GAME NOTES: Wildcats set to Host Bowling Green Under the Lights

Saturday, September 16

Evanston, Ill.

6:30 p.m.

Northwestern

Bowling Green

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Photo by: Stephen J. Carrera

GAME NOTES: Wildcats set to Host Bowling Green Under the Lights

9/12/2017 3:50:00 PM | Football

NORTHWESTERN FOOTBALL: GAME DAY INFORMATION
DATE	OPPONENT	TIME	LOCATION	BROADCAST	LIVE STATS
Saturday, September 16	Bowling Green	6:30 p.m.	Ryan Field	TV: BTN RADIO: WGN 720	Gameday Central
BTN: Lisa Byington (play-by-play) and Chuck Long (analyst) WGN 720: Dave Eanet (play-by-play), Ted Albrecht (analyst), Adam Hoge (sideline) Social: Twitter (@NUFBFamily and @NU_SportsLive) \| Instagram (@nufbfamily) \| Facebook Game Notes: Northwestern \| Bowling Green \| Big Ten

EVANSTON, Ill. — The Northwestern football program will return home to the friendly confines of Ryan Field to host Mid-American Conference foe Bowling Green Saturday night under the lights.

The Wildcats (1-1) and Falcons (0-2) will kick off on the Big Ten Network at 6:30 p.m. CT with Northwestern alumna Lisa Byington and Chuck Long on the call. As always, fans can also listen to the contest on WGN 720 with the voice of the Wildcats Dave Eanet, Ted Albrecht and Adam Hoge.

PROTECTING HOME TURF
Despite the loss to Duke last week, Dan and Susan Jones Family Head Football Coach Pat Fitzgerald is 36-16 versus non-conference opponents, including a 24-6 mark at Ryan Field in his 11-plus seasons. The Wildcats opened the 2017 campaign with a 31-20 victory over Nevada at Ryan Field on Sept. 2, improving Fitzgerald's record in season openers to 10-2.

MAN IN THE MIDDLE
Redshirt first-year linebacker Paddy Fisher shined in his second collegiate contest Saturday at Duke, racking up a season-high 18 tackles (9 solo), his first career tackle for loss and his first career fumble recovery. Fisher's 18 tackles were the most by a Wildcat since Jaylen Prater matched the total versus Western Michigan last season and tied for the fourth most tackles in a game by a Wildcat since 2005. The Katy, Texas, native is tied with Tennessee's Colton Jumper and Cincinnati's Malik Clements for the third-most tackles by a player in FBS this season.

MR. SOLO STOP
Senior safety Godwin Igwebuike notched six solo tackles and 14 total in the Wildcats' loss at Duke. Igwebuike ranks eighth among active FBS players with 171 career solo tackles. His 14 tackles were his most since he tallied a career-high 15 versus Nebraska in 2016 and marked his sixth career double digit effort. The Pickerington, Ohio, native also had a pass break up in the contest, moving him within six of cracking Northwestern's all-time top 10.

CHASING HISTORY
Senior running back Justin Jackson scored his first touchdown of the season Saturday at Duke, moving into a tie with Tyrell Sutton (2005-08) for fourth in program history with 31 career rushing scores and a tie with Kain Colter (2010-13) for fifth in program history with 32 total career scores. Jackson enters Saturday's contest versus Bowling Green needing 94 yards to become just the third player in program history to record at least 5,000 career all-purpose yards. He is just seven touchdowns shy of Damien Anderson's (1998-2001) program records for career rushing touchdowns and total career touchdowns (38). More notes on the senior running back are available on page 3.

HUNTER THE PUNTER
Senior punter Hunter Niswander posted a 49.7-yards-per-punt average Saturday at Duke, marking the best by a Northwestern punter with at least five punts in a game since at least 2000. The previous top mark was held by Stefan Demos vs. Illinois in 2007 (49.0).

