What a difference a game makes.
One game after losing in the final seconds to No. 10 Penn State, Northwestern coach Randy Walker said the change in the program’s atmosphere is evident.
“We’re one play away from beating one of the best teams in the country, and it’s woe is me around here,” Walker said. “Just to hear some people talk, I think I was the only one that thought we had a good football team a week ago. And now, oh my gosh we can play the Packers next week.”
The Wildcats now are receiving votes in the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Polls, which has NU with three more points than Michigan.
One thing that didn’t change from the game against Penn State to Saturday’s contest with Wisconsin was the concern about the defense.
NU gave up more than 450 yards of total offense for the fourth consecutive game and fell another spot in the national total defense rankings to 116th out of 117.
“I think it’s a mistake to think it’s a quick fix with a scheme or personnel,” Walker said. “But I think we have personnel on the right place now.”
He said he did not believe there would be any changes on the depth chart this week, but Walker did admit there is still a competition for the starting cornerback position opposite junior Marquice Cole.
Against Wisconsin, the Cats held junior running back Brian Calhoun to 23 yards below his rushing average, but he still hurt them in the passing game.
Calhoun became the first Wisconsin player to gain more than 100 yards on the ground and as a receiver – he earned 122 rushing yards and caught 11 balls for 128 yards.
“Technique is getting better, people are getting in the right spots, we’re communicating better, but we just have to go out there and make plays,” Cole said. “That’s what hurt us this week, we were in position to make plays, but we just sat back being tentative instead of going after the ball and making plays.”
Even with the defense struggling, there was a bright spot on that side of the ball.
Junior linebacker Tim McGarigle earned the Walter Camp National Defensive Player of the Week and Big Ten Co-Defensive Player of the Week awards after recording his career high of 25 tackles and two sacks against Wisconsin.
“When I was watching the film, it was like, ‘Wow, I didn’t even remember half of them,’ ” McGarigle said.
He earned almost three times as many tackles as the next-leading tackler on NU recorded in the game.
“He’s the biggest contributing factor on the defense right now,” Cole said.
Walker said one of the problems with his defense is that the players are not taking enough risks.
He added the secondary is not the only group that factors into pass defense, the defensive line needs to get pressure as well.
“We’re going to work harder this week, but it’s not the scheme, I’m pretty sure of that,” Walker said. “We’re kind of doing the things that other people do, we aren’t some outlandish, off-the-wall type scheme that no one else does.”
Overall the Cats are 115th in pass defense and 102nd in rush defense. They are one of three teams in the nation to be worse than 100th in both categories.
“It’s not a mystery, we’re not befuddled by the situation,” Walker said. “We just have to keep working at it, and it’s going to get there.”
Reach Abe Rakov at [email protected].
