Hall of Fame
Rob Nachtigal was a running back for UNW Football from 1990 through 1993. His senior year, Nachtigal set the top two Northwestern records for rushing yards in a single game, running for 285 yards against Martin Luther on October 9th and then 362 yards in the season finale against Sioux Falls at home on November 6th. In the nearly three decades since then, the closest an Eagle has come to those records was Ben Freedman’s 256 yards against Principia in 2004.
As a freshman, Rob set the program record for longest punt return with an 88-yard return against Martin Luther. His season average of 18.3 yards per punt return in 1990 was the second-best single-season average in program history and currently ranks third.
In 1992, a junior Nachtigal ran for 1,307 yards in the season, breaking the previous single-season program rushing record of 1,041 yards set by Bill Hoefler in 1987. That same year, Rob powered his way to 12 rushing touchdowns which tied him with three other Eagles for the program’s single-season record until Joe Wise ran for 18 in 2001.
As a senior in 1993, Nachtigal broke his own single-season rushing record with a 1,309-yard season; a record that would stand until Joe Wise’s 1,324-yard season in 2001. In addition to his record-setting senior season as a rusher, Nachtigal punted for an average of 37.9 per punt, which was good for second best at the time and sixth best today.
At the end of his career, Nachtigal had rushed for 3,264 yards on 587 attempts. His career rushing yards ranked second-most in program history at the time and currently still stands in the top three.