WELCOME TO THE PARTY [IN THE END ZONE]
Redshirt first-year wide receiver Riley Lees had a pair of catches for 31 yards Saturday at Duke, including a season-long 20-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter. Lees is the first Wildcat since at least 2000 to start his career with a touchdown reception in back-to-back games. The last player to catch a touchdown pass in each of the 'Cats' first two games was Tony Jones in 2013 (at Cal; vs. Syracuse).

...AND SPEAKING OF DEBUTS
A total of 25 student-athletes have appeared for the Wildcats for the first time through two weeks of play, including three graduate transfers, 12 redshirt first-years and 10 true first-years. The 10 true first-year players are the most to appear in a season under head coach Pat Fitzgerald. See below for notables from some of the players who have made their debut the last two weeks.
• First-year linebacker Blake Gallagher made a season-high five tackles at Duke.
• First-year wide receiver Kyric McGowan caught a pair of passes for the first time in his career with two catches for 29 yards at Duke.
• First-year defensive end Samdup Miller is second among NU defensive linemen with seven tackles.
• First-year defensive lineman Joe Spivak, redshirt first-year defensive lineman Tommy Carnifax and redshirt first-year linebacker Jango Glackin each made their Northwestern debut in game two versus Duke.

KICKING COMPETITION
First-year kicker Charlie Kuhbander won a kicking competition during training camp and has solidified his position through two games. Kuhbander made a season-long 40-yard field goal and nailed both of his extra-point attempts at Duke to improve to 2-for-3 in field goal attempts and 6-for-6 on extra points through two weeks. He is tied with junior quarterback Clayton Thorson and redshirt first-year wide receiver Riley Lees for the team lead with 12 points.

JUSTIN JACKSON CONTINUES TO CLIMB THE CHARTS
Senior running back Justin Jackson eclipsed the 100-yard plateau in a season opener for the third-straight year with 109 yards versus Nevada, passing Tyrone Wheatley (4,178; Michigan) and Tico Duckett (4,212; Michigan State) for 15th on the Big Ten's career rushing list. Jackson is the second-active leading rusher in FBS with 4,256 career rushing yards behind only Oregon's Royce Freeman (4,449) and leads all active FBS players with 892 career carries. The Carol Stream, Illinois, native enters Saturday's contest versus Bowling Green 136 yards shy of Jamie Morris (Michigan) for 14th in Big Ten history.

HE GOES, WE GO
Jackson has rushed for 100-plus yards 21 times during his career with the Wildcats posting a 17-4 mark when he hits the century mark on the ground. In fact, Jackson's success on the ground has truly been the driving force behind Wildcats' victories the last three-plus years. In the 23 wins during his career, Jackson has averaged 27 carries and 133.4 rushing yards per game, while averaging just 15.8 carries and 69.8 rushing yards per game in 17 losses.

BALL HAWK
Junior cornerback Montre Hartage made a career-high 11 tackles (eight solo), including his first career tackle for loss, and picked off his first pass of the season at Duke. Hartage leads all active Wildcats with six career interceptions and is just two shy of cracking Northwestern's top-10 list all time.

SLATER PROTECTING THE EDGE
True first-year offensive lineman Rashawn Slater has started the first two games at right tackle for the Wildcats. Slater is Northwestern's first true first-year offensive lineman to start since Auston Matthews in 2005. Slater was ranked a consensus three-star prospect by 24/7, Scout, Rivals and ESPN and was rated the No. 32 offensive guard in the nation by 24/7. His father, Reginald, played eight seasons in the National Basketball Association for the Denver Nuggets, Toronto Raptors and Minnesota Timberwolves after a college career at Wyoming.

THORSON'S STREAK COMES TO AN END
Junior quarterback Clayton Thorson saw his streak of 13-consecutive games with a touchdown pass come to an end at Duke last week. Thorson did continue to move up the NU charts however, moving past Steve Schnur (5,542; 1993-96) into eighth in program history with 5,626 yards of total offense and past Dan Persa (460; 2008-11) for eighth in program history with 469 career completions. The Wheaton, Illinois, native enters Saturday's contest versus Bowling Green needing just six passing yards to move past Dan Persa (5,181; 2008-11) into ninth in program history in career passing yards.

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