OFFENSIVE STARTERS Offense Game Notes ● Senior running back Justin Jackson threw the first pass, and the first touchdown pass, of POS No. Name Career Start his career on a 12yard completion to s ophomore wide receiver Bennett Skowronek … His career pass efficiency rating stands at 530.8. QB #18 Clayton Thorson 34 ○ Jackson became the fifth running back in Big Ten history to reach 1,000 career rushing attempts with his 12th carry of the day. He joins Ron Dayne (1,220; RB #21 Justin Jackson 39 Wisconsin), Anthony Thompson (1,161; Indiana); Lorenzo White (1,082; Michigan State), and Mike Hart (1,015; Michigan). SB #84 Cam Green 2 ○ Jackson tied Damien Anderson (199801) at the top of the Northwestern record book with 38 career touchdowns … Jackson scored the recordtying touchdown WR #15 Macan Wilson 6 on a rush in the second overtime … He leads NU with seven rushing touchdowns this season. WR #2 Flynn Nagel 18 ○ The last Northwestern running back to throw for a touchdown was Brandon
WR #88 Bennett Skowronek 6 Roberson in 2007, who completed a 15yard pass against Indiana … Roberson finished with two career touchdown passes, with his first coming in 2006, also
LT #72 Blake Hance 30 against Michigan State. ○ He finished with 51 yards receiving, the most for him this season … His most LG #59 J.B. Butler 13 receiving yards since collecting 51 at Minnesota (Nov. 19, 2016). ○ The Wildcats improved to 31 this season when Jackson records a rushing C #69 Brad North 25 touchdown. ● Junior wide receiver Flynn Nagel c aught the gamewinning touchdown in 3OT, a 22yard RG #71 Tommy Doles 21 reception from Clayton Thorson. ○ He finished with eight receptions, a careerhigh … Previous high mark was six, RT #70 Rashawn Slater 7 done twice, most recently at Minnesota (Nov. 19, 2016) … His 87 receiving yards was also a career high, surpassing his 81 yards, also against Michigan State DEFENSIVE STARTERS (Oct. 15, 2016) … Picked up his second receiving touchdown of the 2017 campaign.
POS No. Name Career Start ● Junior quarterback Clayton Thorson ran for his fifth touchdown of the season, tying his career high from 2015 and 2016 … He also set his career high with 33 completions, DE #97 Joe Gaziano 8 finishing with 356 yards through the air … He has completed 20plus passes in six of eight games this season and 14 times in his career … His third time throwing for 300plus yards DT #67 Tyler Lancaster 34 this season … The Wildcats are 30 in those contests … 356 yards are the secondhighest total in his career (first is 370 yards against BGSU on Sept. 16). DT #99 Jordan Thompson 19 ○ Thorson averaged 10.8 yards per completion, the 17th time he has averaged over 10.0 yards per completion in his career and the fifth time this season. DE #91 Samdup Miller 8 ○ Thorson moved into sole possession of 4th place in program history with 15 career rushing touchdowns as a quarterback, passing Mike Greenfield (198487; WLB #51 Blake Gallagher 3 14) … Next on the list is Brett Basanez (200205; 18).
MLB #10 Brett Walsh 13 ○ Thorson has collected 2,044 passing yards this season, already the seventhmost by a junior in NU history … This is his second 2,000plus yard SLB #32 Nate Hall 20 passing season in his career, tied for the secondmost in NU history … Only Brett Basanez’s three seasons are better. CB #12 Alonzo Mayo 2 ○ He finished with two touchdowns through the air … The 10th time in his career that he has posted a multitouchdown game … NU is 91 in those games … He is S #21 Kyle Queiro 20 the first Wildcat quarterback since Dan Persa (200811) to post 10 or more multitouchdown games … Persa finished with 11 games. S #41 Jared McGee 7 ○ He has averaged 198.5 yards per game through 34 contests … That currently stands third in NU history, trailing only Brett Basanez and C.J. Bachér. CB #24 Montre Hartage 19 ○ This was T horson’ s 22nd win behind center, tying him with Brett Basanez for the most wins as a starting quarterback in NU history.
