Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Play Final Road Game at Sixth-Ranked Iowa
11/5/2002 12:00:00 AM | Football
Nov. 5, 2002
NU-Iowa Football Game Notes
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GAME 11
Northwestern (3-7, 1-5) at No. 6/6 Iowa (9-1, 6-0)
Date/Time: Saturday, Nov. 9, 2002/11:05 a.m. CST
Site: Kinnick Stadium, Iowa City, Iowa
Capacity/Surface: 70,397/Natural Grass
Television: ESPN2
Radio: WGN 720 AM (Dave Eanet, play-by-play; Ted Albrecht, analyst)(also on wgnradio.com); WNUR 89.3 FM
The Game
Fresh off its first Big Ten win of the season, Northwestern travels to Iowa City this week to take on the sixth-ranked Iowa Hawkeyes, who sit atop the Big Ten standings with a perfect 6-0 mark. This will be the Wildcats' second game against a top-10 team this season. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. CST. The game is being televised nationally by ESPN2. Pam Ward (play-by-play), Chris Spielman (analyst) and Rob Stone (sideline) will describe the action.
The Hawkeyes, who have won eight straight Big Ten games, are trying to earn their first Big Ten title since 1990, when they shared the crown with three other schools. With wins in its final two games, Iowa is guaranteed at least a share of the title should Ohio State win its last three Big Ten games. The Buckeyes and Hawkeyes do not play one another this season. Iowa is seeking its first undefeated Big Ten season in 80 years.
Iowa has excelled on both sides of the ball this season. The Hawkeyes lead the nation in rush defense (63.9 ypg), rank second nationally in rushing yards allowed per carry (2.1) and top the Big Ten in scoring (36.0 ppg). Iowa is third in the Big Ten in total offense (425.5 ypg) and rushing offense (205.5 ypg). The Iowa offense is led by senior quarterback Brad Banks and junior tailback Fred Russell. Banks leads the nation in passing efficiency (161.5 rating) and is first in the Big Ten in total offense (236.6 ypg). Banks, who is being mentioned as a late entry in the Heisman Trophy race, completed 17-of-30 passes for 275 yards and two touchdowns against Wisconsin. Russell, who sat out Saturday's win over the Badgers with a sore hand, is fourth in Big Ten rushing with a 115.6 ypg average. Iowa's top three receivers, Maurice Brown, Dallas Clark and C.J. Jones, have combined for 101 receptions and 18 touchdowns. The Hawkeyes also have one of the top special teams' weapons in the Big Ten in place-kicker Nate Kaeding. He has hit 19-of-20 field goals (95.0 percent).
The Wildcats are led by junior tailback Jason Wright (Diamond Bar, Calif./Diamond Bar), who picked up his third Big Ten Player of the Week honor on Monday. He set five personal bests in the 'Cats' 41-37 win over IU.
The Series with Iowa
Series Record: Iowa leads 44-18-3
At Evanston: Iowa leads 22-12-3
At Iowa City: Iowa leads 22-6
Current Win Streak: Iowa, 2
Last Meeting: Nov. 10, 2001 (Iowa 59, Northwestern 16)
First Meeting: 1897 (Iowa 12, Northwestern 6)
Series Notes: Since 1995, Northwestern has gone 4-3 versus the Hawkeyes, although Iowa posted victories in 2000 (27-17) and 2001 (59-16) ... The Wildcats' last victory at Kinnick Stadium came in 1996, a 40-13 win. That is Northwestern's only win at Kinnick since a 28-3 victory in 1971 ... NU head coach Randy Walker is 1-2 versus the Hawkeyes ... This is the last meeting between the Wildcats and Hawkeyes until Nov. 5, 2005, when Iowa will travel to Evanston to take on the 'Cats. Heading into the 2002 season, Northwestern and Iowa have played 31 consecutive seasons (dating to 1971). The last series hiatus occurred in 1969 and '70.
The Last NU-Iowa Meeting
Nov. 10, 2001 -- Playing its first game without All-America running back Damien Anderson, the Wildcat offense was stymied and never got on track in a 59-16 setback to Iowa at Ryan Field. Northwestern quickly fell behind and never recovered. The Hawkeyes dominated the first quarter, piling up 170 yards in total offense and scoring the game's first three touchdowns, all on 4-yard runs. Northwestern gave its faithful some hope, however, when freshman Jarvis Adams picked off Hawkeye quarterback Brad Banks and returned the interception 44 yards to the Iowa 29-yard line.
