14th-Ranked Wildcats Face Ohio State Saturday Night on ESPN

Oct. 1, 2001

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GAME 4

No. 14/16 NORTHWESTERN (3-0, 1-0) at OHIO STATE (2-1, 1-0)

Date/Time: Oct. 6, 2001/6:45 p.m. CDT
Site: Ohio Stadium, Columbus, Ohio
Capacity/Surface: 99,000+/Natural Grass
Television: ESPN (Ron Franklin, Mike Gottfried, Adrian Karsten)
Radio: WGN 720 AM (Dave Eanet, play-by-play, Ted Albrecht, color) (also on wgnradio.com)

The Game
Off to its best start in 39 years, Northwestern takes its show on the road for a nationally televised game at Ohio State this Saturday, Oct. 6. Kickoff is set for 7:45 p.m. Eastern time (6:45 Central) at OSU's newly refurbished Ohio Stadium. Calling the action for ESPN is Ron Franklin (play-by-play), Mike Gottfried (color) and Adrian Karsten (sideline). Saturday's showdown is one of the key early-season matchups on the Big Ten schedule. Northwestern, which was picked to win the Big Ten crown by the league's media members, is facing the team that was picked to finish third. Michigan, predicted to place second in the league, is not on the Wildcats' schedule this fall. The winner of Saturday's game will remain atop the Big Ten standings with a 2-0 record.

Under the direction of first-year coach Jim Tressel, the Buckeyes improved to 2-1 last Saturday after handing Indiana a 27-14 home defeat. The Buckeyes feature one of the nation's top defenses, having allowed just three touchdowns in three games. Overall, OSU has yielded five TD's and is giving up 13.7 points per game, the 13th-best figure nationally. In the Big Ten, OSU ranks third in total defense with a 302.7 ypg average. The Buckeyes are led by Butkus Award candidates Matt Wilhelm and Joe Cooper, who each have 23 tackles. Offensively, the Bucks are balanced, running for 184.7 per game and throwing for 176.0. Tailback Jonathan Wells (78.3 ypg) and three-year starting quarterback Steve Bellisari (161.7 ypg, 35-of-68-2 TD's) lead the offense. Northwestern and Ohio State are meeting for the first time since 1998. In the Wildcats' three most recent Big Ten championship seasons (1995, '96 and 2000), OSU and Northwestern did not play one another. With the renovation of the Horseshoe now complete, the Wildcats and Buckeyes could be playing in front of a record crowd this Saturday night. OSU drew a record 102,602 in its 2001 opener vs. Akron.

The Series with Ohio State
Series Record: OSU leads 52-13-1
At Evanston: OSU leads 24-5-1
At Columbus: OSU leads 28-8
Current Win Streak: Ohio State, 21
Last Meeting: Oct. 24, 1998 (Ohio State 36, Northwestern 10)
First Meeting: 1913 (Ohio State 58, Northwestern 0)
Series Notes: The Wildcats are trying to snap a 21-game losing skid to the Buckeyes. NU's last victory over OSU came in 1971, a 14-10 victory in Columbus ... OSU's 52 series wins over Northwestern are the second most by an opponent on the Wildcats' all-time series list. Wisconsin tops the list with 53 victories versus Northwestern ... The Buckeyes are outscoring the Wildcats by an average score of 44-10 during their current 21-game victory string over NU.

The Last Meeting with the Buckeyes
Oct. 24, 1998-OSU made it 21 in a row over the Wildcats with a 36-10 victory in front of a sellout crowd at Ryan Field. The Buckeyes came into the game ranked No. 1 nationally in the Associated Press poll. NU's defense and special teams provided the Wildcats with several golden opportunities, but the offense was unable to capitalize. Northwestern finished with just 238 yards in total offense and just 48 rushing yards. The Wildcats' only touchdown of the game, scored on a D'Wayne Bates 60-yard screen pass, cut the OSU lead to 10-7, but NU would get no closer. OSU quarterback Joe Germaine completed 19 of 35 passes for 342 yards and three touchdowns. David Boston's two second-half TD grabs of 38 and 31 yards put the game out of reach. Bates finished the game with seven receptions and 95 yards.

