The 2007 Northwestern Wildcats football team represented Northwestern University

Northwestern University

Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....

 in the Big Ten Conference

Big Ten Conference

The Big Ten Conference is the United States' oldest Division I college athletic conference. Its twelve member institutions are located primarily in the Midwestern United States, stretching from Nebraska in the west to Pennsylvania in the east...

 during the 2007–2008 college football

College football

College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...

 season. Pat Fitzgerald

Pat Fitzgerald

-External links:*...

, in his second season at Northwestern, was the team's head coach. The Wildcats played their homes games at Ryan Field in Evanston, Illinois

Evanston, Illinois

Evanston is a suburban municipality in Cook County, Illinois 12 miles north of downtown Chicago, bordering Chicago to the south, Skokie to the west, and Wilmette to the north, with an estimated population of 74,360 as of 2003. It is one of the North Shore communities that adjoin Lake Michigan...

.

Before the beginning of the 2007 season, Northwestern showed potential for improvement upon the previous year's record. ESPN.com

ESPN.com

ESPN.com is the official website of ESPN and a division of ESPN Inc. Since launching in 1995 as ESPNet.SportsZone.com, the website has developed numerous sections including: Page 2, SportsNation, ESPN 3.com, ESPN Motion, My ESPN, ESPN Sports Travel, ESPN Video Games, ESPN Insider, ESPN.com's...

's Mark Schlabach

Mark Schlabach

Mark Schlabach is an author and columnist for ESPN.com. Schlabach joined ESPN.com in July 2006 as a college football and college basketball columnist. He is notable during college football season for the weekly "Bottom 10" article....

 stated that Northwestern has the seventh easiest schedule in college football, and SI.com's Steve Megargee claimed that Indiana

2007 Indiana Hoosiers football team

The 2007 Indiana Hoosiers football team represented Indiana University during the 2007 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Hoosiers were coached by Bill Lynch, who was in his first season as head coach following the death of Terry Hoeppner. The Hoosiers played their home games in Memorial...

 was the only Big Ten school with an easier schedule. Running back

Running back

A running back is a gridiron football position, who is typically lined up in the offensive backfield. The primary roles of a running back are to receive handoffs from the quarterback for a rushing play, to catch passes from out of the backfield, and to block.There are usually one or two running...

 Tyrell Sutton

Tyrell Sutton

Tyrell DelShawn Sutton, , is an American football running back who formerly played for the Carolina Panthers and Green Bay Packers of the National Football League. He was signed by the Green Bay Packers as an undrafted free agent in 2009...

 was one of 64 players in college football to be put on the Maxwell Award

Maxwell Award

The Maxwell Award is presented annually to the collegiate American football player judged by a panel of sportscasters, sportswriters, and National Collegiate Athletic Association head coaches and the membership of the Maxwell Football Club to be the best football player in the United States. The...

 watch list for the nation's best college football player.

The Wildcats began the season with their first shutout since 1997 in a 27-0 win against the . On October 7, quarterback

Quarterback

Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...

 C. J. Bacher broke Brett Basanez

Brett Basanez

Brett Stephen Basanez is an American football quarterback who is currently a free agent. He was signed by the Carolina Panthers as an undrafted free agent in 2006. He played college football at Northwestern....

's school record for single-game passing yards by throwing for 520 yards in a victory over Michigan State

2007 Michigan State Spartans football team

The 2007 Michigan State Spartans football team represented Michigan State University in the 2007–2008 college football season. Mark Dantonio began his first season as the Spartans' head coach. The Spartans play their home games at Spartan Stadium in East Lansing, Michigan.-Schedule:-2008 NFL...

. Bacher went on to be named the Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week and the Big Ten Conference Offensive Player of the Week. Another strong performance in a win against Minnesota

2007 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team

The 2007 Minnesota Golden Gophers football team was the first for new head coach Tim Brewster. They began play on September 1, 2007 at home against Bowling Green and finished the season with a record of 1 win and 11 losses.-Preseason:...

 earned Bacher Big Ten Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors for the second week in a row.