Wildcats’ defense falls short
Each week, Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald announces players of the game in several categories — offense, special teams, practice players, big playmakers.
Following Saturday’s 42-24 loss to Michigan, when the Wildcats were outscored 28-0 in the second half, Fitzgerald left defensive player of the game vacant.
Big deal? Well, that depends.
Defensive tackle Jack DiNardo, a senior from Hinsdale Central, explained the perks that come with the honor.
“You get noticed by your teammates that you’re getting it done,” he said, “and you get to eat first at the pregame meal on Friday,”
With over 100 players on the roster, leadoff spot at the Friday buffet shouldn’t be taken lightly.
“It’s nice, I guess,” DiNardo added. “You don’t have to wait in line. Get the food when it’s hot.”
These are frustrating times for the Wildcats, riding a three-game losing streak. Northwestern squandered double-digit leads in the second half against Michigan and Illinois, and before that, suffered an inexplicable loss at Army. This week, they’ll play the second of three straight night games at Iowa on Saturday (6 p.m., BTN).
Finding someone to earn defensive player of the game is one many goals on the Wildcats’ wish list.
“We didn’t have anybody play consistently enough for four quarters,” Fitzgerald said at his weekly news conference in Evanston. “(Defensive end) Tyler Scott played really well for 3½ quarters. Really well. As well as maybe anybody’s played this year on defense. For half of a quarter, he didn’t.
“That’s kind of indicative of the way we’re playing right now on defense. We have to put together a full 60 minutes. I think we’re playing well up front and controlling the line of scrimmage for the most part.”
Northwestern held Michigan’s running backs to 58 yards on 23 carries, but let dynamic quarterback Denard Robinson get loose for 117 yards. The Cats even tried using 5-foot-8 return specialist Venric Mark as a combination linebacker-spy on Robinson.
The Wildcats intercepted Robinson three times in the first half, none in the second. The final defensive tally was no sacks and 337 passing yards allowed.
“We looked at the tape, we thought we had the opportunity to intercept the ball 8 times,” Fitzgerald said. “We only got three. If we just get one more, it’s a difference-maker in the game.”
Fitzgerald might be throwing some high lobs in practice this week. He was still upset the Wildcats failed to pick off a pair of jump balls thrown by Robinson. One went for 48 yards to Junior Hemingway and the other 57 yards to Roy Roundtree.
Then there’s the matter of getting outscored 56-21 in the second half the past two weeks.
It’s not a conditioning issue, Fitzgerald insisted.
“I would take our conditioning against anybody in the country,” he said. “We’re in great shape. We have to be mentally tougher.”
Mark felt the Wildcats might have suffered an energy drain during halftime.
“When we come out (in the third quarter), the team energy is just low, down,” he said.
“That hunger we had in the first half, it seems like it’s not there. It takes all four quarters in a Big Ten game.”
Maybe it’s time to cancel the Friday buffet altogether.