Northwestern University Athletics
Football Downs UNLV
6/21/1999 12:00:00 AM | Football
September 5, 1998
EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) - With a 41-7 defeat of UNLV Saturday afternoon at Ryan Field, the Northwestern Wildcats moved to 1-0 for the 1998 season, winning their opener for the second-straight year. It was NU's third-consecutive win, and marked the most points by a Wildcat team in a season opener since Ara Parseghian's 1961 team defeated Boston College, 45-0.
Northwestern's win was highlighted by an outstanding performance from senior wide receiver D'Wayne Bates. In his first game back since breaking his leg in last season's opener against Oklahoma, Bates caught two passes for touchdowns en route to a nine-catch, 156-yard performance for the afternoon. The game marks the 10th time in his NU career that Bates has netted 100 or more yards in a game (an NU record). Both his nine catches and 156 yards were just shy of his career highs of 10 receptions (10/19/96 at Wisconsin) and 159 yards (9/28/96 at Indiana).
Gavin Hoffman, a sophomore playing in his first collegiate game, started at quarterback and completed 19-of-28 passes for 265 yards. His day was highlighted by a 50-yard completion to Bates that put Northwestern up 10-0 in the second quarter. Also sparkling in his Wildcat debut was sophomore running back Damien Anderson, who ran 28 times for 103 yards and two touchdowns. For UNLV, junior wide receiver Len Ware made eight receptions for 136 yards and one touchdown
Junior linebacker Preston Letts led NU in tackles for the afternoon with seven. Conrad Emmerich, Barry Gardner and Thor Schmidt supported him with six stops each. NU sacked UNLV quarterback Kevin Crook four times, including twice by senior defensive tackle Jeff Dyra.
The Wildcats got on the scoreboard first with 6:34 remaining in the first quarter, after a 31-yard field goal by Brian Gowins. After Bates' 50-yard touchdown gave Northwestern a 10-0 margin, UNLV responded on their first play with a 77-yard touchdown pass from Crook to Len Ware. Northwestern took over from there, scoring 10 more points in the first half, including a 47-yard field goal by Gowins as time expired for a 20-7 lead at intermission. In all, NU scored the final 31 points of the game.
Northwestern finished the game with a marked statistical advantage. In time of possession, NU held the ball for 36:46, compared with 23:14 for UNLV. The Wildcats netted 24 first downs to the Rebels' eight; NU tallied 170 rushing yards to UNLV's 35; and NU posted 439 total offensive yards to 208 for UNLV. The Wildcat defense grabbed three interceptions while the offense converted on 9-of-18 third down plays.
