Nov. 14, 2005
NU-Illinois Game Notes
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EVANSTON, Ill. -- Northwestern wraps up the 2005 regular season this Saturday, taking on Illinois in the school's annual battle for the Sweet Sioux Tomahawk Trophy. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. CT at Illinois' Memorial Stadium. ESPN Plus will televise the game to a number of regional markets throughout the country. Locally, WBBM-TV (CBS, Channel 2) will air the annual rivalry game.
The Wildcats dropped their first Big Ten game on the road Saturday, falling 48-7 to conference co-leader Ohio State. With the loss, Northwestern fell out of contention for a share of the Big Ten title. With one game remaining, the Wildcats' objective is to finish with a win and improve their standing for the bowl selection process. A victory will give Northwestern its second straight 5-3 conference mark as well as seven victories, its highest win total since posting an 8-4 record in 2000.
Illinois is 2-8 overall and 0-7 in the BIg Ten following a 37-3 loss at Purdue last week. The Fighting Illini opened the season with a 33-30 overtime win over bowl-bound Rutgers. They then won their second straight game over San Jose State before starting their current eight-game losing skid with a 35-20 setback at California on Sept. 17.
The Illini are led by quarterback Tim Brasic (210.5 ypg of total offense) and a trio of running backs: Pierre Thomas (56.7 ypg, 4 TD's), E.B. Halsey (30.8 ypg, 1 TD) and Rashard Mendenhall (23.4 ypg). Halsey and Thomas are also two of Illinois' favorite receivers, ranking first and third, respectively, in receptions. Halsey has a team-best 35 catches. As a unit, Illinois averages 346.1 ypg.
Defensively, the Illini are paced by strong safey Kevin Mitchell (64 tackles, 3.5 TFL's), linebacker J Leman (61 tackles, 4.5 TFL's) and defensive tackle Chris Norwell (40 tackles, 7.5 TFL's, 3 sacks). Illinois is surrendering 456.6 yards per game, including 221.8 on the ground.
Northwestern, which has already established a single-season record for passing yardage (3,025 yards), has not dropped successive Big Ten games since the start of the 2003 campaign when it lost to Ohio State and Minnesota on Sept. 27 and Oct. 4. The Wildcat offense, which had totaled 400 or more yards in 10 straight games, was held to a season-low 251 yards by Ohio State on Saturday. Northwestern is now ranked ninth nationally in total offense (482.4 ypg).
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 -- ESPN Plus is televising the game to a regional audience. Wayne Larrivee (play-by-play), Randy Wright (analyst) and Quint Kessenich (sideline) call the action.
(For a complete set of game notes, refer to the PDF above.)