Oct. 6, 1999
NORTHWESTERN FOOTBALL (2-3, 0-2) vs. Indiana (2-3, 1-1)
DATE/TIME: Saturday, Oct. 9, 1999/1:00 p.m.
SITE (CAPACITY): Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Ind. (52,354)
TELEVISION: None
RADIO: WGN (720 AM)
Northwestern takes to the road this Saturday, traveling to Bloomington to take on the Indiana Hoosiers. The Wildcats enter the game with a 2-3 mark and are in search of their first Big Ten win of the season. Indiana stopped a three-game skid last Saturday with an exciting , 34-31 overtime win against Illinois. The Hoosiers are currently 2-3 overall. Saturday?s contest is Indiana?s fifth home contest of the season. Indiana has had only one road game thus far, a 45-24 loss at Penn State. The October 9 matchup between NU and IU marks the 70th meeting between the two teams and the first since 1996 when the ?Cats won in Bloomington, 35-17.
THE SERIES WITH INDIANA
Series Record: 37-31-1, Northwestern leads
First Meeting: 1899, Northwestern won 11-6
Last IU win at IU: 1991, 44-6
Last NU win at IU: 1996, 35-17
Current Series Streak: Northwestern, three games
NU?s Largest Victory Margin: 30 points, 30-0 in 1975
IU?s Largest Victory Margin: 64 points, 70-6 in 1981
HEAD COACH RANDY WALKER
Randy Walker took over the reins of the Northwestern football program on January 20, 1999 with an impressive coaching resume. The 45-year-old Walker, who had coached Miami University for nine seasons, departed Oxford as the winningest head coach in school history. His mark at Miami of 59-35-5 (.621) is even more impressive when you consider the coaching greats which Miami had produced: Paul Brown, Woody Hayes, Ara Parseghian, Bo Schembechler... and the list goes on. Walker graduated from Miami in 1976 with a B.A. in social studies education and earned a master?s degree in educational administration from his alma mater in 1981. He starred for MU as a fullback, leading them to three-straight Tangerine Bowl victories. Upon graduation, Walker was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals, but returned to Miami to help as a graduate assistant and the next year became a full-time assistant in charge of running backs under Dick Crum. When Coach Crum departed for North Carolina, Walker joined him and spent the next 10 seasons as a Tar Heel. He coached various positions, ending up as the offensive coordinator. From there, he spent two seasons as Northwestern?s running backs coach (1988-89) and, in 1990, took over as the head coach at Miami.
CHAMPIONSHIP PERFORMANCE
Following the Minnesota game, five players earned Championship Performance recognition from the NU coaching staff. They were Harold Blackmon, Jeff Dyra, Teddy Johnson, Dwayne Missouri and Jay Tant. Each player earned an N-Cat decal that will be placed on his helmet. The offensive player of the game was Teddy Johnson, the defensive player of the game was Dwayne Missouri and the special teams player of the game was not awarded. The Defensive Big Playmaker was Darryl Hodge, while the Offensive Big Playmaker was Zak Kustok. The Offensive Scout of the Week was Kevin Lawrence and the Defensive Scout of the Week was Regis Eller. These two players also receive N-Cat helmet decals.
NOTES FROM THE MINNESOTA GAME
? QB Zak Kustok made his debut for the Wildcats Saturday, rushing 21 times for 35 yards and completing 7-of-15 passes for 173 yards. He ran for one score and threw for another.
? Kustok?s first completed pass as a Wildcat went for a 49-yard touchdown to Teddy Johnson.
? Kustok?s rushing touchdown was Northwestern?s first since the TCU game (Sept. 11).
? QB Bob Barz also made his collegiate debut, completing 2-of-6 passes for 38 yards in mop-up duty.
? Teddy Johnson has now caught touchdown passes in consecutive games. At Purdue he had seven receptions for 128 yards and against Minnesota he caught two for 70 yards.
? Northwestern had 225 yards passing to Minnesota?s 220. It marked the second time the Wildcats had more passing yards than their opponent this season.
? After not losing a fumble in the first four games of the season, NU lost three on Saturday.
? Dwayne Missouri had two more sacks on Saturday, giving him six for the season which leads the team. He now has nine for his career, which ties him with John Brocker and Thor Schmidt for sixth on the all-time list.
? Missouri?s three TFLs give him 12 for the season and he extended his TFL game streak to 10 contests. He has 21 career TFLs and had only seven in 1998.
