American college football season
The1986 Northwestern Wildcats team representedNorthwestern University during the1986 NCAA Division I-A football season . In their first year under head coachFrancis Peay , the Wildcats compiled a 4–7 record (2–6 againstBig Ten Conference opponents) and finished in eighth place in theBig Ten Conference .[ 2]
The team's offensive leaders were quarterback Mike Greenfield with 1,653 passing yards, Stanley Davenport with 703 rushing yards, and Curtis Duncan with 437 receiving yards.[ 3] Kicker John Duvic was selected as a first-team All-Big Ten player by the Associated Press,[ 4] while tight end Rich Borresen received first-team All-Big Ten honors from the UPI.[ 5]
Date Time Opponent Site Result Attendance Source September 6 Duke * L 6–1721,514 [ 6] September 20 Army * Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL W 25–1831,123 [ 7] September 27 atPrinceton * W 37–08,750 [ 8] October 4 Indiana Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL L 7–2424,873 [ 9] October 11 7:00 p.m. atMinnesota L 23–4458,177 [ 10] October 18 Wisconsin Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL L 27–3534,462 [ 11] October 25 at No. 11Iowa L 20–2767,250 [ 12] November 1 Purdue Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL L 16–1725,417 [ 13] November 8 12:30 p.m. at No. 11Ohio State L 9–3089,808 [ 14] November 15 1:00 p.m. Michigan State Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL W 24–2126,711 [ 15] November 22 atIllinois W 23–1870,568 [ 16] *Non-conference game Rankings fromAP Poll released prior to the game All times are inCentral time
1986 Northwestern Wildcats football team roster Players Coaches Offense Defense Pos. # Name Class LB Alan Brown LB Bob Bucaro DL Bob Dirkes DL Dave Helding DL Ted Karras LB Tom Kaukialo DB Todd Krehbiel DB Rich Myers DB Kyle Palmer LB Charles Plant DB Jeff Robinson LB John Ruden DL Kelvin Scott DB Brett Whitley
Special teams Pos. # Name Class P Shawn Carpenter K John Duvic
Head coach Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain(S) Suspended(I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt
No position listed: Curtis Spears ^ "Year-by-Year Results" (PDF) . 2007. p. 149.Archived (PDF) from the original on March 16, 2019. RetrievedMarch 14, 2019 .^ "1986 Northwestern Wildcats Schedule and Results" .SR/College Football . Sports Reference LLC. RetrievedFebruary 22, 2016 .^ "1986 Northwestern Wildcats Stats" .SR/College Football . Sports Reference LLC. RetrievedFebruary 22, 2016 .^ "Harbaugh heads All-Big Ten team" .The Michigan Daily . November 26, 1986. p. 8.^ "Woodson, Waiters Both All-Big Ten" .Logansport Pharos-Tribune . November 25, 1986. p. 10.^ "Duke's big plays stop NU" .Chicago Tribune . September 7, 1986. RetrievedFebruary 1, 2024 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "NU tops Army" .Chicago Tribune . September 21, 1986. RetrievedApril 22, 2025 – viaNewspapers.com .^ Kloehn, Steve (September 28, 1986)."Northwestern Overwhelms Princeton, 37–0" .The Philadelphia Inquirer . Philadelphia, Pa. p. 11-E – viaNewspapers.com . ^ "Hoosiers deck Northwestern" .The Cincinnati Enquirer . October 5, 1986. RetrievedApril 22, 2025 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Minnesota 44, Northwestern 23" .The Greenville News . October 12, 1986. RetrievedApril 22, 2025 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Emery's running carries Badgers" .The Duluth News Tribune . October 19, 1986. RetrievedApril 22, 2025 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Hawkeyes hold on to top Northwestern" .The Sioux City Journal . October 26, 1986. RetrievedApril 22, 2025 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Purdue wins on field goal" .The Indianapolis Star . November 2, 1986. RetrievedApril 22, 2025 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "OSU claws 'Cats for 8th in row" .The Lima News . November 9, 1986. RetrievedApril 22, 2025 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Northwestern shocks Spartans" .The Des Moines Register . November 16, 1986. RetrievedApril 22, 2025 – viaNewspapers.com .^ "Northwestern defeats Illinois 23–18" .St. Louis Post-Dispatch . November 23, 1986. RetrievedApril 22, 2025 – viaNewspapers.com .
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