Northwestern University Athletics
Football 'Cats Seek First Win at Purdue Since 1995
10/22/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 22, 2001
Coach Walker Comments:
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GAME 7:
NORTHWESTERN (4-2, 2-2) vs. NO. 24/20 PURDUE (4-1, 2-1)
Date/Time: Saturday, Oct. 27/11 a.m. (EST/CDT)
Site: Ross-Ade Stadium, West Lafayette, Ind.
Capacity/Surface: 67,332/Natural Grass
Television: ESPN2 (Mark Jones, Chris Spielman, Holly Rowe)
Radio: WGN 720 AM (Dave Eanet, play-by-play, Ted Albrecht, color) (also on wgnradio.com)
The Game
After playing two successive games at Ryan Field, Northwestern hits the road for back-to-back contests in the Hoosier state, starting with Saturday's clash at defending Big Ten co-champion Purdue. Kickoff is set for 11:10 a.m. EST/CDT at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Ind. ESPN2 is televising the game nationally. Calling the action for ESPN2 is Mark Jones (play-by-play), Chris Spielman (color analyst) and Holly Rowe (sideline).
Like last week's opponent, Penn State, Purdue has had an extra week to prepare for the Wildcats. The Boilermakers opened the season with four straight victories, two of them against Big Ten foes, before suffering their first loss of the year at Michigan, 24-10, on Oct. 13 in Ann Arbor. Michigan outscored Purdue 10-0 in the second half to pull away from the Boilermakers and remain unbeaten in conference action. With the graduation of Big Ten Player of the Year Drew Brees, Purdue has turned to redshirt freshman quarterback Brandon Hance to run its offense. Through five games, Hance is averaging 236.6 yards of total offense, which includes 204.0 yards passing. He is completing nearly 55 percent of his passes. Overall, the Boilermakers are averaging 340.2 yards in total offense. Defensively, Purdue is led by free safety Stuart Schweigert, the 2000 Big Ten Freshman of the Year. He leads the Boilermakers with 47 tackles and four interceptions. His interception total leads the Big Ten. The Boilermaker defense, which returns all 11 starters from last year's Rose Bowl team, allows just 308.2 yards per game.
Northwestern is trying to bounce back from Saturday's heart-breaking 38-35 loss to Penn State. The defeat dropped the Wildcats to 2-2 in the Big Ten race and 1.5 games behind unbeaten Michigan. Northwestern will try to become the first unranked team to win at Purdue since Nov. 23, 1996. Purdue is 23-3 at home under head coach Joe Tiller.
The Series with Purdue
Series Record: Purdue leads 44-23-1
At Evanston: Purdue leads 24-15-1
At West Lafayette: Purdue leads 19-8
Current Win Streak: Purdue, 4
Last Meeting: Oct. 14, 2000 (Purdue 41, Northwestern 28)
First Meeting: 1895 (Northwestern 24, Purdue 6)
Series Notes: In recent years, the Boilermakers have dominated the series at Ross-Ade Stadium, winning 17 of the last 18 games versus Northwestern. NU's only victory during that stretch came in 1995, its Rose Bowl season, by a 23-8 score ... Purdue has posted 10 shutouts in the all-time series while Northwestern has totaled five.
The Last Meeting with the Boilermakers
Oct. 14, 2000 -- Purdue's dominance in the third quarter -- a 20-0 blitz by the Boilermakers -- proved to be the difference in the contest. With the game tied 14-14 at halftime, Purdue rattled off three straight scores in the third quarter, with two touchdowns coming on passes from Drew Brees. Trailing 34-14, NU tried to get back in the game but could not reach the end zone until 6:45 was left in the fourth quarter. After Zak Kustok's 41-yard touchdown pass to Teddy Johnson, Brees threw his third touchdown pass of the game to John Standeford with 4:48 left for a 41-21 lead. Kustok completed 18 of 28 passes for 260 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Brees went 22-for-40 for 239 yards, five touchdowns and one interception.
The difference in the game came on the ground. Led by running back Montrell Lowe, Purdue outrushed the Wildcats 222 to 83. Lowe finished with a game-high 174 yards. NU's Damien Anderson, who was coming off a 219-yard effort at Michigan State and a career-best 292-yard performance vs. Indiana, was held to 55 yards on 17 carries. Anderson did, however, extend his string of consecutive games with a touchdown to seven.
