From Bush To ‘Baz
By Lake The Posts on
As the days go on and NU has seemingly transitioned from a school of guaranteed 1000-yard rushers to one synonymous with video game-like passing stats, it’s worth revisiting Brett Basanez’s 2005 record-setting season. In the wake of a potential Heisman return from Reggie Bush (and Vince Young getting it?) perhaps Baz-with some marketing help, could get finalist consideration. Flip here for more…
With all of the hoopla and controversy surrounding the potential return of Reggie Bush’s 2005 Heisman Trophy it made me wonder if we can also revisit some NU history from that same year in the form of underrated QB Brett Basanez. Baz did not get invited to the Heisman ceremonies, in large part due to the ‘Cats overall record, but when you really put his stats under the microscope several years later it is indeed proof positive that he had some insane passing days. Baz will be the first to admit he had ups and downs while manning the QB slot for four seasons (’02-’05), but the 2005 year provided quite a few memories (Iowa, Wisconsin, Sun Bowl) and put some serious records on the books. Take a look at some of the season and career stats from the 2005 Big Ten Offensive Player of the Year:
School records
Career
Total Offense (11,576)
Passing Attempts (1,584)
Passing Completions (913)
Passing Yards (10,580)
Passing Touchdowns (44) (ties record)
Wins (22)
Games Passing for 200 Yards (26)
Games Passing for 300 Yards (10)
Games Passing for 400 Yards (3)
Consecutive Games Passing for 200 Yards (10)
Consecutive Games Passing for 300 Yards (5)
Single season
Total Offense (4,045) 2005
Passing Attempts (497) 2005
Passing Completions (314) 2005
Passing Yards (3,622) 2005
Passing Touchdowns (21)
Passing Yards Gained in Two Consecutive Games (824) 2005
Passing Yards Gained in Three Consecutive Games (1,155) 2005
Passing Yards Gained in Four Consecutive Games (1,481) 2005
Passing Yards Gained in Five Consecutive Games (1,819) 2005
Games Passing for 200 Yards (11) 2005
Games Passing for 300 Yards (7) 2005
Consecutive Games Passing for 200 Yards (9) 2005
Consecutive Games Passing for 300 Yards (5) 2005
Passing Efficiency Rating (135.1) 2005
Passing Completion Percentage (.632) 2005
Single game
Total Offense (548) vs. TCU, 2004
Passing TD’s in a Half (3) vs. TCU, 2004 (ties record)
Obviously Baz did some damage in 2005 – his senior season. If we even had an average scoring defense we would’ve faired much better as his explosive passing game helped us simply outscore many opponents. With all of the love to Mike Kafka and CJ in recent years, somehow Basanez’s name gets overlooked. Basanez not only is an NU record holder of all of the above, but he is in the all-time top three in the Big Ten. Check this out:
Big Ten All-Time Leaders:
Total Off ensive Plays
1,975 Basanez, NU 2002-05
1,931 Brees, PUR 1997-00
1,917 Randle El, IND 1998-01
1,873 Painter, PUR 2005-08
Total Off ensive Yards
12,692 Brees, PUR 1997-00
11,576 Basanez, NU 2002-05
11,511 Painter, PUR 2005-08
Passing Attempts
1,678 Brees, PUR 1997-00
1,648 Painter, PUR 2005-08
1,584 Basanez, NU 2002-05
Passing Completions
1,026 Brees, PUR 1997-00
987 Painter, PUR 2005-08
913 Basanez, NU 2002-05
When you’re #2 to Drew Brees or even pass him in any category you’re in select company. Oh, that ’05 Penn State loss STILL haunts me as the 7-5 season that was could’ve been so much more. However, we balanced it out by stealing a home win against Iowa that same year. Regardless, I thought it was worth refreshing the relatively young fans of the impressive QBs of the pre-Fitz era. With Reggie Bush likely to be vacated in Heisman-land, perhaps they should re-open the voting and perhaps, with some perspective, our man Mr. Basanez would get at least enough votes for consideration for a trip to NYC.
GET THERE EARLY!
LTP learned today that NU Athletics has something brewing. Word is that NUMB must be cleared off the field for precautionary measures prior to NU taking the field for safety reasons. Hmmm…could it by pyrotechnics BEFORE kickoff? Not sure, but spread the word to get there early and PLEASE take photos of the event.
