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
Record	3–8 (2–6 Big Ten)
Head coach	John Pont (2nd season)
Captains	Paul Hiemenz[1] Larry Lilja
Home stadium	Dyche Stadium
Seasons ← 1973 1975 →

1974 Big Ten Conference football standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 3 Michigan +	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	1	–	0
No. 4 Ohio State +	7	–	1	–	0			10	–	2	–	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	Attendance
September 14	at Michigan State	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	L 7–41	49,103
September 21	No. 1 Notre Dame*	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL (rivalry)	L 3–49	55,000
September 28	at No. 10 Nebraska*	Memorial Stadium Lincoln, NE	L 7–49	76,101
October 5	Oregon*	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	W 14–10	27,481
October 12	at Iowa	Kinnick Stadium Iowa City, IA	L 10–35	51,200
October 19	Purdue	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	L 26–31	27,557
October 26	No. 1 Ohio State	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	L 7–55	42,337
November 2	at Minnesota	Memorial Stadium Minneapolis, MN	W 21–13	32,922
November 9	Indiana	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	W 24–22	25,382
November 16	Wisconsin	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	L 7–52	28,533
November 23	at Illinois	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)	L 14–28	33,753
*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 OT 74 Rich Dembowski Jr OT 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