Unfortunate Northwestern Football Streak Called "Unbreakable" by ESPN
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Northwestern's football program has found success in the 21st century, reaching bowl games in 11 of the last 17 years and playing in the Big Ten Championship game twice. The Wildcats also own a historic streak that surpasses any other college football team, although it's a record that nobody wants to be attached to.
ESPN published an article on Wednesday that ranked college football's 10 most "unbreakable" records. While mostly good records, the list also included some accomplishments that seemed impossibly bad, like Florida's John Reaves throwing nine interceptions in a game in 1969. Northwestern's historic stretch in the late 1970s and early 1980s came in as an honorable, or dishonorable, mention.
From September 22, 1979, to September 25, 1982, the Wildcats lost 34 consecutive football games. The streak still stands as the longest losing streak in Division I FBS history, surpassing Virginia's (1958-60) and Kansas State's (1945-48) 28-game skids.
Between the 1976 and 1981 seasons, Northwestern went an abysmal 3-62-1, which included three winless seasons. When the 'Cats finally snapped their losing streak in 1982 with a 31-6 home win over Northern Illinois, Northwestern fans rushed the field, tore down the goalposts at Dyche Stadium and threw them into Lake Michigan.
The Wildcats have battled some difficult seasons since then, albeit nothing like that brutal stretch. Northwestern was 0-11 in 1989, but played in the Rose Bowl just six seasons later in one of the best runs in program history. The 'Cats also were 1-11 in 2022 and went an entire calendar year without a win, then emerged for an 8-5 2023 season in which the team won the Las Vegas Bowl.
Northwestern finished just 4-8 last season, but if history is any indicator, the Wildcats are no strangers to rebounding from adversity.
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Gavin Dorsey is the Lead Writer for Northwestern Wildcats On SI and covers a handful of other teams in the On SI network. Before joining On SI in February 2025, he wrote for the Star Tribune and Inside NU while broadcasting college sports for both radio and television. Dorsey is a graduate of Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism, where he also studied psychology. In his free time, he enjoys running and being outdoors. Dorsey is currently a freelance writer for the Associated Press, covering Chicago area sports teams.
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