1989 Northwestern Wildcats football team

The 1989 Northwestern Wildcats team represented Northwestern University during the 1989 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their fourth year under head coach Francis Peay, the Wildcats compiled a 0–11 record (0–8 against Big Ten Conference opponents) and finished in last place in the Big Ten Conference.[2]

1989 Northwestern Wildcats football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record0–11 (0–8 Big Ten)
Head coach
Captains
  • Bob Griswold[1]
  • Randy McClellan
  • Tim O'Brien
  • Derrill Vest
Home stadiumDyche Stadium
Seasons
← 1988
1990 →
1989 Big Ten Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
No. 7 Michigan $ 8 0 0 10 2 0
No. 10 Illinois 7 1 0 10 2 0
No. 16 Michigan State 6 2 0 8 4 0
No. 24 Ohio State 6 2 0 8 4 0
Minnesota 4 4 0 6 5 0
Indiana 3 5 0 5 6 0
Iowa 3 5 0 5 6 0
Purdue 2 6 0 3 8 0
Wisconsin 1 7 0 2 9 0
Northwestern 0 8 0 0 11 0
  • $ – Conference champion
Rankings from AP Poll

The team's offensive leaders were quarterback Tim O'Brien with 2,218 passing yards, junior running back Bob Christian with 1,291 rushing yards, and Richard Buchanan with 1,115 receiving yards.[3] Buchanan received first-team All-Big Ten honors from the Associated Press, and Christian received second-team honors.[4]

Schedule edit

DateTimeOpponentSiteResultAttendanceSource
September 9at Duke*L 31–4115,220[5]
September 16Air Force*L 31–4827,334
September 23Rutgers*
  • Dyche Stadium
  • Evanston, IL
L 27–38
October 71:00 p.m.at IndianaL 11–4347,845
October 141:00 p.m.Minnesota
  • Dyche Stadium
  • Evanston, IL
L 18–2026,849
October 21at WisconsinL 31–3544,978
October 281:00 p.m.Iowa
  • Dyche Stadium
  • Evanston, IL
L 22–3536,312
November 41:00 p.m.Ohio State
  • Dyche Stadium
  • Evanston, IL
L 27–5228,236
November 11at PurdueL 15–4631,470
November 181:05 p.m.at Michigan StateL 14–7664,817
November 252:00 p.m.No. 11 Illinois
  • Dyche Stadium
  • Evanston, IL (rivalry)
L 14–6331,017
  • *Non-conference game
  • Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Central time

Game summaries edit

At Duke edit

Air Force edit

Rutgers edit

At Indiana edit

Minnesota edit

At Wisconsin edit

Iowa edit

Ohio State edit

Ohio State Buckeyes (5–2) at Northwestern Wildcats (0–7)
Period 1 2 34Total
Ohio St 7 21 71752
Northwestern 7 0 61427

at Dyche Stadium, Evanston, Illinois

  • Date: November 4
  • Game time: 1:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: Overcast, 45 °F (7 °C)
  • Game attendance: 28,236
  • Referee: John Nealon
  • TV announcers (WOSU-TV): Jack Kramer and Paul Warfield
  • Box Score
Game information

At Purdue edit

Northwestern Wildcats (0–8) at Purdue Boilermakers (1–7)
Period 1 2 34Total
Northwestern 0 7 8015
Purdue 32 0 01446

at Ross–Ade Stadium, West Lafayette, Indiana

  • Date: November 11, 1989
  • Game attendance: 31,470
  • [6]

Purdue snapped a streak of 10 straight games without a first quarter point.[7]

Team Category Player Statistics
Northwestern Passing Tim O'Brien 15/40, 213 Yds, 2 TD
Rushing Bob Christian 21 Rush, 59 Yds
Receiving
Purdue Passing Eric Hunter 11/24, 263 Yds, 3 TD
Rushing Eric Hunter 9 Rush, 55 Yds
Receiving Rod Dennis 4 Rec, 146 Yds, 3 TD

At Michigan State edit

Illinois edit

Roster edit

1989 Northwestern Wildcats football team roster
Players Coaches
Offense
Pos. # Name Class
TE Mike Allaway
WR Mark Benson
WR 1 Richard Buchanan Jr
OL Tobin Buckner
WR Lester Carney
RB 34 Bob Christian Jr
TE David Cross
RB Eric Dixon
WR Greg Fischer
TE Bob Griswold
OL Stan Holsen
QB Kip Kelly
QB Kevin Krebs
WR Randy McClellan
OL Todd McClish
OL Kurt Minko
WR Chip Morris
WR Pat New
RB Butch Newhouse
QB Tim O'Brien
RB Steve Rosholt
RB Terry Smith
OL Brian Tichy
OL Derrill Vest
RB Curt Zipfel
Defense
Pos. # Name Class
DL Darryl Ashmore
DL Frank Boudreaux
DL John Broeker
DB David Eaton
DL Ed Feaster
DL Dan Freveletti
DB Greg Gill
LB 60 Thomas Homco
DB John Ivlow
DB Dwight James
DL Mike Lowe
LB David Sanderson
LB, P 54 Ed Sutter
DB Terry Thomas
DB Sheridan Wilks
LB Matt Witt
Special teams
Pos. # Name Class
K Ira Adler
P Matt Dzierwa
Head coach
Coordinators/assistant coaches

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  •   Injured
  •   Redshirt

References edit

  1. ^ "Year-by-Year Results" (PDF). 2007. p. 149. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 16, 2019. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
  2. ^ "1989 Northwestern Wildcats Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
  3. ^ "1989 Northwestern Wildcats Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
  4. ^ "Indiana's Thompson heads All-Big Ten team". The Daily Reporter (AP story). November 30, 1989. p. 5.
  5. ^ "Northwestern falls one rally short to Duke". Northwest Herald. September 10, 1989. Retrieved February 3, 2024 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Tatlock, David (November 13, 1989). "Purdue Collects First Big Ten Win, 46-15". Purdue University Archives & Special Editions. The Purdue Exponent. Retrieved December 22, 2022.
  7. ^ Cook, Bob (November 11, 1989). "Purdue 46, Northwestern 15". UPI Archives. Retrieved December 22, 2022.