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Northwestern vs Syracuse Timeline

Explore every documented meeting, final score and season in the recorded history between Northwestern and Syracuse.

PROGRAM ONENorthwestern6 recorded wins
HEAD TO HEAD6–5WINS · LOSSES
PROGRAM TWOSyracuse5 recorded wins
11Recorded meetings
1940Earliest documented
2013Most recent season
0Tied games
THE RIVALRY THROUGH TIME

Head-to-head timeline

Meetings are listed oldest first. Scores and dates reflect the available historical records.

11 games
  1. 1940
    Northwestern40 — 0Syracuse
    Oct 5, 1940Northwestern won
  2. 1948
    Northwestern48 — 0Syracuse
    Oct 23, 1948Northwestern won
  3. 1971
    Northwestern12 — 6Syracuse
    Sep 25, 1971Northwestern won
  4. 1979
    Northwestern21 — 54Syracuse
    Sep 22, 1979Syracuse won
  5. 1980
    Northwestern21 — 42Syracuse
    Sep 27, 1980Syracuse won
  6. 1983
    Northwestern0 — 35Syracuse
    Sep 17, 1983Syracuse won
  7. 1984
    Northwestern12 — 13Syracuse
    Sep 15, 1984Syracuse won
  8. 2008
    Northwestern30 — 10Syracuse
    Aug 30, 2008Northwestern wonRyan Field
  9. 2009
    Northwestern34 — 37Syracuse
    Sep 19, 2009Syracuse wonJMA Wireless Dome
  10. 2012
    Northwestern42 — 41Syracuse
    Sep 1, 2012Northwestern wonJMA Wireless Dome
  11. 2013
    Northwestern48 — 27Syracuse
    Sep 7, 2013Northwestern wonRyan Field
THE COMPLETE SCOREBOOK

All recorded results

The latest documented meeting appears first.

SeasonMatchupScoreOutcome
2013Northwestern vs Syracuse48–27Northwestern won
2012Northwestern vs Syracuse42–41Northwestern won
2009Northwestern vs Syracuse34–37Syracuse won
2008Northwestern vs Syracuse30–10Northwestern won
1984Northwestern vs Syracuse12–13Syracuse won
1983Northwestern vs Syracuse0–35Syracuse won
1980Northwestern vs Syracuse21–42Syracuse won
1979Northwestern vs Syracuse21–54Syracuse won
1971Northwestern vs Syracuse12–6Northwestern won
1948Northwestern vs Syracuse48–0Northwestern won
1940Northwestern vs Syracuse40–0Northwestern won
OUR DATA STANDARD

Sources and historical coverage

These results are compiled from season-by-season records imported from CollegeFootballData. Only games with both final scores are counted. Older seasons and some lower-division records may be incomplete; the earliest documented year is not necessarily the first meeting ever played.

Page updated November 7, 2026 · Historical records are subject to correction.