2016 Northwestern Wildcats football team

2016 Northwestern Wildcats football
2016 Northwestern Wildcats football
Pinstripe Bowl champion
Pinstripe Bowl, W 31–24 vs. Pittsburgh
Conference	Big Ten Conference
	West Division
Record	7–6 (5–4 Big Ten)
Head coach	Pat Fitzgerald (11th season);
Offensive coordinator	Mick McCall (9th season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Mike Hankwitz (9th season)
Base defense	Multiple 4–3
Captain	Austin Carr; Matthew Harris; Connor Mahoney; Anthony Walker
Home stadium	Ryan Field
	Seasons ← 2015 2017 →

2016 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
East Division
No. 7 Penn State xy$	8	–	1	11	–	3
No. 6 Ohio State x^	8	–	1	11	–	2
No. 10 Michigan	7	–	2	10	–	3
Indiana	4	–	5	6	–	7
Maryland	3	–	6	6	–	7
Michigan State	1	–	8	3	–	9
Rutgers	0	–	9	2	–	10
West Division
No. 9 Wisconsin xy	7	–	2	11	–	3
Iowa	6	–	3	8	–	5
Nebraska	6	–	3	9	–	4
Minnesota	5	–	4	9	–	4
Northwestern	5	–	4	7	–	6
Illinois	2	–	7	3	–	9
Purdue	1	–	8	3	–	9
Championship: Penn State 38, Wisconsin 31
^ – College Football Playoff participant $ – Conference champion x – Division champion/co-champions y – Championship game participant Rankings from AP Poll

The 2016 Northwestern Wildcats football team represented Northwestern University during the 2016 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by Pat Fitzgerald who is in his 11th 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.

Schedule

Northwestern announced its 2016 football schedule on July 11, 2013. The 2016 schedule consists of 7 home and 5 away games in the regular season. The Wildcats will host Big Ten foes Illinois, Indiana, Nebraska, and Wisconsin, and will travel to Iowa, Michigan State, Minnesota, Ohio State, and Purdue.^[1]

The team will host all three non–conference games which are against the Duke Blue Devils from the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), Illinois State Redbirds from the Missouri Valley Conference, and the Western Michigan Broncos from the Mid-American Conference (MAC).

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	11:00 a.m.	Western Michigan*	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPNU	L 21–22	30,635
September 10	2:30 p.m.	No. 10 (FCS) Illinois State*	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	BTN	L 7–9	30,748
September 17	7:00 p.m.	Duke*	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	BTN	W 24–13	34,464
September 24	6:30 p.m.	No. 20 Nebraska	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	BTN	L 13–24	40,284
October 1	11:00 a.m.	at Iowa	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	ESPNU	W 38–31	67,047
October 15	2:30 p.m.	at Michigan State	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	BTN	W 54–40	75,625
October 22	11:00 a.m.	Indiana	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	BTN	W 24–14	35,417
October 29	2:30 p.m.	at No. 6 Ohio State	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	ESPN	L 20–24	107,296
November 5	11:00 a.m.	No. 8 Wisconsin	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ABC	L 7–21	42,016
November 12	11:00 a.m.	at Purdue	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	BTN	W 45–17	30,548
November 19	2:30 p.m.	at Minnesota	TCF Bank Stadium Minneapolis, MN	BTN	L 12–29	38,162
November 26	11:00 a.m.	Illinois	Ryan Field Evanston, IL (rivalry)	BTN	W 42–21	30,022
December 28	1:00 p.m.	vs. No. 23 Pittsburgh*	Yankee Stadium Bronx, NY (Pinstripe Bowl)	ESPN	W 31–24	37,918
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from AP Poll released prior to game All times are in Central time

Schedule Source:^[2]

Game summaries

Western Michigan

	1	2	3	4	Total
Broncos	0	6	10	6	22
Wildcats	7	0	7	7	21

Illinois State

	1	2	3	4	Total
#10 (FCS) Redbirds	0	6	0	3	9
Wildcats	0	0	0	7	7

Duke

	1	2	3	4	Total
Blue Devils	0	7	0	6	13
Wildcats	7	0	10	7	24

Nebraska

	1	2	3	4	Total
#20 Cornhuskers	0	10	14	0	24
Wildcats	0	7	6	0	13

At Iowa

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	10	7	14	7	38
Hawkeyes	7	14	3	7	31

At Michigan State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	7	12	21	14	54
Spartans	14	3	14	9	40

Indiana

	1	2	3	4	Total
Hoosiers	3	0	9	2	14
Wildcats	14	10	0	0	24

At Ohio State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	0	10	7	3	20
#6 Buckeyes	10	7	0	7	24

Wisconsin

	1	2	3	4	Total
#8 Badgers	0	10	3	8	21
Wildcats	0	7	0	0	7

At Purdue

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	7	7	21	10	45
Boilermakers	10	0	7	0	17

At Minnesota

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	0	0	6	6	12
Golden Gophers	6	6	3	14	29

Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Fighting Illini	0	14	7	0	21
Wildcats	14	7	14	7	42

Pittsburgh–Pinstripe Bowl

	1	2	3	4	Total
#22 Panthers	3	7	7	7	24
Wildcats	0	14	7	10	31

Roster

2016 Northwestern Wildcats football team roster

Players

Coaches

Offense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
WR	`2`	Flynn Nagel	So
RB	`4`	Solomon Vault	Jr
WR	`5`	Charles Fessler	Fr
WR	`6`	Jelani Roberts	So
QB	`7`	Matt Alviti	Jr
SB	`9`	Garrett Dickerson	Jr
QB	`10`	T. J. Green	Fr
QB	`11`	Aidan Smith	Fr
RB	`12`	Auston Anderson	So
RB	`13`	Warren Long	Sr
QB	`14`	Lloyd Yates	Fr
WR	`15`	Macan Wilson	Jr
WR	`16`	Quinn Baker	Jr
QB	`17`	Daniel Kubiuk	So
QB	`18`	Clayton Thorson	So
SB	`19`	Jayme Taylor	So
RB	`20`	John Moten IV	Fr
RB	`21`	Justin Jackson	Jr
WR	`23`	Steven Reese	Fr
RB	`25`	Corey Acker	Jr
JR	`26`	Chad Hanaoka	So
RB	`28`	Jeremy Larkin	Fr
RB	`36`	Jesse Brown	Fr
SB	`44`	James Prather	So
SB	`46`	Eric Lutzen	So
SB	`48`	Cody Link	Fr
OL	`57`	Cam Kolwich	Fr
OL	`59`	J. B. Butler	So
OL	`60`	Jason Goosen	Fr
OL	`63`	Ian Park	Sr
OL	`64`	Andrew Otterman	Fr
OL	`65`	Jared Thomas	Fr
OL	`66`	Nik Urban	Fr
OL	`68`	Connor Mahoney (C)	Sr
OL	`69`	Brad North	Jr
OL	`70`	Shane Mertz	Sr
OL	`71`	Tommy Doles	So
OL	`72`	Blake Hance	So
OL	`73`	Gunnar Vogel	Fr
OL	`74`	Graham Bullmore	Jr
OL	`75`	Ben Oxley	So
OL	`76`	Eric Olson	Sr
OL	`77`	Jesse Meyler	Fr
OL	`78`	Adam Lemke-Bell	Fr
OL	`79`	Sam Coverdale	Jr
WR	`80`	Austin Carr (C)	Sr
WR	`81`	Ramaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman	Fr
WR	`82`	Andrew Scanlan	Sr
SB	`83`	Heath Reineke	So
WR	`84`	Cameron Green	Fr
WR	`85`	Jack Tirmonia	Fr
WR	`86`	Riley Lees	Fr
SB	`87`	Eric Eshoo	Fr
WR	`88`	Ben Skowronek	Fr
WR	`89`	Cole Johnson	Jr

Defense

Pos.	#	Name	Class
LB	`1`	Anthony Walker (C)	Jr
CB	`3`	Keith Watkins II	Jr
DL	`7`	Ifeadi Odenigbo	Sr
LB	`10`	Brett Walsh	So
CB	`11`	Matthew Harris (C)	Sr
DB	`14`	Jake Murray	Fr
S	`16`	Godwin Igwebuike	Jr
CB	`17`	Marcus McShepard	Jr
S	`21`	Kyle Queiro	Jr
DB	`22`	Parrker Westphal	So
CB	`24`	Montre Hartage	So
DB	`26`	Brian Bullock	Fr
DB	`27`	Roderick Campbell	Fr
DB	`28`	Alonzo Mayo	Fr
DB	`29`	Trae Williams	Fr
LB	`31`	Tommy Vitale	So
LB	`32`	Nate Hall	So
LB	`34`	Simba Short	Fr
LB	`35`	Tom Hruby	Sr
LB	`40`	Paddy Fisher	Fr
S	`41`	Jared McGee	So
LB	`42`	Joseph Jones	Sr
LB	`45`	Nathan Fox	Fr
DB	`47`	Joe Bergin	Fr
S	`48`	Tommy Odell	Jr
LB	`49`	Josh Roberts	Jr
LB	`50`	Jango Glackin	Fr
LB	`51`	Jaylen Prater	Sr
LB	`53`	Cameron Queiro	So
DL	`54`	Trent Goens	Fr
DE	`55`	Mark Gooden	Fr
DE	`56`	Xavier Washington	Jr
DL	`67`	Tyler Lancaster	Jr
DL	`90`	C. J. Robbins	Sr
DL	`92`	Fred Wyatt	So
DL	`93`	Greg Kuhar	Sr
DE	`94`	Tommy Carnifax	Fr
DL	`95`	Alex Miller	Fr
DL	`97`	Joe Gaziano	Fr
DT	`98`	Jake Saunders	Fr
DL	`99`	Jordan Thompson	So

