Oct. 29, 2001
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GAME 8:
NORTHWESTERN (4-3, 2-3) vs. INDIANA (1-5, 1-3)
Date/Time: Saturday, Nov. 3, 2001/1 p.m. EST (Noon CST)
Site: Memorial Stadium, Bloomington, Ind.
Capacity/Surface: 52,354/Natural Grass
Television: None
Radio: WGN 720 AM (Dave Eanet, play-by-play, Ted Albrecht, color) (also on wgnradio.com)
The Game
With its Big Ten title hopes all but dashed, Northwestern is re-adjusting its season goals as it prepares for a second straight trip to the Hoosier state. After dropping a 32-27 decision at nationally ranked Purdue last weekend, the Wildcats visit Indiana this Saturday, Nov. 3. Game time is set for 1 p.m. EST (noon CST). The contest is not being televised.
Although Northwestern is still alive mathematically for the Big Ten crown, the Wildcats' hopes of repeating are unrealistic. After losing to the Boilermakers, NU fell to 2-3 in Big Ten action. Never before has a Big Ten champion won the league with three losses. Despite falling out of the conference race, the Wildcats are still in the hunt for a postseason bowl berth. With two more victories, Northwestern would become "bowl-eligible." After Saturday's contest, the Wildcats return home to face Iowa and Bowling Green before closing at Illinois on Thanksgiving Day.
Coming off an open date, the Hoosiers bring a 1-5 overall record into Saturday's meeting with the Wildcats. In their last appearance, Indiana dropped a 42-28 decision at Iowa. The Hoosiers' lone victory came Oct. 6 when it ran away from Wisconsin, 63-32, at Camp Randall Stadium. IU is seeking its first victory at home since posting a 51-43 victory over Minnesota on Oct. 21, 2000. Led by Heisman Trophy candidate Antwaan Randle El, Indiana leads the Big Ten in rushing with a team average of 240.3 yards per game. Randle El, who is fourth in Big Ten total offense with 223.2 yards per game, is rushing for 81.2 yards per game. Running back Levron Williams averages 118.7 ypg and a Big Ten-best 7.3 yards per carry. The Wildcats, who have dropped successive games for the first time since the 1999 season, rank second in the Big Ten in total offense (430.3), but 10th in total defense (400.7).
The Series with Indiana
Series Record: NU leads 38-32-1
At Evanston: NU leads 24-16-1
At Bloomington: NU leads 16-14
Current Win Streak: NU, 1
Last Meeting: Oct. 7, 2000 (Northwestern 52, Indiana 33)
First Meeting: 1899 (Northwestern 11, Indiana 6)
Series Notes: Indiana is the only Big Ten school that Northwestern has a winning series record against ... The Wildcats have won two of the last three games in Bloomington, 20-7 in 1994 and 35-17 in 1996 ... Randy Walker owns a 1-4 lifetime record vs. Indiana. At Miami (Ohio), he went 0-3 vs. the Hoosiers ... IU's winningest coach, Bill Mallory (1984-96), served as Miami's head coach for Randy Walker's first two seasons at Miami (1972-73). Mallory and Walker are both Miami graduates and members of the school's Athletic Hall of Fame.
The Last Meeting with the Hoosiers
Oct. 7, 2000 -- Coming off Big Ten season-opening road wins over Wisconsin and Michigan State, the Wildcats came home to hand Indiana a 52-33 defeat. The 52 points were the most scored by an NU team in more than 40 years. (NU would score 54 and 61 points in ensuing games against Michigan and Illinois, respectively, in 2000.) The Wildcats racked up their third straight game with more than 500 yards of total offense, finishing with 536. Damien Anderson notched his second straight 200-yard rushing effort, totaling a career-best 292 yards (36 carries) and four touchdowns. One of his TD scampers went for a career-long 73 yards.
After gaining a 24-14 halftime lead, the Wildcats pulled away in the second half. A 50-yard scoring pass from Zak Kustok to Teddy Johnson, followed by a 15-yard Anderson TD run, gave the Wildcats a comfortable 38-14 cushion. Led by Anderson, Northwestern rushed for a season-best 417 yards. The Wildcat defense held IU's Antwaan Randle El to 80 yards rushing and 165 yards passing.