The Michigan State Recap
Sept. 29, 2001--For the second time in as many years, an ESPN "Instant Classic" has been born. In a matter of 29 seconds, Northwestern went from what seemed a sure win, to a probable loss and then to a stunning victory. The final heroics came from David Wasielewski (Odessa, Fla./Tampa Jesuit), who booted a 47-yard field goal with no time remaining to give Northwestern a 27-26 Big Ten-opening win over Michigan State at Ryan Field. With 4:42 remaining in the game, MSU took its first lead since an early 7-0 advantage when Charles Rogers returned a punt 64 yards for a score. The PAT kick was no good and the Spartans led 20-17. Northwestern took the ensuing kickoff and masterfully drove 70 yards in 15 plays. The drive was capped with a 10-yard scoring pass from Zak Kustok (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg) to Kunle Patrick (Brooklyn, N.Y./Poly Prep Country Day) with 29 seconds left. It was Patrick's second score of the day after grabbing a 22-yard TD pass in the first quarter. Needing a touchdown to regain the lead, the Spartans did the improbable, returning the kickoff 84 yards for a go-ahead score. Napoleon Harris (Dixmoor, Ill./Thornton) blocked the PAT kick, though, and that left MSU with a two-point edge, 26-24. Now, with 16 seconds to go and the ball on their own 13-yard line, the Wildcats' lone hope was to connect on one or two pass plays and try to move within field goal range for a chance at victory. Sure enough, Kustok ordered up "Victory Right," the play that NU used one year earlier to defeat Minnesota, and completed a 54-yard pass to Jon Schweighardt (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton-Warrenville South). Schweighardt actually caught the ball after Patrick jumped and tipped the ball in his direction. One more play, a three-yard rushing gain, then set up Wasielewski's winning kick.

Northwestern Head Coach Randy Walker
2000 Dave McClain Big Ten Coach of The Year
Randy Walker is in his third season at Northwestern after spending the previous nine years (1990-98) at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. In just two years with the Wildcats, Walker directed a stunning turnaround. After a 3-8 season in 1999, he engineered a complete overhaul of the Wildcat offense and the result was an 8-4 record, an Alamo Bowl berth and a share of the 2000 Big Ten championship. Walker was recognized for his efforts last season by both his peers and the media, as he was named Dave McClain Big Ten Coach of the Year and the Region 3 Coach of the Year by the AFCA. Walker owns a 73-47-5 career record in 11 seasons and a 14-12 mark at Northwestern. Prior to gaining his first head coaching job at Miami in 1990, Walker spent one year as an assistant at Miami (1977), 10 years as an assistant at North Carolina (1978-87) and two years as an assistant at Northwestern (1988-89).

Walker came to Evanston with an impressive coaching resume already intact. The 47-year-old Walker departed Oxford as the winningest head coach in school history. His mark at Miami of 59-35-5 (.621) is even more impressive when you consider the coaching greats which Miami has produced: Paul Brown, Woody Hayes, Ara Parseghian, Bo Schembechler ... and the list goes on. Walker graduated from Miami in 1976 with a bachelor's degree in social studies education and earned a master's degree in educational administration from his alma mater in 1981. He starred for Miami as a fullback, leading them to three-straight Tangerine Bowl victories. Upon graduation, Walker was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals, but returned to Miami to help as a graduate assistant and the next year became a full-time assistant in charge of running backs under Dick Crum. When Coach Crum departed for North Carolina, Walker joined him and spent the next 10 seasons as a Tar Heel. He coached various positions, ending up as the offensive coordinator. From there, he spent two seasons as Northwestern's running backs coach (1988-89) and, in 1990, took over as the head coach at Miami.