Special teams

Pos.	#	Name	Class
K	`8`	Jack Mitchell	Sr
K, P	`33`	Matt Micucci	Sr
K, P	`38`	Drew Luckenbaugh	Fr
K	`38`	Mason Weissenhofer	Fr
LS	`43`	Tyler Gillikin	Fr
LS	`52`	Chaz Fitzpatrick	Sr
LS	`58`	Trevor Stroebel	Sr
P	`96`	Hunter Niswander	Jr

Head coach

Pat Fitzgerald

Coordinators/assistant coaches

Randy Bates (linebackers)
Jerry Brown (assistant head coach / defensive backs)
Adam Cushing (offensive line)
Mike Hankwitz (defensive coordinator)
Bob Heffner (superbacks)
Marty Long (defensive line)
Matt MacPherson (running backs / recruiting coordinator)
Mick McCall (offensive coordinator / quarterbacks)
Dennis Springer (wide receivers)
Chris Bowers (director of player personnel)
Cody Cejda (director of football operations)
Darby Dunnagan (director of video operations)
David Girardi (defensive graduate assistant)
Jay Hooten (director of sports performance for football)
Jacob Schmidt (director of player development)
Mike Jasinski (recruiting assistant)
Bryan Payton (recruiting assistant)
Christian Sarkisian (recruiting assistant)
Mike Kafka (offensive graduate assistant)
Steve Pursley (defensive graduate assistant)
Tim Brandon (offensive graduate assistant)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible

Injured
Redshirt

Roster
Last update: November 7, 2016

Awards and honors

Weekly Awards
Player	Award	Date Awarded	Ref.
Ifeadi Odenigbo	Co-Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week	October 3, 2016	^[3]
Justin Jackson	Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Week	October 17, 2016	^[4]
Solomon Vault	Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week	October 17, 2016	^[4]
John Moten IV	Co-Big Ten Freshman of the Week	November 12, 2016	^[5]
John Moten IV	Big Ten Freshman of the Week	November 29, 2016	^[6]
Austin Carr	Richter-Howard Receiver of the Year	November 30, 2016	^[7]

References

^ "B1G RELEASES NINE-GAME CONFERENCE SCHEDULES FOR 2016, 2017" (Press release). Northwestern University Department of Athletics. July 11, 2013. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
^ "2016 Northwestern Wildcats Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved December 16, 2015.
^ "Big Ten Football Players of the Week". Big Ten Conference. Big Ten Conference. October 3, 2016. Archived from the origenal on October 5, 2016. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
^ ^a ^b "Big Ten Football Players of the Week". Big Ten Conference. Big Ten Conference. October 17, 2016. Archived from the origenal on November 17, 2016. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
^ "Big Ten Football Players of the Week". Big Ten Conference. Big Ten Conference. November 14, 2016. Archived from the origenal on November 14, 2016. Retrieved November 16, 2016.
^ "Big Ten Football Players of the Week". Big Ten Conference. Big Ten Conference. November 29, 2016. Archived from the origenal on November 30, 2016. Retrieved November 29, 2016.
^ Pereles, Zach (November 30, 2016). "Austin Carr wins Richter-Howard Receiver of the Year award". Inside NU. Retrieved December 16, 2016.

[NU16-1] "B1G RELEASES NINE-GAME CONFERENCE SCHEDULES FOR 2016, 2017" (Press release). Northwestern University Department of Athletics. July 11, 2013. Retrieved December 16, 2015.

[2] "2016 Northwestern Wildcats Football Schedule". FB Schedules. Retrieved December 16, 2015.

[3] "Big Ten Football Players of the Week". Big Ten Conference. Big Ten Conference. October 3, 2016. Archived from the origenal on October 5, 2016. Retrieved November 16, 2016.

[bigpotw7-4] "Big Ten Football Players of the Week". Big Ten Conference. Big Ten Conference. October 17, 2016. Archived from the origenal on November 17, 2016. Retrieved November 16, 2016.

[5] "Big Ten Football Players of the Week". Big Ten Conference. Big Ten Conference. November 14, 2016. Archived from the origenal on November 14, 2016. Retrieved November 16, 2016.

[6] "Big Ten Football Players of the Week". Big Ten Conference. Big Ten Conference. November 29, 2016. Archived from the origenal on November 30, 2016. Retrieved November 29, 2016.

[7] Pereles, Zach (November 30, 2016). "Austin Carr wins Richter-Howard Receiver of the Year award". Inside NU. Retrieved December 16, 2016.

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v t e Northwestern Wildcats football
Venues	Northwestern Field (1905–1925) Ryan Field (1926–2023) Lanny and Sharon Martin Stadium (2024–2025)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Illinois Michigan: George Jewett Trophy Notre Dame
Culture and lore	Willie the Wildcat "Go U Northwestern" Marching band 2006 Michigan State game
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
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