The Purdue Recap
Oct. 27, 2001 -- A second-half comeback fell short and the Wildcats fell out of the Big Ten race with a tough 32-27 loss at Purdue. Northwestern fell behind 22-7 after two quarters, but then made a game of it with two third-quarter touchdowns. A Boilermaker turnover helped jumpstart the 'Cats in the second half. NU's Dominique Price (Jeffersontown, Ky./Dupont) forced Purdue's Seth Morales to cough up the ball on a punt play. Linebacker Kevin Bentley (North Hills, Calif./Montclair Prep) recovered the fumble. Three plays later, Zak Kustok (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg) hit Jon Schweighardt (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton-Warrenville South) on a 29-yard strike to cut the lead to 22-14.
Following a stop by the defense, the Wildcats came back on their ensuing possession to climb within two points of the Boilermakers at 22-20. Kustok engineered an 11-play, 66-yard drive that finished with a 1-yard scoring run by Damien Anderson (Wilmington, Ill./Wilmington). The Wildcats, however, could not contain Purdue on its next offensive possession and the Boilermakers put together an impressive 15-play, 5-minute drive that increased their lead to 29-20. After a 30-yard field goal from Travis Dorsch, the Wildcats came within five points at 32-27 when Kustok found Kunle Patrick (Brooklyn, N.Y./Poly Prep Country Day) wide open in the end zone for a 14-yard scoring play. That score was set up with a blocked punt by NU's Eric Worley (Marshfield, Mass./Marshfield). The touchdown was Patrick's second of the game after he scored on a 11-yard trick play in the first quarter. With 2:55 left in the game, the Wildcats attempted an onside kick, but Purdue recovered and was able to run out the clock.
Northwestern Head Coach Randy Walker
2000 Dave McClain Big Ten Coach of The Year
Randy Walker is in his third season at Northwestern after spending the previous nine years (1990-98) at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. In just two years with the Wildcats, Walker directed a stunning turnaround. After a 3-8 season in 1999, he engineered a complete overhaul of the Wildcat offense and the result was an 8-4 record, an Alamo Bowl berth and a share of the 2000 Big Ten championship.
Walker was recognized for his efforts last season by both his peers and the media, as he was named Dave McClain Big Ten Coach of the Year and the Region 3 Coach of the Year by the AFCA. Walker owns a 74-50-5 career record in 12 seasons and a 15-15 mark at Northwestern. Prior to gaining his first head coaching job at Miami in 1990, Walker spent one year as an assistant at Miami (1977), 10 years as an assistant at North Carolina (1978-87) and two years as an assistant at Northwestern (1988-89).
Walker came to Evanston with an impressive coaching resume already intact. The 47-year-old Walker 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 has produced: Paul Brown, Woody Hayes, Ara Parseghian, Bo Schembechler ... and the list goes on.
Walker graduated from Miami in 1976 with a bachelor's degree in social studies education and earned a master's degree in educational administration from his alma mater in 1981. He starred for Miami 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.
Remembering Rashidi
On Friday, Aug. 3, Northwestern suffered a tragic blow as senior safety Rashidi Ayodele Wheeler (Ontario, Calif./Damien) died while running a summer conditioning drill on campus. In his memory, the Wildcats are wearing a patch on their uniform with his initials, RAW. Also, for the first time in Northwestern football history, Wheeler's jersey number (#30) was retired. Wheeler's locker in the John Evans Club locker room is also being preserved with a glass case surrounding his jersey and helmet. Wheeler started 12 games at strong safety in 2000 and registered 88 tackles (59 solos) and three pass deflections.
