Oct. 17, 2005
NU-Michigan State Game Notes
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EVANSTON, Ill. -- With its offense in high gear, Northwestern heads to Michigan State this Saturday, Oct. 22 for what promises to be an intriguing matchup between the Big Ten Conference's top two offensive teams. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. CDT at MSU's Spartan Stadium. ESPN2 is televising the contest to a national audience.
The Wildcats, in search of their third straight Big Ten win, have churned out back-to-back 600-plus-yard games in their first two October games: a school-record 674 vs. Wisconsin and 603 at Purdue. It is the first time in school history that the Wildcats have produced successive 600-yard games.
Northwestern is averaging 528.7 yards of offense, which ranks second in the Big Ten and fourth nationally. Michigan State is averaging 548.0 ypg, which ranks first in the Big Ten and third nationally. With regards to scoring, Michigan State is first in the Big Ten (41.8 ppg) and Northwestern is fourth (35.2 ppg). Michigan State and Northwestern rank a respective one-two in passing offense (318.3 ypg and 312.8 ypg), and a respective two-three in rushing offense (229.7 ypg and 215.8 ypg).
The two high-powered offenses are centered around their quarterbacks: NU's Brett Basanez (Arlington Heights, Ill./St. Viator) and MSU's Drew Stanton. Basanez leads the Big Ten in passing yards (308.3 pg), completions (25.8 pg) total offense (350.2 pg), and ranks fourth in pass efficiency (145.3 rating). Stanton is first in Big Ten passing efficiency (184.0 rating), second in passing yards (301.0 pg) and total offense (322.2 pg), and fifth in completions (20.8).
Like Stanton, Basanez has thrown passes to 14 different receivers this year, led by junior Shaun Herbert (Oxon Hill, Md./Bishop McNamara), who leads the Wildcats with 14 receptions. Interestingly, eight different Wildcat players have caught touchdown receptions this season with Herbert (4 TD's) being the only player with more than one TD grab.
On the ground, freshman Tyrell Sutton (Akron, Ohio/Archbishop Hoban) continues to pad his NU freshman records and rank among the country's top rushers. He is second in Big Ten rushing (143.5 ypg) and first in conference scoring (13.0 ppg). Sutton, who is the Wildcats' third-leading receiver with 19 catches this season, is 139 yards shy of the 1,000-yard rushing mark. In six games, he has already surpassed the 1,000-yard mark for rushing and receiving yards (1,030).
The Broadcasts
Radio -- WGN (720 AM) will carry the game live with its pregame show starting at 10:30 a.m. The radio broadcast can also be heard via the internet at wgnradio.com. Dave Eanet (play-by-play) and Ted Albrecht (analyst) call the action. WNUR (89.3), NU's student radio station, also will carry the game live. The contest is also available on the XM Satellite Radio network. (Big Ten channels 196-199).
Television -- ESPN2 is televising the game to a national audience. Pam Ward (play-by-play), David Norrie (analyst) and Jimmy Dykes (sideline) call the action.
(For a complete set of notes, see the above PDF.)