Injuries will force the Wildcats into some changes, but they're not reflected here.
Northwestern has released its depth chart for its Week 5 Big Ten opener against Minnesota (Saturday, 11 a.m., Big Ten Network), and there are barely any shake-ups despite the injuries suffered by some players Saturday. This does not mean those players will play against Minnesota though:
(Changes in bold italic)
Players who are injury question marks have a * next to their names
| Starter/1st String | Backup/2nd String | |
| Quarterback | Clayton Thorson | Zack Oliver OR Matt Alviti |
| Running Back | Justin Jackson | Warren Long |
| X-Receiver | Austin Carr | Cameron Dickerson |
| Y-Receiver | Christian Jones | Flynn Nagel |
| Z-Receiver | Miles Shuler | Mike McHugh |
| Superback | Dan Vitale | Garrett Dickerson* |
| Left Tackle | Geoff Mogus* | Tommy Doles |
| Left Guard | Connor Mahoney | J. |