Northwestern University Athletics

Northwestern 41, EIU 0 • Postgame Notes

NORTHWESTERN POSTGAME NOTES

Eastern Illinios at Northwestern  • September 12, 2015
Ryan Field • Evanston, Ill.
Attendance:  29,131
 
Northwestern Team Notes
  • Northwestern defeated Eastern Illinois in the teams’s second meeting. The first game was played in 2011, a 42-21 NU win.
     
  • With the victory, head coach Pat Fitzgerald improved to
    • 27-10 record in September games, 12-1 dating to 2012, and 18-2 since 2010.
    • Fitzgerald is 31-7 (.816) in nonconference games.
       
  • The last time NU scored in excess of 40 points was a 43-40 overtime win against Notre Dame on Nov. 15, 2014. The last time the Wildcats exceeded 40 in a regulation game was in a 48-27 win against Syracuse in the second game of the 2013 season.
     
  • In the first two games this season, NU has held its opponents to 6 (Stanford) and 0 points (today).
     
  • The six points allowed against two straight foes this season are the fewest since 1958 when in consecutive games, NU allowed three points. Northwestern defeated Stanford 28-0 and Minnesota 7-3 the following week in ’58.  That is also marks the last time NU hasn’t allowed a touchdown in two straight contests.
     
  • This is the first game that Northwestern has shut out an opponent since the Wildcats blanked Northeastern in the initial game of the 2007 season, 27-0. It is the second opponent shut out in the Pat Fitzgerald era.
     
  • Northwestern held Eastern Illinois to 70 rushing yards. For the second straight week, NU opponents have been held to under 100 yards on the ground (85 vs. Stanford last week).
     
  • With 496 yards, Northwestern has gained over 325 yards in total offense in five consecutive games dating to last season. Today marked the most total offense yardage since NU gained 547 against Notre Dame last season.
     
  • The Wildcats rushed for 344 yards today, the most since 334 vs. Western Michigan in 2013. Eastern Illinois allowed 77 rushing yards last week.
    • Eight ‘Cats were credited for rushing attempts today on 69 carries.
       
  • Northwestern converted on 5-of-6 of its red zone opportunities. NU is 7-of-8 within the 20-yard line this season.
     
  • The Wildcat defense continues its dominance on third down, allowing the Panthers no successful third downs in 11 attempts. Last week, NU held Stanford to only 3-of-15 successful third-down conversion attempts. Wildcat opponents are now 3-of-26 on third downs this season.
     
  • NU had eight tackles for losses totaling 34 yards. That includes three quarterback sacks for 23 yards.
 
Northwestern Individual Notes
 
  • RB Justin Jackson has been the Wildcats’ leading rusher in 14 straight games including all contests last season as a freshman.
    • With 78 yards on the ground, Jackson’s consecutive 100-yard game string comes to an end at four.
       
  • RB Warren Long rushed for a career-high 72 yards.
    • Long’s second-quarter eight-yard touchdown was his first career score. 
       
  • RB Auston Anderson’s first three carries as a Wildcat went for 12, 11 and eight yards. His longest run was 22 yards as he gained 59 yards and averaged 7.0 yards a carry.
     
  • RB-LB Tom Hruby, a 33-year-old retired Navy Seal, debuted as a ball carrier today with 25 yards on eight carries and a long gain of nine yards.
     
  • Also in his first stint as a Wildcat, RB Cory Acker debuted with 57 yards on five carries, a game-high 11.4 yards a carry. His 31-yard run in the fourth quarter was the longest run from scrimmage today.
     
  • In QB Clayton Thorson had his most efficient performance to date (169.2) on 11 completions in 16 attempts for 152 yards and his first career touchdown pass of his career
     
  • SB Dan Vitale led all receivers with four receptions. The senior now has 107 career receptions.
     
  • WR Austin Carr’s 44-yard reception for a touchdown marked his first career TD, his longest career catch and the longest NU play from scrimmage this season.
    • Carr led all receivers with 61 yards, a career high. Before today, Carr had 50 total receiving yards.
       
  • WR Flynn Nagel caught his first career pass, a 24-yarder in the fourth quarter.
     
  • For the second consecutive week, LB Anthony Walker led the team with seven tackles and matched his tackle for loss total of last week with two.
     
  • CB Matthew Harris’s two interceptions today double his career total (his previous two pickoffs came in 2014). The last time a Wildcat had at least two interceptions in one game was by S Godwin Igwebuike, who picked off three Wisconsin passes on Oct. 14, 2014.
    • Harris’s third-quarter interception for a touchdown was his first for a score. The 71-yard return is Northwestern’s longest play this season.
       
  • DE Ifeadi Odenigbo and DL Deonte Gibson led NU defenders with one quarterback sack apiece. Odenigbo has 11 career sacks, which ranks first among all current Wildcats and is tied for eighth all-time with B.J. Cunningham (1989-92) and Loren Howard (2002-04) in Northwestern annals.
     
  • Gibson added a quarterback hurry, as did DL Tyler Lancaster, his career first.
     
  • S Treveon Henry, the Wildcats’ current leading career tackler with 185 stops, had four tackles today, all solos. Henry and Walker led NU in solo stops.
     
  • K Jack Mitchell, who made field goals of 22 and 33 yards today, now has four consecutive successful field goal attempts.