Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Ready to Resume Rivalry with Rice
9/13/2010 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 13, 2010
Northwestern (2-0) at Rice (1-1)
6 p.m. CT • Saturday, Sept. 18, 2010
Rice Stadium (47,000) • Houston, Texas
Television: No television; however, Rice will stream live on riceowls.com (All-Access subscription needed) and FLO TV.
Radio: WIND (560 AM), wgnradio.com, WNUR (89.3 FM)
Internet: riceowls.com
Gametracker: NUsports.com
In-game Twitter updates: @NU_SportsLIVE
Next Home Game: vs. Central Michigan, Saturday, Sept. 25 • 11 a.m. (BTN)
Ticket Information: Season tickets, as well as single-game tickets remain on sale for all NU home games (you must be a season ticketholder to purchase tickets for the Nov. 20 game at Wrigley Field); tickets can be purchased on NUsports.com or by calling 847-491-2287 (CATS).
For Openers
• Following its 37-3 home victory over Illinois State on Saturday, Northwestern (2-0) ventures out on the road again, this time to Houston, Texas, to take on Conference USA foe Rice University. Game time is set for 6 p.m. CT at Rice Stadium. The Wildcats and Owls are meeting for the first time since the 1998 season.
• Behind another spectacular effort from first-year starting quarterback Dan Persa, Northwestern rolled to a 30-3 halftime advantage against Illinois State and the coasted the remainder of the game for a 34-point win, its largest margin of victory in nearly five years. Persa completed 19-of-23 passes for 240 yards and a pair touchdowns. After two weeks of the college football season, Persa leads the nation in pass efficiency with an eye-popping 212.06 rating. (Tim Tebow led the nation in that category in 2009 with a 164.17 rating.) He also ranks third in the Big Ten and 24th nationally in total offense (278.5 ypg) despite sitting out most of the second half vs. Illinois State.
• On Saturday at Rice, Northwestern shoots for its ninth road win in its last 12 away contests. The Wildcats have been superb on the road of late, posting an 8-3 record away from Ryan Field since the start of the 2008 season.
• Rice, one year removed from a 10-3 season that included a victory in the 2008 Texas Bowl, evened its record at 1-1 this past weekend with a 32-31 road win over North Texas. The Owls, who led 23-21 at the half, scored the winning points with 6:22 to play on a 2-yard scoring run by Charles Ross. Rice opened the 2010 season with a hard-fought 34-17 setback to fifth-ranked Texas at Houston's Reliant Stadium.
• The Wildcats have seven players from Texas on their 2010 roster, including five from the Houston area: cornerback Justan Vaughn from Pearland H.S.; cornerback Demetrius Dugar from Aldine H.S.; linebacker David Nwabuisi from Episcopal H.S.; defensive tackle Will Hampton from Cy-Creek H.S.; and wide receiver Venric Mark from St. Pius X H.S. In the last decade, Houston has been a hotbed for NU recruiting as the Wildcats have had anywhere from four to nine players on their roster from the greater Houston area each year.
The Broadcasts
Radio -- WIND Radio (560 AM) and wgnradio.com will carry the game live with the pregame show starting at 5:30 p.m. Dave Eanet (play-by-play) and Ted Albrecht (analyst) call the action. WNUR (89.3), NU's student station, also will carry the game. The game can also be heard on satellite radio: Sirius (Ch. 90), XM Satellite (Ch. 196).
Television -- There is no television coverage of Saturday's game at Rice. The Rice athletic department, however, is planning to stream the game live on riceowls.com (Rice's All Access video player).
Ticket Info/Next Home Game
• Single-game tickets and three-pack plans for the 2010 Northwestern football season are still available. Ticket information can be found on NUsports.com or by calling NU's ticket office at 847-491-2287 (CATS).
• Tickets for next week's Sept. 25 home game against Central Michigan (Evanston Day and Take a Kid to the Game Day, 11 a.m. kickoff) are on sale, with prices at $35 (reserved seats), $25 (end zone), $30 (corner adult reserved) and $15 (corner youth reserved.) All Evanston city residents can purchase game tickets for half price (advance purchase only). In addition, two children (eighth grade and under) will be admitted free with the purchase of one adult end zone ticket (offer is valid only day of game at Gate J). These promotions cannot be combined.
For a complete set of game notes, download the PDF above.)
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