The 2010 Northwestern Wildcats football team 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 ...

in the

Big Ten 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 ...

during the 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season.

Pat Fitzgerald Patrick William Fitzgerald Jr. (born December 2, 1974) is the current head coach of the Northwestern University Wildcats football team. He was selected after the unexpected death of Randy Walker and announced at a press conference on July 7, 2 ...

, in his fifth season at Northwestern, was the team's head coach. The Wildcats home games were played at

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

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 ...

. The annual rivalry game against the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

was played at

Wrigley Field Wrigley Field is a Major League Baseball (MLB) stadium on the North Side of Chicago, Illinois. It is the home of the Chicago Cubs, one of the city's two MLB franchises. It first opened in 1914 as Weeghman Park for Charles Weeghman's Chicago Wh ...

on November 20. The Wildcats finished the season 7–6, 3–5 in Big Ten play and was invited to the inaugural

TicketCity Bowl The First Responder Bowl is an NCAA post-season college football bowl game played annually in the Dallas, Texas, area. The bowl was first held on January 1, 2011, and since 2014 has been contested in late December. The bowl was held at the Cot ...

where they were defeated by

Texas Tech Texas Tech University (Texas Tech, Tech, or TTU) is a public research university in Lubbock, Texas. Established on , and called Texas Technological College until 1969, it is the main institution of the five-institution Texas Tech University Sys ...

38–45.

Previous season

Last season, the Wildcats finished the season 8–5 (5–3 in

play) and lost in the

Outback Bowl The ReliaQuest Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida, usually on New Year's Day. The event has been formerly called the Hall of Fame Bowl from 1986 to 1995 and the Outback Bowl from 1996 to ...

35–38 in overtime against

Auburn Auburn may refer to: Places Australia * Auburn, New South Wales * City of Auburn, the local government area *Electoral district of Auburn *Auburn, Queensland, a locality in the Western Downs Region *Auburn, South Australia *Auburn, Tasmania *Aub ...

Schedule

Regular season

Vanderbilt

Illinois State

Rice

Central Michigan

Minnesota

Purdue

Michigan State

Indiana

Penn State

Iowa

Northwestern won a thriller by scoring two touchdowns in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats led in the first two periods, but the Hawkeyes scored twice to take the lead in the third quarter.

Illinois

The Wildcats, one week after upsetting a ranked Iowa team, fell flat in Wrigley Field, losing 48-27 to the Fighting Illini. Illinois RB Mikel LeShoure ran wild on Northwestern's defense for 330 yards on 33 carries (for an average of 10.0 yards per carry), with a pair of touchdowns. The loss snapped a two game Northwestern winning streak over Illinois and sealed a bowl berth for Illinois, regardless of the outcome of their season finale against Fresno State next week. Northwestern falls to 3-4 in Big Ten play and 7-4 overall. The Wildcats face the 10-1 Wisconsin Badgers next week in Camp Randall Stadium, where they have not won since the 2000 season.

Wisconsin

TicketCity Bowl

Texas Tech

Rankings

Roster

Depth chart

References

{{Northwestern Wildcats football navbox Northwestern Northwestern Wildcats football 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 ...