More Offensive Notes, Defensive/Special Teams Notes, and Career Highs are on the second page
FOOTBALL GAME NOTES: NORTHWESTERN vs. Michigan State (Oct. 28, 2017)
Offensive Notes (Continued) ● Sophomore superback Cameron Green caught the twopoint conversation in 3OT to give the Wildcats their 3931 advantage … Also caught a 14yard touchdown pass in the first overtime, his second touchdown reception of his season and career. ○ He tied his careerhigh with six receptions and set a career high with 76 yards … Surpassed his previous career high of 49 (Maryland; Oct. 14, 2017) by 27 yards … His 25yard reception set his career long. ● Redshirt firstyear wide receiver Riley Lees set a career high with four receptions and corralled his careerlong reception, a 25yarder. ● Sophomore wide receiver Bennett Skowronek caught a 12yard pass in the fourth quarter that gave the Wildcats a 1710 advantage … His third touchdown reception of the season. ● This is the first time this season that NU has won a game in which the opposing team had more rushing yards … The Wildcats hadn’t won a game in which they were outrushed since beating Duke, Sept. 17, 2016 (117 DU yards, 86 NU yards). ● NU improved to 29for31 in the red zone this season … The ’Cats came into the contest ranked 15th in the country. ● The Wildcats were 1for1 on fourth down attempts in the game … NU improves to 14for23 (.609) on the season. ● Northwestern has given up just eight sacks (one today) in its five wins this season, while giving up 16 in three losses. ● Chicago’s Big Ten Team had 28 first downs against a Spartan defense that had allowed a Big Tenleading 97 first downs all season (13.8/game). ● Michigan State had been allowing the fewest yards per game in the Big Ten at 262.3 yards of total offense this season … Northwestern gained 432 yards against MSU.
Defensive/Special Teams Notes ● Redshirt firstyear linebacker Paddy Fisher finished the game with 14 solo tackles, the most in FBS this season … It is the secondmost in by a Wildcat since at least 2005, trailing only Tim McGarigle’s 15 solo tackles against Wisconsin in 2005. ○ Fisher f orced fumbles on backtoback plays in the first quarter (the second of which was recovered by Northwestern), matching Warren Long’s two FF in the seasonopener vs. Nevada … The most by a Wildcat since 2000 is three in a game (Ifeadi Odenigbo vs. Western Illinois, 2014). ○ Fisher’ s three forced fumbles in 2017 ranks tied for second in program history … The most since 2005 is four by Anthony Walker Jr. in 2016. ○ Fisher recorded the second doubledigit tackle performance of his career with the other an 18tackle effort at Duke. ○ Fisher ended with 17 tackles, which is tied for the eighthmost in a single game in Northwestern history since at least 2005 … He has the 10th and 14thbest tackle performances in FBS this season … Three players in the NCAA — Khalil Hodge (Buffalo), Frank Ginda (San Jose State) and Paddy Fisher (Northwestern) have two games of at least 17 tackles. ● Junior linebacker Nate Hall’ s end zone reception, which sealed the game for NU, was his firstcareer pickoff. ● Sophomore defensive end Joe Gaziano registered his sixth sack of the season … Gaziano now has sacks in four of his last five games and nine of his 10.5 career sacks have come in 14 career Big Ten games ... He is 1.5 QB sacks shy of cracking the NU top10 career sack leader list … He has recorded a sack in four of his last five games and his five solo sacks are tied for the most during Big Ten Play. ● With two today, s enior safety Godwin Igwebuike moved into a tie for 10th place alltime at Northwestern with 22 pass breakups, tying Brett Whitley (198487). ● Firstyear kicker Charlie Kuhbander’ s 35yard field goal right before halftime was his eighth consecutive make after missing the very first attempt of his career … He has also made all 26 of his extrapoint attempts … He now has scored 50 points in his first year in Evanston, the secondmost for an NU rookie … Trails only Tyrell Sutton’s 108 in 2005 … It is the most points scored by a firstyear kicker in NU history. ○ His eight field goals made as a firstyear trails only Ira Adler’s 11 field goals in 1987. ● Of S enior Punter Hunter Niswander’ s six punts today, three fell within the 20yard line. ● Northwestern held its opponent under 100 yards rushing for the fifth straight game … The Wildcats came into the game holding the opposition to 94.8 yards per game on the ground and limited Michigan State to 95 yards on 30 attempts … NU has held its last six opponents below their average rushing yards per game … Michigan State had been averaging 177.4 rushing yards per game. ● For the first time this season, Northwestern allowed points on an opponent’s opening drive … The ninegame overall mark stretched back to last season, with Minnesota the last team to score on its first drive on Nov. 19, 2016. ● In their five wins this season, the ’Cats have allowed 20 secondhalf points … Michigan State scored seven points in the second half. ● With three today, NU has 32 tackles for loss in the last four games … The total includes 10 quarterback sacks (one today).