One play later, Zak Kustok found Sam Simmons open in the end zone for his fourth score of the season. That play cut the Iowa lead to 21-7. The momentum from that turnover and score was short-lived, though, as Iowa reeled off 31 straight points to take a 52-7 lead. Following their first-half touchdown, the Wildcats forced the Hawkeyes to punt on their next possession, but that would be Iowa's only punt of the day. The Hawkeyes scored on their next five series to put the game out of reach. Junior Kevin Lawrence, who replaced Anderson in the starting lineup, totaled 51 rushing yards on nine carries before leaving the game in the third quarter with a knee injury.
The NU-Indiana Recap
Nov. 2, 2002 -- Fueled by a career-best performance from tailback Jason Wright, Northwestern picked up its first Big Ten win of the year with a 41-37 decision over Indiana. Wright set single-game career bests in five statistical categories: rushing yards (196), all-purpose yards (285), rushing touchdowns (four), yards per carry average (8.9) and receiving yards (59). (Note: Upon further review of the official statistics, a 23-yard rush was incorrectly credited to Wright; the actual play was a 23-yard pass from Basanez to Ashton Aikens. The single-game and cumulative statistics in this release reflect the changes.)
Wright scored the game's first two touchdowns -- both in the first quarter -- for a 13-6 NU lead. The Wildcats allowed the Hoosiers to take a 15-13 lead into halftime, but then Northwestern dominated the third quarter and carried a 34-22 lead into the final frame. Touchdowns from Wright, Noah Herron (Mattawan, Mich./Mattawan) and Jon Schweighardt (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton-Warrenville South) gave NU its 12-point cushion.
In the fourth quarter, two Wildcat fumbles led to back-to-back IU scores, the first on a 9-yard fumble return for TD. Now trailing 37-34 late in the contest, the Wildcats put together a game-winning drive when they took advantage of a short punt by Indiana. Starting on the Hoosiers' 44-yard line with 3:20 remaining, NU reached the end zone five plays later when Wright equaled a Wildcat single-game record by scoring his fourth rushing TD of the game on a 7-yard run around left end. The Wildcats outrushed the Hoosiers 240 to 232 yards, and also led in total offense, 496 to 382 yards. NU's defense held Indiana to 123 rushing yards (3.4 ypc) in the final three quarters.
Northwestern Head Coach Randy Walker
Randy Walker is in his fourth season at Northwestern after spending the previous nine years (1990-98) at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. In just his second year 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 2000 efforts 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 77-61-5 career record in 13 seasons and a 18-26 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 48-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 that Miami has produced: Paul Brown, Woody Hayes, Ara Parseghian, Bo Schembechler ... and the list goes on.
Northwestern Receives AFCA 2002 Academic Achievement Award
Northwestern University's football program is receiving the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) 2002 Academic Achievement Award, which is presented annually by the Touchdown Club of Memphis. NU recorded a 100 percent graduation rate for members of its football squad when all members of its freshman class of 1996-97 earned a degree. Northwestern's win is the second for the school, and it has been honored every year it has been eligible for the award. The Wildcats also earned the honor in 1998 with a 100 percent rate. Northwestern earned honorable mention honors in 1999, 2000 and 2001. Prior to 1998, the award honored only members of the College Football Association. Since 1998, when the award was expanded to include all Division I-A conferences, Big Ten schools have been honored 23 times, with the Wildcats winning the award twice.
More Academic Kudos
According to the latest NCAA graduation rate data, Northwestern's football programs ranks first among all Division I-A schools in graduation rate (85 percent) for the class entering the 1995-96 school year.
Freshmen Figures
With his third full recruiting class on board, head coach Randy Walker has a high percentage of young players on scholarship. This year, 45.8 percent of NU's scholarship roster is comprised of freshmen or redshirt freshmen.
More Youthful Facts
With the loss of Pat Durr (St. Charles, Ill./St. Charles), just four seniors were in the lineup from games two (TCU) through nine (Purdue): three on offense (Jon Schweighardt, Austin King and Jeff Roehl) and one on defense (Raheem Covington). For the second straight week, NU is expected to start a fifth senior, Vincent Cartaya, at MLB. The rest of the probable lineup (offense and defense only) for Iowa includes six juniors, seven sophomores and four freshmen. In 2000, when NU captured a share of the Big Ten crown, it had five seniors, 11 juniors, six sophomores and no freshmen in its starting lineup. Eighteen NU players have made their first collegiate start this year.