The Penn State Recap
Oct. 20, 2001 -- Against the Nittany Lions, the Wildcats were unable to muster any last-second magic and lost a heart-breaking 38-35 decision to Penn State. It was the first time in the Randy Walker-era that Northwestern had lost a game that was decided by seven points or less. The win gave legendary head coach Joe Paterno his 323rd career victory, tying him with Paul "Bear" Bryant on the Division I-A all-time wins list.
Penn State won the game with 22 seconds left when Eric McCoo caught a 4-yard scoring pass from freshman quarterback Zack Mills, who entered the game on the final drive after starter Matt Senneca was injured. The touchdown capped a 13-play, 69-yard drive that started with just over two minutes remaining in the game. The Wildcats got the ball back, but were unable to get within field goal range for a potential game-tying boot. The defeat spoiled a spectacular effort from NU quarterback Zak Kustok (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg), who totaled a career-high 413 yards in total offense. Included in that figure was a personal-best 115 rushing yards. Kustok scored NU's first two touchdowns and then equaled a career high with his third rushing TD of the game. That tally put the 'Cats in front 35-31 with 2:03 to play. His final TD was set up by his career-long 39-yard scamper that gave NU a first-and-goal at the 1-yard line.
Wide receiver Sam Simmons (Kansas City, Kan./F.L. Schlagle) savored a career-best day as well. He caught seven passes for a personal-best 168 yards and one touchdown. Led by Kustok and Simmons, NU's offense rolled up 527 yards, its best Big Ten-effort to date. The Wildcat defense, however, was unable to slow down a Penn State team that came into the game ranked last nationally in total offense. PSU finished with 501 yards in offense, including 213 rushing yards.
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 74-49-5 career record in 12 seasons and a 15-14 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.
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 are wearing a patch on their uniform with his initials, RAW. Also, for the first time in Northwestern football history, Wheeler's jersey number (#30) was 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 12 games at strong safety in 2000 and registered 88 tackles (59 solos) and three pass deflections.
Big Ten Conference Standings
2001 Standings Conference Games All Games Michigan 3 0 1.00 5 1 .833 Illinois 3 1 .750 6 1 .857 Purdue 2 1 .667 4 1 .800 Ohio State 2 1 .667 4 2 .667 Iowa 2 2 .500 4 2 .667 Northwestern 2 2 .500 4 2 .667 Wisconsin 2 2 .500 4 4 .500 Michigan State 1 2 .333 3 2 .600 Minnesota 1 3 .250 2 4 .333 Penn State 1 3 .250 1 4 .200 Indiana 1 3 .250 1 5 .167Damien Ascending On The Big Ten Rushing Chart
With 32 more rushing yards, Damien Anderson will move past Michigan's Jamie Morris and sit seventh all-time on the Big Ten's rushing list. A 111-yard or better performance would give Anderson sixth place on the career list. All four Big Ten opponents have held Anderson to less than 100 yards rushing this season. The following is a look at the entire Big Ten top 10:
Rank Yards Name Years Played
1. 7,125 Ron Dayne (Wis.) (1,220 attempts) 1996-99
2. 5,589 Archie Griffin (OSU) (924) 1972-75
3. 5,299 Anthony Thompson (IU) (1,161) 1986-89
4. 4,887 Lorenzo White (MSU) (1,082) 1984-87
5. 4,654 Darrell Thompson (Minn.) (936) 1986-89
6. 4,472 Anthony Thomas (Mich.) (924) 1997-00
7. 4,393 Jamie Morris (Mich.) (809) 1984-87
8. 4,362 Damien Anderson (NU) (923) 1998-present
9. 4,212 Tico Duckett (MSU) (836) 1989-92
10. 4,178 Tyrone Wheatley (Mich.) (688) 1991-94
Turnovers Tell The Story
Once again, Northwestern is proving that if you win the turnover battle, the odds of winning a football game climb significantly. This season, the Wildcats are 4-0 when suffering fewer turnovers than the opposition and 0-2 when commiting more than the other school. Despite having just one turnover this past Saturday against Penn State, it proved to be costly as PSU played an error-free game. Since coming to Northwestern, head coach Randy Walker is 12-1 when turning it over fewer times than the opponent. The Wildcats still rank 16th nationally in turnover margin despite Saturday's performance.
Say What
When the Sept. 15 home game vs. Navy was canceled, that meant Northwestern had to begin the season with back-to-back road contests. (Northwestern has since added a game to its schedule, an 11 a.m. kickoff vs. Bowling Green on Nov. 17.) 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.
