After two consecutive losses – one blowout and one last-minute comeback – Northwestern’s bye week comes at what coach Randy Walker calls a “perfect” time.
Northwestern players and coaches said they were looking forward to their bye week to improve. This also gives them an extra week to prepare for No. 17 Wisconsin (4-0, 1-0 Big Ten).
“I really like bye weeks early,” Walker said. “There was a couple of years, we had bye weeks the tenth week. I mean, the hay’s in the barn now boys, there isn’t a whole lot left to learn about this crowd.”
This is the earliest break in Walker’s tenure. NU’s bye was the week before the final game of the season twice in Walker’s six previous seasons.
Senior quarterback Brett Basanez said the extra week would help the young players in the lineup get one more week of experience without having to go through another game.
“They’re getting reps, they’re getting experience, but at the same time we’re not as good now as we need to be by the end of the year,” Basanez said. “We just need to get a week better, execute during this bye week, kind of finely tune our offense and defense and then come out ready for Wisconsin.”
This is the fourth time in seven years the Cats (2-2, 0-1) face the Badgers directly following their bye. In 2003, NU beat then-No. 14 Wisconsin after its bye week. Against the Badgers, Walker is 1-2 when the teams meet after an NU bye – he is 2-4 overall after byes.
Walker’s two post-bye week wins came in the only seasons he has taken NU to a bowl game.
After several early season injuries, Walker said the timing of the bye week this year will help his players heal.
Senior wide receiver Mark Philmore, senior offensive lineman Zach Strief and sophomore offensive linemen Austin Matthews and Dylan Thiry all played injured against Penn State.
The Cats also await the recovery of running back Brandon Roberson who injured his ankle in the first game of the seaso.
“This is kind of the perfect time for us, in that we did suffer a lot of injuries,” Walker said. “Let’s get them all back, and we need to discover who we are and continue to refine that.”
Walker’s teams have faired about as well before and after their bye weeks in his NU career, going a combined 21-26 before the break and 9-14 after.
“I think an off-week might be all right,” juinor place kicker Joel Howells said. “I guess now is as good a time as any, just to let everyone rest up and get focused again for the next game.”
Walker said this week will help the team prepare for the rest of the season because they can have successful practices without worrying about preparing for a game.
“We need to have a great week in this off week,” Walker said. “You can have great off weeks, and we need to have that.”
Reach Abe Rakov at [email protected].
