Northwestern University Athletics
'Cats Prepare For Area Showdown With Huskies
9/5/2005 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 5, 2005
NU-NIU Football Game Notes
Download Free Acrobat Reader
The Game
Following a successful season-opening debut against Ohio, Northwestern remains at home to take on another Mid-American Conference foe, in-state rival Northern Illinois, at 3 p.m. this Saturday. The game is being televised nationally by ESPN Classic. The NIU-Northwestern game will be the second college football game to be aired live on ESPN Classic this season, starting a series of games on the ESPN outlet this season.
With their 38-14 win over the Bobcats, the Wildcats are seeking their seventh straight home victory when the Huskies visit Ryan Field this weekend. The current six-game winning streak is Northwestern's longest home victory string since its school-record 12-game streak in the mid-1990s (1995-97).
Senior quarterback Brett Basanez (Arlington Heights, Ill./St. Viator) is on the verge of shattering Northwestern's 12-year-old career passing yardage mark of 7,487 yards, currently held by Len Williams (1990-93). After opening his final season with a 353-yard effort versus Ohio, Basanez is just 176 yards shy of equaling Williams' feat. Basanez also could add a couple other career marks to his resume': he needs 18 completions and 132 yards of total offense to tie Williams for those two NU records.
The Huskies, who went 9-3 last year and won the Silicon Valley bowl game, opened the 2005 season with a 33-17 loss at Michigan. Northern Illinois rolled up 411 yards on the Wolverines, but five turnovers (four fumbles) prevented the Huskies from pulling an upset.
NIU is led by its rushing tandem of Garrett Wolfe and A.J. Harris, who combined for 2,478 ground yards and 22 touchdowns in 2004. Wolfe, who ran for 148 yards (8.7 ypc) and a TD at Michigan on Saturday, totaled 1,656 yards last year. At quarterback, junior Phil Horvath is at the controls of the Huskie offense after getting some experience last year in place of the injured Josh Haldi. Horvath completed 17-of-25 passes for 200 yards against the Wolverines. Up front, NU has a pair of All-America candidates in center Brian Van Acker and tackle Doug Free. Defensively, safety Dustin Utschig (13 tackles) and corner Adriel Hansbro (8 tackles) led the Huskies vs. Michigan.
Tickets are still available for Saturday's contest: $30 for reserved seats and $20 for end-zone seats. Saturday is Heroes' Day (all identified armed service and public safety officials and their families are admitted free), Band Day, Salute to Midwest Football Day (high school football teams attend free) and Wildcat Kids' Club Day. Tickets can be purchased by calling 847-491-CATS or ordering online at Northwestern's web site, NUsports.com.
The Broadcasts
Radio -- WGN (720 AM) will carry the game live on the internet (wgnradio.com) with its pregame show at 2:30 p.m. The radio broadcast will air live on WCPT (850 AM) due to a previously scheduled Chicago Cubs baseball game. Dave Eanet (play-by-play) and Ted Albrecht (analyst) call the action. WNUR (89.3), NU's student radio station, also will carry the game live. The contest is also available on the XM Satellite Radio network.
Television -- ESPN Classic is televising the game to a national audience. Mike Adamle (play-by-play) and Brian Kinchen (analyst) call the action.
(For a complete set of notes, please download the PDF above.)
