Northwestern University Athletics
Northwestern
TCU
Football Falls To No. 20 TCU 41-14
9/16/2000 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 16, 2000
By JOEL ANDERSON
Associated Press Writer
FORT WORTH, Texas - LaDainian Tomlinson rushed for 243 yards on 39 carries had two touchdowns as No. 20 TCU beat Northwestern 41-14 on Saturday.
TCU (2-0) has won seven straight, its longest winning streak since 1984. Northwestern is 2-1.
TCU's Casey Printers completed 8 of 12 passes for 101 yards and two touchdowns. He also ran for 74 yards and a touchdown.
TCU got off to a quick start after Cedric James returned the opening kickoff 42 yards to the TCU 45. After a 6-yard pass completion, Tomlinson rushed for 45 yards on the next four plays.
Two plays later, TCU's Chris Kaylakie kicked a 26-yard field goal to give the Horned Frogs a 3-0 lead.
Northwestern came right back with a touchdown to take a 7-3 lead after one quarter. Damien Anderson, who moved into fourth place on the school's all-time rushing list during the course of the day, scampered 39 yards for his fifth touchdown of the young season.
TCU took a lead it would not relinquish in the second quarter with a 53-yard TD pass from Printers to Tim Maiden, then added to it with another TD pass, this time Printers to James. In the third quarter, the Horned Frogs made the score 24-7 when Tomlinson ended a lengthy drive with a 22-yard run.
However, the Northwestern offense gave life to the Wildcats' chances in the fourth quarter. On the first play of a drive, Zak Kustok found Teddy Johnson for a 73-yard TD -- the longest strike of Kustok's college career -- and the score was 24-14.
The Northwestern defense then stopped TCU, forcing a punt, and it looked like NU might make things interesting in the final five minutes.
Instead, turnovers proved their undoing as TCU scored 17 points in a span of 4:04. Kustok was picked off at the Wildcat 20, leading to a TCU field goal, and then on the next drive Kustok was sacked and fumbled at the NU 1-yard line. Tomlinson obliged the gift with a dive over the top to make the score 34-14.
On the first play of NU's next drive, Kustok was again intercepted, and the Horned Frogs turned it into seven more points to close out the scoring with 1:01 to play.
Anderson finished the day with 90 yards, moving ahead of Stanley Davenport and Mike Adamle on NU's all-time list. Anderson, a junior-eligible, now has 2,030 career yards. Kunle Patrick had a career-high four catches to aid the Wildcat cause.
Northwestern is back in action next Saturday at Wisconsin, taking on the fourth-ranked Badgers at Camp Randall Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. and will be televised as part of the ESPN Plus package.
