College Sports

College football preview: Rice at Northwestern

Posted November 10, 2011 11:00 pm

By Mike McGraw

mmcgraw@dailyherald.com

Rice (3-6, 2-4) at Northwestern (4-5, 2-4)

When: 11 a.m. Saturday at Ryan Field

TV: BTN

Radio: WGN 720-AM, WNUR 89.3-FM.

Series: Rice leads 4-2; Northwestern won the last meeting 30-13 in 2010.

Coaches: Pat Fitzgerald (38-34, sixth year at NU); David Bailiff (20-31, fifth year at Rice).

Players to watch: Rice senior QB Nick Fanuzzi got his first start of the season last week and threw for 405 yards in a win over UTEP. Senior DT Scott Solomon is the NCAA’s fourth-leading active sack leader with 21. … NU WR Jeremy Ebert surpassed 2,000 career receiving yards with last week’s 81-yard touchdown against Nebraska. He’s 12 yards shy of third place on NU’s all-time list.

The skinny: After last week’s upset of Nebraska, Northwestern can become bowl eligible by winning its next two games against Rice and Minnesota. The Cats finish the season with three straight at home. Rice beat Purdue early this season, but the Owls’ only other wins were against Memphis and UTEP. The Rice defense is giving up 483 yards of offense per game.

Fast fact: Rice’s last road win against a team from a BCS qualifying conference was at Northwestern in 1997.

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