Post-game Notes

Jan. 1, 2010

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Northwestern Post-Game Notes

  • Northwestern made its eighth postseason appearance today, and its seventh since the 1995-96 season. This is the third time that Northwestern has played a New Year's Day Bowl game since that season (Jan. 1, 1996 in the Rose Bowl; Jan. 1, 1997 in the Citrus Bowl (now Capital One Bowl); and Jan. 1, 2010 in the Outback Bowl-NU's first appearance in the Outback.)

  • This is the ninth all-time game for Northwestern versus a Southeastern Conference team. It is the Wildcats' first meeting with Auburn. It is Northwestern's first game vs. an SEC school since the Wildcats played Tennessee in the 1997 Citrus Bowl.

  • NU finished the season 8-5, giving the Wildcats 17 wins in the past two years -- third most for back-to-back seasons.

  • QB Mike Kafka finished the game 47-of-78 for a career-high 532 yards, 4 TD's. (pass attempts, completions and yards are all school records.) His 78 pass attempts are the most by a player in college bowl history. He closes his career with 4,265 passing yards, eighth-most on NU's career list. He also finished the season with 3,430 passing yards, the third-most in school history. Kafka set an NCAA record for most plays in a game (98) and helped Northwestern set an NCAA single-game record for plays (115).

  • A total of 21 Outback Bowl records were broken and 11 records tied. Nine were NCAA FBS and/or NCAA bowl records.

  • Kafka set an Outback Bowl, Northwestern and Northwestern bowl record with 532 passing yards. The previous Outback mark was held by Purdue's Drew Brees, who had 378 yards in 2000 (vs. Georgia). NU's previous single-game school mark for passing yardage was 520 yards (C.J. Bacher vs. Michigan State, 2007). NU's previous bowl record was 416 yards by Brett Basanez.

  • Kafka totaled a school- and bowl-record 562 yards of total offense today, giving him 3,725 yards for the season which is second-most in a single season for Northwestern. He totaled 5,152 career yards, good for eighth place on NU's all-time list.

  • Mike Kafka's string of passes without an interception ended at 117 when his second pass of the game, a short pass to Scott Concannon, deflected off Concannon's hands and to Auburn DB Walter McFadden.

  • WR Zeke Markshausen, who came into the game ranked second in the Big Ten and 19th nationally in receptions per game, totaled 12 catches today for 84 yards. He closes the year with 91 catches, second on NU's all-time single-season list behind Richard Buchanan's 94 catches in 1989. His 91 catches also ranks seventh on the Big Ten's single-season all-time list. Markshausen closed the season with a catch in all 13 games, which equals NU's single-season mark for consecutive games with at least one catch.

  • WR Andrew Brewer caught a 39-yard pass on NU's first scoring drive of the game. In the third quarter, he caught a 35-yard TD pass. In the fourth quarter, he threw a two-point PAT pass to tie the game. The touchdown receptions were Brewer's team-leading eighth and ninth TD receptions of the year and his sixth and seventh of the season at 20 yards or greater. His nine TD's ties him for second place on NU's single-season TD reception list (with Richard Buchanan, 1989, and D'Wayne Bates, 1998).

  • Brewer closed the season with 57 catches for 925 yards. The 925 yards ranks fourth on NU's single-season receiving yardage list.

  • SB Drake Dunsmore's 66-yard TD reception was a career-long reception. His previous career-long was 35 yards, accomplished against Duke in 2007. He finished with a career-high 120 receiving yards. Dunsmore and Brewer both finished with 100-plus yard receiving games.

  • Redshirt freshman OG Brian Mulroe made his first career start today at left offensive guard. NU's starting offensive line today consisted of two redshirt freshmen and three sophomores.

  • S Brendan Smith became the first player in NU history to play and start in a third bowl game. Smith started the 2005 Sun Bowl game vs. UCLA as well as last year's Valero Alamo Bowl vs. Missouri.

  • WR Sidney Stewart finished with a career-high 10 catches for a career-most 97 yards. He had 94 receiving yards in his previous game vs. Wisconsin.

  • DE Corey Wootton made his 49th career start today -- an NU record.

  • CB Sherrick McManis picked off his team-leading fifth interception today (late second quarter) and the ninth of his career. The nine career interceptions move him into a sixth-place tie on NU's all-time list (tied with Willie Lindsey, 1989-92).

  • Northwestern notched two more interceptions today, giving them 17 for the season. The Wildcats came into the game ranked 22nd nationally in passes intercepted.

  • Northwestern totaled a season-high 621 yards of total offense, its sixth game with 400 or more yards of total offense this year. NU closed the season with three straight 400-or-more yard games. It was the first time NU totaled 600 or more yards of offense when it had 611 yards vs. Michigan State on Oct. 6, 2007.

  • NU's 34 first downs (21 passing, 8 rushing, 5 penalty) were two shy of its single-game school record set in 2005 vs. Illinois.

  • Northwestern fell to 8-3 all-time in overtime, having lost its last two OT games-2008 Valero Alamo Bowl (vs. Missouri, 30-23 OT loss) and 2010 Outback Bowl (38-35 OT loss).

    • Auburn Outback Bowl Post-Game Notes
    Auburn vs. Northwestern
    Raymond James Stadium
    January 1, 2010

  • Auburn team captains were QB Chris Todd and DE Antonio Coleman.
  • Auburn won the toss and deferred to the second half. Northwestern chose to receive and Auburn defended the south end zone.
  • Kickoff was at 11:03 a.m. ET.
  • Attendance was announced as 49,383.

