Northwestern Football Northwestern Football
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
NORTHWESTERN FOOTBALL NORTHWESTERN FOOTBALL Game 2 // Northwestern vs. UNLV // Saturday, Sept. 14, 2019 KICKOFF NORTHWESTERN WILDCATS UNLV REBELS Evanston, Ill. Record 0-1 Record 1-1 Rankings n/a Rankings n/a 2:30 p.m. Head Coach Pat Fitzgerald Head Coach Tony Sanchez Ryan Field Record at NU (Yrs.) 96-71 (14th) Record at UNLV (Yrs.) 17-33 (5th) Home Record 51-37 (.580) Away Record 6-18 (.250) BTN Non-Conference 40-20 (.667) Non-Conference 6-12 (.333) vs. UNLV n/a vs. Northwestern n/a wgn 720 Offensive Coordinator Mick McCall Offensive Coordinator Garin Justice statbroadcast.com Defensive Coordinator Mike Hankwitz Defensive Coordinator Tim Skipper A NORTHWESTERN WIN WOULD... ON THE AIR ...Improve the Wildcats to 3-0 all time versus UNLV BTN pbp: Lisa Byington ...Mark the 97th win in Head Coach Pat Fitzgerald's career color: James Laurinaitis sideline: Elise Menaker ...Be the 10th win in a home opener for Fitzgerald WGN 720 ...Mark the ’Cats' second win over a Mountain West opponent in a home opener in the last three years pbp: dave eanet color: ted albrecht ...Snap a four-game regular-season losing streak to non-conference opponents sideline: adam hoge 2019 SCHEDULE & RESULTS @Stanford UNLV MSU* @Wisconsin* @ Nebraska* Ohio State* Iowa* @Indiana* Purdue* UMass Minnesota* @Illinois* Aug. 31 Sept. 14 Sept. 21 Sept. 28 Oct. 5 Oct. 18 Oct. 26 Nov. 2 Nov. 9 Nov. 16 Nov. 23 Nov. 30 FOX BTN ABC TBA TBA FS1 TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA L, 17-7 2:30 p.m. 11 a.m. TBA 2:30 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 11 a.m. TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA THE OPENING DRIVE INSIDE THE NUMBERS WELCOME HOME After a disappointing loss to No. 25 Stanford in the season opener, Northwestern returns home to the friendly confines Northwestern won its first Big Ten for its 2019 home opener versus UNLV this Saturday at 2:30 p.m. The Wildcats are 9-4 in home openers under Dan and Susan Jones Family Head Football Coach Pat Fitzgerald. The ’Cats have won four of their last five home openers versus 1 West Division title in 2018. non Power-5 opponents. TOUGH NEWS FOR TJ Fifth-year senior quarterback TJ Green completed 6-of-10 passes for 62 yards and had 10 yards rushing before The Wildcats have won back-to-back- leaving the game in the third quarter with an injury. Green had foot surgery and will miss the remainder of the season. to-back bowl games for the first time 3 in program history. GIMME THAT Junior linebacker Paddy Fisher became the program's all-time leader with his 10th career forced fumble in the Wildcats' opener at Stanford. Fisher is the nation's active lead in both forced fumbles and forced fumbles per game Junior Paddy Fisher is the nation's (0.34). Reggie Walker of Kansas State is the next closest with eight forced fumbles. active leader with 10 career forced LOCKED IN EARLY 10 fumbles. Despite being on the field for nearly 40 minutes, the Wildcats gave up just 10 points defensively and 17 points total in the opener at Stanford. The contest marked the seventh opener under Fitzgerald in which the ’Cats held their opponent to 17 points or fewer. Senior defensive end Joe Gaziano is second among active players with BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK 21 21.0 career sacks The Wildcats have won back-to-back-to-back bowl games for the first time in program history. They are one of just two programs in the Big Ten and 10 nationally who have accomplished the feat. PROGRAMS WITH BOWL WINS EACH OF THE LAST THREE YEARS Pat Fitzgerald is just four wins shy of 96 100 for his career. FYI Rushing Passing Total Scoring Rushing Total Turnover Penalty LAST MEETING Yards/GM Yards/GM Offense Offense Defense Defense Margin Yards/GM • Northwestern uses the term “first year” to refer to its new 93.0 117.0 210.0 7.0 132.0 365.0 -2.0 67.0 student-athletes, abbreviated by “Fy.” • The correct abbreviation for Northwestern 259.5 157.5 417.0 36.5 130.0 419.5 -0.5 12.5 37 28 is “NU,” not “NW” or “NWU” or the like. Rushing Passing Total Scoring Rushing Total Turnover Penalty • The correct logo for Northwestern is the Yards/GM Yards/GM Offense Offense Defense Defense Margin Yards/GM Sept. 7, 2001 • Las Vegas, Nev. “Block N.” Please contact Kyle Kelley at [email protected] if you are in TWITTER & INSTAGRAM: @NUFBFAMILY /// FACEBOOK: /NUFOOTBALL need. NORTHWESTERN GAME NOTES 1 NORTHWESTERN FOOTBALL NORTHWESTERN FOOTBALL GAME NOTES WHILLOCK[ED] IN THE MAN IN THE