The 1980 Northwestern Wildcats team was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

team that represented

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

during the 1980 Big Ten Conference football season. In their third year under head coach

Rick Venturi Rick Venturi (born February 23, 1946) is a former American football player, coach and current broadcaster. He served as the head coach at Northwestern University and as longtime National Football League assistant coach known for his defense. ...

, the Wildcats finished in last place in the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference) is the oldest Division I collegiate athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representati ...

(Big Ten), compiled a 0–11 record (0–9 against Big Ten opponents), and were outscored by their opponents by a combined total of 444 to 151. The team played its home games at

Dyche Stadium Ryan Field is a stadium in the central United States, located in Evanston, Illinois, a suburb north of Chicago. Near the campus of Northwestern University, it is primarily used for American football, and is the home field of the Northwestern Wildc ...

Evanston, Illinois Evanston ( ) is a city, suburb of Chicago. Located in Cook County, Illinois, United States, it is situated on the North Shore along Lake Michigan. Evanston is north of Downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, Wil ...

. Northwestern finished the season in the midst of a 34-game losing streak, the longest in NCAA Division I-A history. The streak began on September 22, 1979, and ended on September 25, 1982. The team's statistical leaders included quarterback

Mike Kerrigan Michael Joseph Kerrigan (born April 27, 1960) is an American former professional gridiron football quarterback. College Kerrigan played high school football at Mt. Carmel High School in Chicago. He was recruited by Yale, Weber State, and Utah, ...

with 1,816 passing yards, Jeff Cohn with 503 rushing yards, Todd Sheets with 570 receiving yards, and placekicker Jay Anderson with 37 points scored. Several Northwestern players also ranked among the Big Ten leaders in various statistical categories, including the following: * Mike Kerrigan led the Big Ten with 17 interceptions and ranked third with 173 pass completions and 337 pass attempts and fourth with 1,816 passing yards and 1,789 total yards. * Lou Tiberi led the conference with 18 kickoff returns and ranked second with 402 kickoff return yards and fourth with 22.3 yards per kickoff return. * Todd Sheets ranked fifth with 17.3 yards per reception and eighth with 570 receiving yards.

Schedule

Game summaries

At Illinois

On September 6, in the first conference game of the season,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

defeated Northwestern, 35–9, at Memorial Stadium in

Champaign, Illinois Champaign ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 88,302 at the 2020 census. It is the tenth-most populous municipality in Illinois and the fourth most populous city in Illinois outside the Chicago metropo ...

. It was Illinois' first game under new head coach Mike White and its first victory at Memorial Stadium since October 1977.

At Michigan

On September 13,

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

(AP No. 11) defeated Northwestern, 17–10, at

Michigan Stadium Michigan Stadium, nicknamed "The Big House," is the football stadium for the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It is the largest stadium in the United States and the Western Hemisphere, the third largest stadium in the world, and the ...

. Playing in a steady rain, the Wolverines struggled. Anthony Carter had a 17-yard touchdown reception to give Michigan the win.

At Washington

On September 20, Northwestern lost to

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...

(AP No. 16), 45–7, in Seattle. Washington's

Toussaint Tyler Toussaint L'Ouverture Tyler (first name pronounced "Too-San",Florence, Mal (December 30, 1980). "Husky Star: For El Camino's Tyler, the Name is One of a Kind". ''Los Angeles Times'': p. B1. born March 19, 1959) is a former running back in the Nati ...

rushed for 83 yards and scored three touchdowns.

At Syracuse

On September 27, Northwestern lost to Syracuse, 42–21, before a crowd of 34,738 at the Carrier Dome in Syracuse. Northwestern quarterback

set a single-game Northwestern record with 25 completions, passing for 269 yards and three touchdowns. Joe Morris rushed for 172 yards for Syracuse. The game was marred by oranges being repeatedly thrown on the field by students, resulting in two 15-yard penalties and caused Syracuse's quarterback to slip on a peel at the Northwestern one-yard line. Syracuse coach

Frank Maloney Kellie Maloney (born Francis Maloney, 23 January 1953) is an English boxing manager and promoter, and television personality. She managed Lennox Lewis between 1989 and 2001, who earned the title of undisputed heavyweight championship of the wo ...

called the students' conduct both "sinful" and "bush league".

Minnesota

On October 4, Northwestern lost to Minnesota, 49–21, at Dyche Stadium. Minnesota was led by running backs Marion Barber, Jr. (118 rushing yards, three touchdowns) and Garry White (129 rushing yards, two touchdowns).

Ohio State

On October 11, Ohio State defeated Northwestern, 63–0, before a homecoming crowd of 29,375 at Dyche Stadium in Evanston. Ohio State led, 42–0, at halftime. Ohio State had 575 total yards, including 418 rushing yards. Calvin Murray had 120 yards and three touchdowns on nine carries. The night before the game, Northwestern coach was served with a lawsuit filed by 22 African American players alleging racial discrimination.

At Iowa

On October 18, Iowa defeated Northwestern, 25–3, before a homecoming crowd of 59,990 in Iowa City. In his first game as Iowa's starting tailback, Phil Blatcher rushed for 148 yards on 19 carries, including a 51-yard gain on a Statue of Liberty play, and also caught a touchdown pass.

Indiana

On October 25, Indiana defeated Northwestern, 35–20, in Evanston. Indina's Lonnie Johnson rushed for 160 yards on 22 carries, and Mike Harkrader added 102 rushing yards.

Purdue

On November 1, Purdue (AP No. 20) defeated Northwestern, 52–31, before a crowd of 17,744 persons at Dyche Stadium in Evanston. Purdue's 52 points was its highest scoring output in a game since 1947. Purdue running back rushed for 190 yards and scored four touchdown.

Mark Herrmann Mark Donald Herrmann (born January 8, 1959) is an American former professional football player who was a quarterback in the National Football League (NFL) for twelve seasons during the 1980s and 1990s. Herrmann played college football for the ...

passed for 210 yards and three touchdowns. Hermann also set the all-time record for career pass completions (651) and interceptions (69).

At Michigan State

On November 8, Michigan State defeated Northwestern, 42–10, before a crowd of 60,157 at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing. Michigan State tailback Steve Smith rushed for 229 yards and a school record with four touchdowns. The Spartans totaled 571 yards of total offense.

Wisconsin

On November 15, Wisconsin defeated Northwestern, 39–19, in Evanston. Northwestern's

passed for 237 yards in the loss.

Roster

References

{{Northwestern Wildcats football navbox Northwestern Northwestern Wildcats football seasons College football winless seasons

Northwestern Wildcats football The Northwestern Wildcats football team represents Northwestern University as an NCAA Division I college football team and member of the Big Ten Conference based near Chicago in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern began playing fo ...