1982 Northwestern Wildcats football team

The 1982 Northwestern Wildcats team represented Northwestern University during the 1982 Big Ten Conference football season. In their second year under head coach Dennis Green, the Wildcats compiled a 3–8 record (2–7 against Big Ten Conference opponents) and finished in a tie for eighth place in the Big Ten Conference.[2]

1982 Northwestern Wildcats football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
1982 record	3–8 (2–7 Big Ten)
Head coach	Dennis Green (2nd season)
Captains	Chris Hinton[1] Rich Raffin
Home stadium	Dyche Stadium

1982 Big Ten Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
Michigan $	8	–	1	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
No. 12 Ohio State	7	–	1	–	0			9	–	3	–	0
Iowa	6	–	2	–	0			8	–	4	–	0
Illinois	6	–	3	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Wisconsin	5	–	4	–	0			7	–	5	–	0
Indiana	4	–	5	–	0			5	–	6	–	0
Purdue	3	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Northwestern	2	–	7	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Michigan State	2	–	7	–	0			2	–	9	–	0
Minnesota	1	–	8	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

On September 25, Northwestern defeated Northern Illinois 31-6 to end the Wildcats' 34-game losing streak, which remains the longest losing streak in FBS/1-A history.[3]

Dennis Green was awarded Big Ten Coach of the Year for the 1982 season. While the team's record is still the worst of any winner's team, their three wins equaled the team's total over the past six seasons.[4]

The team's offensive leaders were quarterback Sandy Schwab with 2,735 passing yards, Ricky Edwards with 688 rushing yards, and Jon Harvey with 807 receiving yards.[5] Offensive tackle Chris Hinton received first-team All-Big Ten honors from both the Associated Press and the United Press International.[6][7]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result
September 4	at Illinois	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (Sweet Sioux Tomahawk)	L 13–49
September 11	at Indiana	Memorial Stadium Bloomington, IN	L 0–30
September 18	Miami (OH)*	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	L 13–27
September 25	Northern Illinois*	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	W 31–6
October 2	at Iowa	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	L 7–45
October 9	Minnesota	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	W 31–21
October 16	at Purdue	Ross–Ade Stadium West Lafayette, IN	L 21–34
October 23	Michigan	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	L 14–49
October 30	at Wisconsin	Camp Randall Stadium Madison, WI	L 20–54
November 6	at Michigan State	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	W 28–24
November 13	Ohio State	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	L 28–40
*Non-conference game

Personnel

1982 Northwestern Wildcats football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB Sandy Schwab Fr	Defense Pos. # Name Class	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach Dennis Green Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

References

1. "Year-by-Year Results" (PDF). 2007. p. 149. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-03-16. Retrieved 2019-03-14.
2. "1982 Northwestern Wildcats Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
3. Damer, Roy. "Dream come true! NU ends 34-game nightmare". Chicago Tribune.
4. "Big Ten Coach of the Year Winners". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
5. "1982 Northwestern Wildcats Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
6. Joe Mooshil (November 30, 1982). "Carter, Bostic, Lukens Top All-Big Ten Football Team". The Blade, Toledo, Ohio (AP story). p. 26.
7. Barry Minkoff (November 23, 1982). "Michigan dominates All-Big Ten squads". The Bryan Times (UPI story). p. 13.