Big Ten Conference Standings
2001 Standings Conference Games All Games Michigan 4 0 1.00 6 1 .857 Illinois 3 1 .750 6 1 .857 Purdue 3 1 .750 5 1 .833 Michigan State 2 2 .500 4 2 .667 Ohio State 2 2 .500 4 3 .571 Iowa 2 3 .400 4 3 .571 Northwestern 2 3 .400 4 3 .571 Wisconsin 2 3 .400 4 5 .444 Penn State 2 3 .400 2 4 .333 Minnesota 1 3 .250 3 4 .429 Indiana 1 3 .250 1 5 .167
Damien Ascending On The Big Ten Rushing Chart
With 39 more rushing yards, Damien Anderson will move past Michigan's Anthony Thomas and sit sixth all-time on the Big Ten's rushing list. He is 566 yards shy of the coveted 5,000-yard mark. If he averages 141.5 yards per game in his last four regular-season games, Anderson would become the fourth player in Big Ten history to topple the 5,000-mark. Thus far in 2001, NU's first five Big Ten opponents have held Anderson to less than 100 yards rushing in each outing. The following is a look at the entire Big Ten top 10:
Rank Yards Name Years Played
1. 7,125 Ron Dayne (Wis.) (1,220 attempts) 1996-99
2. 5,589 Archie Griffin (OSU) (924) 1972-75
3. 5,299 Anthony Thompson (IU) (1,161) 1986-89
4. 4,887 Lorenzo White (MSU) (1,082) 1984-87
5. 4,654 Darrell Thompson (Minn.) (936) 1986-89
6. 4,472 Anthony Thomas (Mich.) (924) 1997-00
7. 4,434 Damien Anderson (NU) (940) 1998-present
8. 4,393 Jamie Morris (Mich.) (809) 1984-87
9. 4,212 Tico Duckett (MSU) (836) 1989-92
10. 4,178 Tyrone Wheatley (Mich.) (688) 1991-94
Turnovers Tell The Story
Once again, Northwestern is proving that if you win the turnover battle, the odds of winning a football game climb significantly. This season, the Wildcats are 4-0 when suffering fewer turnovers than the opposition and 0-2 when commiting more than the other school. On Saturday at Purdue, the turnovers were even (one apiece) and NU lost a narrow decision. Against Penn State on Oct. 20, the Wildcats suffered just one turnover, but it proved to be costly as PSU played an error-free game. Since coming to Northwestern, head coach Randy Walker is 12-1 when turning it over fewer times than the opponent. The Wildcats still rank 21st nationally in turnover margin despite Saturday's performance.
61-1-1
Head coach Randy Walker is nearly unbeatable when his teams carry a lead into the fourth quarter. Since Walker began his head coaching duties at Miami University in 1990, he has compiled a 61-1-1 record when leading at the end of the third quarter. At NU, Walker is 12-0 with a fourth-quarter lead. The Oct. 20th game versus Penn State did, however, end his unbeaten mark (11-0) when leading at halftime as the Wildcats' coach. The Penn State game also marked the first time that, with the score tied (28-28) heading into the fourth quarter, a Walker-coached team lost a contest with the scored tied after three quarters. Earlier this season, the Wildcats came close to losing just the second fourth-quarter lead of Walker's career when Michigan State overcame deficits of 17-14 and 24-20 on Sept. 29. Northwestern pulled out the game 27-26 with a last-second field goal.
Say What?
When the Sept. 15 home game vs. Navy was canceled, that meant Northwestern had to begin the season with back-to-back road contests. (Northwestern has since added a game to its schedule, an 11 a.m. kickoff vs. Bowling Green on Nov. 17.) The Wildcats emerged from that opening stretch with victories at UNLV and Duke. Amazingly, the last time that Northwestern started a season with two road wins came nearly a century ago, in 1905.
Cardiac 'Cats Suffer Second Straight Close Defeat
Over the last year-and-a-half, Northwestern has deservedly earned its "Cardiac 'Cats" tag. On back-to-back weekends in 2000, the Wildcats threw a "Victory Right" pass to beat Minnesota on the game's final play before edging out Michigan the following week with a 54-51 victory. The winning score in the Michigan game came with 20 seconds remaining. They also pulled out a double-overtime win at Wisconsin.
In 2001, Northwestern pulled out a gut-wrenching victory over Michigan State on Sept. 29, which became its second "ESPN Instant Classic," game in as many years.
But in the last two weeks, the Wildcats' magic has disappeared, and for the first time in Randy Walker's Northwestern coaching tenure, the 'Cats have failed to win games that were decided by seven points or less. Northwestern fell to Penn State 38-35 before dropping a 32-27 decision at Purdue. Walker is now 7-2 in games decided by seven points or less at Northwestern.
Zak Attack
The orchestrator of the Big Ten's second-ranked offense is senior quarterback Zak Kustok. Kustok, who is scheduled to start his 26th straight game at quarterback Saturday vs. Indiana, developed into one of the nation's most consistent and dangerous signal callers in 2000. Kustok's lowest single-game completion percentage during the regular season was 51.2 percent (21 of 41 at Wisconsin). Until the season-opening 24-for-49 (49.0 percent) effort at UNLV, he had completed 50 percent or more of his pass attempts in 12 consecutive regular-season contests. In his last six outings, Kustok has completed 127 of 211 passes for 60.2 percent. Three weeks ago against Minnesota, he set a career-best single-game completion percentage of .688 (22-of-32).
