2004 Northwestern Wildcats football team

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 finishing the season bowl eligible and fourth in the conference standings, the team was not invited to a bowl game.

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)
Defensive coordinator	Greg Colby (3rd season)
Captains	John Pickens Luis Castillo Noah Herron Matt Ulrich
Home stadium	Ryan Field (Capacity: 47,130)

2004 Big Ten Conference football standings
	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

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	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

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

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

External links

• NU Athletics 2004 Team Statistics