Nov. 20, 2009
MADISON, Wis. -- The Wisconsin football team (8-2, 5-2) finishes up conference play this week and looks for its fourth-straight win as it travels to Evanston, Ill., to take on Northwestern (7-4, 4-3). Game time is set for 2:30 p.m. (CT) at Ryan Field. With a win over the Wildcats and a loss by Ohio State to Michigan (game starts at 11 a.m. (CT) on Saturday), the Badgers would earn a share of their 12th Big Ten title and its first since 1999.
Wisconsin leads the all-time series, 55-32-5, including a 28-17-1 mark in games in Evanston. The two teams have not met since 2006, when Wisconsin won 41-9 in Madison. In fact, the matchup has only been played five times since 2000, with Northwestern holding a 3-2 advantage in those games. The Wildcats have won the last two meetings in Evanston, including a 51-48 shootout in the most recent game there in 2005.
Saturday’s matchup will air live on the Big Ten Network with Wayne Larrivee and Chris Martin announcing from the booth and Charissa Thompson providing sideline reports.
On the radio, Matt Lepay and Mike Lucas will be calling the action statewide on the Wisconsin Radio Network, including 1310 AM in Madison. Fans can also listen to the game online for a fee with InsideBadgerSports.com. In addition, Saturday’s game can also be heard on SIRIUS radio on channel 151 and on XM radio, channel 197.
Make UWBadgers.com your destination for all aspects of Badger football this season. Full coverage includes an in-game blog, game story, feature stories on key aspects and players, coach and player quotes, game notes, statistics, highlights and more.
The Badgers head into Saturday afternoon’s matchup on the tails of a three-game winning streak. Most recently, Wisconsin defeated Michigan, 45-24, in the final game of the season at Camp Randall Stadium.
Scott Tolzien was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week for his performance as he tied a school record, accounting for five touchdowns. Four of the scores came through the air, with two going to Nick Toon and one each to Garrett Graham and Lance Kendricks, while he tied the record with a rushing TD in the fourth quarter. He finished the day with 240 yards on 16-of-24 passing. Toon ended with 98 receiving yards on five catches, while John Clay provided the run balance with 151 yards on the ground and one touchdown on 26 carries.
Chris Borland led the defense in tackles for the second game in a row as he made a career-high 11 stops against the Wolverines. He also added 1.5 tackles for loss, 0.5 sacks, one forced fumble and one quarterback hurry. A trio of Badgers finished with seven stops, including Blake Sorensen, who established a new career high with that total. He also added 0.5 TFLs. In addition to his seven tackles, O’Brien Schofield had 1.0 TFLs, 0.5 sacks and two quarterback hurries. Culmer St. Jean was the third Badger to get seven tackles. Niles Brinkley added his second interception of the season in the third quarter.
After starting the season with a 2-2 record, Northwestern has rattled off wins in five of its past seven games, including back-to-back road wins. The Wildcats ended then-No. 4 Iowa’s perfect season with a 17-10 win in Iowa City and then won at Illinois last weekend, 21-16. Mike Kafka completed 23-of-37 passes for 305 yards and one touchdown and also ran for another score to lead the Northwestern offense past the Illini. Zeke Markshausen caught six of those passes for 104 yards and one touchdown.
The Wildcats boast the Big Ten’s third-best passing attack, averaging 257.2 passing yards per game. As a whole, they rank sixth in the conference in total offense with an average of 381.4 total yards per game. Four different players have totaled at least 200 yards rushing on the season for NU, with Arby Fields leading the way with 266 yards. Markshausen leads the team and is second in the Big Ten with 76 receptions for 737 yards.
Defensively, Northwestern is fifth in the conference in total defense, giving up 345.2 yards per game. Quentin Davie has been the anchor for the unit as he leads the team with 79 tackles, 8.0 TFLs and 4.0 sacks. In the secondary, Sherrick McManis has been the most opportunistic with four interceptions and 10 passes defended on the year.
For all the information you’ll need for Saturday’s game, check out game notes from Wisconsin, Northwestern and the Big Ten.
At his news conference on Monday, Wisconsin head coach Bret Bielema spoke about the team’s improved rush defense, the Badgers’ chances of winning some hardware from the Big Ten, and he provides a brief scouting report on the Wildcats. Read the full transcript from the news conference here.
Bielema also met with the media following Thursday’s practice. Watch the video.
BigTenNetwork.com has a preview of Saturday’s game, complete with audio from Bielema, a video with
Toon and notes to know for the game.
