2005 Northwestern Wildcats football team

The 2005 Northwestern Wildcats football team represented Northwestern University during the 2005 NCAA Division I-A football season. They played their home games at Ryan Field and participated as members of the Big Ten Conference. They were led by seventh-year head coach Randy Walker. The Wildcats finished tied for 3rd place in the Big Ten with a conference record of 5–3.

2005 Northwestern Wildcats football
Sun Bowl, L 38–50 vs. UCLA
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Record7–5 (5–3 Big Ten)
Head coach
  • Randy Walker (7th season)
Offensive coordinatorMike Dunbar (4th season)
Offensive schemeSpread
Defensive coordinatorGreg Colby (4th season)
Base defense4–3
Captains
  • Brett Basanez
  • Zach Strief
  • Barry Cofield
  • Tim McGarigle
Home stadiumRyan Field
2005 Big Ten Conference football standings
ConfOverall
Team W L  W L 
No. 3 Penn State $+  7 1   11 1  
No. 4 Ohio State %+  7 1   10 2  
No. 15 Wisconsin  5 3   10 3  
Michigan  5 3   7 5  
Northwestern  5 3   7 5  
Iowa  5 3   7 5  
Minnesota  4 4   7 5  
Purdue  3 5   5 6  
Michigan State  2 6   5 6  
Indiana  1 7   4 7  
Illinois  0 8   2 9  
  • $ BCS representative as conference champion
  • % BCS at-large representative
  • + Conference co-champions
Rankings from AP Poll

This would be Walker's last season as the Wildcats' coach, as he would die suddenly from a heart attack on June 29, 2006 at the age of 52. Linebackers coach/recruiting coordinator and Northwestern alum Pat Fitzgerald would be promoted to head coach on July 7, 2006.

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