# 2019 Northwestern Wildcats football team

The 2019 Northwestern Wildcats football team represented Northwestern University during the 2019 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 14th-year head coach Pat Fitzgerald. They finished the season 3–9, 1–8 in Big Ten play to finish in last place in the West Division.

## Preseason
### Preseason Big Ten poll

Although the Big Ten Conference has not held an official preseason poll since 2010, Cleveland.com has polled sports journalists representing all member schools as a de facto preseason media poll since 2011. For the 2019 poll, Northwestern was projected to finish in fourth in the West Division.
Media poll (West Division) :
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Nebraska | 198 (14) |
| 2 | Iowa | 194.5 (14) |
| 3 | Wisconsin | 172.5 (4) |
| 4 | Northwestern | 142.5 (1) |
| 5 | Purdue | 110.5 |
| 6 | Minnesota | 100 (1) |
| 7 | Illinois | 34 |

## Schedule

Northwestern will open its 2019 schedule with two non-conference games, first on the road against Stanford of the Pac-12 Conference, and then the season home opener against UNLV of the Mountain West Conference. Northwestern's third non-conference game, against independent UMass, will be played in November.
In Big Ten Conference play, Northwestern will play all fellow members of the West Division, and draws Michigan State, Ohio State, and Indiana from the East Division. Northwestern's game against Ohio State, a rematch of the 2018 Big Ten Championship Game, will be played on a Friday night, a decision by the Big Ten Conference which drew ire from Northwestern officials and head coach Pat Fitzgerald.
| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| August 31 | 3:00 p.m. | at No. 25 Stanford* | Stanford StadiumStanford, CA | FOX | L 7–17 | 37,179 |
| September 14 | 2:30 p.m. | UNLV* | Ryan FieldEvanston, IL | BTN | W 30–14 | 37,714 |
| September 21 | 11:00 a.m. | Michigan State | Ryan FieldEvanston, IL | ABC | L 10–31 | 40,114 |
| September 28 | 11:00 a.m. | at No. 8 Wisconsin | Camp Randall StadiumMadison, WI | ABC | L 15–24 | 76,825 |
| October 5 | 3:00 p.m. | at Nebraska | Memorial StadiumLincoln, NE | FOX | L 10–13 | 89,348 |
| October 18 | 7:30 p.m. | No. 4 Ohio State | Ryan FieldEvanston, IL | BTN | L 3–52 | 47,130 |
| October 26 | 11:00 a.m. | No. 20 Iowa | Ryan FieldEvanston, IL | ESPN2 | L 0–20 | 42,104 |
| November 2 | 6:00 p.m. | at Indiana | Memorial StadiumBloomington, IN | FS1 | L 3–34 | 40,924 |
| November 9 | 11:00 a.m. | Purdue | Ryan FieldEvanston, IL | BTN | L 22–24 | 37,194 |
| November 16 | 11:00 a.m. | UMass* | Ryan FieldEvanston, IL | BTN | W 45–6 | 29,447 |
| November 23 | 11:00 a.m. | No. 10 Minnesota | Ryan FieldEvanston, IL | ABC | L 22–38 | 30,246 |
| November 30 | 11:00 a.m. | at Illinois | Memorial StadiumChampaign, IL (Land of Lincoln Trophy) | FS1 | W 29–10 | 35,895 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll and CFP Rankings (after November 5) released prior to gameAll times are in Central time |||||||
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 | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Final |
| AP | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Coaches | 25 | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| CFP | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | — | — | — | — | — | — | Not released |

## Game summaries
### At Stanford

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 |
| No. 25 Cardinal | 0 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 17 |

### UNLV

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Rebels | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Wildcats | 10 | 6 | 7 | 7 | 30 |

### Michigan State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Spartans | 7 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 31 |
| Wildcats | 0 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 10 |

### At Wisconsin

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 3 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 15 |
| No. 8 Badgers | 7 | 0 | 7 | 10 | 24 |

### At Nebraska

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 10 |
| Cornhuskers | 7 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 13 |

### Ohio State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 4 Buckeyes | 7 | 24 | 7 | 14 | 52 |
| Wildcats | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |

### Iowa

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 20 Hawkeyes | 7 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 20 |
| Wildcats | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### At Indiana

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Hoosiers | 10 | 14 | 7 | 3 | 34 |

### Purdue

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Boilermakers | 0 | 7 | 14 | 3 | 24 |
| Wildcats | 14 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 22 |

### UMass

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Minutemen | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 6 |
| Wildcats | 0 | 21 | 3 | 21 | 45 |

### Minnesota

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| No. 10 Golden Gophers | 14 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 38 |
| Wildcats | 0 | 9 | 7 | 6 | 22 |

### At Illinois

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 3 | 7 | 7 | 12 | 29 |
| Fighting Illini | 0 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 10 |