    • TEAM NOTES

    • This was Auburn's second straight overtime bowl victory as Auburn defeated Clemson 23-20 in the 2007 Chick-fil-A Bowl.
    • Auburn has now won three straight bowl games, all by three points apiece. The Tigers defeated Northwestern 38-35 in overtime in the Outback Bowl, defeated Clemson 23-20 in overtime in the 2007 Chick-fil-A Bowl and defeated Nebraska 17-14 in the 2007 AT&T Cotton Bowl Classic.
    • Auburn's 38 points set a Tigers bowl record, eclipsing the 35 Auburn scored in a 35-28 Gator Bowl victory over Ole Miss in 1971. The 73 combined points by both Auburn and Northwestern also set an Auburn bowl record that was also previously held in the 1971 Gator Bowl.
    • Auburn played in its 35th bowl game, which is 16th most among FBS schools. The Tigers are now 20-13-2 all-time in bowl games and have won three in a row.
    • Gene Chizik, who is the first Auburn first-year head coach to take the Tigers to a bowl game, is now 7-0 all-time in bowl games, including a 6-0 record as an assistant.
    • Auburn is now 7-3-2 all-time against current members of the Big Ten, including a 7-3 record in bowl games. It was Auburn's first ever game against Northwestern.
    • Auburn scored 38 points, and finished the season with 433 points, which is second most in school history, just missing the record of 438 points by the 1995 Tigers.
    • Auburn finished with 425 total yards of offense, and finished the season with 5,613 yards, breaking the previous school record of 5,469 set in 2004.
    • Auburn has now won 57 consecutive games when scoring 30 or more points in a game, and is 277-4 all-time. The last time Auburn lost a game when scoring at least 30 points was in 1996, when the Tigers dropped a 56-49 contest to Georgia in four overtimes.
    • Auburn collected three interceptions in the first half and five overall, after picking off just three passes in its previous six games combined. Auburn also had five interceptions against West Virginia Sept. 19. It marked the first time Northwestern quarterback Mike Kafka had ever been picked off more than three times in a game.
    • Auburn had two scoring drives that took less than two minutes, marking the Tigers' 27th and 28th scoring drives this season that took less than two minutes, and 25 of those 28 drives resulted in touchdowns.
    • Auburn scored first on a 1-yard TD run by Kodi Burns. The Tigers are now 5-3 this season when scoring first.
    • Auburn's opening-drive TD marked the fourth straight game that Auburn scored a touchdown on its opening drive, and the fifth straight time Auburn scored points via a TD or field goal.
    • Auburn led 21-7 at halftime. The Tigers are now 7-2 when leading at halftime this season.
    • The score was tied 21-21 after three quarters. The Tigers are now 1-1 this season when tied after three quarters.

    INDIVIDUAL NOTES

    • Darvin Adams was named the Outback Bowl MVP for his Outback Bowl record tying 12 receptions for a career-high 142 yards. His 60 catches this year set a new school record, surpassing the previous mark of 58 by Willie Gosha (1995) and Frank Sanders (1994), and his 997 receiving yards are the third best behind Ronney Daniels (1068) and Terry Beasley (1051). It was his fourth 100-yard receiving game of the season.
    • Ben Tate rushed 20 times for 108 yards , pushing his season total to 1,362 yards, moving past James Brooks (1980), Carnell Williams (2003), Kenny Irons (2005) and Stephen Davis (1994) for the fourth-best single-season total in school history.
    • Tate's career rushing total is now 3321, which is fifth best in school history, just 47 yards behind Joe Cribbs for fourth.
    • Tate's 5-yard TD rush in the fourth quarter was his 23rd career rushing TD and ninth this season and he followed that with a 7-yard TD rush for his 24th career rushing TD. The 24 TDs are tied for the sixth most in school history with Brent Fullwood (1983-86), James Brooks (1977-80).
    • Chris Todd extended his own school single-season record to 22 passing touchdowns in a season.
    • Wes Byrum set new school records for points scored by a kicker and extra points in a season during the contest. Byurm finished the season with 99 points and 54 extra points, breaking the records of 94 points and 51 extra points set by John Vaughn in 2006 and 2004, respectively.
    • Walter McFadden had two interceptions, including a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown in the first quarter. It was his third career interception returned for a score and second this season, and the longest interception return in Auburn history and Outback Bowl history. The previous longest interception return in school history was a 98-yarder by John Liptak vs. Georgia in 1947. The longest in Outback history was 88 yards by Dwayne Rudd of Alabama in 1997. It was the 15th 100-yard interception return in SEC history.
    • McFadden now has two of the four longest interception returns in Auburn history. His 93-yard return for a score vs. Tennessee Tech in 2007 ranks fourth in school history.
    • McFadden now has nine career interceptions and six this season. His six picks are tied for fifth most in a single season in school history and most since Junior Rosegreen had six in 2004.
    • Kodi Burns ended Auburn's opening drive with a 1-yard touchdown plunge. It was his 13th career rushing touchdown and fifth this season, but first since the Mississippi State game Sept. 12. All five of his rushing touchdowns this season have been from one yard out.
    • T'Sharvan Bell had his second and third career interceptions, getting one in the second quarter and one in the fourth. He first interception of the season came late in the game against Mississippi State earlier this season.
    • Quinardius Carr caught his first career touchdown pass in the second quarter, hauling in a 46-yard pass from Chris Todd. It was just his second catch of the season and eighth of his career, and a new career long. His previous long was a 32-yard catch this season at Arkansas.
    • Neiko Thorpe had his second interception of the season and the fourth of his career in the third quarter.
    • Antonio Coleman collected his 10th sack of the season and now has 24.5 for his career. His 10 sacks ties for fourth most in a single season in school history, and he remains third in school history for career sacks.