Classes may begin today for most of the student body, but Northwestern head coach Randy Walker said Monday his players started their schooling early – Saturday night, to be exact, at Arizona State.
The Wildcats (2-1) fell 52-21, giving up a record 773 total yards of offense and allowing the then-No. 18 Sun Devils (2-1) to score on six straight first-half possessions. Arizona State’s offense found a zone particularly in the second quarter, when the Cats gave up 31 points to quarterback Sam Keller and the rest of the Sun Devils’ offense.
“I am glad it happened to us,” an optimistic Walker said at NU’s weekly news conference. “Unless you go through that, I don’t know how you grow.”
Walker said NU – especially the defense – needed to realize its shortcomings after weeks of sloppy Tuesday practices. NU cornerback Marquice Cole was especially critical of last week’s Tuesday practice, calling it “horrible” and believing the team had taken a day off.
Even the week leading up to NU’s 38-37 win against Northern Illinois, in which the Cats escaped on the Huskies’ last-minute two-point conversion miss, wasn’t especially fruitful.
Instead of being downbeat about his defense’s inability to stop the high-powered Sun Devils, Walker compared the rout to weight training.
“You don’t get stronger by handling the same weight every day, ” he said. “If you just put 135 (pounds) on the bench and just do that, you don’t get above 135 on the bench. So some day you’ve got to put it up to 160 – and (Arizona State) put more than 160 on the bar this week.”
Walker also said many of the players on his inexperienced, injury-depleted team “(had) not put 160 on the bar – until Saturday.”
One player rejoining the team for this week’s game against Penn State is senior wide receiver Mark Philmore, who took a one-week “respite” and did not travel to Arizona State.
Philmore led NU in 2004 with 54 catches for 633 yards in just eight games but injured his ankle in the Cats’ season-opener against Ohio. He has five catches for 44 yards this season.
Senior quarterback Brett Basanez said he’s happy to get Philmore back, but he said the receiver’s absence against the Sun Devils didn’t cripple NU’s offense.
Basanez and backup C.J. Bacher finished the game with a combined 25-for-38 passing for 236 yards and three touchdowns.
Seven different NU receivers caught a pass, including true freshman Rasheed Ward’s first-career touchdown reception from Bacher.
“This team is obviously just that – a team,” Basanez said. “We have enough guys on this offense to make plays. The best thing about it is guys picked up where he left off.”
The Cats may return freshman defensive end Corey Wootton, who is listed as probable after missing Saturday’s game with a neck strain. Wootton returns to a defensive line that has gone two straight games without a sack.
Commitment to a ball-control running game also may aid the defense. Freshman running back Tyrell Sutton ran for 98 yards on 15 carries against the Sun Devils, but he carried the ball only three times in the first quarter.
Walker said he gives Basanez the option to change running plays to passing plays if the defense is set up to stop the run.
“We are not going to line up and let people force us to stick a square peg in a round hole,” Walker said.
What could have been a blow to the running game never came to fruition. Sophomore left tackle Dylan Thiry, who injured his right shoulder late in Saturday’s contest and wasn’t as productive as he normally is upfront, is listed as probable for the showdown against the Nittany Lions.
Walker said his team needs a good practice week, beginning with today’s practice, if it hopes to knock off undefeated Penn State and extend its home winning streak to eight.
And it all starts with learning from Saturday’s mistakes, he said.
“Ninety-five percent of what happened Saturday on both sides of the football (are) correctable things,” Walker said. “Let’s coach it, keep working to correct it and get one week better this week.”
Reach Patrick Dorsey at [email protected]
