Bacher, Wildcats pass opening test
In a matchup of Northwestern against Northeastern, C.J. Bacher made sure the optimism surrounding a new Wildcats season didn't go south.
Bacher, Northwestern's junior quarterback from California, threw a touchdown and ran for another in the Wildcats' 27-0 victory before 16,199 at Ryan Field on Saturday.
Bacher returned from a stress fracture to start the final five games of 2006. He sparked the offense, finishing with nearly 1,200 passing yards plus a road win against Iowa.
Picking up where he left off, Bacher was on target all game against Northeastern, completing 23 of 29 passes for 243 yards.
"Statistically, that's outstanding," said Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald. "We put the ball in our playmakers' hands, and C.J. did a good job of that today. I thought he played extremely well."
Northeastern is a member of the Football Division Championship Series (formerly Division I-AA). The Huskies are only the third school that size Northwestern has ever played, joining Princeton in 1986 and New Hampshire last year.
Northwestern stumbled against New Hampshire, losing 34-17. The combination of Bacher and Northwestern's stout defense made sure there would be no such embarrassment this year, with the Huskies doing little to help themselves stay in the game early and missing 2 field goals.
The shutout was Northwestern's first since Aug. 24, 1997, against Oklahoma.
"We're a completely different football team than a year ago," Fitzgerald said. "Great to see a big goose egg up there on the scoreboard."
Bacher spread the wealth. Jeff Yarbrough (7 catches, 68 yards), Eric Peterman, Rasheed Ward and Tyrell Sutton all caught at least 4 passes. Sutton also reached 100 yards rushing, gaining 73 of his 108 yards in the second half.
"We've got a lot of playmakers, a lot of guys who can make catches, get open," Bacher said. "We wanted to spread the field."
The Wildcats (1-0) led 17-0 at halftime. Bacher capped a 10-play, 72-yard drive on Northwestern's opening possession with a 5-yard scamper to the right. That put Northwestern ahead 7-0 with 5:48 left in the first quarter.
A holding penalty negated a Bacher touchdown pass in the second quarter, so the Wildcats settled for Amado Villarreal's 25-yard field goal. Bacher hit Ross Lane again a few minutes later, this time on a 2-yard slant with no penalty flags, putting Northwestern on top 17-0.
Northeastern again hurt itself on the opening drive of the second half with a late-hit penalty that gave the Wildcats new life. Northwestern capitalized, finishing a 14-play drive with Sutton's 1-yard plunge on fourth-and-goal.
The rout was on by then, giving Northwestern a positive start heading into home games the next two weeks against Nevada and Duke.
The Wildcats will try to avenge last year's 31-21 loss to Nevada. They were able to win Saturday without showing much of their playbook on offense or blitzes and different schemes on defense.
"That's huge," said linebacker Adam Kadela, one of the defensive leaders with 8 tackles. "You don't want to show the other teams what you do. We've still got a lot in the bag."