2004 Northwestern Wildcats football team

2004 Northwestern Wildcats football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	6–6 (5–3 Big Ten)
Head coach	Randy Walker (6th season)
Offensive coordinator	Mike Dunbar (3rd season)
Offensive scheme	Spread
Defensive coordinator	Greg Colby (3rd season)
Base defense	4–3
Captains	John Pickens [1] Luis Castillo Noah Herron Matt Ulrich
Home stadium	Ryan Field
Seasons ←  2003 2005  →

2004 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 14 Michigan $+		7	–	1					9	–	3
No. 8 Iowa +		7	–	1					10	–	2
No. 17 Wisconsin		6	–	2					9	–	3
Northwestern		5	–	3					6	–	6
No. 20 Ohio State		4	–	4					8	–	4
Purdue		4	–	4					7	–	5
Michigan State		4	–	4					5	–	7
Minnesota		3	–	5					7	–	5
Penn State		2	–	6					4	–	7
Illinois		1	–	7					3	–	8
Indiana		1	–	7					3	–	8
$ – BCS representative as conference champion + – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The 2004 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. Despite concluding the season bowl eligible and securing third place in the conference standings, the team did not receive an invitation to a bowl game.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 2	8:30 pm	at TCU *	Amon G. Carter Stadium Fort Worth, TX	ESPN2	L 45–48 OT	26,843
September 11	11:00 am	Arizona State *	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPN2	L 21–30	21,939
September 18	1:00 pm	Kansas *	Ryan Field Evanston, IL		W 20–17	24,817
September 25	11:00 am	at No. 19 Minnesota	Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome Minneapolis, MN	ESPN2	L 17–43	44,657
October 2	8:00 pm	No. 7 Ohio State	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPN2	W 33–27 OT	47,130
October 9	11:00 am	Indiana	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPN+	W 31–24 2OT	22,688
October 23	11:00 am	at No. 6 Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	ESPN	L 12–24	82,468
October 30	11:00 am	No. 21 Purdue	Ryan Field Evanston, IL	ESPN	W 13–10	30,312
November 6	11:00 am	at Penn State	Beaver Stadium University Park, PA	ESPN+	W 14–7	100,353
November 13	11:00 am	at No. 7 Michigan	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)	ABC	L 20–42	111,347
November 20	11:00 am	Illinois	Ryan Field Evanston, IL (Sweet Sioux Tomahawk)	ESPN+	W 28–21 OT	23,563
November 27	11:00 pm	at Hawaii *	Aloha Stadium Honolulu, HI	FSN	L 41–49	33,846
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from BCS Poll or AP Poll if BCS not available All times are in Central time

Roster

2004 Northwestern Wildcats football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 14 Brett Basanez Jr OL 76 Trai Essex Sr RB 33 Noah Herron Sr OL 60 Ikechuku Ndukwe Sr OL 63 Zach Strief Jr OL 64 Matt Ulrich Sr	Defense Pos. # Name Class DT 94 Luis Castillo Sr DT 67 Barry Cofield Jr S 20 Marquice Cole So LB 41 Tim McGarigle Jr LB 38 Nick Roach So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Randy Walker Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Game summaries

Ohio State

Team	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
No. 7 Ohio State	3	7	7	10	0	27
•Northwestern	3	10	7	7	6	33

• Date: October 2
• Location: Ryan Field, Evanston, IL
• Game start: 8:00 p.m. CST
• Game attendance: 47,130
• TV announcers (ESPN2): Eric Collins (Play-by-play), Andre Ware (Color) & Jimmy Dykes (Sideline)

• Source: ESPN

Scoring summary

1	9:24	Northwestern	Brian Huffman 41 yard field goal	Northwestern 3-0
1	5:09	Ohio St	Mike Nugent 34 yard field goal	Tie 3-3
2	13:39	Northwestern	Noah Herron 14 yard pass from Brett Basanez (Brian Huffman kick)	Northwestern 10-3
2	3:18	Ohio St	Santonio Holmes 63 yard punt return (Mike Nugent kick)	Tie 10-10
2	:00	Northwestern	Brian Huffman 40 yard field goal	Northwestern 13-10
3	11:35	Northwestern	Mark Philmore 27 yard pass from Brett Basanez (Brian Huffman kick)	Northwestern 20-10
3	3:55	Ohio St	Lydell Ross 2 yard run (Mike Nugent kick)	Northwestern 20-17
4	14:45	Northwestern	Noah Herron 1 yard run (Brian Huffman kick)	Northwestern 27-17
4	8:46	Ohio St	Mike Nugent 46 yard field goal	Northwestern 27-20
4	1:54	Ohio St	Santonio Holmes 21 yard pass from Justin Zwick (Mike Nugent kick)	Tie 27-27
OT		Northwestern	Noah Herron 1 yard run	Northwestern 33-27

Purdue

Team	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 21 Purdue	10	0	0	0	10
•Northwestern	7	0	0	6	13

• Date: October 30
• Location: Ryan Field, Evanston, IL
• Game start: 11:00 a.m. CST
• Game attendance: 30,312
• TV announcers (ESPN): Mark Jones (Play-by-play), Bob Davie (Color) & Holly Rowe (Sideline)

Scoring summary

1	9:08	NW	Terrell Jordan 14 yard run (Brian Huffman kick)	Northwestern 7–0
1	8:03	PUR	Ben Jones 23 yard field goal	Northwestern 7–3
1	1:03	PUR	Dorien Bryant 12 yard pass from Kyle Orton (Ben Jones kick)	Purdue 10–7
4	:38	NW	Noah Herron 3 yard run (kick failed)	Northwestern 13–10

^[2]

References

1. "Year-by-Year Results" (PDF). 2007. p. 150. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 16, 2019. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
2. "Herron Saves Northwestern with Last-Minute TD". ESPN . October 30, 2004. Archived from the original on September 21, 2013. Retrieved October 20, 2014.

External links

• NU Athletics 2004 Team Statistics