The Year Was 1949 ...
At the Big Ten Media Day Kickoff event on August 1, Northwestern was tabbed the league's preseason favorite by five votes over second-place Michigan. Ohio State was picked third. This is the first time since 1949 that the Wildcats were picked by the media to win the conference crown. That 1949 club, which was coming off a Rose Bowl appearance the previous season, finished 3-4 in league play and placed seventh that year. Head coach Randy Walker and his Wildcats are keeping the preseason favorite tag in perspective. "It's gratifying for our guys to get some respect," says Walker. "However, the same guys who picked us last last year picked us first this year. I know there's a team that's ready to have a breakout year. I just don't know who it is. Tell me what team in this conference can't win it."

Remembering Rashidi
On Friday, Aug. 3, Northwestern suffered a tragic blow as senior safety Rashidi Ayodele Wheeler (Ontario, Calif./Damien) died while running a summer conditioning drill on campus. In his memory, the Wildcats will be wearing a patch on their uniform with his initials, RAW. Also, for the first time in Northwestern football history, Wheeler's jersey number (#30) is being retired. Wheeler's locker in the John Evans Club locker room is also being preserved with a glass case surrounding his jersey and helmet. Wheeler started all 12 games at strong safety in 2000 and registered 88 tackles (59 solos) and three pass deflections.

Buckeye Ties
In his 12 years as a head coach, this is Randy Walker's first meeting with Ohio State, the school he admired for many years as a youngster growing up in Troy, Ohio. With the exception of assistant coach Pat Fitzgerald, every other Northwestern assistant was either reared in the Buckeye state or coached and/or played football in Ohio. Seven players on the Northwestern roster hail from Ohio, including Columbus native Jeff Backes (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington). Backes suffered a sprained ankle during preseason camp and has not yet appeared in a Northwestern uniform.

League Kudos
For their performances in Saturday's win, Zak Kustok and David Wasielewski were tabbed the respective Big Ten Co-Offensive and Co-Special Teams Players of the Week. Kustok shared the honor with Purdue's Brandon Hance, while Wasielewski shared the award with Purdue's Travis Dorsch. It was the third such honor for Kustok and the first for Wasielewski.

Check The Record Books
It took 39 years, but for the first time since 1962, Northwestern is unbeaten after three games. The Wildcats had four other opportunities to go 3-0 since the '62 season, but came up short on all four attempts. The '62 team started the year 6-0 before finishing with a 7-2 mark. Ironically, the 1962 club moved to 4-0 when they captured an 18-14 win at Ohio State.

Check The Record Books, Part II
When the Sept. 15 home game vs. Navy was canceled, that meant Northwestern had to begin the season with back-to-back road contests. The Wildcats emerged from that opening stretch with victories at UNLV and Duke. Amazingly, the last time that Northwestern started a season with two road wins came nearly a century ago, in 1905.

A Good Omen?
Only once since 1963 has Northwestern started a season with a road victory. The other time? In 1995, when the Wildcats ended their long Big Ten championship drought and earned a trip to the Rose Bowl. That year, Northwestern opened its season with a 17-15 victory at Notre Dame. NU went on to win 10 games and go unbeaten in league play.

Cardiac 'Cats At It Again
Many programs are fortunate to win one or two "miracle-type" games over an extended period of time. With Saturday's gut-wrenching victory over Michigan State, Northwestern has captured three improbable wins in less than a year. On back-to-back weekends in 2000, the Wildcats threw a Hail Mary pass to beat Minnesota on the game's final play before edging out Michigan the following week with a 54-51 victory. The winning score in the Michigan game came with 20 seconds remaining. Since Randy Walker assumed the coaching duties at Northwestern, he has never lost a game (6-0) that was decided by seven points or less. One of those six wins was a double-overtime decision at Wisconsin last year.