Another trait of Kustok's is his ability to keep mistakes to a minimum. Prior to suffering his first interception in eight games against Michigan State, Kustok attempted 277 straight passes without being intercepted-the longest streak of his career. He has tossed just three interceptions in 260 attempts this year, or one interception every 87 attempts. Kustok has the fourth-lowest interception percentage in the nation (behind UCLA's Cory Paus, Ole Miss' Eli Manning and BYU's Brandon Doman).
Dating to the 1999 season, Kustok has thrown at least one touchdown pass in the Wildcats' last 20 games. Kustok added another notch to his belt at UNLV when he rushed for a career-high three touchdowns. He also tossed a pair of TD passes, giving him a hand in all five NU TD's. Against Duke, he threw for 318 yards-four yards shy of his career high-and ran for 33 yards. Versus the Spartans, Kustok rushed for 105 yards and totaled 336 yards in total offense. On Oct. 20 against Penn State, he set career bests for total offense (413, third-best in NU history) and rushing yards (115) and equaled his rushing TD mark with three. Kustok ranks ninth nationally in total offense with a 290.0 ypg average. Besides total offense, he ranks first in the Big Ten in the category "points responsible for." Kustok is a contender for the Davey O'Brien Award, which honors the nation's top quarterback. With one more touchdown pass, Kustok will rank second only to Lenny Williams on the Wildcats' all-time TD list. With his 115-yard rushing effort against Penn State, Kustok surpassed the 1,000-yard mark for career rushing. He now has 1,077 career yards and is the only quarterback in NU history to top the 1,000-yard mark. He also has 19 career rushing TD's, which ranks fifth on NU's all-time list.
From One D.A. to Another
In the season-opening victory at UNLV, Damien Anderson became the Wildcats' all-time leading rusher. Needing 66 yards to surpass Darnell Autry (3,793 yards, 1994-96), Anderson registered 99 second-half yards to become NU's career record-holder. He passed another milestone on Sept. 22 at Duke, racking up 189 rushing yards and climbing above the 4,000-yard mark.
Anderson/Kustok 10,000-Plus and Counting
The quarterback/tailback tandem of Zak Kustok and Damien Anderson became the Wildcats' top total offensive duo in school history Oct. 13 against Minnesota. Entering this weekend at Indiana, Kustok and Anderson have a combined 10,308 career yards. During the middle 1990s, when Northwestern captured two Big Ten crowns, quarterback Steve Schnur and tailback Darnell Autry combined for 9,335 yards-the previous best by a Northwestern duo. Kustok presently ranks third all-time in NU total offense with 5,874 yards while Anderson is sixth with 4,434 yards. Len Williams holds NU's career record with 8,029 yards.
Sam is in the Books
Sam Simmons, who was slowed in Northwestern's first two Big Ten games with a broken right ring finger, followed up his Big Ten Co-Special Teams Player of the Week performance (vs. Minnesota) with a career-best showing vs. Penn State. Simmons caught seven passes for a career-high 168 yards and one touchdown. The 168-yard performance was the 10th-best single-game figure in NU history. Simmons was held in check at Purdue, catching just two passes for 11 yards.
He currently ranks eighth on the Wildcats' career receiving yardage chart (1,421 yards) and is two receptions shy of reaching 10th place on NU's all-time receptions list.
Triple Trouble
Northwestern's three leading receivers-Kunle Patrick, Sam Simmons and Jon Schweighardt-have combined for 105 receptions and 1,240 receiving yards. The trio is responsible for 67.7 percent of NU's receptions and 73.1 percent of its receiving yardage. Patrick leads with 39 receptions, while Simmons and Schweighardt each have 33 catches. Simmons has a team-best 530 receiving yards. The trio also has eight of the team's 10 aerial scores.
Injury Casualties
In the past two weeks, the Wildcats have taken a hit on the injury front, losing three players to leg injuries. Wide receiver Roger Jordan (League City, Texas/Clear Creek) is out for the year with a stress fracture in his right femur. Sophomore Matt Anderson (Belvidere, Ill./Belvidere) suffered a right knee injury in the Penn State game and became the third defensive lineman to suffer a season-ending injury. On Saturday at Purdue, fullback Gilles Lezi (Laval, Quebec/Cegep du Vieux) broke his left fibula.
