Coaches always talk about balancing their offense between run and pass. Northwestern is doing it. The Wildcats have passed 347 times, or 51 percent of the time, and run 331, or 49 percent. The difference came in the opening shootout at TCU, when Northwestern threw 62 passes and ran 38 times. . . .
Coaches also like to talk about staying in the present. Don’t always believe it. In the case of a bowl, Wildcats coach Randy Walker said, “I joke all the time that I’ve never been to a bad [bowl]. . . . I like playing in December.” . . .
Quarterback Brett Basanez’s 205 passing yards against Penn State pushed him past 2,000 for the season at 2,124, the ninth-best season total in school history.
Basanez moved into third place on the all-time list for total offense with 6,729 yards, behind Len Williams’ 8,029 and Zak Kustok’s 7,116. Basanez, a junior, is on pace to pass Kustok this season.
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Next: Saturday at Michigan, 11 a.m., WLS-Ch. 7