WHAT! the first time in a while that I won’t be able to attend a home game and there is a chance of PYRO!?!?!?!
14+2 is 16!
I heard mentions of possible smoke last year, but I’m not sure I’m a fan of anything like that. I like the team running through the band as they come out onto the field. I just hope the band will be set up back in the stands and ready to play by the time the team comes out.
But thanks for the heads up. I was planning on getting to my seat the usual 30 minutes before kickoff, but I’ll probably get there a little earlier in case the band takes the field before that.
I’ve got a great view of the entrance, so I’ll try to take a pic or two and upload them to twitter while I’m at the game. As long as it doesn’t prevent me from clapping along, though.
By the way, LTP, I like the spam prevention method. However, this is Northwestern. I say move beyond addition.
Speaking of the band taking the field, if a NUMB member could let us know when they’re planning on starting their pregame show, that would be much appreciated.
It would also be nice if the athletic department advertised the NUMB pregame show and stated what time they take the field in their releases for home games.
Really, if you can’t take a cube root you really shouldn’t be posting on a Northwestern blog. I would also appreciate literature questions.
AHHHHHHHHH. That Penn State game was my first NU football game as a freshman, and coming from the east coast I had no idea what the Big ten meant nor how impressive it would have been to defeat Penn State…
For those of you who were not there… Penn state had a 4th and 12 (or 15?) at ~ their own 15 yard line, with under 3 minutes to go… and their QB passed complete for the first down and they went on to score on NU… It was awful… I was so devastated! Oh and also, I met Baz, because I was ushering a basketball game (for NU-crew) against a U-Ill team featuring both Deron Williams and Dee Brown… and Baz was standing next to me for like 5 minutes, before I realized that it was him… When I was so surprised who it was that was next to me, a local guy started man-flirting on Baz, and asked him what he did.. .Baz just claimed he was a regular student… until I mentioned that he was the starting QB for NU…
10 minutes later, Baz was featured on the court along with Tyrell Sutton for all of their accomplishments as all americans, including receiving 1 heisman vote…
It was a good time for NU football and for NU basketball – who had the #1 offensive player in the Big Ten at the time… Vedran Vukusic (http://nusports.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/vukusic_vedran00.html)
Oh freshman year…
Looks like we might have to pack up the tailgate early…
The thought of people hearing explosions in the concourse and outside the stadium while having no idea what’s going on amuses me.
Actually, this article says a couple of local youth teams will be out on the field forming a tunnel when Northwestern comes out: http://bit.ly/bTCAwg
“After the Wildcats’ victory . . . “
“Yeah! I’m not sure if there are fireworks, but I know that they are going to have this big inflatable tunnel for the players to run through and then two boxes of some type of pyrotechnics… and it better be there cuz we had to alter our pregame drill for it to make sure we don’t die.”
Compliments of my friend in NUMB.
That will be strange. Doesn’t seem very Northwestern to me, but I think the biggest problem is starting this off in a non-conference game in front of 25,000 quiet fans.
I wonder if that will happen even if it’s raining.
And it better not be an even larger Air Willie that they’re running through.
NUMB:
NUMB typically starts pregame approximately 20-25 minutes before kickoff (so, around 10:35-10:40AM). That can vary depending on what pregame festivities are going on (if there are a lot of things, they usually start earlier). Also, you can always go out to Wildcat Alley (FREE GOOSE ISLAND BEER) to watch them perform 1 hour before kickoff (10AM this week) and then head into the stadium to get to your seats before/as they march in.
MATH:
How about some differential equations? I can dig out my applied math diff eq textbook for some example problems.
Barring heavy dew, I think we can expect to see some pretty spectacular combustion on the field. The band’s tunnel is still present, and in fact has been slightly modified to accommodate unspecified endzone paraphernalia. On the bright side, the band will probably end up in the stands even earlier than they already do.
The band’s pregame is slated for 10:40, the usual time. ISU’s band will be present and performing their own pregame, so that time is more variable than it usually is.
And, of course, as the venerable JHodges points out, Wildcat Alley starts at 10 AM, with a healthy dose of band entertainment and a significant amount of free refreshing beverages.
Anyone know the name of the song we play on 3rd down??