# 2011 Northwestern Wildcats football team

The 2011 Northwestern Wildcats football team represented Northwestern University during the 2011 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Pat Fitzgerald, in his sixth season at Northwestern, was the team's head coach. The Wildcats home games were played at Ryan Field in Evanston, Illinois. They are members of the Legends Division of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 6–7, 3–4 in Big Ten play to finish in fifth place in the Legends Division. They were invited to the Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas where they were defeated by Texas A&M 22–33.

## Preseason
### Conference divisions

Starting in 2011, the Big Ten Conference created two divisions, "Legends" and "Leaders", following the University of Nebraska's membership into the conference. Northwestern was placed in the "Legends" division, with the University of Iowa, the University of Michigan, Michigan State University, the University of Minnesota and the University of Nebraska joining them.

## Schedule

The schedule is as follows:
| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 3 | 11:00 am | at Boston College* | Alumni StadiumChestnut Hill, Massachusetts | ESPNU | W 24–17 | 37,561 |
| September 10 | 2:30 pm | Eastern Illinois* | Ryan FieldEvanston, Illinois | BTN | W 42–21 | 28,042 |
| September 17 | 2:30 pm | at Army* | Michie StadiumWest Point, New York | CBSSN | L 14–21 | 35,784 |
| October 1 | 11:00 am | at No. 22 Illinois | Memorial StadiumChampaign, Illinois (Land of Lincoln Trophy) | ESPN2 | L 35–38 | 53,243 |
| October 8 | 6:00 pm | No. 11 Michigan | Ryan FieldEvanston, Illinois (rivalry) | BTN | L 24–42 | 47,330 |
| October 15 | 6:00 pm | at Iowa | Kinnick StadiumIowa City, Iowa | BTN | L 31–41 | 70,585 |
| October 22 | 6:00 pm | No. 22 Penn State | Ryan FieldEvanston, Illinois | BTN | L 24–34 | 40,004 |
| October 29 | 11:00 am | at Indiana | Memorial StadiumBloomington, Indiana | BTN | W 59–38 | 39,239 |
| November 5 | 2:30 pm | at No. 9 Nebraska | Memorial StadiumLincoln, Nebraska | BTN | W 28–25 | 85,115 |
| November 12 | 11:00 am | Rice* | Ryan FieldEvanston, Illinois | BTN | W 28–6 | 26,886 |
| November 19 | 11:00 am | Minnesota | Ryan FieldEvanston, Illinois | BTN | W 28–13 | 26,215 |
| November 26 | 11:00 am | No. 10 Michigan State | Ryan FieldEvanston, Illinois | BTN | L 17–31 | 32,172 |
| December 31 | 11:00 am | Texas A&M* | Reliant StadiumHouston, Texas (Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas) | ESPN | L 22–33 | 68,395 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time |||||||

## Regular season
### Boston College

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Northwestern | 3 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 24 |
| Boston College | 3 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 17 |

### Eastern Illinois

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Eastern Illinois | 0 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 21 |
| • Northwestern | 14 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 42 |

### Army

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Northwestern | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| • Army | 7 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 21 |

### Illinois

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Northwestern | 0 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 35 |
| • Illinois | 7 | 3 | 7 | 21 | 38 |

### Michigan

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Michigan | 7 | 7 | 14 | 14 | 42 |
| Northwestern | 14 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 24 |

### Iowa

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Northwestern | 0 | 7 | 10 | 14 | 31 |
| • Iowa | 10 | 7 | 0 | 24 | 41 |

### Penn State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Penn State | 14 | 13 | 7 | 0 | 34 |
| Northwestern | 14 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 24 |

### Indiana

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Northwestern | 17 | 21 | 14 | 7 | 59 |
| Indiana | 7 | 14 | 10 | 7 | 38 |

### Nebraska

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Northwestern | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 | 28 |
| Nebraska | 0 | 3 | 7 | 15 | 25 |

### Rice

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Rice | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 |
| • Northwestern | 7 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 28 |

### Minnesota

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Minnesota | 7 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 13 |
| • Northwestern | 21 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 28 |

### Michigan State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Michigan State | 3 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 31 |
| Northwestern | 0 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 17 |

## Meineke Car Care Bowl of Texas
### Texas A&M

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Texas A&M | 3 | 17 | 10 | 3 | 33 |
| Northwestern | 0 | 7 | 0 | 15 | 22 |

## 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 | RV | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Coaches | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Harris | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Not released |
| BCS | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Not released |