 Northwestern played in the third New Year's Day bowl game under Fitzgerald when the team accepted an invitation to play in the 2013 Gator Bowl.Fitzgerald then guided the Wildcats to their first bowl victory in sixty-four years when he led Northwestern to a 34–20 victory over Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl.The '12 team finished the season with a 10–3 record which tied the 1995 and 1903 teams for the most wins in school history.