Career Highs ● WR Ramaud ChiaokhiaoBowman Receiving yards (14 yards), Long reception (14 yards) ● LB Paddy Fisher Forced fumbles (2), Solo tackles (14) ● DL Trent Goens QBH (1) ● SB Cameron Green Long Reception (25 yards), Yards (76), Touchdown (1, tied), Receptions (6, tied) ● LB Nate Hall Interceptions (1) ● S Godwin Igwebuike Pass Breakups (2, tied) ● RB Justin Jackson Passing Touchdowns (1), Completions (1), Attempts (1), Passing Yards (12) ● WR Riley Lees Long reception (25 yards), Receptions (4) ● LB Warren Long Tackles (3, tied) ● S Jared McGee Pass Breakups (1, tied) ● DL Alex Miller Tackles (3, tied), Solo Tackles (3, tied), QBH (1, tied) ● WR Flynn Nagel Receptions (8), Receiving yards (87), Touchdowns (1, tied) ● QB Clayton Thorson Completions (33)
Team Notes on next page
FOOTBALL GAME NOTES: NORTHWESTERN vs. Michigan State (Oct. 28, 2017) Team Notes ● The Wildcats posted their first win over a ranked opponent since defeating No. 23 Pittsburgh, 3224, on Dec. 28, 2016 in the NewEra Pinstripe Bowl … Northwestern’s first ranked win in the regular season since topping No. 25 Wisconsin, 137, on Nov. 21, 2016 … It is NU’s highest ranked win since defeating No. 15 Notre Dame, 4340, also in overtime, on Nov. 15, 2014. ● Chicago’s Big Ten Team has won three of their last four matchups against Michigan State, dating back to 2012 … This was the 56th meeting between Northwestern and Michigan State … This is the first home win against the Spartans since a 2726 victory in 2001. ● Northwestern last beat Michigan State twice in a row in 2000 (3717) and 2001 (2726). ● The last time Northwestern played in backtoback overtime games was in 2007, when Northwestern defeated Michigan State 4841 in overtime on Oct. 6 before defeating Minnesota in doubt overtime, 4948, on Oct. 13. ● Northwestern has played in backtoback overtime games three times since 2000, with the first occurrence coming in backtoback wins over Ohio State and Indiana in October of 2004. ● The game was Northwestern’s first 3OT game since playing Michigan, Nov. 16, 2013 at Ryan Field … It was the Wildcats’ first 3OT win in program history. ● Northwestern is 116 in overtime games and is 20 this season … The ’Cats have won their last three extratime contests. ● NU committed only one penalty in the win, the fewest in one game this season for the ’Cats … It is the fewest since NU finished Nov. 12th’s game at Purdue with no penalties. ● Michigan State won the overtime coin toss and elected to play defense. ● Northwestern won the toss and deferred to the second half. ● Attendance: 39,369
FOOTBALL GAME NOTES: NORTHWESTERN vs. Michigan State (Oct. 28, 2017)