By David MorrisonThe Daily Northwestern
Coach Pat Fitzgerald has gotten a good look this week at different candidates to help his team win “the six-inch battle.”
But it hasn’t been by choice.
Northwestern (2-4, 1-2 Big Ten) likely will be a new starting lineman from both sides of the ball when it faces Purdue this weekend.
Senior tackle Dylan Thiry and junior defensive end David Ngene both left Saturday’s game with injuries and are both listed as doubtful for this weekend.
“We’ve got some guys who are going to need to step up this week,” Fitzgerald said. “We put some of our henchmen on them and ground them up a little bit.”
Sophomore Kevin Mims will take Ngene’s place on the defensive line. Mims has 19 tackles this year and started the first two games while Ngene recovered from a knee injury.
Redshirt freshman Desmond Taylor is set to make his first collegiate start in the place of Thiry.
Fitzgerald said that while Taylor has seen significant game action in a backup role this year, his inexperience could show through.
“He’s not going to have all the experience in the world, but I know he’ll fight,” Fitzgerald said.
NO SURPRISE AT QB
For the first time in almost a month, the Wildcats’ offense went into the week of practice with a definite starting quarterback: redshirt freshman Andrew Brewer.
“It feels more like home,” sophomore guard Austin Matthews said, “than having to scramble around and figure out who’s who.”
Brewer has started the last two games, passing for 251 yards and running for 121 yards and a touchdown. But he also has completed only 48 percent of his passes and extended NU’s streak without a touchdown pass to five games.
Matthews said Brewer has done a lot of growing since taking his shots in his first collegiate start against Penn State.
“He showed a lot of composure as a young guy,” he said. “He’s built a lot of confidence in our offense that he’s a consistent quarterback and can be a great quarterback.”
Brewer said the uncertainty around his role in the past few weeks has not affected his play.
“It’s a little bit more motivating not knowing if you’re starting,” he said. “I’ve got to still keep that mindset even when I find out I’m going to start earlier in the week.”
Brewer’s backups are redshirt freshman Mike Kafka, who started the first four games, and sophomore C.J. Bach
