Huskers and Wildcats Meet Saturday on ABC

NEBRASKA at NORTHWESTERN
OCT. 13, 2018 | RYAN FIELD
EVANSTON, ILL. | 11 A.M. (CT)

BROADCAST INFO
TV - ABC (Mark Jones, Dusty Dvoracek, Molly McGrath)
RADIO - Husker Sports Network (Greg Sharpe, Matt Davison, Ben McLaughlin)
SATELLITE RADIO - Sirius Channel 94, XM 383
INTERNET RADIO - Huskers.com, TuneIn.com
APP AUDIO - Official Huskers App, TuneIn App

HUSKERS
Record: 0-5, 0-3 Big Ten
Last Game: lost to Wisconsin, 41-24
Rankings: NR
Coach: Scott Frost
Career/NU Record: 19-12 (3rd Year)/0-5 (1st Year) 
vs. Northwestern: 0-0

WILDCATS
Record: 2-3, 2-1 Big Ten
Last Game: def. Michigan State, 29-19
Rankings: NR
Coach: Pat Fitzgerlad
Career/Northwestern Record: 89-68 (13th Year)/Same
vs. Nebraska: 3-4

The Matchup
Nebraska plays the second of back-to-back Big Ten West Division road games on Saturday, when the Huskers take on the Northwestern Wildcats. The contest from Northwestern's Ryan Field will kick off shortly after 11 am. CT. The game will be televised on ABC and can be heard on the IMG Husker Sports Network.

Nebraska will come into the game looking to pick up its first victory of the 2018 campaign. The Huskers dropped a 41-24 decision at No. 16 Wisconsin on Saturday night. Nebraska will take offensive momentum to Evanston after surpassing 500 yards of total offense for a second straight Big Ten game.

Saturday's matchup at Northwestern will mark the Huskers' third road game in four weeks to open Big Ten play. However it will come in a stadium that has been friendly to Nebraska. Following the Northwestern contest, Nebraska will play four of its next five games at home at Memorial Stadium.

Northwestern comes into the game with momentum following a 29-19 victory at No. 20 Michigan State last Saturday. The win improved Northwestern to 2-1 in Big Ten Conference play and 2-3 overall on the 2018 campaign. The Wildcats used a high-powered passing attack to key the victory, throwing for 373 yards. For the season, Northwestern ranks third in the Big Ten in passing, averaging 293.8 yards per contest.

This Week's Numbers
3 - Since joining the Big Ten Conference, Nebraska is 3-0 in matchups with Northwestern in Evanston. The Huskers most recently defeated the Wildcats at Ryan Field in 2016, picking up a 24-13 victory.

209 - Sophomore receiver JD Spielman caught nine passes for 209 yards and a touchdown at Wisconsin. The 209 receiving yards set a Nebraska single-game record, surpassing his own 200-yard effort last season against Ohio State.

441 - Nebraska freshman quarterback Adrian Martinez accounted for 441 yards of total offense at Wisconsin to set a Nebraska freshman record. Martinez has topped 400 yards of total offense each of the past two weeks and ranks second nationally among freshmen in total offense per game.

Nebraska-Northwestern Series

• Since Nebraska joined the Big Ten in 2011, five of the seven meetings between the schools have been decided by three or fewer points or in overtime.

• Nebraska rallied from a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit at Ryan Field in 2012 to win 29-28. The comeback equaled Nebraska's largest fourth-quarter rally for victory in school history..

Huskers Look to Continue Road Success in Series
Nebraska owns a 3-0 record at Northwestern since joining the Big Ten. Those wins include double-digit victories in the Huskers' two most recent visits to Evanston.

• The Nebraska-Nortwestern series has been largely dominated by the road team. In seven meetings as Big Ten foes, the visiting team holds a 6-1 record, including Northwestern's 3-1 mark at Memorial Stadium.

• Nebraska will be looking to defeat Northwestern for the fourth straight time on the Wildcats' home field. The last time Nebraska won four or more consecutive games in an opponent's stadium was four straight victories at Baylor spanning from 1997 to 2009.

Offense Hopes to Sustian Momentum at Wisconsin
Head Coach Scott Frost and his staff oversaw one of the nation's most potent offenses at UCF in 2017. Nebraska has shown signs this season of an explosive offense, beginning with its effort in the opener with Colorado when NU had 565 yards of total offense.

Nebraska has posted back-to-back conference games with better than 500 yards of total offense, including a season-high 582 yards against Purdue and 518 yards at Wisconsin. 

