1974 Northwestern Wildcats football team

The 1974 Northwestern Wildcats team represented Northwestern University in the 1974 Big Ten Conference football season. In their second year under head coach John Pont, the Wildcats compiled a 3–8 record (2–6 against Big Ten Conference opponents) and finished in a three-way tie for seventh place in the Big Ten Conference.[2]

1974 Northwestern Wildcats football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
1974 record	3–8 (2–6 Big Ten)
Head coach	John Pont (2nd season)
Captains	Paul Hiemenz[1] Larry Lilja
Home stadium	Dyche Stadium

1974 Big Ten Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 4 Ohio State +	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	0
No. 3 Michigan +	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	1	–	0
No. 12 Michigan State	6	–	1	–	1			7	–	3	–	1
Wisconsin	5	–	3	–	0			7	–	4	–	0
Illinois	4	–	3	–	1			6	–	4	–	1
Purdue	3	–	5	–	0			4	–	6	–	1
Minnesota	2	–	6	–	0			4	–	7	–	0
Iowa	2	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Northwestern	2	–	6	–	0			3	–	8	–	0
Indiana	1	–	7	–	0			1	–	10	–	0
+ – Conference co-champions Rankings from AP Poll

The team's offensive leaders were quarterback Mitch Anderson with 1,282 passing yards, Jim Pooler with 949 rushing yards, and Scott Yelvington with 417 receiving yards.[3] Three Northwestern players received All-Big Ten honors: (1) offensive tackle Paul Hiemenz (AP-1; UPI-2); (2) wide receiver Steve Yelvington (AP-2); and (3) running back Jim Pooler (AP-2).[4][5][6]

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result
September 14	at Michigan State	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	L 7–41
September 21	No. 1 Notre Dame*	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL (rivalry)	L 3–49
September 28	at No. 10 Nebraska*	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE	L 7–49
October 5	Oregon*	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	W 14–10
October 12	at Iowa	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	L 10–35
October 19	Purdue	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	L 26–31
October 26	No. 1 Ohio State	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	L 7–55
November 2	at Minnesota	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	W 21–13
November 9	Indiana	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	W 24–22
November 16	Wisconsin	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	L 7–52
November 23	at Illinois	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (Sweet Sioux Tomahawk)	L 14–28
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

Roster

1974 Northwestern Wildcats football team roster
Players			Coaches
Offense Pos. # Name Class QB 12 Mitch Anderson Sr RB 44 Rich Boothe Jr RB 20 Greg Boykin Jr QB 3 Randy Dean So T 74 Rich Dembowski Jr T 68 Paul Hiemenz (C) Sr C 57 Larry Lilja (C) Sr RB 24 Jim Pooler Jr G 67 Mark Ruff Sr G 62 DeWayne Shambley So WR 46 Bill Stevens Sr FB 39 Jim Trimble Sr TE 95 Scott Yelvington So	Defense Pos. # Name Class LB 58 Mike Andler Sr DB 8 Doug Baske Sr DE 43 Doug Belko Sr DT 93 John Holliday Jr DT 86 Randy Kuceyeski Jr DE 98 Rob Mason Sr LB 33 Carl Patrnchak Sr LB 32 Joe Patrnchak Sr DE 13 D. R. Phillips Sr SS 22 Pete Shaw Jr DB Robert Dean So	Special teams Pos. # Name Class	Head coach John Pont Coordinators/assistant coaches Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible Injured Redshirt

References

1. "Year-by-Year Results" (PDF). 2007. p. 148. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2019-03-16. Retrieved 2019-03-14.
2. "1974 Northwestern Wildcats Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
3. "1974 Northwestern Wildcats Stats". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved February 22, 2016.
4. "All-Big Ten selections". The Daily Northwestern. November 26, 1974. p. 13.
5. "Buckeyes Dominate All-Big Ten Team". Ludington Daily News (UPI story). November 27, 1974. p. 6.
6. Ed Sainsbury (November 27, 1974). "Many Buckeyes on all Big Ten". The Bryan Times (UPI story). p. 9.