Oct. 22, 2005
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Northwestern vs. No. 22 Michigan State
Spartan Stadium
Oct. 22, 2005
Northwestern Post-Game Notes
Northwestern improved to 5-2 overall and 3-1 in the Big Ten with its third straight victory. The Wildcats are the only Big Ten team with an unblemished league road record (2-0) this year. Northwestern hosts Michigan at 6 p.m. next Saturday at Ryan Field (ESPN).
The win was Northwestern's first over a ranked team on the road since defeating Michigan State in East Lansing on Sept. 30, 2000. The Wildcats had lost 10 straight games to ranked teams away from Ryan Field.
Northwestern's 49 points and its 35-point margin were the largest in its all-time series with Michigan State. NU won for just the fifth time in East Lansing -- the second time with Randy Walker as head coach. It was also the largest margin of victory for NU versus a Big Ten team on the road since 1943.
The victory handed head coach Randy Walker his 35th victory at Northwestern, tying Gary Barnett for fourth place on NU's all-time win list. Walker is now 35-43 at NU while Barnett was 35-45-1. Overall, in 16 years as a head coach, Walker has 94 wins (94-78-5).
The 35-point margin of victory was the fourth-biggest for a Northwestern road game.
Northwestern has won three of its last four Big Ten road contests.
Since 2003, Northwestern has a 12-8 composite record versus Big Ten competition.
NU's 35-point margin of victory was its largest since a 44-7 road win against Duke on Sept. 22, 2001.
The win was the 20th of Brett Basanez's career, making him Northwestern's all-time winningest quarterback.
Following is a breakdown of Basanez's career numbers and where he ranks on the NU and Big Ten career lists:
778 pass completions (first on NU list, fifth on Big Ten list-four behind Iowa's Chuck Long)
1,352 pass attempts (first on NU list, third on Big Ten list-14 behind Michigan's John Navarre)
9,139 passing yards (first on NU list, sixth on Big Ten list-115 behind Michigan's John Navarre)
9,980 total offense yards (first on NU list, fourth on Big Ten list-274 behind Iowa's Chuck Long)
Basanez notched two rushing TD's, giving him 16 for his career. He passed Mike Adamle on Northwestern's career rushing TD list and now ranks 10th all-time.
Basanez's seven-yard completion to Jonathan Fields on the second play of the third quarter gave him exactly 9,000 career passing yards. Basanez increased his career passing total to 9,139 yards.
Basanez set Northwestern's single-game completion percentage record, completing 24-of-30 throws (80 percent) to break the record of 69 percent set by Tony Stauss against Penn State in 2002. (Note: This record is for games with a minimum of 30 passing attempts.)
Basanez eclipsed 300-yards passing for the seventh time in his NU career. This is the third consecutive week Basanez has passed for more than 300 yards and the fourth time this season. He also totaled 348 yards of total offense. Basanez is average a whopping 7.3 yards per offensive play this season. NU's school record is 5.9 ypg (set by Steve Schnur in 1996).
Basanez's second-quarter, 41-yard pass to Tyrell Sutton moved him past Jeff Smoker (Michigan State) and into sixth place on the Big Ten's all-time passing yardage list.
Sutton's 109-yard performance was his fifth 100-yard rushing performance of the season. Sutton now has 970 rushing yards for the season. Sutton, who finished with 156 total yards (47 receiving), was attempting to become just the fourth freshman in NCAA history to reach 1,000 rushing yards in seven games. The only three players to accomplish the feat? Emmitt Smith (Florida), Marshall Faulk (San Diego State) and Adrian Peterson (Oklahoma)
True freshman SAF Brendan Smith's first-quarter interception was the second of his career. His 37-yard return was the longest of the season for NU. The previous high was 23 yards, set by both Smith and Marquice Cole. Smith's first pick of the year came Oct. 8 versus Wisconsin. Smith left the game with an injured knee when he was tackled by MSU quarterback Drew Stanton on the interception return.
LB Demetrius Eaton's 86-yard fumble return for a touchdown in the second quarter was the third longest in Northwestern history. The play was NU's first fumble return for a TD since Sept. 23, 2000, when Kevin Bentley returned a ball 50 yards at Wisconsin. It was the third-longest fumble return in NU history. Eaton's return was set up by a strip from DE Kevin Mims.
Northwestern has scored 21 or more points in its first seven games this season, the first time NU has accomplished that since football began in 1888.
Northwestern entered the game having scored 93 points in the second quarter this year, more than doubling its output in any other quarter. NU added 14 more second-quarter points, giving the Wildcats 107 this season.
PK Joel Howells tied NU's single-game record with seven PAT kicks in the game.
True freshman RB Brandon Roberson's 31-yard run in the third quarter was the longest of his career. He finished with a career-best 64 yards.
Michigan State's touchdown with 7:16 to play in the fourth quarter ended a string of 49 unanswered points by Northwestern.
Northwestern, which came in with the nation's fourth-best total offense average, went over the 400-yard mark for the eighth straight game, and over the 500-yard mark for the seventh time in that eight-game stretch. The Wildcats are now averaging 529.3 total yards and 37.1 points per game.
SAF Herschel Henderson picked off two passes for the first time in his career.
Northwestern has 20 takeaways on the season, tops in the Big Ten. NU has 12 interceptions as a team. Last year, the Wildcats totaled 15 takeaways in 12 games.
WR Shaun Herbert finished with 10 receptions for a career-high 138 yards.
WR Mark Philmore has now caught a pass in all 35 career games played. He caught four passes for 56 yards in the game, giving him 1,370 receiving yards for his career. He jumped two places on NU's career receiving yardage list to 11th.
LB Nick Roach and LB Tim McGarigle led NU with nine tackles each.
