a.m. | Purdue | No. 18 | Ryan FieldEvanston, IL | BTN | W 21–14 | 30,003 |
| November 21 | 2:30 pm | at No. 25 Wisconsin | No. 20 | Camp Randall StadiumMadison, WI | BTN | W 13–7 | 75,276 |
| November 28 | 2:30 pm | at Illinois | No. 16 | Soldier FieldChicago, IL (rivalry) | ESPNU | W 24–14 | 33,514 |
| January 1, 2016 | 11:00 a.m. | vs. No. 23 Tennessee* | No. 13 | Raymond James StadiumTampa, FL (Outback Bowl) | ESPN2 | L 6–45 | 53,202 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings after November 3 released prior to gameAll times are in Central time ||||||||
    Schedule Source:

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Final |
| AP | — | RV | 23 | 17 | 16 | 13 | 20 | RV | RV | RV | 24 | 20 | 17 | 13 | 12 | 23 |
| Coaches | — | RV | 24 | 19 | 17 | 14 | 21 | RV | RV | RV | 24 | 21 | 17 | 13 | 12 | 22 |
| CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | 21 | 18 | 20 | 16 | 14 | 13 | Not released |