Injury Update
Safety Dominique Price (Jeffersontown, Ky./DuPont Manual), who injured his left ankle at Penn State and has missed the last two games, is probable for Iowa. Another safety, Mark Roush (Richmond, Va./Douglas Freeman), who left the Indiana game with a rib injury, is questionable to probable.
Two Northwestern players are out for the season. Freshman quarterback Alexander Webb (Dallas, Texas/Highland Park) lacerated his liver after taking a hard hit to the stomach in the Sept. 7 game against TCU. Webb was hospitalized for nine days, but the injury did not require surgery. Webb will sit out the remainder of the season and apply for a medical hardship.
Middle linebacker Pat Durr underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on Friday, Sept. 13. The surgery revealed a tear to his ACL, which was repaired. Durr is applying for a medical hardship.
The Wright Stuff -- Running Back Picks Up Third Big Ten Honor
Jason Wright continues to put together a season worthy of All-Big Ten honors. On Saturday against Indiana, he established five career bests: rushing yards (196), yards per carry average (8.9), rushing TDs (four), all-purpose yards (285) and receiving yards (59). His rushing TD total tied the school's single-game mark, accomplished five previous times in NU history, and his all-purpose total fell 41 yards shy of the school record. For his effort against the Hoosiers, Wright picked up his third Big Ten player-of-the-week honor, sharing Offensive Player of the Week honors with Larry Johnson.
His 196-yard day also pushed his season rushing total well above the 1,000-yard mark to 1,083 yards, which ranks seventh on NU's all-time single-season list. Wright is averaging 5.8 yards per carry this season, which ranks second all-time among NU players who totaled 1,000 or more yards in a season (second only to Damien Anderson's 6.6 ypc average in 2000).
In his last eight games, Wright is averaging 128.8 yards per game. In Big Ten games only (six games), he ranks third in league rushing (122.8 ypg) behind Terry Jackson and Johnson. Among all Division I-A players, he ranks fifth in kickoff return average (29.2 ypr), fifth in all-purpose yardage (174.9 ypg) and 24th in rushing average (108.3 ypg). In September, Wright became the first Big Ten player to be honored on both offense and special teams in the same season since 1997 when he earned Offensive Player of the Week honors after rushing for a career-high 186 yards and three touchdowns at Navy. (Iowa wide receiver Tim Dwight was the last Big Ten player to accomplish the feat in 1997.) Two weeks prior to the offensive honor, Wright was the Big Ten's Special Teams Player of the Week for his 191 kickoff return yards and his Big Ten-record 63.7 yards per return mark vs. TCU.
In the TCU game, Wright shattered NU's single-game marks for longest kickoff return (100 yards, for TD), yards per kickoff return (63.7) and total kickoff return yards (191). The kickoff return average also was a Big Ten record. Wright's 100-yard touchdown return was Northwestern's first kickoff return for a TD in 108 games. (NU's Lee Gissendaner returned a kickoff 90 yards vs. MSU on Oct. 31, 1992.) In addition, it was the first kickoff return for TD scored on TCU since Oct. 8, 1986 (175 games). Wright's performance also helped NU set a single-game team mark with 270 return yards. Wright's string of 100-yard rushing games (three) earlier this season was the longest since a five-game streak by Anderson in 2000. He has six 100-yard games for the year and is now on the Doak Walker Award watch list.
Turning it Around
After suffering seven turnovers -- the most miscues by a Randy Walker-coached team -- in its 48-24 loss to TCU, the Wildcats have come back to post a +7 margin (19-to-12) in turnovers their last eight games. In two of those games (Navy and Minnesota), Northwestern did not commit a turnover. In four of the eight games, the Wildcats committed fewer turnovers than the opponent. In its last eight games, NU has suffered just five lost fumbles.
Offensive Highs-and-Lows
The 'Cats' offense has purred at times this season, totaling 430 or more yards on five occasions. Northwestern had accumulated 430 or more yards in three straight games (Duke, Navy, Michigan State) -- the first time the Wildcats had done that since the seventh, eighth and ninth games (Purdue, Minnesota and Michigan) of the 2000 Big Ten championship season. NU had 545 yards against Navy and 522 vs. Minnesota. Four times, however, the 'Cats have been held to 275 yards or less of offense: Air Force (221), TCU (275), Penn State (202) and Purdue (268).
