# 2010 Northwestern Wildcats football team

The 2010 Northwestern Wildcats football team represented Northwestern University in the Big Ten during the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season. Pat Fitzgerald, in his fifth season at Northwestern, was the team's head coach. The Wildcats home games were played at Ryan Field in Evanston, Illinois. The annual rivalry game against the University of Illinois was played at Wrigley Field on November 20.
The Wildcats finished the season 7–6, 3–5 in Big Ten play and was invited to the inaugural TicketCity Bowl where they were defeated by Texas Tech 38–45.

## Schedule

| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 4 | 6:30 pm | at Vanderbilt* | Vanderbilt StadiumNashville, TN | CSNC | W 23–21 | 37,210 |
| September 11 | 11:00 am | Illinois State* | Ryan FieldEvanston, IL | BTN | W 37–3 | 25,471 |
| September 18 | 6:00 pm | at Rice* | Rice StadiumHouston, TX | | W 30–13 | 15,562 |
| September 25 | 11:00 am | Central Michigan* | Ryan FieldEvanston, IL | BTN | W 30–25 | 30,075 |
| October 2 | 11:00 am | at Minnesota | TCF Bank StadiumMinneapolis, MN | ESPN | W 29–28 | 49,228 |
| October 9 | 6:30 pm | Purdue | Ryan FieldEvanston, IL | BTN | L 17–20 | 33,847 |
| October 23 | 11:00 am | No. 8 Michigan State | Ryan FieldEvanston, IL | ESPN | L 27–35 | 41,115 |
| October 30 | 11:00 am | at Indiana | Memorial StadiumBloomington, IN | BTN | W 20–17 | 37,818 |
| November 6 | 2:30 pm | at Penn State | Beaver StadiumUniversity Park, PA | ABC/ESPN2 | L 21–35 | 104,147 |
| November 13 | 11:00 am | No. 13 Iowa | Ryan FieldEvanston, IL | ESPN | W 21–17 | 47,130 |
| November 20 | 2:30 pm | vs. Illinois | Wrigley FieldChicago, IL (Land of Lincoln Trophy) (College GameDay) | ESPNU | L 27–48 | 41,058 |
| November 27 | 2:30 pm | at No. 5 Wisconsin | Camp Randall StadiumMadison, WI | ABC/ESPN | L 23–70 | 80,011 |
| January 1 | 11:00 am | vs. Texas Tech* | Cotton BowlDallas, TX (TicketCity Bowl) | ESPNU | L 38–45 | 40,121 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from AP Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time |||||||

## Regular season
### Vanderbilt

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 10 | 0 | 7 | 6 | 23 |
| Commodores | 0 | 9 | 6 | 6 | 21 |

### Illinois State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Redbirds | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Wildcats | 14 | 16 | 0 | 7 | 37 |

### Rice

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 3 | 10 | 14 | 3 | 30 |
| Owls | 0 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 13 |

### Central Michigan

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Chippewas | 6 | 7 | 0 | 12 | 25 |
| Wildcats | 6 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 30 |

### Minnesota

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 14 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 29 |
| Golden Gophers | 7 | 14 | 0 | 7 | 28 |

### Purdue

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Boilermakers | 0 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 20 |
| #25 Wildcats | 7 | 3 | 7 | 0 | 17 |

### Michigan State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| #8 Spartans | 0 | 7 | 7 | 21 | 35 |
| Wildcats | 7 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 27 |

### Indiana

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 0 | 10 | 7 | 3 | 20 |
| Hoosiers | 3 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 17 |

### Penn State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 7 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 21 |
| Nittany Lions | 0 | 7 | 21 | 7 | 35 |

### Iowa

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Hawkeyes | 0 | 3 | 14 | 0 | 17 |
| Wildcats | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 21 |
Northwestern won a thriller by scoring two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats led in the first two periods, but the Hawkeyes scored twice to take the lead in the third quarter.

### Illinois

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Fighting Illini | 21 | 6 | 7 | 14 | 48 |
| #25 Wildcats | 14 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 27 |
The Wildcats, one week after upsetting a ranked Iowa team, fell flat in Wrigley Field, losing 48-27 to the Fighting Illini. Illinois RB Mikel LeShoure ran wild on Northwestern's defense for 330 yards on 33 carries (for an average of 10.0 yards per carry), with a pair of touchdowns. The loss snapped a two game Northwestern winning streak over Illinois and sealed a bowl berth for Illinois, regardless of the outcome of their season finale against Fresno State next week. Northwestern falls to 3-4 in Big Ten play and 7-4 overall. The Wildcats face the 10-1 Wisconsin Badgers next week in Camp Randall Stadium, where they have not won since the 2000 season.

### Wisconsin

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 3 | 14 | 6 | 0 | 23 |
| #5 Badgers | 14 | 35 | 21 | 0 | 70 |

## TicketCity Bowl
### Texas Tech

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 0 | 6 | 18 | 14 | 38 |
| Red Raiders | 10 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 45 |

## 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 | RV | RV | RV | — | RV | — | RV | — | — | — | — |
| Coaches | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | 25 | RV | RV | RV | RV | — | 25 | RV | — | — | — |
| Harris | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | RV | — | — | Not released |
| BCS | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | Not released | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | Not released |

## Roster
### Depth chart

Defense :
* FS
* Brian Peters
* Hunter Bates
| WLB | MLB | SLB |
| ⋅ | Nate Williams | ⋅ |
| Damien Proby | David Nwabuisi | ⋅ |
* SS
* Jared Carpenter
* David Arnold
* CB
* Jordan Mabin
* Demetrius Dugar
| DE | DT | DT | DE |
| Vince Browne | Jack DiNardo | Corbin Bryant | Kevin Watt |
| Tyler Scott | Brian Arnfelt | Niko Mafuli | Quentin Williams |
* CB
* Justan Vaughn
* Mike Bolden
Offense :
* Z-Receiver
* Sidney Stewart
* Rashad Lawrence
* Y-Receiver
* Jeremy Ebert
* Charles Brown
| LT | LG | C | RG | RT |
| Al Netter | Brian Mulroe | Ben Burkett | Keegan Grant | Patrick Ward |
| Chuck Porcelli | Doug Bartels | Colin Armstrong | Brian Smith | Neal Deiters |
* Superback
* Drake Dunsmore
* Josh Rooks
* X-Receiver
* Demetrius Fields
* Tony Jones
* QB
* Dan Persa
* Evan Watkins
* Kain Colter
* RB
* Adonis Smith
* Stephen Simmons
* Mike Trumpy
* Special teams
* PK Stefan Demos
* PK Jeff Budzien
* P Brandon Williams
* P Stefan Demos
* KR Venric Mark
* PR Venric Mark
* LS John Henry Pace
* H Brandon Williams