He knows his way around a metaphor, but Northwestern coach Randy Walker sometimes says more about his team with a shrug of his shoulders or a roll of his eyes.
Speaking Monday, Walker tried to describe with words how his Wildcats let the worst offense in the Big Ten score 38 points and gain 501 yards. But his gestures were more effective, like his impersonation of the Cats coming off a touchdown.
NU scores and the defense takes the field.
Walker sits frozen, slouching and staring blankly at the ceiling, letting his mind wander. He’s silent.
Then, Penn State ties.
Startled, Walker jumps in his seat, back straightened, his eyes darting around the room. He’s back to life.
Repeat cycle.
“As soon as they score and tie, it seems like we went right back down and scored,” Walker said.
Walker’s Cats have faced late-game deficits before, but on Saturday his team was unable to capitalize on their final possession in an embarrassing 38-35 loss to the Nittany Lions. Walker said the defeat even spoiled his Sunday stroll along the lakefront.
But watching game tape calmed some of his worries.
“Ultimately, I believe that if there were 20 more seconds, we would have won,” Walker said. “I have no doubt about it and I don’t think our kids doubt it. The only thing that quit on us was the clock.”
The Cats ran out of time just a week after complaining that their pace was slowed by the referees during their game against Minnesota.
After Penn State scoring drives that lasted more than four minutes each, NU mounted a one-minute, 44-second scoring drive to take a 35-31 lead, giving Penn State more than two minutes to score, which they did. Trailing 38-35 on NU’s last possession, the final 55 yards to the goal line was more than the Cats’ offense could muster in 18 seconds.
But running back Damien Anderson said it was the scenario his team plays for.
“Our goal, every time we step on the field, is to score points,” Anderson said. “I think if you worry too much about chewing up the clock, you don’t play your ball game. You always have to be on the attack. In all the comebacks we’ve had, time wasn’t really a factor — it was how many points that determined the outcome.”
Walker said NU’s low possession times are a product of their fast-paced offensive scheme — and the changing game of college football. The Cats’ offense was on the field for about eight minutes less than Penn State’s, giving the Nittany Lions just enough opportunities against the weak NU defense.
“A decade ago, (time of possession) was one of our goals,” Walker said. “I study statistics to some degree, and I study what statistics have a high correlation to success — and you find no correlation right now to time of possession.
“Football has changed in the last decade to more of an offensive game. And we make no secret about it — we’re going to try to score. I’m not going to take a couple knees down on the 1-yard line to let time run out. We’re going to put our defense back out — sometimes at inopportune times.”
The Cats let the Nittany Lions charge ahead on nearly every carry, breaking the tackles of the Cats’ most experienced defenders for 213 yards rushing. Walker hinted that a lack of scholarships might be keeping his defensive linemen deprived of live tackling dummies.
“Just who do you practice tackling against?” Walker said. “We have four tailbacks in our program. All four of them play. Everyone talks about Damien Anderson, and we see Kevin Lawrence playing some. But Noah Herron is on every special team we’ve got and so is Torri Stuckey. They don’t line up to get many carries in a game, but they’re probably lining up for 25 to 30 snaps. And I guarantee you nobody wants to lose those guys.
“So just who are you going to tackle? We’ve got these machines you can tackle, but I haven’t seen a runner that looks like one of those yet.”
Defensive end Napoleon Harris, who had five tackles on Saturday, disagreed with his coach’s diagnosis.
“That’s no excuse for missing tackles. We’re all football players — Division I athletes — we should know how to tackle by now,” Harris said. “Most of the guys on the team played high school football or Pop Warner. Tackling should be elementary.”
