Don’t look now, but Northwestern’s depth chart could be in for another change.
NU suffered a blow to its defensive personnel Saturday when starting linebacker Adam Kadela left the sideline in the second quarter with an injury to his left knee.
The sophomore later returned from the locker room, but out of uniform and with a large brace on his left leg.
“It was serious enough that he was not going to come back,” coach Randy Walker said after the game. “Now we’ll just wait and see what the week tells us.”
With senior John Pickens still recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, NU was already thin at the linebacker position entering the game against Kansas.
The Wildcats were also forced to be creative with their defensive line.
Junior David Thompson and freshman David Ngene were expected to step in at defensive end for junior Loren Howard, who underwent ankle surgery on Sept. 3.
But Thompson was held out of the game with a hamstring injury and Ngene was forced to sit with a bad knee.
The result was a defensive line with fewer than four players for several of NU’s defensive stands.
“It was kind of dicey out there a little bit,” Walker said. “Fortunately we had a three-man front as part of our package for two years, and as you noticed we went to a two-man front some.
“That’s a new addition, and I think it can be effective for us in certain situations. … We just have to be smart about how we pace the personnel.”
With just three veteran upperclassmen available, NU’s defensive line was able to provide its best rush defense of the season, allowing 47 yards on 26 carries. And with a three-man front, NU put another player at linebacker or defensive back for more pass defense.
“We have our odd package with two outside guys and me in the middle, with three guys looking at me, making sure I don’t do anything,” senior defensive tackle Luis Castillo said. “It’s tough, but we have to get our linebackers involved, and it’s been working really well for us.”
No time to stop
For the first time since Zak Kustok controlled the NU offense, the Cats started a game without a huddle.
On NU’s opening drive, quarterback Brett Basanez tried his hand at the no-huddle offense.
But after several completions and successful runs, the drive stalled at NU’s 46-yard line following penalties and a sack that brought up 4th-and-26.
Still, Basanez said the no-huddle gave NU an advantage.
“We ran that here when I was a freshman, and it’s good,” Basanez said. “It keeps teams on their heels. It’s something we can do and it seems to give us an edge, so hopefully we can keep doing it.”
Walker said he wants to use the no-huddle offense for the rest of the season.
“The no-huddle didn’t stop our drives,” Walker said. “We had some penalties and some other things that stopped those drives. I thought we were pretty effective in the no-huddle, to the point where I’m certain you’ll see more of it. …We’ve carried that thing for two years and I haven’t run it, and it’s nice to get it back going.”
Super fans
One week ago Walker declared his team lacked passion for the game.
Maybe all NU needed was a little support from its fans.
Four days before the start of classes, Walker said more than 3,000 students showed up to cheer for the Cats in their first win of the season.
“Don’t misunderstand, but I questioned our passion as a football team a week ago,” Walker said. “I questioned the stadium’s passion. …All of a sudden, we had a bunch of students back who don’t care if they make fools out of themselves, have fun and paint their bodies up. I walked out for the pre-game and it was on.”
With the arrival of the freshman class for New Student Week and with a new system that provides undergraduates with tickets to home games at no additional cost, students created an environment that players couldn’t ignore.
“It’s always great to have our fans there, seeing a lot of purple in the stands,” Basanez said. “When it gets loud in there it’s an atmosphere to play in. Ryan Field can be a great Big Ten stadium.”
Reach Teddy Kider at [email protected].
