2005 Northwestern Wildcats football team

2005 Big Ten football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
#3 Penn State $+		7	–	1					11	–	1
#4 Ohio State %+		7	–	1					10	–	2
#15 Wisconsin		5	–	3					10	–	3
Michigan		5	–	3					7	–	5
Northwestern		5	–	3					7	–	5
Iowa		5	–	3					7	–	5
Minnesota		4	–	4					7	–	5
Purdue		3	–	5					5	–	6
Michigan State		2	–	6					5	–	6
Indiana		1	–	7					4	–	7
Illinois		0	–	8					2	–	9
$ – BCS representative as conference champion % – BCS at-large representative + – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 2005 Northwestern Wildcats football team represented Northwestern University during the 2004 NCAA Division I-A football season. They played their home games at Ryan Field and participated as members of the Big Ten Conference. They were coached by Randy Walker.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent#	Rank#	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	11:00 AM	Ohio*		Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	ESPNU	W 38–14	20,115
September 10	3:00 PM	Northern Illinois*		Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	ESPNC	W 38–37	35,114
September 17	9:00 PM	at Arizona State*		Sun Devil Stadium • Tempe, AZ		L 21–52	55,029
September 24	11:00 AM	Penn State		Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	ESPN2	L 29–34	24,395
October 8	11:00 AM	#14 Wisconsin		Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	ESPN	W 51–48	33,859
October 15	11:00 AM	at Purdue		Ross–Ade Stadium • West Lafayette, IN	ESPN2	W 34–29	62,866
October 22	11:00 AM	at #22 Michigan State		Spartan Stadium • East Lansing, MI	ESPN2	W 49–14	74,636
October 29	6:00 PM	#25 Michigan	#21	Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	ESPN	L 17–33	47,130
November 5	11:00 AM	Iowa		Ryan Field • Evanston, IL	ESPN	W 28–27	34,550
November 12	11:00 AM	at #10 Ohio State	#25	Ohio Stadium • Columbus, OH	ABC	L 7–48	105,181
November 19	11:00 AM	at Illinois		Memorial Stadium • Champaign, IL (Sweet Sioux Tomahawk)	ESPN+	W 38–21	31,465
December 30	1:00 PM	vs. #17 UCLA*		Sun Bowl Stadium • El Paso, TX (Sun Bowl)	CBS	L 38–50	50,426
*Non-conference game. Homecoming. #Rankings from AP Poll. All times are in Central Time.

Game summaries

Wisconsin

1 2 3 4 Total Wisconsin 7 10 10 21 48 • Northwestern 0 10 27 14 51 Date: October 8 Location: Ryan Field, Evanston, IL Game start: 11:00 a.m. CST Elapsed time: 3:47 Game attendance: 33,859 Game weather: Overcast; 54°F; wind 17 NE Referee: Dan Capron TV announcers (ESPN2): Pam Ward (Play-by-play), David Norrie (Color) & Jimmy Dykes (Sideline)

Scoring summary Q1 8:47 WIS Orr 15 yard pass from Stocco (Mehlhaff kick) WIS 7–0 Q2 12:25 NW Basanez 4 yard run (Howells kick) Tie 7–7 Q2 6:36 WIS Stanley 5 yard run (Mehlhaff kick) WIS 14–7 Q2 1:59 WIS Mehlhaff 27 yard field goal WIS 17–7 Q2 0:04 NW Howells 21 yard field goal WIS 17–10 Q3 12:43 NW Philmore 4 yard pass from Basanez (kick blocked) WIS 17–16 Q3 5:52 NW Sutton 1 yard run (Howells kick) NW 23–17 Q3 3:34 WIS Mehlhaff 46 yard field goal NW 23–20 Q3 2:22 NW Thompson 52 yard pass from Basanez (Howells kick) NW 30–20 Q3 1:15 WIS Calhoun 1 yard run (Mehlhaff kick) NW 30–27 Q3 0:47 NW Sutton 14 yard run (Howells kick) NW 37–27 Q4 14:13 WIS Orr 9 yard pass from Stocco (Mehlhaff kick) NW 37–34 Q4 9:44 NW Sutton 9 yard pass from Basanez (Howells kick) NW 44–34 Q4 4:22 NW Sutton 62 yard run (Howells kick) NW 51–34 Q4 3:53 WIS Orr 13 yard pass from Stocco (Mehlhaff kick) NW 51–41 Q4 2:48 WIS Orr 21 yard pass from Stocco (Mehlhaff kick) NW 51–48

• Brett Basanez 26/36, 361 Yds
• Tyrell Sutton 29 Rush, 244 Yds