***** Coach Braun after the PSU game: "Nowhere in our list of goals as a program does it say 'Beat Penn State.' Our guys have an opportunity for 24 hours to soak this in and acknowledge what got them to this position." ***** For the 2025 season, NU is unranked in the AP and Coaches Polls. ***** CollegeFootballNews.com now ranks the Wildcats at 56th, up 11 spots from last week and just ahead of Rutgers. ***** For breaking news and updates, visit the HTP Twitter Feed *****




Updated
Oct. 12, 2025



The Crown Tower
Clock should be:
PURPLE



 



















Wildcat History
The 1995 Season:
A Chronology
Northwestern will celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the legendary 1995 Wildcat football team this Saturday. Here is an HTP post from the tenth anniversary: prepare for Saturday by reviewing a timeline of the events of the 1995 season...

Penn State Fires Franklin
Less than 24 hours after NU stunned the Lions in Happy Valley, Penn State has parted ways with James Franklin. He leaves PSU with nearly $50M in parting gift money and a well-deserved reputation as a horse's ass. ESPN article.


Northwestern turned in perhaps its best effort of the year, trading blows all day at Beaver Stadium and coming away from Penn State with a 22-21 victory against the country's preseason #2 team. For Northwestern, the win is its third straight and rockets the 'Cats into bowl contention. On the other side, Penn State has become the first team in at least 30 years to lose two straight games in which it was a 20+ point favorite.

UPDATED:  a MAJOR update to the HTP bowl projections: we now predict a specific bowl!
Stone rocks it against PSU
[Getty Images]
 
SCHOOL RECOGNIZES
1876 TEAM;
NU NOW THE OLDEST
TEAM IN THE MIDWEST
 
Northwestern officially added the February 1876 game with the Chicago Foot-Ball Club to the team's history and records, making Northwestern the oldest football team in the Midwest...
Wildcat Preview and Prediction
The Lowes Line: Penn State
Here is the Line's pick for NU's trip to Happy Valley...

'CATS SWAMP UL-MONROE, 42-7
A lot of things went Northwestern's way on Saturday: the team fired on all cylinders to smack around UL-Monroe, 42-7, on the lakefront. And UCLA, the Wildcats' victim last Saturday, turned around and upended Penn State (NU's next opponent), making NU's win against the Bruins look a lot more impressive.


'CATS HANG ON TO BEAT UCLA 17-14
NU took a 17-point lead against UCLA, and then hung on for dear life, to defeat the Bruins 17-14.

Season and postseason projections have updated...

Wildcat History
The NU - UCLA Series
We continue our posts featuring NU's series with some of its opponents this year. Next up: the UCLA Bruins...


Northwestern's 2025 season is the school's 140th playing football. Now, you can read about NU's very first season and how it all began. The school's first football game was during the 1875-'76 season, making NU the oldest existing football team of any sort in the American Midwest.

Gus Hornsby's Gamble tells the story of Augustus Hornsby, the maverick English army officer who formed the Chicago Foot-Ball Club and taught the game to Northwestern students. Hornsby's story, relayed here for the first time anywhere, is a wild ride: he was a pioneer journalist, an explorer, and eventually a fabulously wealthy real estate tycoon. But his gambling addiction led to financial ruin and a stunning string of crimes that made Hornsby a nationally-hunted fugitive.

My new book provides a new glimpse into life at Northwestern at the school's infancy and describes its first football team in detail. It is a must for any fan of Northwestern and NU history. Click here to learn more about the book. You can order it directly from Amazon.
Other pages updated this week (Oct. 12):

Uniform History

  


Archived
Updated 10/10/25
Archived




DAYS HOURS MINS SECS







Next for the Wildcats:

Purdue
Northwestern Medicine Field
(STADIUM FINALE)
Sat., Oct. 18
2:00 p.m. CDT
TV: BTN

2025 Results
(4-2; 2-1 B1G)
L
 Tulane 3-23
W Wstrn Ill - M - FCS - FRI
 42-7
L
 Oregon - M 14-34
W UCLA - M 17-14
W ULM - HC - M 42-7
W
 Penn State 22-21
H Purdue - M Oct 18
A Nebraska
 Oct 25
A USC - FRI Nov 7
H Michigan - W Nov 15
H Minnesota - W Nov 22
A Illinois Nov 29
(M=NM Field. W=Wrigley Field)
 
 2024 Results
(4-8; 2-7 B1G)
W Miami (O) - M 13-6
L Duke - M - FRI 20-26
W
 Eastern Ill. - FCS - M 31-7
L Washington 5-24
L Indiana - M 24-41
W Maryland - FRI 37-10
L Wisconsin - M 3-23
L Iowa 14-40
W Purdue 26-20
L Ohio State - HC - W 7-31
L Michigan 6-50
L Illinois - W 28-38
(M=NM Field. W=Wrigley Field)




Medicine Ball Is Now Administered Lakeside!




"...It will always be my school, our school."
--Gary Barnett, as quoted by Teddy Greenstein


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