MIDDLE Junior safety Travis Whillock had a team-high six solo tackles and tied with junior Senior wide receiver Bennett Skowronek hauled in a team-high five passes for 53 linebacker Chris Bergin for the team lead with 10 total tackles in the season opener. yards in the opener, marking his sixth career game with at least five catches and his The contest marked Whillock's third career double-digit tackling performance. first since he had six in a win over Nebraska last season. Whillock has averaged 8.6 tackles per game since entering the Wildcats' starting lineup at Iowa on Nov. 10 of last season. Skowronek finished second on the team with 562 receiving yards last season and is on the brink of cracking the NU top 10 for career receiving yards. A two-year starter, BERGIN BUSTS OUT he has caught at least one pass in 34 games over the last three-plus years, which is Junior linebacker Chris Bergin recorded his second career double-digit tackling the most of any wideout in the Big Ten. performance with a team-high 10 stops versus the Cardinal. A former walk on who earned the starting SAM linebacker role this offseason, Bergin had a career-high THE MAN IN THE MIDDLE seven assisted tackles in the contest. His only other 10-plus tackle game cam versus Junior linebacker Paddy Fisher has been one of the most dominant players in the Nebraska on Oct. 13, 2018. Big Ten his first two seasons suiting up for the ’Cats. Fisher was second in the Big Ten — behind teammate Blake Gallagher — last season with 116 tackles. His 229 FOR THE FIRST TIME tackles spanning 2017-18 were the most in the league and are the second most Four different Wildcats made their first career start at Stanford, including nationally among juniors. A menace with a knack for causing turnovers, Fisher is sophomore quarterback Hunter Johnson, sophomore superback Charlie second nationally among players with nine career forced fumbles. Mangieri, sophomore offensive lineman Sam Gerak and sophomore defensive tackle Trevor Kent. Fisher was named to the Nagurski Trophy and Bednarik Award watch lists and was one of five players named to the West Division Preseason Team. The sixth two-time The Wildcats only had four student-athletes make their collegiate debut in the game, team captain in program history, Fisher is the only player in the country with at least including true first year kicker Trey Finison, redshirt first year offensive lineman 229 tackles and nine forced fumbles over the last two seasons. Charlie Schmidt, sophomore wide receiver Will Lansbury and sophomore superback Alex Oelsner. ALL GAZ, NO BRAKES Senior defensive end Joe Gaziano is second among active players nationally with BLOCKED 21 career sacks. Just seven shy of the NU program record of 28 held by Casey Dailey, Redshirt sophomore Trevor Kent blocked a field goal in week one, marking the Gaziano was a Second-Team All-Big Ten selection a year ago and was named to the first blocked field goal by the Wildcats since Nick VanHoose did so against Michigan Bednarik and Butkus Award Watch Lists this preseason. on Nov. 8, 2014. 2019 SCHEDULE/RESULTS Aug. 31 at Stanford Palo Alto, Calif. FOX L, 17-7 2-4-2 The Wildcats and Cardinal have Cardinal Stanford Stadium split the last two meetings Sept. 14 UNLV Evanston, Ill. BTN 2:30 p.m. CT 2-0-0 The ’Cats and Rebels last met in Rebels Ryan Field 2001 Sept. 21 MICHIGAN STATE* Evanston, Ill. ABC 11 a.m. 20-37-0 NU has won the last three Spartans Ryan Field meetings versus MSU Sept. 28 at Wisconsin* Madison, Wis. TBA TBA 36-59-5 Four of the last five meetings Badgers Camp Randall Stadium have been decided by one score Oct. 5 at Nebraska* Lincoln, Neb. TBA 2:30/3 p.m. CT 5-7-0 ’Cats have won back-to-back Cornhuskers Memorial Stadium meetings versus Cornhuskers Oct. 18 OHIO STATE* Evanston, Ill. FS1 7:30 p.m. CT 14-62-1 Rematch of the 2018 Big Ten Buckeyes Ryan Field Championship game Oct. 26 IOWA* Evanston, Ill. TBA 11 a.m. CT 27-50-3 The ’Cats have defeated Iowa Hawkeyes Ryan Field each of the last three years Nov. 2 at Indiana* Bloomington, Ind. TBA TBA 47-34-1 NU has won three-straight over Hoosiers Indiana University Memorial Stadium Indiana dating back to 2009 Nov. 9 PURDUE* Evanston, Ill. TBA TBA 32-50-1 The Wildcats have a five-game Boilermakers Ryan Field winning streak versus Purdue Nov. 16 UMASS Evanston, Ill. TBA TBA 0-0-0 First meeting in program history Minutemen Ryan Field Nov. 23 MINNESOTA* Evanston, Ill. TBA TBA 36-53-5 NU has won each of the last Gophers Ryan Field three meetings versus Minnesota Nov. 30 at ILLINOIS* Champaign, Ill.