All-Stars Austin King and Jeff Roehl
Senior Jeff Roehl (Orland Park, Ill./Carl Sandburg) has accepted an offer to play in the East-West Shrine Game, set for Jan. 11, 2003 in San Francisco's Pacific Bell Park. Roehl is slated to play for the East squad, which will be coached by Notre Dame's Tyrone Willingham. He was the second Big Ten player named to the East roster, joining Illinois' Walter Young. Roehl will be the 75th player to suit up for the Shrine Game, and the first since Eric Collier and KeJuan DuBose played in 1997. NU ranks fourth among Big Ten schools and 14th overall in all-time Shrine Game participation.
Classmate Austin King (Cincinnati, Ohio/Purcell Marian) has accepted an invite to the Hula Bowl Maui Classic on Feb. 1, 2003. He has started 41 career games at center, including 29 in a row from 1999 to 2001. Earlier this season, King was named to the Rimington Award Watch List, which honors the top center. Roehl and King also have been named to the Rotary Gridiron Classic initial watch list. The Rotary Gridiron Classic matches the top collegiate players from around the nation against those in Florida.
Both King and Roehl were named to the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) preseason All-America Watch List.
Now This is Special
Last year, the Wildcats ranked 11th in the Big Ten and 96th nationally in kickoff return average. Northwestern averaged 18.1 yards per return. This season, led by Wright and Jeff Backes (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington), the Wildcats are second in the Big Ten and 14th nationally. As a team, NU is averaging 23.7 ypr. LSU leads the nation with a 28.1 mark.
Kunle is Streaking -- Goes for NU Record at Iowa
Dating to his freshman season, receiver Kunle Patrick (Brooklyn, N.Y./Poly Prep Country Day), has caught at least one pass in 32 consecutive games. That is one shy of NU's career record of 33, held by D'Wayne Bates (1995-98), who presently plays for the Minnesota Vikings. That is the longest streak in the Big Ten and the longest nationally by any non-senior.
"Baz" is Back
Redshirt freshman quarterback Brett Basanez (Arlington Heights, Ill./St. Viator), who has missed the previous two games while resting his broken left fibula, made a return to the field, starting and playing most of the game vs. Indiana. After a slow start, Basanez finished strong, completing 19-of-28 passes for 256 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions. Basanez did suffer two costly fumbles early in the fourth quarter that led to a 37-34 deficit, but he came back and led NU on its winning drive. With Basanez in the starting lineup (seven games), the Wildcats are averaging 31.7 points per game.
Basanez Among Nation's Top Frosh QB's
Brett Basanez ranks first nationally among all freshmen quarterbacks (true and redshirt) in passing yardage (208.8 ypg) and second in total offense (222.1 ypg).
Brains and Brawn
The Verizon Academic All-America selection process is underway and Northwestern has nominated six players for the award. NU's six nominees (3.20 or higher cumulative GPA) are: DT Luis Castillo, C Austin King, S Dominique Price, G Jeff Roehl, QB Tony Stauss and RB Jason Wright.
Century Receivers
Junior Kunle Patrick and senior Jon Schweighardt (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton-Warrenville South) became members of NU's "Century Club" for career receptions on Sept. 14 against Duke. Schweighardt and Patrick, who lead Northwestern this season with 46 and 37 receptions, respectively, are fifth and seventh on the all-time list with 135 and 127 catches. The two are also moving up on the career yardage list. Schweighardt, who leads NU in receiving yardage this season, has 1,533 yards (seventh place) and Patrick has 1,453 yards (10th place).
'Cat Tails ...
* The Wildcats ran for 306 yards against Minnesota, their highest single-game figure since totaling 315 yards against Illinois in their 2000 Big Ten-title clinching win on Nov. 18. The Wildcats averaged 7.8 ypc vs. Minnesota. NU?s single-game yards per carry record is 8.1, set against Iowa State in 1953. Nine days later at Penn State, the Wildcats averaged 0.3 ypc and totaled nine rushing yards. Against Indiana this past weekend, NU averaged 6.6 ypc.
* Northwestern has lost to seven teams with a combined record of 43-20.
* Jason Wright is responsible for picking up a team-best 56 first downs this year (out of a possible 197) for a 28.4 percentage. Jon Schweighardt has the next-highest total with 25 of his team-high 46 catches going for first downs.
* Running backs Jason Wright and Noah Herron (Mattawan, Mich./Mattawan) have combined for 33 receptions and 362 receiving yards this year.
Up Next
NU has an open date (Nov. 16) before closing the season vs. Illinois on Nov. 23. Game time is expected to be announced on Nov. 11.