• Nebraska averages 432.2 yards of total offense per game to rank fifth in the Big Ten. 

• The consecutive 500-yard games against Purdue and Wisconsin marks the first time NU has had back-to-back 500-yard outputs in Big Ten games. It is the first time NU has had consecutive 500-yard games in conference play since the final two Big 12 games in 2007. • The 565 yards against Colorado in the air marked the first 500-yard total offense game for the Huskers since posting 556 yards at Northwestern in 2016. 

• The total offense output against Colorado was the best at the time by Nebraska in 35 games, dating back to a 610-yard effort against Southern Miss in 2015. 

Husker Passing Game Stressing Opposing Defenses
Nebraska has featured a high-powered passing attack over the past two weeks against Purdue and Wisconsin. The Huskers threw for 323 yards againt Purdue and then had a season-high 407 passing yards at Wisconsin.

• Nebraska's consecutive 300-yard passing games are its first since doing so against Minnesota and Penn State last season.

• The Huskers are averaging 247.2 passing yards per game to rank seventh in the Big Ten. Nebraska will face a Northwestern pass defense that ranks 11th in the conference.

Nebraska Adds Game with Bethune-Cookman
Nebraska has added a game against Bethune-Cookman University on Oct. 27 at Memorial Stadium to fill an opening on the 2018 football schedule. The contest will replace the Huskers’ Sept. 1 game against Akron which was canceled due to severe storms in Lincoln.

Bethune-Cookman plays in the Football Championship Subdivision and owns a 1-3 record in 2018. The Wildcats compete in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and posted a 6-2 record in league play in 2017. Coach Terry Sims in his fourth season guiding the BCU program.

• With the addition of the game against Bethune-Cookman, Nebraska will play 12 consecutive weeks and will not have a bye. The 2018 season will mark the first time in school history Nebraska has played 12 consecutive weeks. . 

NU Looks to Find Success in the Running Game
Nebraska churned out 329 rushing yards in the opener against Colorado, and has shown the ability to feature a strong rushing attack this season.

• Nebraska had 259 rushing yards against Purdue on Sept. 29, marking the third time in 2018 the Huskers topped 180 rushing yards. NU is averaging 185.0 rushing yards per game to rank seventh in the Big Ten. 

• The rushing total against Colorado bettered Nebraska's season highs from 2017. In fact, the Huskers had 243 rushing yards by halftime, surpassing last year's single-game high of 225 yards against Arkansas State. 

• The 329 rushing yards were Nebraska's most yards on the ground since rushing for 458 yards against Illinois in 2014. 

• Nebraska surpassed 300 yards on the ground for the first time since rushing for 310 yards at Northwestern on Sept. 24, 2016. 

• Nebraska had a pair of 100-yard rushers against Colorado. That marked the first time Nebraska had a pair of 100-yard rushers in the same game since a 2014 win over Illinois.

• Nebraska added a third 100-yard rushing game against Purdue when running back Devine Ozigbo churned out a career-high 170 yards.

• Ozigbo's 170 rushing yards were the most by a Husker in a Big Ten game since Ameer Abdullah had 225 rushing yards against Rutgers in 2014.

Record-Setting Receiving Duo Continues to Shine
In 2017, Stanley Morgan Jr. and JD Spielman combined for 1,816 receiving yards, the highest two-player total in Husker history.

Morgan set an NU record with 986 receiving yards in 2017. Spielman added 830 receiving yards, a total that ranked seventh in school history and was the most ever by a Husker freshman.

The pair of game-breakers is once again helping provide an explosive offense for Nebraska in 2018.

• In five games in 2018, the duo has combined for 57 receptions for 823 yards and six touchdowns. Those totals put them ahead of their combined pace in the 2017 season.

Morgan Aims to Be Nebraska's All-Time Leading Receiver
After setting a school record with 986 receiving yards in 2017, Stanley Morgan Jr. is challenging to become Nebraska’s all-time leading receiver this fall.

Morgan has 144 career receptions, which ranks fourth on NU’s all-time list. After his career-high tying eight catches at Wisconsin, Morgan needs 37 receptions to tie Kenny Bell (181) atop the Husker chart. Morgan has 2,105 career receiving yards to rank fifth on Nebraska’s all-time list. Morgan needs 584 yards to tie Bell (2,689) for the most receiving yards in program history.

The New Orleans native put himself in position to challenge Nebraska’s all-time records thanks to a breakout junior season, when he earned All-Big Ten accolades. Morgan caught 61 passes for 986 yards and 10 touchdowns in 2017.