Zak Attack
The orchestrator of Northwestern's high-octane offense is senior quarterback Zak Kustok. Kustok, who is scheduled to start his 22nd straight game at quarterback Saturday at Ohio State, developed into one of the nation's most consistent and dangerous signal callers in 2000. Kustok's lowest single-game completion percentage during the regular season was 51.2 percent (21 of 41 at Wisconsin). Until the season-opening 24-for-49 (49.0 percent) effort at UNLV, he had completed 50 percent or more of his pass attempts in 12 consecutive regular-season contests. Kustok returned to his 2000 form the past couple weeks, completing 21-of-31 passes for a career-best 67.7 percentage at Duke and a 23-for-40 effort (57.5 percent) vs. Michigan State. Last season, he completed 67.5 percent (27 of 40) of his pass attempts in the Wildcats' scintillating 54-51 win over Michigan. Another trait of Kustok's is his ability to keep mistakes to a minimum. Prior to suffering his first interception in eight games against Michigan State, Kustok attempted 277 straight passes without being intercepted-the longest streak of his career. Dating to the 1999 season, Kustok has thrown at least one touchdown pass in the Wildcats' last 16 games. Kustok added another notch to his belt at UNLV when he rushed for a career-high three touchdowns. He also tossed a pair of TD passes, giving him a hand in all five NU TD's. Against Duke, he threw for 318 yards-four yards shy of his career high-and ran for 33 yards. Versus the Spartans, Kustok rushed for a career-high 105 yards and totaled 336 yards in total offense.

While teammate Damien Anderson is making a run at the Heisman Trophy and Doak Walker awards, Kustok is a contender for the Davey O'Brien Award, which honors the nation's top quarterback. According to some national writers and reporters, they also consider Kustok a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate, because of his mastery of running the Wildcat offense. In a recent "What's Hot, What's Not" feature on espn.com, writer Dan Shanoff placed Kustok in the "Hot" column for "Please, give him more pub." With five more touchdown passes, Kustok will climb into a second-place tie on the Wildcats' all-time TD list. He ranks third nationally in total offense (328.3 ypg). Kustok was named the USA Today Big Ten Player of the Week on Sept. 10. Kustok is closing in on the 1,000-yard mark for career rushing, needing 76 yards to reach that milestone. He also has 15 career rushing TD's, which is good enough for seventh place on NU's all-time list.

Heisman Trophy Candidate Damien Anderson
Facing one of the league's top defenses, Anderson fell short of the 100-yard rushing mark for the first time in eight games and finished with 75 yards on 28 carries. In the air, Anderson caught four passes for 19 yards. Despite the off-day, Anderson continues to rank among the nation's leaders in rushing yards (13th, 125.7) and all-purpose yardage (14th, 156.0). Anderson is now 51 yards shy of moving into 10th place on the Big Ten's career rushing list. Anderson could finish as high as No. 2 on the Big Ten's career rushing list when his career concludes. He needs two rushing TD's and 19 all-purpose yards to become NU's career leader in those two categories. One of the overlooked aspects of Anderson's game is his ability to hold on to the football. He has lost just one fumble in his last 392 carries. Another Randy Walker-coached running back, Travis Prentice, holds the NCAA mark (862) for consecutive rushes without losing a fumble.

2001 HIGHLIGHTS
* Heisman Trophy and Doak Walker Award Candidate
* Big Ten Preseason Offensive Player of the Year
* Sept. 24 Big Ten Co-Offensive Player of the Week (Duke game)
* Football News first-team All-America
* Street & Smith's first-team All-America, first-team All-Big Ten
* Athlon Sports first-team All-American, first-team All-Big Ten
* Rated No. 1 running back by Lindy's and The Sporting News
* Lindy's National Offensive Player of the Year, first-team All- American and first-team All-Big Ten
* The Sporting News first-team All-America, Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, first-team All-Big Ten
* Preview Sports first-team All-America, Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, first-team All-Big Ten
* Collegefootballnews.com first-team All-America, Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year, first-team All-Big Ten
* Sits among leaders in USA Today.com, ESPN.com and CNNSI.com Heisman Trophy contender polls.
* Will be featured on ESPN's SportsCentury 50 and Beyond documentary in November
* Featured on FOX Sports Net's "The Slant," Friday, Sept. 7

