Northwestern University Athletics
Michigan State Visits Ryan Field This Saturday For Homecoming
10/16/2006 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 16, 2006
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
The Game
It is homecoming week at Northwestern, and for the first time Sept. 29, 2001, Michigan State is paying a visit to Ryan Field. The two teams played one another in East Lansing in 2002, and then following a two-year hiatus in the series, played last season, but once again at Michigan State.
Today's game -- the 47th meeting between the Wildcats and Spartans -- is being televised by ESPN Plus (Ch. 2, WBBM-TV in Chicago) across the Big Ten syndicated network.
Michigan State opened the season with three straight victories, which included a 38-23 road win at Pittsburgh, the Panthers' only defeat of the year. The Spartans then entertained 12th-ranked Notre Dame and fell 40-37 as the Fighting Irish scored the game's final 19 points. Since that loss, the Spartans have been unable to regain their winning ways, dropping their first three Big Ten Conference games to Illinois (23-20), Michigan (31-13) and and top-ranked Ohio State (38-7) this past Saturday.
As a result, Michigan State enter this Saturday's contest with a four-game losing skid as does Northwestern. Both teams are 0-3 in the Big Ten.
The Spartans are led by veteran quarterback Drew Stanton, who has totaled 7,321 career yards of total offense (5,958 career passing yards) in 25 career starts. This season, he has completed 109-of-179 passes for 1,241 yards, eight touchdowns and seven interceptions. He also has run for 296 yards (3.9 ypc) and four touchdowns. Stanton suffered a pair of injuries (back, neck) against Ohio State, but is expected to be in the lineup against the Wildcats this weekend.
With the loss of starting tailback Javon Ringer (87.6 ypg, 7.2 ypc) to a season-ending knee injury in the Illinois game, the Spartans are now giving a majority of their backfield carries to Jehuu Caulcrick (55.7 ypg, 4.2 ypc, 6 TD's) and A.J. Jimmerson (20.6 ypg, 4.9 ypc). Kerry Reed (12.2 ypr, 4 TD's), Matt Trannon (11.0 ypr, 2 TD's) and Jerramy Scott (13.7 ypr) are the Spartans' top receiving threats.
Defensively, Michigan State is led by safety Otis Wiley, who has a team-most 56 tackles (34 solos), a team-best 5.5 TFL's, five pass deflections and a forced fumble.
As a unit, the Spartans are allowing 346.6 ypg (seventh in the Big Ten) and 132.6 ypg on the ground (fifth in the Big Ten).
The Broadcasts
Radio -- WGN will carry the game live on 720 AM. The broadcast also can be heard live via the internet at wgnradio.com. The pregame show begins at 10:30 a.m. 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. (Channel 198).
Television -- ESPN Plus is televising the game to the entire Big Ten syndicated network. Wayne Larrivee (play-by-play) and Kelly Stouffer (analyst) call the action.