MINNESOTA GAME RECAP
Northwestern came within a missed field goal of tying the score in the third quarter before letting Minnesota pull away and win, 33-14, last Saturday at Ryan Field. After yielding two touchdowns early on, Northwestern pulled within seven points near the end of the first quarter on a 49-yard touchdown pass that junior wide receiver Teddy Johnson snagged from junior quarterback Zak Kustok. Kustok was making his Northwestern debut in the contest, entering earlier in the half. After a Gopher field goal made the score 17-7 at the break, the Wildcats opened the second half by marching 62 yards for a touchdown when Kustok scampered 11 yards on a keeper. NU followed that up with a big defensive stop deep in their own territory, but after marching down the field again the Wildcats could not even the score when Tim Long missed on a 29-yard field goal. Northwestern was finally put away on big plays near the end of the third quarter. Taking over on its own 36-yard line with 13 seconds left, Minnesota went 64 yards on the first play from scrimmage as Billy Cockerman found Thomas Hamner. Northwestern?s ensuing possession resulted in a fumble recovered by the Gophers, and they wasted no time putting the nail in the coffin when Luke Leverson ran it in from 16 yards out. Kustok completed seven of 15 passes for 173 yards on the day, while junior running back Damien Anderson led the team with 48 yards rushing. Senior linebacker Conrad Emmerich was the team?s leader on defense with nine tackles, including one for loss, and one fumble recovery.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
The Wildcats had committed just two turnovers entering last Saturday?s contest, but committed six against Minnesota (3 fumbles, 3 interceptions).
NATIONAL LEADERS
The following Northwestern players are ranked in the Top 50 in the NCAA. Their Big Ten rank is in parentheses.
RUSHING: Damien Anderson, 99.6 ypg -- 29th (4th)
PUNT RETURNS: Sam Simmons, 15.4 ypr -- 4th (13th)
FIELD GOALS: Tim Long, 1.50 fgpg -- 41st (8th)
ALL-PURPOSE YARDS: Sam Simmons, 123.0 ypg -- 44th (7th)
and Damien Anderson, 120.6 ypg -- 50th (9th)
YOUTH MOVEMENT
Six true freshmen have seen playing time in each of the Wildcats? contests this season. Center Austin King has started in the last three contests, while running back Louis Ayeni has 11 rushes for 25 yards and 11 kickoff returns for 197 yards. Wide receiver Jon Schweighardt has tallied six receptions for 90 yards, and linebackers Vince Cartaya, Pat Durr and Regis Eller have notched two, six and two tackles, respectively.
WILDCATS IN THE NFL
As of September 22, the following former Northwestern players were on NFL rosters:
Darrell Ashmore, offensive tackle, Oakland Raiders, D?Wayne Bates, wide receiver, Chicago Bears, Sean Bennett, running back, N.Y. Giants, Bob Christian, running back, Atlanta Falcons, Casey Dailey, linebacker, N.Y. Jets, Barry Gardner, linebacker, Philadelphia Eagles, Brian Gowins, placekicker, Chicago Bears, Bryan LaBelle, offensive tackle, New Orleans Saints, Matt O?Dwyer, offensive guard, Cincinnati Bengals.
CHICAGO CONNECTION
Northwestern?s two-deep is loaded with players from the Chicagoland area. On offense: Tight end John Cerasani (Schaumburg/Schaumburg), wide receiver Teddy Johnson (Elgin/Larkin), wide receiver Jon Schweighardt (Wheaton/Wheaton-Warrenville), fullback Mike Sherry (Griffith, Ind./Griffith), wide receiver Derrick Thompson (Harvey/Thornton Township) and offensive lineman Jon Walters (Naperville/Central). On defense: D-Back Harold Blackmon (Chicago/Leo), linebacker Pat Durr (St. Charles/St. Charles), defensive tackle Jeff Dyra (Chicago/St. Patrick), and defensive end Pete Konopka (Marengo/Marion). On special teams: Long snapper Jack Harnedy (Chicago/Mt. Carmel) and punter J.J. Standring (Chicago/St. Rita).
DAMIEN ANDERSON
Damien Anderson has had a refreshing start in 1999. After gaining only 537 yards in 1998, the redshirt junior running back has already amassed 498 yards in just five games. He is currently ranked fourth in the conference and 29th in the country with a 99.6 yards per game average. In all-purpose yards, he is ranked second in the Big Ten and 50th nationally with a 120.6 average. Two weeks ago at Purdue, Anderson set career highs for rushing yards (150) and rushing attempts (38).
