Oct. 19, 2007
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2007 Northwestern Football
Northwestern vs. Eastern Michigan
Ford Field o Detroit, Mich.
Oct. 19, 2007
Northwestern Notes
Northwestern won its third straight game and improved to 5-3 overall (2-2 in the Big Ten). The Wildcats return to Big Ten action next week, playing at Purdue at 11 a.m. CT (Big Ten Network).
The Wildcats upped their all-time record vs. Mid-American Conference teams to 12-8-1, which includes a 2-0 mark against Eastern Michigan. Northwestern has won five straight games vs. MAC opponents.
For the first time during his head coaching career, Pat Fitzgerald's Wildcats won a game when the opponent scored first. Northwestern had lost its previous eight times when the opponent scored first.
QB C.J. Bachér, who has earned the Big Ten's Offensive Player of the Week honors the past two weeks while throwing for a two-game total of 990 yards and nine TD's, completed 25-of-42 passes for 361 yards. He has now passed for 1,351 yards and 10 TD's in three games this month. Bachér also has rushed for a pair of scores.
Bachér now has 2,598 passing yards this season and moved past Zak Kustok (2,389 in 2000) for sixth place on NU's single-season yardage list.
Bachér had a string of 111 consecutive passes without an interception end in the first quarter. His last interception prior to tonight came in the fourth quarter of the Michigan game (Sept. 29).
Bachér has now thrown for 200 yards or more in 12 of his 13 career starts. He threw for 211 yards in the first half. He has a record of 7-6 as NU's starting quarterback.
WR Kim Thompson caught five passes for a career-high 133 yards. His 71-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter was the longest catch of his career and his first touchdown of the season. The Detroit native also had a catch for 27 yards in the contest and leads the team with 10 plays of 20 or more yards this season.
WR Kevin Frymire caught his first collegiate pass in the second quarter.
SS Brad Phillips was responsible for NU's first two takeaways. He forced a fumble deep in NU territory (recovered by DE David Ngene) and the Wildcats responded on a 96-yard touchdown drive. On Eastern Michigan's ensuing possession, Phillips recorded his first collegiate interception at nearly the same spot, on the NU 5-yard line. NU then went 85 yards and earned a 28-yard field goal from PK Amado Villarreal, his second of the game.
LB Adam Kadela, who finished with a game-high 12 tackles, snared his first interception of the season and the second of his career with a third-quarter pick. He also deflected a pass which ended up in the hands of CB Deante Battle.
CB Deante Battle recorded NU's fourth takeaway of the game, an interception in the end zone, late in the third quarter. The four takeaways are the most by a Pat Fitzgerald-coached team and the most since NU had four in the 2005 Sun Bowl vs. UCLA.
For the first time since the Nevada game, Northwestern's fifth all-time leading rusher, RB Tyrell Sutton, returned to action. Sutton played in his first 26 career games before being sidelined with an ankle injury.
RB Omar Conteh scored his fourth rushing TD in the first half on a 12-yard run. He also has two receiving TD's this year, giving him a team-leading six TD's (tied with WR Ross Lane). He recorded his second career 100-yard rushing game, finishing with a career-high 122 yards.
NU, which came into the game with the 33rd-best third-down conversion rate in the nation (43.7 percent), converted 6-of-9 third downs in the first half and finished the game 7-of-13.
NU began the weekend ranked ninth nationally in time of possession (32:27). The Wildcats finished the game with a TOP of 30:35.
PK Amado Villarreal snapped a string of three straight missed field goal attempts with a pair of FG's in the first half-25- and 28-yard FG's. 