1989 Northwestern Wildcats football team

American college football season

1989 Northwestern Wildcats football
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record0–11 (0–8 Big Ten)
Head coach
  • Francis Peay (4th season)
Captains
  • Bob Griswold[1]
  • Randy McClellan
  • Tim O'Brien
  • Derrill Vest
Home stadiumDyche Stadium
Seasons
← 1988
1990 →
1989 Big Ten Conference football standings
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 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 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]

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

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 Indiana
L 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 State
L 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

At Duke

Air Force

Rutgers

At Indiana

Minnesota

At Wisconsin

Iowa

Ohio State

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
First quarter
  • OSU – Carlos Snow 25-yard run (Pat O'Morrow kick), 9:04. Ohio St 7–0. Drive: 13 plays, 85 yards, 5:56.
  • NW – Tim O'Brien 11-yard run (Ira Adler kick), 4:52. Tie 7–7. Drive: 9 plays, 61 yards, 4:12.
Second quarter
  • OSU – Scottie Graham 20-yard run (Pat O'Morrow kick), 5:05. Ohio St 14–7. Drive: 11 plays, 75 yards, 4:16.
  • OSU – James Bryant 63-yard run (Pat O'Morrow kick), 2:04. Ohio St 21–7. Drive: 2 plays, 77 yards, 0:17.
  • OSU – James Bryant 46-yard pass from Greg Frey (Pat O'Morrow kick), 0:59. Ohio St 28–7. Drive: 2 plays, 46 yards, 0:16.
Third quarter
  • OSU – Dante Lee 5-yard run (Pat O'Morrow kick), 5:20. Ohio St 35–7. Drive: 16 plays, 80 yards, 9:40.
  • NW – Bob Christian 3-yard run (run failed), 2:46. Ohio St 35–13. Drive: 9 plays, 51 yards, 2:34.
Fourth quarter
  • OSU – Pat O'Morrow 19-yard field goal, 14:13. Ohio St 38–13. Drive: 9 plays, 80 yards, 3:33.
  • OSU – Dante Lee 8-yard run (Pat O'Morrow kick), 10:49. Ohio St 45–13. Drive: 4 plays, 29 yards, 1:48.
  • NW – Richard Buchanan 14-yard pass from Tim O'Brien (pass failed), 8:14. Ohio St 45–20. Drive: 9 plays, 78 yards, 2:35.
  • OSU – Dante Lee 6-yard run (Pat O'Morrow kick), 1:15. Ohio St 52–20. Drive: 13 plays, 80 yards, 6:59.
  • NW – Mark Benson 21-yard pass from Kevin Krebs (run good), 0:00. Ohio St 52–28. Drive: 8 plays, 73 yards, 1:15.
Top passers
  • OSU – Greg Frey – 8/10, 106 yards, TD
  • NW – Tim O'Brien – 15/21, 172 yards, TD, INT
Top rushers
  • OSU – Dante Lee – 24 rushes, 157 yards, 3 TD
  • NW – Bob Christian – 27 rushes, 144 yards, TD
Top receivers
  • OSU – James Bryant – 1 reception, 46 yards, TD
  • NW – Richard Buchanan – 8 receptions, 101 yards, TD

At Purdue

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
Scoring summary
Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score
Plays Yards TOP NW PUR
1 13:25 Purdue Blocked punt returned 35 yards for touchdown by Rick Smith, Larry Sullivan kick good 0 7
1 2:02 Purdue 37-yard field goal by Larry Sullivan 0 10
1 Purdue Rod Dennis 39-yard touchdown reception from Eric Hunter, Larry Sullivan kick good 0 17
1 2 Purdue Larry Coleman 6-yard touchdown run, 2-point run good 0 25
1 1:02 Purdue Rod Dennis 46-yard touchdown reception from Eric Hunter, Larry Sullivan kick good 0 32
2 7:38 Northwestern Richard Buchanan 13-yard touchdown reception from Tim O'Brien, kick good 7 32
3 6:32 Northwestern Greg Fischer 6-yard touchdown reception from Tim O'Brien, 2-point pass good 15 32
4 11:23 Purdue Calvin Williams 44-yard touchdown reception from Eric Hunter, Larry Sullivan kick good 15 39
4 1:51 Purdue Rod Dennis 57-yard touchdown reception from Jeff Lesniewicz, Larry Sullivan kick good 15 46
"TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 15 46

At Michigan State

Illinois

Roster

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 Injured
  • Redshirt Redshirt

References

  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.
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