[dropcap]H[/dropcap]ow would you describe the Northwestern Wildcats 2015 season? I would say impressive. … but, with a few hiccups.
Here is my reasoning… The Wildcats opened the season by beating the eventual #6 Stanford Cardinal 16-6 at home and then reeled off five consecutive victories for a 5-0 start.
The Wildcats headed into Ann Arbor, Michigan on a crisp Saturday in October and got whooped on 38-0 by the Wolverines for their first loss of the year. Michigan ended the season ranked #14 before the Bowl Games.
The very next week the undefeated Iowa Hawkeyes came into Ryan Field and demolished the Wildcats 40-10 and handed Pat Fitzgeralds club consecutive blowout losses. The defense looked poor and the offense couldn’t get anything going during those two contests.
Week 7 then came and the Wildcats pulled off a 30-28 upset win at Nebraska. That victory righted the ship for the Wildcats as they finished the season strong pounding out five consecutive victories against Big Ten opponents to end the season.
Northwestern (10-3, 2nd in Big Ten-West) was ranked at #12 before being selected to play in the Outback Bowl in Tampa Florida on New Years Day versus the #23 Tennessee Volunteers. Well, that didn’t turn out as well as the Wildcats and Fitzgerald would have liked. The Vols routed the Cats 45-6 as the offense sputtered and was unable to keep up with a stronger and faster Tennessee squad.
The 10-3 season is far better than most had predicted and a lot better than the 5-7 I had predicted at the beginning of the year.
As coach Fitzgerald stated after the Tennessee loss, “You take all the great lessons we learned today, all the great lessons we learned throughout the season, and you learn and grow and get better next year. That’s what we expect.”
He also said of the season, “You win 10 football games, it’s a darn good football season. It doesn’t matter what league you’re in, what level you’re at.”
Here are some high points from the 2015 season:
- Quarterback Clayton Thorson, one of just eight freshmen in the Football Bowl Subdivision since 2008 to lead his team to 10 wins. Thomson also finished the season with a 95.9 passer rating.
- Running back Justin Jackson was the workhorse of the offense as he carried the rock 312 times for 1,418 yards, 5 rushing TD’s and had a 4.5 yards per carry average.
- Dan Vitale was the leading receiver finishing with 33 catches, 355 yards and 4 TD’s.
- The defense allowed just 18.5 points per game, and that included the Bowl game.