• Morgan set Nebraska records with 986 receiving yards and five 100-yard receiving games in 2017, while ranking third in school history in touchdown receptions (10) and fifth in catches (61).

• He led the Big Ten and ranked 14th nationally in receiving yards per game (89.6) in 2017. His 986 receiving yards ranked second nationally among players who saw action in 11 or fewer games.

• Morgan led all Big Ten wide receivers and ranked 16th nationally in touchdown catches with his 10 touchdown grabs.

• He led the Big Ten with five 100-yard receiving games in 2017.

• Morgan posted 185 receiving yards at No. 13 Penn State, the third-highest total in school history.

• He has had at least three catches in 17 straight games. Morgan has a streak of 31 consecutive games with a reception, the fourth-longest streak in Husker history.

• Morgan surpassed 2,000 career receiving yards against Purdue and added 93 receiving yards at Wisconsin.

Speilman Building on Freshman All-American Season
JD Spielman emerged in 2017 as one of hte nation's most explosive freshmen, en route to freshman All-America accolades.

After five games in 2018, Spielman is well on his way to topping his receiving numbers from the 2017 campaign.

Last season, Spielman was named a freshman All-American by both USA Today and the Football Writers Association of America and was a third-team coaches' All-Big Ten pick. He also made the Big Ten Network’s All-Freshman team as both a wide receiver and kickoff returner.

He hauled in 55 receptions for 830 yards as a redshirt freshman in 2017, both of which were Nebraska freshman records. He also totaled 669 kickoff return yards to finish with 1,572 all-purpose yards, the most by a freshman in school history.

Spielman is off to an explosive start as the 2018 season reaches the midway point. He leads Nebraska in receptions (32), receiving yards (462) and receiving touchdowns (5).

• Spielman had a record-setting night against No. 16 Wisconsin. He hauled in nine passes for 209 yards and a touchdown. The 209 yards was a Nebraska single-game record, surpassing Speilman's own record of 200 yards last season against Ohio State. 

• Spielman's effort at Wisconsin was his fourth career 100-yard game and his second straight. A week earlier he caught 10 passes for 135 yards and two touchdowns against Purdue. That was the first multiple TD reception game of his career.

• Spielman is just the second player in school history to surpass 130 receiving yards in back-to-back games. He joins Frosty Anderson who topped 130 yards in back-to-back 1973 non-conference games against Wisconsin and Minnesota.  

• Spielman has surged up the receiving yardage charts in the past two weeks. Spielman eclipsed 1,000 career receiving yards against Purdue, reaching the milestone in 15 games, fewer than any player in NU history. His 209-yard effort at Wisconsin moved Spielman up nine spots to 14th on the career receiving yardage list at 1,291 yards. He is just 167 yards from the top 10 on the career receiving yardage list. 

• Spielman's 75-yard touchdown reception at Wisconsin marked the seventh career play of  40 yards or longer for Spielman. He has three kickoff returns of that length, three receptions and one rush. Spielman has produced Nebraska's two longest plays from scrimmage this season, when adding his 57-yard TD catch against Colorado. 

• Spielman's 10-catch effort against Purdue marked his second career double-figure receptions effort (11 vs. Ohio State, 2017). He joins Marlon Lucky as the only players in NU history with two double-digit catch games. 

• Spielman led all FBS freshmen in receiving yards (830) in 2017. Spielman also ranked second among all freshmen nationally in kickoff return yards (669) and catches per game (5.0), was third in all-purpose yards (1,572) and fifth with 55 total receptions.

• Among all FBS players, Spielman ranked 13th nationally in all-purpose yards and was one of only five players in the country to total 1,500 all-purpose yards in fewer than 90 attempts in 2017. He also led all FBS players in fourth-down receptions (7) and receiving yards (89).

• Spielman led the Big Ten in kickoff return yards and kick return average and was third in all-purpose yards and receiving yards per game. He also led the league with 88.1 receiving yards per game in conference play.

• An explosive playmaker, Spielman posted Nebraska’s longest return in 2017 (a 99-yard kickoff return vs. Arkansas State), the Huskers’ longest rush (40 yards vs. Northwestern) and the team’s second-longest reception (77 yards vs. No. 9 Ohio State).

• Spielman had 11 catches for a then-school-record 200 yards against No. 9 Ohio State. Spielman’s 11 catches were the most ever by a Husker freshman and ranked third overall in program history.

Nebraska's full notes package can be found in the PDF file at the top of this page