In The Trenches
Generally regarded as one of the nation's better units, Northwestern's offensive line is anchored by a veteran group that features four players who garnered preseason honors: right guard Jeff Roehl (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg), center Austin King (Cincinnati, Ohio/Purcell Marian), left guard Lance Clelland (Reisterstown, Md./McDonogh) and left tackle Leon Brockmeier (Tallahassee, Fla./Lincoln). Right tackle Mike Souza (Kaneohe, Hawaii/Punahou) is the other returnee and he owns 34 career starts, the most among the five. Combined, the unit has 134 career starts. The quintet has remained intact for 19 straight games. According to The Sporting News and Lindy's, the offensive line is rated as the third-best group in the country. In September, King was one of 21 players named to the 2001 Dave Rimington Award watch list, which honors the country's top center.
Youth Movement
With its defense suffering some hits to injury, Northwestern defensive coordinator Jerry Brown has had to unleash some of his freshmen in recent weeks. Fortunately for Brown and the Wildcats, the youngsters are responding positively, despite their lack of experience. On Saturday at Purdue, two freshmen, Herschel Henderson (Houston, Texas/Clear Lake) and Luis Castillo (Garfield, N.J./Garfield), made their collegiate debut. Henderson, playing safety, was especially impressive, recording four tackles and a quarterback hurry. Another true freshman, Dominique Price, made his first collegiate start at strong safety. He totaled seven tackles and a forced fumble.
Defensive Upgrades
While the Wildcats are still seeking improvements in their run defense, they have made great strides in the pass efficiency defensive category this season. Through seven games, NU ranks first in the Big Ten and 17th nationally with a defensive pass efficiency rating of 101.43. Opponents are completing just 47.0 percent of their passes and have thrown 10 interceptions to just seven touchdown passes. Earlier this season, Northwestern went 15 quarters without allowing a touchdown pass. That streak ended when Minnesota connected for a late fourth-quarter TD on Oct. 13. Last year, NU's defense totaled 13 interceptions in 12 games. Thus far in 2001, the 'Cats have 10 picks in seven games. Interestingly, nine different players have interceptions.
Silva Catches Bentley
With double-digit tackle totals in five of his last six games, middle linebacker Billy Silva (San Diego, Calif./St. Augustine) has overtaken classmate Kevin Bentley (North Hills, Calif./Montclair Prep) for the team leadership in tackles. Silva, who totaled 16 tackles against Purdue, has 91 for the season to Bentley's 88. In the first NCAA defensive statistical report at the end of September, Bentley ranked seventh nationally. Silva is one of 12 semifinalists for the Bronko Nagurski Defensive Player of the Year Award.
Walker's 1,000-Yard Rushers
Once a running back, always a running back. Northwestern head coach Randy Walker, a former standout running back at Miami University, prides himself on coaching great running backs. Not many coaches can claim this amazing stat: In 29 seasons, Walker has coached a running back to a 1,000-yard season 21 times. Walker coached the top two rushers in Miami history, Travis Prentice and Deland McCullough, and two times at North Carolina he tutored two running backs to 1,000-yard seasons in the same year (Kelvin Bryant and Amos Lawrence in 1980 and Tyrone Anthony and Ethan Horton in 1983).
Last year, Walker, along with running backs coach Jeff Genyk, mentored Damien Anderson to the first 2,000-yard season in Northwestern football history.
USA Today Academic Achievement Awards
USA Today announced its first Academic Achievement Awards and Northwestern finished second in the Division I category and tied for first (with Duke) for Division I-A football schools. The Wildcat student-athletes had a graduation rate of 90 percent in the newspapers' survey.
Northwestern Ranks 22nd Among Division I Athletic Programs According to TSN
In The Sporting News' most recent survey of Division I-A athletic programs, Northwestern ranked 22nd in the publication's annual poll. TSN "graded" college programs in four categories: 1) Do we win? 2) Do we rock? 3) Do we play fair? and 4) Do we graduate?
'Cat Tails ...
* Penn State, Purdue and Indiana-the present stretch of NU opponents-all had open weekends prior to playing the Wildcats.
* The Wildcats' roughest quarter for reaching the endzone is the second: they are getting outscored 49-33. NU did score its first second-quarter touchdowns of the year against PSU.
* Northwestern started the season 3-0, its best start to a campaign since 1962.
* Quarterback Zak Kustok is Northwestern's nominee for the annual National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame Scholar-Athlete award. The award is based on academic and athletic success, as well as community service. Kustok carries a 3.06 cumulative grade point average.
Up Next
The Wildcats return to Ryan Field for their final two regular-season home games. Up first is Iowa at 11 a.m on Nov. 10.