1979 Northwestern Wildcats football team

1979 Northwestern Wildcats football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	1–10 (0–9 Big Ten)
Head coach	Rick Venturi (2nd season)
Captains	Kevin Berg Mike Fiedler
Home stadium	Dyche Stadium

1979 Big Ten Conference football standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 4 Ohio State $	8	–	0	–	0			11	–	1	–	0
No. 10 Purdue	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 18 Michigan	6	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
No. 19 Indiana	5	–	3	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Iowa	4	–	4	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Minnesota	3	–	5	–	1			4	–	6	–	1
Michigan State	3	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Wisconsin	3	–	5	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Illinois	1	–	6	–	1			2	–	8	–	1
Northwestern	0	–	9	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1979 Northwestern Wildcats team represented Northwestern University during the 1979 Big Ten Conference football season. In their second year under head coach Rick Venturi, the Wildcats compiled a 1–10 record (0–9 against Big Ten Conference opponents) and finished in last place in the Big Ten Conference.

The team's offensive leaders were quarterback Mike Kerrigan with 961 passing yards, Jeff Cohn with 426 rushing yards, and Todd Sheets with 614 receiving yards.

Northwestern's 54–21 loss to Syracuse on September 22 began a 34-game losing streak, the longest in NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) history. The Wildcats did not win another game until September 25, 1982.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 8	at No. 7 Michigan	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)	L 7–49	100,790
September 15	Wyoming*	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	W 27–22
September 22	Syracuse*	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	L 21–54	20,121
September 29	at Minnesota	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	L 8–38	33,998
October 6	at No. 8 Ohio State	Ohio Stadium Columbus, OH	L 7–16	87,406
October 13	Iowa	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	L 6–58	27,224
October 20	at Indiana	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN	L 0–30	30,086
October 27	at No. 16 Purdue	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	L 16–20	69,656
November 3	Michigan State	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	L 7–42	20,193
November 10	at Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	L 3–28	68,229
November 17	Illinois	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL (rivalry)	L 13–29	19,217
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1979 Northwestern Wildcats football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class WR 84 Dave Bahoric So QB 11 Chris Capstran So G 67 Jim Crowder So RB 30 Jeff Cohn Fr QB 12 Mike Kerrigan So TE 85 Wally Kaspryscki Sr OT 55 Phil Reitz Sr OT 75 Rob Taylor So	Defense Pos. # Name Class DB 20 Mark Adams Jr FS 15 Bobby Anderson Fr DB 22 Dave Bayer Jr DB 14 Ron Coleman Jr LB 80 Chris Hinton Fr LB 62 Jim Miller Sr DT 74 Norm Wells Sr	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Rick Venturi Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

Team players in the NFL

Player	Position	Round	Pick	NFL club
Norm Wells	Guard	12	330	Dallas Cowboys