Northwestern ran itself to bowl eligibility on Saturday. Ran might seem like a curious word choice, but it’s true. The Wildcats’ coaching staff figured out that running is the key to success in the Big Ten. They figured out that junior running back Tyrell Sutton is the best player on the team and should get the ball as much as possible. And they figured out that they don’t have to panic when they get behind in the fourth quarter.
Because of that, NU coach Pat Fitzgerald could become just the fourth coach in history to lead the Cats to a bowl. With a win against Illinois on Saturday, he would tie former coach Randy Walker with 11 victories in his first two seasons – which is better than the seven coaches before Walker.
But it’s not time to anoint Fitzgerald the best coach in NU history, or even the right person for the job. He and the rest of the coaching staff are improving, but they’ve made many mistakes in their almost two years.
And while there was an obvious change in play calling strategy in Saturday’s win, the 32-year-old head coach wouldn’t admit there was a change in philosophy for the fourth quarter or the game in general.
“(We) just keep doing what we do,” he said.
Not exactly. In the past two games, both losses, the Cats rushed a combined five times in the fourth quarter. This week, a win, NU ran nine times in its final, game-winning drive alone. That is not doing what they do, it’s finally realizing they were doing something wrong the whole time and making an adjustment – which is a good sign for things to come with this young, inexperienced coaching staff.
Going into Saturday’s game, NU was one of three teams in the Big Ten that rushed more than it has passed this season (Minnesota and Purdue are the others). In the Cats’ first 10 games, they rushed just 43 percent of the time. In Saturday’s win, NU rushed 58 percent of the time, with Sutton gaining 141 yards on 33 carries.
Fitzgerald said it was “doing what (they) do,” but maybe he meant they did what they’re going to do from now on because this new running stuff works. Sutton is the former Big Ten Freshman of the Year. He rushed 21 times a game that season, averaging almost six yards per carry, and he could have handled more.
With junior quarterback C.J. Bacher struggling – he has nine interceptions in the last three games – Sutton needs to get about 40 touches again next week to give the Cats a chance to win and be all but assured of a bowl invitation. That doesn’t mean 40 rushes. Sutton was the second-leading receiver for the Cats on Saturday, with six catches for 72 yards, including a 17 yard reception on 3rd and 4 to keep NU’s eventual game-winning drive alive. So the Cats just need to get the best player on the time the ball somehow.
The question is: Will the coaching staff realize they probably won because they ran, or will they go back to the Heave-and-Hope strategy of the two previous games?
When a reporter asked Sutton if he thought the Cats would have beaten Purdue and Iowa if the coaching staff called plays the past two weeks like they did Saturday, Sutton replied, “No comment,” while laughing.
He could have just flat-out said “yes,” because it’s true. At the very least, the games wouldn’t have gotten out of hand because NU wouldn’t have given up the ball as fast.
NU doesn’t have to give up the pass to win, but the Cats have to run next week to have a chance.
Gameday editor Abe Rakov is a Medill senior. He can be reached at [email protected].
