Opponent View: Northwestern
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Above: Pat Fitzgerald talks at his Monday press conference.
We caught up with Louie Vaccher, veteran publisher of the WildcatReport--the long-standing Northwestern site on the Rivals network--to get his thoughts on Saturday's matchup. Here is an except of his interview.
GoldandBlack.com: What’s going on with the Wildcat offense?
Vaccher: Not much is going on on that side of the ball, unfortunately. I was just looking at the rankings now after the Indiana game and they rank 130th in the country, which is dead last in scoring, and they are 128th in total offense, 130th in passing yards and passing efficiency. So, it has been an unbelievable year. Their per-game average for scoring has gone below 10 points, so they’re at 9.8 points per game, and they’ve had six points in the last three games combined. They haven’t scored a touchdown in 13 quarters. It’s reaching dark ages-level, 1980s-Northwestern-football kind of level. They haven’t averaged this few of points since 1983, when they averaged 9.2 points per game. That’s the next worst season in terms of offensive scoring. That’s when the great Dennis Green was the coach and Sandy Schwab was at quarterback, if you can remember that.
GoldandBlack.com: Talk about the quarterback situation. Has that been the biggest issue with the offense?
Vaccher: Yeah, I think if you had to pick one thing, it’s a combination of things. But that certainly is the biggest. Fitz (head coach Pat Fitzgerald) has talked a lot this year about the lack of production at quarterback. Hunter Johnson has been shaky. There’s been a lot of talk. He was slow picking up the offense. We found out last week his mother is battling breast cancer and that has been the reason Fitz had him on the sidelines those three games and he hasn’t gotten as many reps. He came back on Saturday and he looked pretty mediocre, like he did earlier in the year. They went with Aidan Smith, the backup who is much more decisive with the ball, I’ll give him that. He’s a pretty aggressive player. That comes with good and bad. They’ve made some mistakes so far this year. They’ve combined for two touchdowns and 11 interceptions this year, which is pretty rough. Fitz talked on Saturday that they’ve missed some guys that were open, or they missed the protection call, or something like that. So, there is still a lot of miscommunication. We’ve seen a lot this year where the quarterback throws it long and the receiver breaks off the route short. It’s just been one thing after the other on offense and none of it has been good.
GoldandBlack.com: Who do you think plays quarterback Saturday?
Vaccher: That’s a good question. Hunter Johnson got dinged. It looked like a late hit certainly after the whistle. ... He got thrown to the ground and he kind of hurt his knee and he didn’t come back in the game. I’m not sure what his health will be, maybe we’ll find out a little bit today at the press conference. Hunter Johnson could get the start, if he’s healthy, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we see them both again. I’m really not sure at this point.
GoldandBlack.com: What are some strengths and weak spots for the Wildcat defense?
Vaccher: The defense has been solid all year. They’ve been pretty good. As usual, their front seven is a strength for the team. They’ve been very strong against the run. It’s a pretty typical Northwestern defense. They play very fundamentally sound, they control their gaps, they keep everything in front of them and they tackle well. They make you earn any scores. They’re kind of a bend-but-don’t-break kind of unit. That has worked for most of the year. They were a little off on Saturday night (34-3 loss at Indiana. I didn’t think they had a very good game against Indiana. But the one thing that they’ve lacked this year (badly) is creating turnovers. Northwestern is minus-10 on the year, and the defense has now gone four games without a takeaway. That’s pretty rough. With the offense struggling as much as it is, if they can get a turnover, create a short field, create some momentum, I think it would really help the offense. They just haven’t been able to do it. That’s probably the biggest thing they’re lacking, and it’s something that Fitz talks about every time he talks to the media.
GoldandBlack.com: Anything to note kicking, punting, or return game-wise?
Vaccher: Northwestern is pretty solid. Charlie Kuhbander, the kicker, has rebounded from a tough year last year. He was battling some injuries, so he’s been good this year. I think he’s eight for 10 on the season. They’re solid in the punting game. They do a good job in covering kicks. They don’t really have a lot of explosive plays. Riley Lees, the punt returner, has gotten close a couple times to busting one, but they typically kind of play it safe in the return game. They’re solid across the board, nothing out of the ordinary for special teams, really. They’ve been pretty solid all year.
GoldandBlack.com: What are one or two keys for the Wildcats to leave with a victory on Saturday?
Vaccher: They have to get something out of the passing game. They’ve got to do something to the air. You’ve got teams that are just crowding the box to stop the run and they’re playing man on the outside because there’s no fear at all of Northwestern going downfield. They’ve got to get something from the passing game and maybe score more than three points, too, which would be good. They’ve got two field goals in the last three games combined. The other big thing is turnovers. I think if the defense can get a couple turnovers, maybe flip the field and cause some things to happen, they could get a shot. I think the defense will do a decent enough job on Saturday. It’s going to be all about whether the offense can score enough points, and they haven’t really been able to all season.
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