KEVIN BENTLEY
Sophomore linebacker Kevin Bentley has picked up where Barry Gardner left off last year. He is one of the nation?s top tacklers. In five games, he has registered 54 total tackles (tops in the Big Ten), 32 (second in the conference) of which are solo efforts. In addition, he has one pass interception for a 40-yard touchdown to his credit as well as three PBUs, one sack for 10 yards, two TFLs and two fumble recoveries.
DWAYNE MISSOURI
Redshirt senior Dwayne Missouri has become a force in the Big Ten from his defensive end position. Since the Ohio State game in 1998, Missouri has recorded a tackle for loss in 10-straight contests. In just five games this season, Missouri leads the ?Cats in sacks (six for -42 yards) and tackles for loss (12 for -50 yards). Last year in 12 games, Thor Schmidt led NU in both categories. He had six sacks and 12 TFLs.
SAM SIMMONS
Last year as a true freshman, Sam Simmons made the biggest impact of the 1998 recruiting class. Simmons led the Big Ten and ranked eighth in the nation in kickoff returns (22 for 607 yards, 27.6 ypr). In addition, Simmons made a remarkable 46-yard TD grab at Wisconsin, showed great moves in a 20-yard TD run at Penn State and had a 67-yard kick return at Rice. This season, he will stay put at the wide receiver position, but has added punt returns to his kickoff return duties.
In five games this season, Simmons has returned 11 punts for an average of 15.4 ypr (including an 87-yard score), five kickoffs for an average of 26.2 ypr, 11 receptions for a 22.6 ypc average (including a 71-yard reception vs. TCU and a 27-yard TD catch in OT at Duke) and 10 rushes, averaging 6.6 yards per carry. He is ranked 13th in the nation in punt returns and 44th in all-purpose running.
Simmons was named Big Ten Special Teams Player of the Week for his 87-yard punt return score in the TCU contest.
BEST CONDITIONED ATHLETES
Strength and conditioning are two topics that Coach Walker preaches the most. His top five best conditioned players are linebacker Kevin Bentley, defensive tackle Jeff Dyra, tight end Jay Tant and linebackers Salem Simon and Conrad Emmerich. The results were based on bench, squat, clean, 40-yard dash, pro shuttle, 300-yard shuttle and vertical leap.
TELEVISED GAMES
Since 1995, 47 of NU's 52 contests have been televised. In 1998, all 12 of NU?s games were shown on television. Thus far this season, the TCU (ESPN Regional), Duke (Jefferson Pilot) Purdue (ESPN2), Minnesota (MSC) and Iowa (ESPN Regional) games have been selected for broadcast. Other games may be selected for broadcast 10 to 12 days prior to the contest. Since NU football was first televised on October 27, 1951 ? when the 'Cats entertained Wisconsin in Evanston ? the Wildcats have been featured on 98 occasions.
OUT FOR THE SEASON
? Ty Garner, a senior offensive lineman, suffered a torn ACL & MCL last year in practice. He took a medical noncounter and even though he has one year of eligibility remaining, his injuries preclude him from returning to football.
? Chris Jones, a sophomore linebacker, tore his ACL in the Miami game. He will have surgery sometime in the near future.
? Scott Musso, a fifth-year senior defensive back, suffered a career-ending injury when he tore his achilles last year. He took a medical noncounter.
THE RANDY WALKER SHOW
Look for The Randy Walker Show Tue., Oct. 5 at 3:30 p.m. on Fox Sports Chicago. The show will be repeated at 1:30 a.m. on Wed., Oct. 6 and at 3 p.m. on Fri., Oct. 8. Dave Eanet, the voice of Wildcat Football on WGN Radio, serves as the host. The show will feature an ?Ameritech Ask the Coach? segment. Fans can send in their questions to Coach Walker at nusports.com and if their question is read on the show, they?ll receive a Gift Pack, courtesy of Ameritech.
HARRY CARAY LUNCHEONS
Coach Walker, selected players and Wildcat fans meet at Harry Caray?s Restaurant the Friday before home football games. The festivities begin with a reception at 11:30 a.m. and the luncheon starts at noon. Harry Caray?s is located at 33 West Kinzie in downtown Chicago. Members of the media are invited to cover the luncheon, however, if you wish to eat, please contact Jean Yale at 847-491-3694 to make a reservation. Tickets are $25 apiece.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats return to Ryan Field for homecoming when they entertain the Iowa Hawkeyes. Game time for the Oct. 16 contest is 11:00 a.m. and is an ESPN Regional telecast. Please check local listing for coverage.