2000 HIGHLIGHTS
* Finished fifth in voting for the Heisman Memorial Trophy
* Doak Walker Award finalist
* FWAA, Walter Camp, Football News, CNNSI, The Sporting News All-America
* Football News Offensive Player of the Year finalist
* Touchdown Club of Columbus' Outstanding Running Back
* Only unanimous All-Big Ten first-team pick by both coaches and media
* Broke Michigan State's Lorenzo White's Big Ten rushing record for yards in conference games with 1,549 yards. Also broke White's yards per game record with a 193.6 average.
* Averaged an outstanding 6.6 yards per carry.
* Rushed for 200-plus yards four times and became the first NU back to rush for 200 yards in back-to-back games.
* Anderson was the first player nationally to reach the 1,000-yard mark. Anderson reached the 1,000-yard mark in the Wildcats' sixth game. No other NU player has performed that feat.
* Anderson reached the 1,000-yard mark on his 135th carry of the season (an average of 7.4 yards per carry). No NU player has taken so few car- ries to reach the 1,000-yard mark.

Anderson/Kustok Chasing Autry/Schnur
The quarterback/tailback tandem of Zak Kustok and Damien Anderson are on pace to become the Wildcats' top total offensive duo in school history. Through three games in the 2001 season, Kustok and Anderson have a combined 8,934 yards in total offense. During the middle 1990s, when Northwestern captured two Big Ten crowns, quarterback Steve Schnur and tailback Darnell Autry combined for 9,335 yards-tops by a Northwestern duo. Kustok presently ranks fifth all-time in NU total offense with 4,829 yards while Anderson is sixth with 4,105 yards. Len Williams holds NU's career record with 8,029 yards.

Simmons Sees Limited Action
Sam Simmons (Kansas City, Kan./F.L. Schlagle), who started his senior season with 11 passes for a career-high 161 yards at UNLV, saw limited duty on Saturday against Michigan State. Simmons, who is recovering from a broken ring finger on his right hand, did not make a catch against MSU, although he did run 11 yards on a reverse. The 161 yards was the 12th-best single-game performance in Northwestern history. Simmons' 11 receptions were one shy of his personal best (12), set last season vs. Michigan.

Patrick, Schweighardt and Farman Lead the Way
With Sam Simmons slowed with the injury, Northwestern had several other players step up and help fill his void. Kunle Patrick, Jon Schweighardt and tight end David Farman (Austin, Texas/Westwood) all turned in solid efforts. Patrick finished with a career-best seven catches for 54 yards, while Schweighardt caught six passes for 101 yards. Farman, who originally came to Northwestern as a quarterback, caught a career-high four passes for a personal-best 48 yards. Patrick grabbed two touchdown passes, his first career multiple-TD day.

Whazz-up
Junior place-kicker David Wasielewski, in his first season at Northwestern after transferring from Florida, kicked the biggest field goal of his young career when he nailed the game-winning kick vs. Michigan State with no time remaining. The 47-yard boot equaled his career long, which he accomplished first the previous week at Duke. Wasielewski is a perfect four-for-four from distances of 40 to 49 yards. Nationally, Wasielewski ranks 16th in scoring (10.0 ppg) and sixth in field goals per game (2.0). In the Big Ten, he is first in scoring and tied for first in field goals per game.

In The Trenches
Generally regarded as one of the nation's top units, Northwestern's offensive line is anchored by a veteran group that features four players who garnered preseason honors: right guard Jeff Roehl (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg), center Austin King (Cincinnati, Ohio/Purcell Marian), left guard Lance Clelland (Reisterstown, Md./McDonogh) and left tackle Leon Brockmeier (Tallahassee, Fla./Lincoln). Right tackle Mike Souza (Kaneohe, Hawaii/Punahou) is the other returnee and he owns 30 career starts, the most among the five starters. Combined, the unit has 114 career starts. In a number of preseason publications, the Wildcats' offensive line was ranked among the top 10 units nationally. According to The Sporting News and Lindy's, the offensive line is rated as the third-best group in the country. Last month, King was one of 21 players named to the 2001 Dave Rimington Award watch list, which honors the country's top center.

