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DALLAS (FWAA) – With their 49-14 win at Michigan State, the
Northwestern Wildcats are the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the Week,
as selected by the pollsters of the FWAA's Grantland Rice Super 16
Poll for games of the weekend of Oct. 22.
Quarterback Brett Basanez completed 24-of-30 passes for 331 yards and
two touchdowns and ran for two other scores and Tyrell Sutton ran for
116 yards a pair of scores for the Wildcats. Demetrius Eaton added an
86-yard fumble return that gave Northwestern the lead for good in the
second quarter.
The margin of victory was the largest for Northwestern in a Big Ten
game away from home since in a 41-0 win at Wisconsin on Nov. 6, 1943.
"I'm not sure three or four weeks ago many people would have bet on
this, but all that mattered was a handful of guys believed in it," said
head coach Randy Walker after the game. "We've just got to keep getting
one week better, and that's been our goal through the course of the
season."
The other Tostitos Fiesta Bowl Bowl National Team of the Week nominees
for the weekend of Oct. 22:
• Army (1-6): Carlton Jones ran for 162 yards and two
touchdowns as the Black Knights ended the nation's longest losing
streak at 11 games with a 20-0 win over Akron. It was Army's first
shutout since 1993, a span of 142 games.
• Texas (7-0): Vince Young overcame two early interceptions,
throwing for 239 yards and two touchdowns and running for a pair of
scores, as the Longhorns hammered Texas Tech, 52-17.
The FWAA has named a national team of the week since the 2002 season.
This is the first season that the award has been sponsored by the Tostitos
Fiesta Bowl.
The 16 pollsters of the Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll decide the weekly
honor. Each Monday during the 2005 college football season, the FWAA will
name the Tostitos Bowl National Team of the Week through Nov. 28.
The Grantland Rice Super 16 Poll will be released each Monday
afternoon from Oct. 10 through Dec. 5 and then following the BCS championship
game in the Rose Bowl. The top-ranked team in the final poll will be awarded
the Grantland Rice Trophy as the FWAA's national champion. The FWAA has
awarded the trophy each season since 1954. USC is the two-time defending
FWAA national champion and was ranked No. 1 in the initial 2005 poll.
Since 1971, the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and Tempe, Ariz., have hosted
five games that have decided the college football national championship,
including two Bowl Championship Series title games. The 2006 game will be
played on Jan. 2 and will be the final game played at Sun Devil Stadium.
The Tostitos Fiesta Bowl, along with the BCS Championship Game, will move
to the new Multi-Purpose Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., beginning in 2007.
For more information on the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl National Team of the
Week, go to
www.footballwriters.com
or www.tostitosfiestabowl.com.
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