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Putting Northwestern’s disappointing 2019 season into historical context

Northwestern made the wrong type of history in 2019.

For the first time, Pat Fitzgerald won just three games in a season. The year was undoubtedly the worst in Fitz’s tenure. Statistically speaking, this season is not close to the worst in NU history, but after winning a Big Ten West title in 2018, Northwestern’s high expectations entering 2019 made the outcome significantly worse.

Since Northwestern football’s founding in 1892, Northwestern has won three or less games 57 times. Of course, in many of the early seasons, there were only 5-7 games played per year. Still, to put this number in perspective, once the final AP poll is released this season, Alabama will have finished its season in the top 25 a total of 57 times.