After No. 25 Northwestern used a four-minute miracle finish to steal a game from Iowa and become bowl-eligible, senior defensive tackle Barry Cofield said his team might be due for a letdown Saturday at No. 10 Ohio State.
But at Monday’s weekly news conference, NU coach Randy Walker said he’s not worried.
“We didn’t play very well, and I don’t know how there’d be a letdown after (that),” Walker said of his Wildcats’ 28-27, last-minute win. “It was not a work of art.”
Walker said he addressed the game Sunday night, giving his players some “constructive criticism” regarding their play.
“It wasn’t as good as it needs to be,” Walker said. “We need to get better here. I called some people out.”
The Cats (6-3, 4-2 Big Ten) trailed 24-7 at halftime. The offense had amassed just 331 yards of offense and senior quarterback Brett Basanez had thrown two interceptions before the defense forced a punt that swung the momentum in NU’s direction.
The Cats scored, recovered an onside kick and scored again for the frantic win.
This game, Walker said, was almost the opposite of NU’s 49-14 win at Michigan State, after which NU burst into the national spotlight and lost 33-17 to Michigan the following Saturday.
“I worried about (a letdown) after Michigan State,” Walker said. “I’ll be honest. I did not like the way that felt. We got that snowball rolling in that game and it went way too well.”
Another reason Walker said his team will be ready is the high number of Ohioans on his roster. The Troy, Ohio, native’s team has 10 NU players hailing from the Buckeye State, including seniors Cofield, wide receiver Mark Philmore, tackle Zach Strief and junior linebacker Adam Kadela.
A native of Dublin, Ohio, a suburb of Columbus, Kadela said the game has special meaning for him. An injury forced him to miss last year’s 33-27 overtime win, which snapped NU’s 33-game losing streak against the Buckeyes, and his father, Dave, played on the offensive line at Michigan.
“It was always a point to not be a big fan of Ohio State,” Kadela said. “It’s always kind of been bred into me. But also, then, since coming (to NU), it’s just kind of helped further fuel that feeling toward Ohio State.
“I’m pretty excited to go home, especially in front of a home-town crowd, with all my friends who are Buckeye fans. (It’ll) feel really nice to go in there and hopefully take it to ’em.”
Ohio connections notwithstanding, Walker said he expects his team to be ready for Saturday. The Cats trail Big Ten-leading Penn State by one game in the loss column and could share the Big Ten title with two more wins and some help.
But, Walker said, it’s even simpler than that.
“It’s still Ohio State,” Walker said. “It’s still the Shoe. They have a great football team.”
Inches to go
Junior linebacker Nick Roach is listed as questionable after injuring his back against Iowa. “We think he’ll be OK and be ready to go,” Walker said. – Despite three high snaps and a fumble Saturday, sophomore Austin Matthews still is listed as NU’s starting center against Ohio State – for now. “It’s been kind of up in the air for eight weeks,” Walker said. – Junior kicker Joel Howells was named Big Ten special teams player of the week after executing a game-saving onside kick.
Reach Patrick Dorsey at [email protected].
