With memories of its three-game losing streak fading away, Northwestern received the type of opportunity that most teams crave. Rather than dwelling on miscues this week, the Wildcats were able to analyze reasons behind their success. And the rest of the college football world took notice.
In honor of his school-record passing performance against Michigan State, junior quarterback C.J. Bacher was named Big Ten Offensive Player of the Week and Walter Doak National Offensive Player of the Week. His 520 yards through the air rang loud in the Big Ten record books as the fifth-best single-game mark in conference history.
“I’m just happy about the ‘W'” Bacher said after Saturday’s win. “If I threw for that many yards and we lost, I wouldn’t be feeling very good right now.”
But when it came time for the team to assess its own offensive player of the week, Bacher didn’t receive the nod. It went to the offensive line, which kept the Spartans away from Bacher for most of the day.
“These last two weeks have been the best defensive lines we’ve seen in a while,” Bacher said. “(The offensive line) really stepped up to the challenge in these last two weeks. It’s nice having a lot of time to find our receivers, because they can find the open spots.”
The first question during head coach Pat Fitzgerald’s press conference after the season opener against Northeastern was to assess the play of his offensive line. He said he was pleased with its attitude, but there was much room for improvement.
That was against a I-AA team. But after stopping a Michigan State defensive line labeled as one of the best in the nation, the line may have found something more valuable than a positive attitude: results.
“It’s huge for our confidence to know that we’re doing our job and everyone else is doing theirs, too,” sophomore tackle Kurt Mattes said. “It gives us even more motivation to perform knowing that everyone else is.”
Mattes had not played a snap for NU prior to this season. But facing Jonal Saint-Dic, who came into the game tied for third in the nation in sacks, for about half the plays Saturday, the sophomore held his own.
Mattes credited his performance to the line’s preparation and not the opponent’s miscues.
“I have to be proper in my technique and do all my stuff right,” Mattes said. “I have to study my film and see what they like to do. I can’t take one play off because these guys are the best in the country.”
A familiar face returns
Coming off its best offensive performance in almost two years, NU will see another reminder of the ’05 unit this week on the opposing sideline. Former offensive coordinator Mike Dunbar returns as the offensive mastermind for Minnesota.
injury report
Junior running back Tyrell Sutton did not travel with the team to Michigan State. Fitzgerald said Monday he was unaware if Sutton would play, and would reassess the situation once he saw the injury report … Linebacker Prince Kwateng continues to recover from a shoulder injury suffered against Ohio State. Redshirt freshman Quentin Davie remains ahead of Kwateng on the depth chart.
Reach Chris Gentilviso at [email protected].
