Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/727077
Northwestern vs. Duke TODAY'S MATCHUP MR. RELIABLE Senior wide receiver Austin Carr set a career high in receptions for the second-straight week with seven catches for 73 yards and a touchdown last week vs. Illinois State. Six of Carr's seven catches resulted in "big plays" — five first downs and one touchdown. Through the first two games of the season, 66 percent of Carr's receptions (8-of-12) have resulted in first downs. Carr had 16 catches for 302 yards as a junior, with 14 of his 16 receptions resulting in first downs or touchdowns. A PAIR OF FIRST PICKS Sophomores Montre Hartage and Jared McGee each recorded their first career interceptions against a pass-heavy Illinois State team last Saturday. Hartage made his second career start and finished the game with a career-high nine tackles and the second-quarter interception. HUNTER THE PUNTER Junior Hunter Niswander boomed a career- long 62-yard punt versus Illinois State and finished with a 45.3 average on seven punts. Niswander ranks ninth in the country with a punt average of 47.0 yards through two weeks. ODENIGBO CLIMBING THE CHARTS Senior defensive end Ifeadi Odenigbo has made a career of rushing the quarterback on the edge and will leave Northwestern as one of its all-time sack leaders. Odenigbo recorded his first sack of 2016 and now ranks eighth in program history with 14.5, just a half a sack shy of Deonte Gibson (2012-15) for seventh. Casey Dailey (1994-97) is the Wildcats' all-time leader in sacks with 28.0. ROBBINS OFF THE EDGE Graduate defensive lineman C.J. Robbins reentered the starting lineup last week and finished with a career-high five tackles, two tackles for loss and his first career solo sack. Robbins made four solo stops in his first start at defensive end. Robbins had gone 24 games since his last sack when he recorded half a sack in the 2013 season finale versus Illinois. FIRST-YEAR SIGNAL CALLER Redshirt freshman Daniel Jones tallied his first-career 300-yard passing game with 332 yards last week vs. Wake Forest. Jones became the fifth Blue Devil freshman to reach the 300-yard plateau with the mark that is the sixth most by a freshman in a game in program history. PLAYER TO WATCH Senior DeVon Edwards, an All-ACC defensive back and All-American return specialist, is second on the team with 16 tackles and picked up a pair of sacks last week. Edwards is just 14 kickoff return yards shy of passing C.J. Spiller of Clemson (2,052 yards/2006-09) and into eighth place on the ACC career kickoff return yardage chart. LAST TIME THEY MET Northwestern prevailed victorious over the Blue Devils last season at Wallace Wade Stadium, 19-10. The Wildcats trailed at halftime, 7-3, but Solomon Vault returned the second-half kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown and the Wildcats defense shut the Blue Devils down behind a career-high 19 tackles from Anthony Walker, Jr. NORTHWESTERN WILDCATS 0-2 (0-0 Big Ten) 2016 Statistics NU OPP Points Per Game 14.0 15.5 First Downs 31 52 Rushing Yardage 209 283 Avg. Per Game 104.5 141.5 Passing Yardage 387 505 Avg. Per Game 193.5 252.5 Comp-Att-Int 32-63-0 56-77-2 Total Offense 596 788 Avg. Per Game 298.0 294.0 Fumbles-Lost 2-1 1-0 Penalties-Yards 8-90 12-119 Third-Down Conversions 9/28 10/30 Fourth-Down Conversions 5/7 5/5 Time of Possession/Game 23:19 36:41 Individual Leaders RUSHING ATT. NET AVG. TD LONG AVG/G Justin Jackson 35 166 4.7 3 46 83.0 Clayton Thorson 17 22 1.3 0 14 11.0 PASSING CMP-ATT-INT PCT. YDS TD LONG AVG/G Clayton Thorson 32-63-0 50.8 387 1 37 193.5 RECEIVING NO. YDS. AVG. TD LONG AVG/G Austin Carr 12 148 12.3 1 29 74.0 Flynn Nagel 4 44 11.0 0 16 22.0 SCORING TD FGS XP 2PT. PTS Justin Jackson 3 0 0 0 18 Austin Carr 1 0 0 0 6 TACKLES SOLO AST. TOTAL FR FF INT-YDS Jaylen Prater 14 11 25 0 0 0-0 Montre Hartage 15 1 16 0 0 1-0 NORTHWESTERN NOTES DUKE NOTES DUKE BLUE DEVILS 1-1 (0-1 ACC) 2016 Statistics DUKE OPP Points Per Game 31.5 15.0 First Downs 50 17 Rushing Yardage 345 277 Avg. Per Game 172.5 138.5 Passing Yardage 279.5 112.0 Avg. Per Game 279.5 112.0 Comp-Att-Int 47-74-1 16-41-2 Total Offense 904 501 Avg. Per Game 452.0 250.5 Fumbles-Lost 8-7 3-2 Penalties-Yards 15-107 13-104 Third-Down Conversions 12/30 7/33 Fourth-Down Conversions 3/5 0/1 Time of Possession/Game 31:20 28:40 Individual Leaders RUSHING ATT. NET AVG. TD LONG AVG/G Jela Duncan 24 140 5.8 2 50 70.0 Parker Boehme 7 68 9.7 1 34 68.0 PASSING CMP-ATT-INT PCT. YDS TD LONG AVG/G Daniel Jones 41-63-1 65.1 521 2 59 260.5 RECEIVING NO. YDS. AVG. TD LONG AVG/G Johnathan Lloyd 10 129 12.9 1 55 64.5 T.J. Rahming 10 81 8.1 0 35 40.5 SCORING TD FGS XP 2PT. PTS Daniel Jones 3 0 0 0 18 Jela Duncan 2 0 0 0 12 TACKLES SOLO AST. TOTAL FR FF INT-YDS Joe Giles-Harris 14 7 21 1 0 1-3 DeVon Edwards 7 9 16 0 0 0-0