Plays, Plays and More Plays
Last year, Northwestern averaged 82.7 offensive plays per game with its new spread offense. In the final weeks of 2000, however, the Wildcats averaged over 90 offensive plays in their last five games. Three games into the 2001 season, NU is averaging 89.3 plays per game. Last year, the Wildcats totaled a season-high 103 plays vs. Illinois. The school record for offensive plays in a game is 106, set in 1989 vs. Purdue.

Bentley, Harris and Silva Lead NU's "D"
As touted during the offseason, NU's defense would be built around linebackers Kevin Bentley (North Hills, Calif./Montclair Prep), Napoleon Harris and Billy Silva (San Diego, Calif./St. Augustine). All three are on the Butkus Award Watch list. Michigan and Florida are the only other schools with three candidates. Harris, of course, has moved to defensive end, but the trio continues to deliver big play after big play and lead an improved defensive unit. Bentley, Silva and Harris rank first, second and third in tackles with respective totals of 43, 32 and 27. Silva snared two interceptions against Duke and has four pass deflections in three games. Harris has seven tackles for a loss, an interception and eight quarterback hurries. Besides his team-leading 43 tackles (21 solos), Bentley owns a 45-yard fumble return. He leads the Big Ten in tackles per game.

Who They Don't Play
Northwestern does not play Michigan and Wisconsin this year, but picked up Ohio State and Penn State in their place. The other Big Ten schools and who is off the respective schedules: Illinois-Iowa & Michigan State, Indiana-Minnesota & Michigan, Iowa-Ohio State & Illinois, Michigan-NU & Indiana, Michigan State-Ohio State & Illinois, Minnesota-Indiana & Penn State, Ohio State-Michigan State & Iowa, Penn State-Minnesota & Purdue, Purdue-Penn State & Wisconsin, Wisconsin-NU & Purdue.

'Cat Tails ...
* Redshirt freshman Colby Clark (Austin, Texas/Westlake) delivered his best performance in his young career Saturday against Michigan State. Clark registered seven tackles, which included two sacks and another tackle for loss. He also had three quarterback hurries. Another top performance came from redshirt freshman Jarvis Adams (Tallahassee, Fla./Godby). He totaled a career-best nine tackles as well as his first career interception.
* In the Sept. 22 win at Duke, 10 different Wildcat players totaled at least one reception.
* At last month's annual Citrus Bowl selection dinner, Northwestern and Tennessee were tabbed as the schools most likely to represent the SEC and Big Ten in the 56th Annual Capital One Florida Citrus Bowl on Jan. 1, 2002. If the matchup were to occur, it would be a rematch of the 1997 Citrus Bowl, which produced a 48-28 victory for the Volunteers.

USA Today Academic Achievement Awards
USA Today announced its first Academic Achievement Awards and Northwestern finished second in the Division I category and tied for first (with Duke) for Division I-A football schools. The Wildcat student-athletes had a graduation rate of 90 percent in the newspapers' survey.

Northwestern Ranks 22nd Among Division I Athletic Programs According to TSN
In The Sporting News' most recent survey of Division I-A athletic programs, Northwestern ranked 22nd in the publication's annual poll. TSN "graded" college programs in four categories: 1) Do we win? 2) Do we rock? 3) Do we play fair? and 4) Do we graduate?

Up Next
The Wildcats return home to play Minnesota (ESPN Regional Television) on Oct. 13 for homecoming. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. CDT. NU remains at home the following week, hosting Penn State.

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14th-Ranked Wildcats Face Ohio State Saturday Night on ESPN

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