61-1-1
Head coach Randy Walker is nearly unbeatable when his teams carry a lead into the fourth quarter. Since Walker began his head coaching duties at Miami University in 1990, he has compiled a 61-1-1 record when leading at the end of the third quarter. At NU, Walker is 12-0 with a fourth-quarter lead. Saturday's game versus Penn State did, however, end his unbeaten mark (11-0) when leading at halftime as the Wildcats' coach. Also, with the score tied 28-28 heading into the fourth quarter, Saturday was the first time in three career games that Walker lost a contest with the scored tied after three quarters. Earlier this season, the Wildcats came close to losing just the second fourth-quarter lead of Walker's career when Michigan State overcame deficits of 17-14 and 24-20 on Sept. 29. Northwestern pulled out the game 27-26 with a last-second field goal.
Cardiac 'Cats Nearly Do It Again
Many programs are fortunate to win one or two "miracle-type" games over a stretch of seasons. With the Sept. 29 gut-wrenching victory over Michigan State, which incidentally was dubbed an "ESPN Instant Classic," Northwestern has captured three improbable wins in less than a year. It looked like NU might pull out another amazing victory against Penn State, but the Saturday magic was missing and the Wildcats lost just their second home game in two seasons.
On back-to-back weekends in 2000, the Wildcats threw a "Victory Right" 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.
The Penn State loss spoiled an impressive mark that Randy Walker had compiled since assuming the coaching duties at Northwestern in 1999. Up until Saturday, he had never lost a game that was decided by seven points or less. Walker is now 7-1 at Northwestern in close games.
Zak Attack
The orchestrator of the Big Ten's No. 1 offense is senior quarterback Zak Kustok. Kustok, who is scheduled to start his 25th straight game at quarterback Saturday vs. Purdue, 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. In his last five outings, Kustok has completed 105 of 169 passes for 62.1 percent. Two weeks ago against Minnesota, he set a career-best single-game completion percentage of .688 (22-of-32).
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 19 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 105 yards and totaled 336 yards in total offense. Then on Saturday against Penn State, he set career bests for total offense (413, third-best in NU history) and rushing yards (115) and equaled his rushing TD mark with three. Besides total offense, he ranks first in the Big Ten in the category "points responsible for."
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 two more touchdown passes, Kustok will climb into a second-place tie on the Wildcats' all-time TD list. After Saturday's impressive performance, he ranks eighth nationally in total offense (298.2 ypg). With his 115-yard rushing effort against Penn State, Kustok surpassed the 1,000-yard mark for career rushing. He now has 1,071 career yards and is the only quarterback in NU history to top the 1,000-yard mark. He also has 19 career rushing TD's, which ranks fifth on NU's all-time list.
From One D.A. to Another
In the season-opening victory at UNLV, Damien Anderson became the Wildcats' all-time leading rusher. Needing 66 yards to surpass Darnell Autry (3,793 yards, 1994-96), Anderson registered 99 second-half yards to become NU's career record-holder. He passed another milestone on Sept. 22 at Duke, racking up 189 rushing yards and climbing above the 4,000-yard mark.
Anderson/Kustok Shoot for 10,000
The quarterback/tailback tandem of Zak Kustok and Damien Anderson became the Wildcats' top total offensive duo in school history Oct. 13 against Minnesota. Entering the Purdue game, Kustok and Anderson need five more yards of total offense for a combined 10,000 career yards. During the middle 1990s, when Northwestern captured two Big Ten crowns, quarterback Steve Schnur and tailback Darnell Autry combined for 9,335 yards-the previous best by a Northwestern duo. Kustok presently ranks third all-time in NU total offense with 5,633 yards while Anderson is sixth with 4,362 yards. Len Williams holds NU's career record with 8,029 yards.
Sam is in the Books
Sam Simmons, who was slowed in Northwestern's first two Big Ten games with a broken right ring finger, followed up his Big Ten Co-Special Teams Player of the Week performance (vs. Minnesota) with a career-best showing vs. Penn State. Simmons caught seven passes for a career-high 168 yards and one touchdown. The 168-yard performance was the 10th-best single-game figure in NU history. Simmons also had a 13-yard punt return, which has upped his all-purpose yardage average to 111.7, good enough for the 10th place spot in the Big Ten statistics.
With his big game, Simmons has jumped into eighth place on the Wildcats' career receiving yardage chart (1,410 yards) and he is four receptions shy of reaching 10th place on NU's all-time receptions list.
