Players who entered Saturday’s annual spring game healthy left it healthy. Players who were hobbled – and a certain healthy Heisman Trophy candidate – didn’t see action.
That alone made it a successful day, as far as Northwestern coach Randy Walker was concerned.
“Every guy that’s on the roster is going to suit up in August, and that’s always a pretty good thing because we’re not losing anybody,” Walker said following a 30-0 victory for the first-team offense and defense over the second-stringers. “I’ll be honest with you, I’m so consumed with protecting the quarterback out there, I’m not sure what happened.”
Walker wasn’t too surprised that the final result was so lopsided, however.
The spring game usually pits starters against starters and backups against backups. But Walker decided to allow all of his second teamers the chance to prove themselves against more experienced foes.
And so the few hundred fans who took advantage of the free admission to Ryan Field witnessed a blowout, even though it will mean little once the Wildcats head to UNLV for their season opener on Sept. 7.
“It was good for us to go against the second-team defense because it gave those second-string guys a taste of what it’ll be like playing in the Big Ten next year,” said quarterback Zak Kustok, who played into the third quarter and tossed two touchdown passes on the afternoon.
“It’s the same thing for our second-string offense,” Kustok said. “It showed them what a first-team defense in the Big Ten is like. And we’d been going against the first-team defense all spring. So it gave us a little changeup.”
The disparity between the teams was apparent right from the first drive. Kustok marched the offense 65 yards for a score, ending with a 3-yard run by tailback Kevin Lawrence.
The Cats came out running their no-huddle, spread offense even faster than they did in 2000, getting most plays off within 15 seconds of the previous whistle.
The NU offense also played around with different formations – the Lawrence touchdown came out of the I-formation, which NU used almost exclusively in 1999 but stayed away from last year.
Lawrence, a junior who played last year only when Damien Anderson needed a breather, played tailback for the first team because Anderson sits out the team’s full-contact scrimmages. Lawrence carried 19 times for 113 yards, including another touchdown run in the fourth quarter.
Still, both offenses struggled to establish a consistent rushing attack until late in the game. Noah Herron, the tailback for the second offense, had a mere seven yards on 11 carries.
After the initial touchdown drive by the first teamers, each offense went multiple possessions without moving the ball.
“That’s been the emphasis of the whole spring – stopping the run,” said Napoleon Harris, who played defensive end Saturday and whose possible move to the line from linebacker would be the biggest change on the team. “We believe that if we stop the run against most teams we have a high chance of winning. You have to take one element away, and today we came out and tried to stop the run.”
Overall, Walker said he was pleased with the progress his team had made in the spring.
The spring game ended the Cats’ four-week practice schedule. NU can’t resume working as a team until incoming freshmen report to Kenosha, Wis., on Aug. 12. The returning players will arrive for training camp three days later.
“We made some real strides in what we’re trying to do,” Walker said. “We sure got a lot of work ahead of us, and I think our kids are ready for that.”
