Nov. 22, 2001

Final Stats?|? Quotes | Recap

Illinois vs. Northwestern Game Notes
Final Score
Illinois 34
Northwestern 28

1. Today's win gives Illinois at least a share of the Big Ten Championships. The Fighting Illini will win the title outright if Ohio State defeats Michigan on Nov. 24 in Ann Arbor, Mich.

2. It's the 15th time in school history that Illinois has won at least a share of the Big Ten crown and the first title since 1990, when Illinois went 6-2 in conference play. The last time Illinois won the Big Ten title outright was in 1983 when the Illini ran up a perfect 9-0 conference mark.

3. Illinois improves to 8-4-2 all time on Thanksgiving Day. The last time the Illini played on the national holiday was on Nov. 28, 1963, when Illinois defeated Michigan State 13-0.

4. The win secures the fourth 10-win season in Illinois history. The last time the Fighting Illini won 10 games in a season was in 1989 when Illinois went 10-2.

5. Quarterback Kurt Kittner earned the 24th victory of his career at the helm of the Fighting Illini. The win makes Kittner winningest quarterback in Illinois history. Kittner passes Jack Trudeau (1981-85) for the title and now holds a career win/loss record of 24-14.

6. In the win, Kittner also passed for 387 yards and a career-high tying four touchdowns. Kittner is now fifth on Illinois' all-time single-season passing chart. Kittner also topped the 3,000 yard passing mark for the season.

7. The 387 yards passing for Kittner is the third time this season that he has broken the 300-yard passing mark and the sixth time in his career.

8. Kittner threw four touchdowns this afternoon giving him 23 for the season. That ranks second on the Illinois single-season touchdown-passing chart. Kittner holds the single-season record with 24 TD passes in 1999.

9. In addition to Young, Brandon Lloyd also caught for over 100 yards on the afternoon. The two 100-yard receiving days gives Illinois nine for the season. That ties the 1984 team for the most 100-yard receivers in a season.

10. Lloyd's 100-yard day is the sixth time the sophomore has topped the century mark this season. Those six 100-yard receiving games ties him for first with David Williams who also had six 100-yard games in 1985.

11. Lloyd's 140 receiving yards pushed him over the 1,000-yard mark for the season. Lloyd is the fourth Illinois receiver in school history to top that receiving-yardage plateau. He also caught a career high 12 passes on the afternoon. That's the third highest single-game reception total in school history.

12. For his efforts, Lloyd moves into fourth in single-season receiving yards and sixth in career receiving yards.

13. Lloyd also caught a pair of touchdown passes in the game. It's the third multiple-TD game of the season for Lloyd and gives him eight touchdown receptions this season. Those eight TD grabs rank him second on the Illinois single-season charts.

14. John Gockman's 52-yard field goal in the third quarter is the sixth longest field goal in school history. It is also a career long for the sophomore and his second career make from over 50 yards. Gockman made a 51-yard attempt against Minnesota on Oct. 6.

15. Illinois cornerback Eugene Wilson picked off one pass giving him six interceptions this season. Those six interceptions rank seventh in a single season. For his career, Wilson now has 10 picks, eighth all-time at Illinois.

Northwestern Game Notes
Illinois 34
Northwestern 28

1. NU finished the season 4-7 overall, 2-6 in the Big Ten. The Wildcats, after starting 4-1, lost their final six games of the 2001 season. The six-game losing streak is the longest winless string in Randy Walker's 12 years as a head coach. (Four was the longest prior to this season's six-game streak.)

2. Zak Kustok concluded his career by throwing at least on touchdown pass in his last 24 games. Kustok finishes second on the Wildcat's passing TD list with 41, three behind all-time leader Lenny Williams.

3. Kustok, who entered the game with the eighth-best total offensive average in the nation, finished the game with 298 yards of total offense. He closes the season with 3272 yards, a NU single season record.

4. Running back Torri Stuckey, the Wildcat's No. 4 tailback, ran for a career-high 127 yards in just his second career start. He totaled 91 yards in last week's loss vs. Bowling Green. NU lost running backs Damien Anderson (shoulder), Kevin Lawrence (knee), and Noah Herron (foot) to injuries this year.

5. Kustok surpassed the 500 mark for career pass completions with his 19-41 day passing. He finishes third on NU's all-time list with 507 completions. He also closes his career third in passing yardage with 5822 yards.

6. Wide receiver Sam Simmons closed his career with five catches for 95 yards and a career-high-tying two touchdown receptions. He led NU in receiving yards and receiving TD's this season.