1961 Northwestern Wildcats football team

1961 Northwestern Wildcats football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	4–5 (2–4 Big Ten)
Head coach	Ara Parseghian (6th season)
Captain	Larry Onesti
Home stadium	Dyche Stadium

1961 Big Ten Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 2 Ohio State $	6	–	0	–	0			8	–	0	–	1
No. 6 Minnesota	6	–	1	–	0			8	–	2	–	0
No. 8 Michigan State	5	–	2	–	0			7	–	2	–	0
No. 12 Purdue	4	–	2	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
Wisconsin	4	–	3	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
Michigan	3	–	3	–	0			6	–	3	–	0
Iowa	2	–	4	–	0			5	–	4	–	0
Northwestern	2	–	4	–	0			4	–	5	–	0
Indiana	0	–	6	–	0			2	–	7	–	0
Illinois	0	–	7	–	0			0	–	9	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1961 Northwestern Wildcats team represented Northwestern University during the 1961 Big Ten Conference football season. In their sixth year under head coach Ara Parseghian, the Wildcats compiled a 4–5 record (2–4 against Big Ten Conference opponents) and finished in a tie for seventh place in the Big Ten Conference.

The team's offensive leaders were Tom O'Grady with 322 passing yards, Bill Swingle with 476 rushing yards, and Willie Stinson with 158 receiving yards.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance
September 30	Boston College*	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	W 45–0	35,418
October 7	at Illinois	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)	W 28–7	40,138
October 14	Minnesota	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	L 3–10	41,251
October 21	No. 7 Ohio State	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	L 0–10	43,259
October 28	at No. 8 Notre Dame*	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	W 12–10	59,075
November 4	Indiana	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	W 14–8	35,392
November 11	Wisconsin	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	L 10–29	46,203
November 18	at No. 9 Michigan State	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	L 13–21	51,403
November 24	at Miami (FL)*	Miami Orange Bowl Miami, FL	L 6–10
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game