Sutton surprises by playing a bit
DETROIT -- Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald deked reporters during the week.
Then he decoyed Eastern Michigan on Friday night.
After giving every indication that running back Tyrell Sutton would not play until next week at Purdue, Fitzgerald used the junior on the Wildcats' first offensive series.
Sutton made his first appearance since Sept. 8 after missing five games with a right ankle injury, but he was more of a diversion than a weapon in NU's 26-14 win against Eastern Michigan.
"Our plan was to use him, but not overuse him," Fitzgerald said. "I didn't want to get something else injured today. His ankle feels great, his spirits are tremendous, and I'm looking forward to him being full-go next week."
Sutton touched the ball only once, in the first quarter, but immediately gave it to wide receiver Eric Peterman, who gained 21 yards on a reverse. NU later tried a screen pass to Sutton that fell incomplete.
He also was on the hands team in the fourth quarter when the Wildcats prepared for an onside kick.
"We knew we could use him as a decoy, so we were able to do that," said Wildcats quarterback C.J. Bacher.
Sutton was not available to reporters after the game.
"He's not taking a day off (today)," Fitzgerald said.
Unhappy returns: Northwestern's kickoff coverage team didn't do the defense any favors Friday.
Eastern Michigan's Dontayo Gage and Dwayne Priest combined for 135 return yards in the first half, consistently giving freshman quarterback Kyle McMahon excellent field position. The Eagles finished the game with 195 kickoff return yards and got past their own 40-yard line on all but one runback.
"We didn't tackle," Pat Fitzgerald said. "We lost leverage, we didn't get people in the right position and once you let the ball get outside, now it's just a foot race. I take that personally as a coach.
"I'm going to get the right guys out there. If I've got to have Sherrick McManis, Reggie McPherson, Brad Phillips, Adam Kadela, all of our starting guys, that's what I'm going to do."
McManis had a season-long 68-yard kickoff return to open the second half, but NU continued to struggle on punt returns, gaining just 1 yard in 3 attempts.
Piano recital: To call Friday's crowd sparse would be an understatement. The upper decks at Ford Field were empty, and only smatterings of fans dotted the stands behind each end zone.
The paid attendance won't be announced until Monday.
"It was maybe a little weird," C.J. Bacher said. "But we had our fans behind us."
Inches to go: Redshirt freshman cornerback Justan Vaughn matched his season tackles total with 2 stops Friday. … For the first time in Pat Fitzgerald's tenure, NU won a game in which it did not score first. … C.J. Bacher has passed for 1,351 yards during NU's three-game winning streak.