Northwestern University Athletics
16th-Ranked Football 'Cats Open at Home Saturday vs. Navy
9/10/2001 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 10, 2001
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
GAME 2
No. 16/19 NORTHWESTERN (1-0) vs. NAVY (0-2)
Date/Time: Sept. 15, 2001/Noon CDT
Site: Ryan Field (Evanston, Ill.)
Capacity/Surface: 47,130/Natural Grass
Television: None
Radio: WGN 720 AM (Dave Eanet, play-by-play, Ted Albrecht, color)
The Game With a 37-28 season-opening victory at UNLV tucked away, nationally ranked Northwestern (No. 16 AP/No. 19 ESPN/USA Today) makes its Ryan Field debut at noon this Saturday, Sept. 15 against the Midshipmen from the U.S. Naval Academy. Tickets are still available for Saturday's home opener. Fans wishing to purchase tickets can contact the NU Ticket Office at 847-491-CATS. Navy (0-2) visits Evanston after suffering a 70-7 home loss to 10th-ranked Georgia Tech this past weekend. That was the Midshipmen's worst defeat in their 123-year history. Navy opened the 2001 season with a 45-26 setback at Temple. Through two games, the Midshipmen are allowing 510.5 yards and 57.5 points per game.
Saturday is "Take a Kid to the Game Day (children 13 and under free with each paying adult)," "Spirit Day," "Evanston Chamber of Commerce Day," and "Evanston City Employees Day." Two hours prior to the game, any fan is welcome to visit "Wildcat Alley," which is located in the right field of Rocky Miller Baseball Park (north of Welsh-Ryan Arena). Wildcat Alley will feature food, drink, live music and other assorted activities. Admission is free. Northwestern also will debut its new video scoreboard, CatVision, at Ryan Field's northeast end. Prior to kickoff, Northwestern will remember former safety Rashidi Wheeler (1979-2001) with a moment of silence. There also will be a U.S. Navy fly-over.
For (Home) Openers
This is the latest home opener for the Wildcats since they debuted with Ohio University on Sept. 21, 1996. It is also the first time since 1997 that Northwestern has not opened its season on its home turf. Since 1905, the Wildcats have posted a 52-37-5 mark (58.0 percent) in home-opening contests. In the last eight years, Northwestern is 5-2-1 in home lid lifters. Interestingly, both losses came at the hands of Miami University, with one of those Miami wins (1995) directed by Randy Walker.
The Series with Navy
Series Record: Northwestern leads 2-0
At Evanston: 1-0
At Annapolis: 1-0
Current Win Streak: Northwestern, 2
Last Meeting: Oct. 20, 1951 (Northwestern 16, Navy 7)
First Meeting: Oct. 7, 1950 (Northwestern 22, Navy 0)
The UNLV Recap
Sept. 7, 2001 -- Overcoming a sluggish offensive first half, Northwestern pulled away from the Rebels in the final 30 minutes to post a 37-28 season-opening road win at Sam Boyd Stadium. It was just the second time since 1963 that Northwestern began the season with a road victory. The Wildcats trailed 7-6 late in the first half, but gained the lead for good when transfer place-kicker David Wasielewski (Odessa, Fla./Tampa Jesuit) booted a 45-yard field goal as time expired in the second quarter. After totaling just 146 yards of first-half total offense, NU started the third quarter by driving 79 yards in eight plays with Heisman Trophy candidate Damien Anderson (Wilmington, Ill./Wilmington) gaining 48 of the 79 yards on three rushes. Quarterback Zak Kustok (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg) capped the drive with a 12-yard TD run, his second of three rushing TD's for the game. After UNLV countered with seven points of its own, the Wildcat defense helped set up the next score. Defensive end Napoleon Harris (Dixmoor, Ill./Thornton Township) snared a Jason Thomas pass at the line of scrimmage for NU's first takeaway of the year. Kustok then directed a six-play, 43-yard scoring drive that ended with a 3-yard pass to reserve tight end Eric Worley (Marshfield, Mass./Marshfield). That score put the Wildcats in front 23-14 and UNLV would get no closer than eight points the rest of the way. Sam Simmons (Kansas City, Kan./Schlagle), who finished with a career-high 161 receiving yards, caught an 18-yard TD pass early in the fourth quarter and Kustok ran for the 'Cats' final score.
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 71-47-5 career record in 11 seasons and a 12-12 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.
Coaching Staff Changes
Randy Walker lost two assistant coaches during the offseason: offensive line coach Aaron Kromer and defensive backs coach Brad Bolinger. Kromer joined Jon Gruden's Oakland Raiders' staff while Bolinger left the coaching profession to pursue a position in pharmaceutical sales. With those two departures, Walker bolstered his staff with the additions of Mike Dunbar, who has 21 years of collegiate coaching experience, and Pat Fitzgerald, the Wildcats' two-time National Defensive Player of the Year in 1995 and '96. James Patton, who coached the Wildcats' tight ends and fullbacks the past two years, replaces Kromer as the offensive line coach while Dunbar will coach the fullbacks and tight ends and serve as special teams coordinator. Fitzgerald, who has coached at Maryland, Colorado and Idaho the past three years, returns home to mentor the Wildcats' secondary.
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 their season with a 17-15 victory at Notre Dame. NU went on to win 10 games and go unbeaten in league play.