Spreading it Around
Northwestern's spread offense allows for numerous individuals to get involved in the offense. After six games, 12 Wildcats have caught at least one pass. Sophomore Kunle Patrick (Brooklyn, N.Y./Poly Prep Country Day) leads the receiving corps with 33 catches for 295 yards and two touchdowns. He ranks sixth in the Big Ten in receptions per game (5.5). Sam Simmons (31, 16.7 ypr), Jon Schweighardt (27, 10.8 ypr), Damien Anderson (13, 8.2 ypr) and Roger Jordan (League City, Texas/Clear Creek) (11, 10.4) are NU's other double-digit reception leaders.
Whazz-up
Junior place-kicker David Wasielewski (Odessa, Fla./Tampa Jesuit), 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 on Sept. 29 with no time remaining. The 47-yard boot equaled his career long, which he accomplished first the previous week at Duke. Wasielewski is five-for-five from distances of 40 to 49 yards.
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 33 career starts, the most among the five. Combined, the unit has 129 career starts. The quintet has remained intact for 18 straight games. 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. Six games into the 2001 season, NU is averaging 85.0 per game. Minnesota held the Wildcats to a season-low 78 plays on Oct. 13. A year ago, 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.
Standring Standing Tall
Veteran punter J.J. Standring (Chicago, Ill./St. Rita) is savoring his finest season yet in a Wildcat uniform. Standring booted seven punts for a career-best 48.6 ypp average Oct. 13 against Minnesota. On the season, he owns a 44.3 yards per punt average, which ranks 15th nationally.
Defensive Upgrades
While the Wildcats are still seeking improvements in their run defense, they have made great strides in the pass efficiency defensive category this season. Through six games, NU ranks second in the Big Ten and 17th nationally with a defensive pass efficiency rating of 100.53. Opponents are completing just 47.3 percent of their passes and have thrown 10 interceptions to just six touchdown passes. In fact, Northwestern went 15 quarters without allowing a touchdown pass. That streak ended when Minnesota connected for a late fourth-quarter TD on Oct. 13. Last year, NU's defense totaled 13 interceptions in 12 games. Thus far in 2001, the 'Cats have 10 picks in six games. Interestingly, nine different players have interceptions.
Silva Catches Bentley
With double-digit tackle totals in four of his last five games, middle linebacker Billy Silva (San Diego, Calif./St. Augustine) has caught classmate Kevin Bentley (North Hills, Calif./Montclair Prep) for the team leadership in tackles. Silva, who totaled 16 tackles against Penn State, has 75 for the season like Bentley. In the first NCAA defensive statistical report at the end of September, Bentley ranked seventh nationally.
'Cat Tails ...
* NU has three consecutive opponents, Penn State, Purdue and Indiana, who all have open weekends prior to playing the Wildcats.
* The Wildcats' roughest quarter for reaching the endzone is the second: they are getting outscored 42-33. NU did score its first second-quarter touchdowns of the year against Penn State.
* Northwestern started the season 3-0, its best start to a campaign since 1962.
* Quarterback Zak Kustok is Northwestern's nominee for the annual National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame Scholar-Athlete award. The award is based on upon academic and athletic success, as well as community service. Kustok carries a 3.06 cumulative grade point average.
Walker's 1,000-Yard Rushers
Once a running back, always a running back. Northwestern head coach Randy Walker, a former standout running back at Miami University, prides himself on coaching great running backs. Not many coaches can claim this amazing stat: In 29 seasons, Walker has coached a running back to a 1,000-yard season 21 times. Walker coached the top two rushers in Miami history, Travis Prentice and Deland McCullough, and two times at North Carolina he tutored two running backs to 1,000-yard seasons in the same year (Kelvin Bryant and Amos Lawrence in 1980 and Tyrone Anthony and Ethan Horton in 1983).
Last year, Walker, along with running backs coach Jeff Genyk, mentored Damien Anderson to the first 2,000-yard season in Northwestern football history.
Three Crowns in Six Years
After waiting 47 years to claim its first Big Ten championship in 1995, the Wildcats have now totaled three conference crowns in the past six years. Only Michigan can equal that accomplishment, having won titles in 1997, '98 and 2000. Northwestern won Big Ten crowns in 1995, '96 and 2000. During this stretch, Northwestern has won more Big Ten championships than traditional powers Ohio State and Penn State combined.
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 travel to Indiana for a tentative 11 a.m. EST game on Nov. 3.
