The Northwestern Wildcats are set to play at Wrigley Field during the 2023 college football season. The team announced on Tuesday that Northwestern will host Big Ten rival Iowa on Nov. 4, at the historic home ballpark of the Chicago Cubs.
Wrigley Field last hosted a college football game during the 2021 season, when Northwestern lost to the Purdue Boilermakers 32-14.
College Football at Wrigley Field
In 2010, the Illinois Fighting Illini played against the Northwestern Wildcats at Wrigley Field. It was the first college football game at the Friendly Confines since 1938, when the DePaul Blue Demons played their home games at Wrigley.
This year’s game between Northwestern and Iowa will be the Wildcats’ third game at Wrigley Field and they are still going to be looking for their first win, losing to Illinois 48-27 in 2010 and 32-14 to Purdue in 2021.
If you recall, the 2010 game featuring the two Illinois Big Ten schools had a quirk as both teams had to go in one direction on offense because there was not enough room behind one of the end zones to safely play in both directions. That decision was made after the conference’s commissioner concluded that the space surrounding the east end zone was smaller than the minimum of six feet stated in NCAA rules, and it would have been too great of a risk to allow offensive plays to be run toward that end zone.
That being said, the Fighting Illini did score one touchdown into the east end zone, returning an interception for a score.
Northwestern’s 2021 game against Purdue was originally supposed to happen during the 2020 season, but it was moved to the following year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The original matchup was supposed to be between Northwestern and Wisconsin at Wrigley Field.
Unlike the 2010 Northwestern vs. Illinois game, the 2021 matchup did not have any issues with spacing beyond the end zones. Wrigley Field underwent major renovations during the 2010s, which included the ability to remove the top of the third-base dugout and seats along the left-field line that created just enough room for the football game to be played under normal conditions.
Although these games are becoming more common, whether it’s the NHL’s Winter Classic or other college football games taking place in baseball stadiums, I still think it’s cool to see Wrigley Field featured as one of these unique locations. So much history there with the Chicago Bears, who played their home games at Wrigley Field from 1921-1970, and as mentioned previously used by DePaul’s football program back in the day as well.
As for the Northwestern vs. Iowa matchup coming up in November, bet the under as soon as you can.
