The 2023 Northwestern Wildcats football team represented

Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...

in the West Division of the

Big Ten Conference The Big Ten Conference (stylized B1G, formerly the Western Conference and the Big Nine Conference, among others) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference in the United States. Founded as the Intercollegiate Conference of Fa ...

during the

2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2023 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the 154th season of college football in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at its highest level of competition, the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS). ...

. They were led by first-year head coach David Braun and played their home games at

Ryan Field Ryan Field may refer to: * Baton Rouge Metropolitan Airport, also known as Ryan Field, in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, United States * Ryan Airfield, also known as Ryan Field, in Tucson, Arizona, United States * Ryan Field (sportscaster) (born 1977), Am ...

(in its final season) in

Evanston, Illinois Evanston is a city in Cook County, Illinois, United States, situated on the North Shore (Chicago), North Shore along Lake Michigan. A suburb of Chicago, Evanston is north of Chicago Loop, downtown Chicago, bordered by Chicago to the south, Skok ...

. Braun began the season as interim head coach and was elevated to permanent head coach on November 15 following the team's 24–10 road win over

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. The Wildcats finished the regular season with a record of 7–5 and went 5–4 in conference play to finish second in the Big Ten West. Braun was named Big Ten Coach of the Year. The Wildcats were selected to face

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

in the

Las Vegas Bowl The Las Vegas Bowl is an NCAA Division I FBS annual post-season college football bowl game held in the Las Vegas area. First played in 1992, the bowl was originally held at the 40,000-seat Sam Boyd Stadium in Whitney, Nevada, before moving t ...

, where they won 14–7. The Northwestern Wildcats football team drew an average home attendance of 20,800 in 2023.

Hazing and sexual abuse allegations

On July 7, 2023, the school announced that they had suspended head coach

Pat Fitzgerald Patrick William Fitzgerald Jr. (born December 2, 1974) is an American former football player and coach. He served as the head football coach of the Northwestern Wildcats from July 2006 until he was fired in July 2023 in the aftermath of a hazi ...

for two weeks without pay after an investigation related to

hazing Hazing (American English), initiation, beasting (British English), bastardisation (Australian English), ragging (South Asian English) or deposition refers to any activity expected of someone in joining or participating in a group that humiliates, ...

within the football program. Three days later as details emerged of the allegations from a former player that included hazing and sexual abuse, the school fired Fitzgerald after 17 years as head coach. The school named defensive coordinator David Braun the interim head coach for the season.

Preseason

Big 10 media poll

The Wildcats were predicted to finish seventh in the Big Ten's West Division.

Schedule

Game summaries

At Rutgers

UTEP

At No. 21 Duke

Minnesota

No. 6 Penn State

Howard

At Nebraska

Maryland

Iowa

At Wisconsin

Purdue

At Illinois

Vs. Utah (Las Vegas Bowl)

Roster

References

{{Portal bar, American football, Illinois, Schools Northwestern Northwestern Wildcats football seasons Las Vegas Bowl champion 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 ...