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6 n o r t h w e s t e r n f o o t b a l l • D I G I T A L P R O G R A M • N O R T H W E S T E R N v s . P U R D U E THE MATCHUP: NORTHWESTERN VS. PURDUE Game 9 // Northwestern vs. Purdue // Saturday, November 9, 2019 KICKOFF NORTHWESTERN WILDCATS Record 1-7, 0-6 Big Ten Rankings n/a Head Coach Pat Fitzgerald Record at NU (Yrs.) 97-77 (14th) Home Record 52-40 (.565) Big Ten Record 56-57 (.496) vs. Purdue 7-3 (.700) Offensive Coordinator Mick McCall Defensive Coordinator Mike Hankwitz PURDUE BOILERMAKERS Record 3-6, 2-4 Big Ten Rankings n/a Head Coach Jeff Brohm Record at Purdue (Yrs.) 16-19 (3rd) Away Record 5-8 (.384) Big Ten Record 11-13 (.458) vs. Northwestern 0-2 (.000) Off. Coordinator Brian Brohm/JaMarcus Shephard Def. Coordinator Nick Holt/Anthony Poindexter Evanston, Ill. 11 a.m. Ryan Field BTN WGN 720 AM statbroadcast.com GOOD TO BE HOME Northwestern will kick off a season-long three-game home stretch Saturday when it plays host to Big Ten West Division foe Purdue at 11 a.m. The Wildcats have won five-straight contest versus the Boilermakers, including the last meeting at Ryan Field on Nov. 11, 2017, 23-13. BLAKE IT LOOK EASY Junior linebacker Blake Gallagher recorded his third-straight game with double-digit tackles with a team-leading 11 at Indiana last week. Gallagher has tallied 32 tackles over the last three weeks, the second most in the Big Ten during the span. See page two for more notes on Gallagher's junior campaign. LOCK DOWN CORNER Sophomore Greg Newsome II ranks fourth in the country and second in the Big Ten with 11 pass breakups through eight games. He is 16th in the country with 1.4 passes defended per game. Newsome has recorded multiple pass break ups in four games this season, including a career-high four versus Michigan State. WILDCATS SET THE PRECEDENT ACADEMICALLY Northwestern football is one of five Division I football programs to earn a 100 percent GSR this year and is the first program from a Power Five Conference to ever record a perfect score. NU's GSR is nine percent higher than the next closest Big Ten program. Wildcats football has ranked first or second in the nation in GSR among FBS schools for nine consecutive years. GAZIANO HAS SACK RECORD IN SIGHT Senior defensive end Joe Gaziano recorded yet another sack versus Iowa as he continues to move towards becoming the program's all-time leader in sacks. Gaziano needs just 1.5 sacks to tie Casey Dailey's program record of 28 set from 1994-97. The senior continued to make a case for his third-straight All-Big Ten honor with a career-high five solo stops and a tackle for loss at Indiana. He ranks sixth in the Big Ten with 0.69 sacks per game, fourth with 0.38 forced fumbles per game. Gaziano already has 36 tackles through eight games, just eight of his career high with four games to play. RESIDENT OF THE BACKFIELD Gaziano has been a menace to Big Ten quarterbacks over the last four years enters Saturday's game versus Purdue second among active players with 41 career tackles for loss and third with 26.5 career sacks. His 41st career tackle for loss versus Indiana moved him into sole possession of the third most in program history. He is one of just four players in program history to reach 40 career tackles for loss. SOMETHING IN THE NUMBER Junior linebacker Blake Gallagher posted his ninth career double-digit tackling performance versus Indiana, all of which have come over the last two seasons. Gallagher has been among the Big Ten's best since the start of the 2018 campaign, registering 17 games with at least seven tackles, which is the third most in the league during the span. WHILLOCK[ED] IN Junior safety Travis Whillock had eight tackles and a career-high 1.5 tackles for loss at Indiana, marking his seventh game this season with at least seven stops. Whillock has recorded at least seven tackles in 12 of his last 14 games. His 12 games with at least seven tackles since the start of 2018 are the most by a Big Ten defensive back. FOR THE FIRST TIME Sophomore defensive tackle Jake Saunders and first-year defensive end Adetomiwa Adebawore each recorded their first career sack at Indiana. Saunders made his second career start and finished the contest with a career-high three tackles, while Adebawore saw his first extended playing time of his career and had a pair of tackles versus the Hoosiers. 31 27 LAST MEETING August 30, 2018 • West Lafayette, Ind. Penalty Yards/GM Scoring Defense Total Defense Rushing Defense Scoring Offense Total Offense Passing Yards/GM Rushing Yards/GM Penalty Yards/GM Scoring Defense Total Defense Rushing Defense Scoring Offense Total Offense Passing Yards/GM Rushing Yards/GM 77.1 301.6 378.7 24.6 163.4 408.0 28.4 43.67 133.8 124.3 258.0 9.8 157.5 348.8 25.6 54.63