Zak Attack
The orchestrator of Northwestern's offense is senior quarterback Zak Kustok (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg). Kustok, who is scheduled to start his 20th straight game at quarterback Saturday vs. Navy, 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 last week's 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 completed a career-best 67.5 percent (27 of 40) of pass attempts in the Wildcats' scintillating 54-51 win over Michigan. Including the Wildcats' bowl game versus Nebraska, Kustok has attempted 237 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 14 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. While teammate Damien Anderson (Wilmington, Ill./Wilmington) 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 two more touchdown passes, Kustok will climb into a third-place tie on the Wildcats' all-time TD list. He ranks ninth nationally in total offense (298.0 ypg) and fourth in scoring (18.0 ppg). Kustok leads the Big Ten in both of those categories.
From One D.A. to Another
Damien Anderson overcame a sluggish first half at UNLV and finished with 113 rushing yards on 28 carries (4.0 ypc). In the process, Anderson surpassed Darnell Autry (3,793, 1994-96) to become NU's all-time leading rusher. Anderson now has 3,841 yards. Facing a defense that had held Arkansas to a total of 25 rushing yards the week before, Anderson ran for 99 of his 113 yards in the second half when NU tallied 28 of its 37 points. Anderson did see his long streak of consecutive carries without a lost fumble come to an end, however. He fumbled a handoff deep in UNLV territory early in the second quarter, ending his string at 318.
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 one game in the 2001 season, Kustok and Anderson have a combined 7,983 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 4,142 yards while Anderson is eighth with 3,841 yards. Len Williams holds NU's career record with 8,029 yards.
Simmons is Sensational
Senior Sam Simmons (Kansas City, Kan./F.L. Schlagle) started his senior season impressively against UNLV, catching 11 passes for a career-high 161 yards. He earned NU's Offensive Player of the Game honor. 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. After one game, Simmons sits atop the Big Ten statistics for receptions per game and all-purpose yards (174.0 ypg) and ranks second in receiving yardage. Nationally, Simmons is 10th in all-purpose yardage, second in receptions and fourth in receiving yards per game.
J.J. Jolts Vegas
Punter J.J. Standring (Chicago, Ill./St. Rita) was named Northwestern's Special Teams Player of the Game after booting seven punts for 46.4 yards per kick. One of his punts traveled 63 yards, five yards shy of his career long, which he recorded against UNLV in his inaugural collegiate game in 1998. More impressive was Standring's net punting average of 42.1. Although the college football season is relatively young, that figure ranks 10th-best among Division I-A schools.
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 picked up 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 27 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 week, King was one of 21 players named to the 2001 Dave Rimington Award watch list, which honors the top center.
Plays, Plays and More Plays
Last year, Northwestern averaged 82.7 offensive plays per game with its new spread offense. In the season's final weeks, however, the Wildcats averaged over 90 offensive plays in their last five games. Northwestern maintained its high play total in last week's season-opening win, registering 98 plays against UNLV. 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.
Harris and Bentley Lead NU's Revamped "D"
Although the final defensive numbers (28 points, 453 yards) at UNLV were a bit high for defensive coordinator Jerry Brown's liking, there were several positive signs for NU's 2001 defense. Led by Kevin Bentley (North Hills, Calif./Montclair Prep) and Napoleon Harris (Dixmoor, Ill./Thornton Township), the Wildcats showed some grit when the going got tough. On two occasions, Northwestern stopped UNLV with impressive goal-line stands and limited the Rebels to no points. For the game, UNLV finished 0-for-5 on fourth-down conversions and just 5-of-15 on third-down plays. Harris was selected as NU's Defensive Player of the Game for his 10 tackles (six solos), one forced fumble, a nifty interception and three quarterback hurries. Bentley totaled a team-high 16 tackles and a key 45-yard fumble return. The two NU takeaways resulted in back-to-back second-half touchdowns that gave the Wildcats a 30-14 lead.
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.
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-Northwestern & Indiana, Michigan State-Ohio State & Illinois, Minnesota-Indiana & Penn State, Ohio State-Michigan State & Iowa, Penn State-Minnesota & Purdue, Purdue-Penn State & Wisconsin, Wisconsin-Northwestern & Purdue.
'Cat Tails ...
* Reserve tight end Eric Worley (Marshfield, Mass./Marshfield) certainly makes the most of his receptions. Worley caught his fourth career pass-a 3-yard TD grab-last week at UNLV. Interestingly, all but one of his career receptions have resulted in six points. Last year, Worley had TD grabs of 3 yards vs. Northern Illinois and 1 yd. vs. Illinois.
* Backup safety Mark Roush (Richmond, Va./Douglas Freeman) was one of last week's unsung heroes. After NU climbed in front 37-22 with 5:14 remaining, UNLV's Dominique Dorsey returned the ensuing kickoff 87 yards to the 'Cats 3-yard line. Roush saved a touchdown by catching a streaking Dorsey down the right sideline. NU's defense then entered the field and kept the Rebels out of the end zone.
* Wide receiver Jason Wright (Diamond Bar, Calif./Diamond Bar) sang "His Eye Is On the Sparrow" at Rashidi Wheeler's memorial service and funeral last month.
* Running backs Kevin Lawrence and Gilles Lezi both hail from Quebec. Lawrence, a backup tailback, is from Montreal and Lezi, the starting fullback, is from Laval.
USA TodayAcademic Achievement Awards
USA Todayannounced 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 play one more non-conference contest before beginning Big Ten action at home vs. Michigan State on Saturday, Sept. 29. Northwestern travels to Duke next Saturday, Sept. 22 for a 6 p.m. game.
