1959 Northwestern Wildcats football team

American college football season

1959 Northwestern Wildcats football
Conference	Big Ten Conference
Record	6–3 (4–3 Big Ten)
Head coach	Ara Parseghian (4th season)
Captains	James Andreotti Ron Burton Gene Gossage Mike Stock^[1]
Home stadium	Dyche Stadium
Seasons ← 1958 1960 →

1959 Big Ten Conference football standings
v t e	Conf					Overall
Team	W		L		T	W		L		T
No. 6 Wisconsin $	5	–	2	–	0	7	–	3	–	0
Michigan State	4	–	2	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
Purdue	4	–	2	–	1	5	–	2	–	2
No. 13 Illinois	4	–	2	–	1	5	–	3	–	1
Northwestern	4	–	3	–	0	6	–	3	–	0
Iowa	3	–	3	–	0	5	–	4	–	0
Michigan	3	–	4	–	0	4	–	5	–	0
Indiana	2	–	4	–	1	4	–	4	–	1
Ohio State	2	–	4	–	1	3	–	5	–	1
Minnesota	1	–	6	–	0	2	–	7	–	0

$ – Conference champion Rankings from AP Poll

The 1959 Northwestern Wildcats team represented Northwestern University during the 1959 Big Ten Conference football season. In their fourth year under head coach Ara Parseghian, the Wildcats compiled a 6–3 record (4–3 against Big Ten Conference opponents), finished in fifth place in the Big Ten, and outscored their opponents by a combined total of 174 to 134.^[2]^[3] The team rose to #2 in the AP Poll before losing three consecutive games to end the season.

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Rank	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 26	No. 2 Oklahoma*	No. 10	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	W 45–13	27,500
October 3	No. 5 Iowa	No. 2	Iowa Stadium Iowa City, Iowa, IA	W 14–10	25,132
October 10	Minnesota	No. 2	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	W 6–0	56,061
October 17	Michigan	No. 2	Michigan Stadium Ann Arbor, MI (rivalry)	W 20–7	67,975	^[4]
October 24	at Notre Dame*	No. 2	Notre Dame Stadium Notre Dame, IN (rivalry)	W 30–24	59,275
October 31	Indiana	No. 2	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	W 30–13	41,296
November 7	No. 9 Wisconsin	No. 2	Dyche Stadium Evanston, IL	L 19–24	62,964
November 14	No. 19 Michigan State	No. 6	Spartan Stadium East Lansing, MI	L 10–15	38,421
November 21	at Illinois	No. 8	Memorial Stadium Champaign, IL (rivalry)	L 0–28	32,390
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll released prior to the game

References

^ "Year-by-Year Results" (PDF). 2007. p. 148. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 16, 2019. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
^ "Northwestern Yearly Results (1955-1959)". College Football Data Warehouse. David DeLassus. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved August 7, 2015.
^ "1959 Northwestern Wildcats Schedule and Results".
^ Hal Middlesworth (October 18, 1959). "'Cats Win, 20-7: U-M Gives All -- But NW Takes". Detroit Free Press. p. 1E – via Newspapers.com.

v t e Northwestern Wildcats football
Venues	Northwestern Field (1905–1925) Ryan Field (1926–2023) Lanny and Sharon Martin athletics complex (2024–2025)
Bowls & rivalries	Bowl games Illinois Michigan: George Jewett Trophy Notre Dame
Culture and lore	Willie the Wildcat "Go U Northwestern" Marching band 2006 Michigan State game
People	Head coaches NFL draftees Statistical leaders
Seasons	1876 1877–1881 1882 1883–1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906–1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1915 1916 1917 1918 1919 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024