NU vs. Boston College: Postgame Notes
9/3/2011 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 3, 2011
Northwestern Postgame Notes
NU vs. Boston College • Sept. 3, 2011
Alumni Stadium • Chestnut Hill, Mass.
Attendance: 37,561
Northwestern Team Notes
• This was the fourth meeting between Northwestern and Boston College, and the first since Sept. 18, 1993. NU leads the overall series 3-1 and has won the last tw-meetings.
• This was the third time in the last four years that NU opened the season against a BCS conference opponent. The 'Cats have won all three contests-vs. Syracuse in 2008, at Vanderbilt in 2010 and at BC in 2011. NU is 9-1 overall in its last nine regular-season contests against nonconference opponents.
• Since 2008, NU has gone 12-5 in road games. The 12 road victories are the most by any Big Ten team in the last three-plus seasons.
• Northwestern is 29-9 in its last 38 games decided by seven points or less. That includes a 19-8 mark since Pat Fitzgerald became head coach in 2006.
• Northwestern won its seventh-straight season-opening game. Head coach Pat Fitzgerald is a perfect 6-0 mark in season lid-lifters. NU has an all-time record of 76-44-4 in season-opening tilts, and 13-4 in its last 17 season-openers.
• Northwestern rushed for 227 yards against a BC defense that led the nation in 2010 in rushing defense (82.8 ypg). The game marked NU's second consecutive effort with 200 or more rushing yards. The 227 rushing yards were the most allowed by a BC team since Oct. 10, 2009 when Virginia Tech totaled 235 yards.
• NU has now posted back-to-back 200-yard rushing games (dating t-the 2011 TicketCity Bowl) for the first time since the final tw-games of the 2003 season-444 yards vs. Illinois (Nov. 22, 2003) and 357 yards vs. Bowling Green (Dec. 26, 2003 in the Motor City Bowl).
• After giving up a 69-yard rush t-BC's Andre Williams on the game's very first play, NU held the BC Eagles t-just 35 rushing yards the remainder of the game.
• NU's defense totaled three pass sacks and nine TFL's for a loss of 29 yards.
• Northwestern has now scored in double figures 48 straight games.
Northwestern Individual Notes
• True sophomore QB Kain Colter made his first-career start at quarterback (He started the 2011 TicketCity Bowl at running back). His passing stats were all single-game career bests: 17 completions, 24 attempts and 197 yards. He als-totaled a career-best 268 yards of total offense.
• True freshmen SB Jack Konopka, RB Treyvon Green and WR Christian Jones all saw their first snaps of their collegiate career. Green finished with one carry for three yards while Jones caught tw-passes for 39 yards, a team-best 19.5 yards per reception average. Jones' 27-yard reception was the Wildcats' longest pass play from scrimmage for the game.
• Sophomore RB Mike Trumpy, wh-logged NU's longest rush of the day (34 yards) and led NU with 85 rushing yards on 15 attempts, scored NU's go-ahead TD on its first drive of the second half, a 10-play, 80-yard march.
• True sophomore RB Adonis Smith was the third NU player t-gain more than 50 rushing yards, finishing with 53 yards and 1 TD.
• Senior WR Jeremy Ebert led NU's receiving corps with four receptions for 54 yards. His second catch of the game-a 6-yard grab in the second quarter-was the 100th reception of his career. Senior SB Drake Dunsmore als-reached the century mark for career receptions. Dunsmore began the game needing tw-catches and that's exactly how many he caught.
• Senior CB Jordan Mabin finished the game with eight tackles, an interception and one pass breakup. His pass breakup was the 19th of his career and puts him in eighth place all alone, tw-back of Pete Shaw (1972-76) wh-had 21 pass deflections.
• Junior MLB David Nwabuisi shared the team lead with Mabin in tackles with eight. Senior S Brian Peters, last year's leading team tackler, added five tackles, including an 8-yard pass sack, another 0.5 TFL and tw-pass breakups.
• Sophomore DE Tyler Scott, making his first career start, totaled four tackles, which included an 8-yard sack.
• PK Jeff Budzien nailed his first career field goal attempt-a 43-yarder-and converted all three of his PAT attempts.
• P Brandon Williams had a strong day punting, totaling 45.0 yards per punt with one boot inside the 20.
Boston College Postgame Notes
Team Notes
· Boston College falls t-1-3 against Northwestern in the all-time series. The Eagles are 64-32 in Alumni Stadium since 1995. They are 12-5 in home openers since then, and this marks the first home-opening loss for head coach Frank Spaziani (2-1).
· The Eagles' defense stopped the Wildcats nine of 15 times on third-down conversions. Last season, BC held opponents t-40 percent (74-187) on third-down conversions.
· The Eagles stopped the Wildcats twice on fourth-down attempts, once t-begin the second quarter and once with 1:37 remaining in the game. Opponents were 7-for-13 on fourth-down conversions last year.
· BC allowed 227 rushing yards. The last time the Eagles allowed over 200 rushing yards was t-Virginia Tech on Oct. 10, 2009, giving up 235 in a 28-14 loss in Blacksburg.
Individual Notes
· Sophomore RB Andre Williams opened the game with a 69-yard run, a career long. He finished the day with 114 yards on 22 carries.
· Junior LB Luke Kuechly recorded 19 tackles on the day; he has tallied 10 or more tackles in 23 consecutive games, the longest active streak of double-digit tackles in the country.
· Kuechly recorded his fifth career interception with just over nine minutes t-play in the first half, returning it for 23 yards.
· Senior WR Ifeanyi Momah recorded 157 yards on eight receptions, both career highs. The last Eagle t-tally such a performance was Rich Gunnell with 179 yards at Notre Dame on Oct. 24, 2009.
· Sophomore QB Chase Rettig threw for 375 yards, a career high. The last time a BC quarterback threw for over 300 yards was when Chris Crane recorded 428 yards versus NC State on Oct. 4, 2008.
· Sophomore LB Steele Divitt-recorded his first career sack in the second quarter. He recorded a career-high seven tackles.
· Junior DE Max Holloway recorded his sixth career sack with less than tw-minutes in the third quarter at Northwestern's 3-yard line.
· Junior WR Colin Larmond Jr. returned after sitting out the 2010 season with a knee injury, tallying 84 yards on four receptions.
· True freshman CB Al Louis-Jean started at defensive back, marking the first time a true freshman started in the backfield since current senior Donnie Fletcher in 2008.
· Sophomores C.J. Jones and Divitt-and redshirt freshman C Andy Gallik made their first career starts.
