Clockwise from left: It may be the spring game, but coach Pat Fitzgerald is already excited about his team’s
chances for 2009, posing with his play sheet and pen during his postgame speech. Senior quarterback
Mike Kafka showed off both his arm and his legs. Kafka completed 12-of-21 passes for 134 yards, including
a 55-yard touchdown strike to senior wide receiver Andrew Brewer. He also led all rushers with nine yards
per carry, including a 22-yard scamper. Mackenzie McCluer/The Daily Northwestern
The stormy weather in Evanston on Saturday provided a fitting backdrop for Northwestern’s thunder-and-lightning backfield.
Sophomore Jeravin Matthews, redshirt freshman Alex Daniel, and junior Stephen Simmons all received a significant number of snaps at running back in Saturday’s annual spring football game, and each showed off a unique skillset while combining for 207 yards on 32 rushes.
“We all bring something different,” Simmons said. “Jeravin’s fast as hell. Alex has got that surprise, that explosion, and I just try to put everything together.”
After Tyrell Sutton’s departure, the trio has the responsibility of filling his shoes next season. They got off to a good start.
Although no official score was kept in the intrasquad scrimmage, the running backs combined for four of the offense’s five touchdowns.
On Saturday, it didn’t appear to matter that the running backs lacked experience. Simmons started three games at the end of last season after injuries moved him from third to first on the depth chart. Matthews and Daniel have not yet taken a snap in a game.
“I think we’ve got a really good problem,” coach Pat Fitzgerald said. “We’ve got three guys that are healthy that went through spring that are capable of being Big Ten running backs.”
Matthews led all players with 90 yards on 15 carries. Matthews played running back in high school, but was converted to wide reciever after arriving in Evanston. After injuries sidelined Sutton and backup Omar Conteh, he returned to his original position.
Matthews showed he hadn’t lost his running back instincts by reversing field on a zone option right and speeding past defenders for a 22-yard score down the left side of the field.
“It’s a matter of using the linemen to hide behind,” Matthews said. “I’m not a big guy, I can get lost in there for a second and just find what opens up.”
Daniel added two touchdowns and averaged seven yards per carry on 10 rushes. His signature play of the game was an 11-yard touchdown run that was made possible by side-stepping a defender in the backfield before diving with an arm outstretched to put the ball past the pylon.
“Luckily, I got it in,” Daniel said. “Because if I didn’t, I probably would have gotten chewed out.”
Whether the by-committee approach holds until fall is unknown, but the setup has its merits.
“Honestly, I prefer to have it like that,” Simmons said. “Last year, the games I did start, it was just me. Don’t get me wrong, I love playing the whole game. I feel like it would’ve brought more if we’d had more running backs that played.”
The running game also set up passing lanes for senior quarterback Mike Kafka. Although most of Kafka’s throws were short outs and slants, he used a play-action fake to draw the defense and launched his only deep throw of the game. The result was a 55-yard strike to senior wide receiver Andrew Brewer that easily beat senior cornerback Sherrick McManis.
“Mike put it right on the money,” Brewer said. “He’s got a really strong arm, and a lot of people don’t really know that.”
Kafka went 12-for-21 passing while wearing a purple no-contact jersey.
“Quarterback is a little different when they can’t knock your lips off,” Fitzgerald said. “When you get to run around in a purple jersey, you’re pretty good.”
After 15 spring practices, the final scrimmage was 70 plays, including 40 runs and 30 passes. While the defensive performance was underwhelming, with the first team allowing four touchdowns, Fitzgerald caled the game plan “vanilla,” without blitzing.
“Defense is about controlled aggression,” Fitzgerald said. “Today, you come out of the tunnel, and the first thing you do is stretch with a bunch of four-year-olds and take pictures and sign autographs. It’s a little tough to restart the fire.”
Northwestern held its annual Stretch with the Cats and Walk for Randy as its pre-game festivities.
In a game where most fans had their eyes on the offense and defense, junior Stefan Demos handled the kicking duties, hitting on 5-of-6 field goals – his only miss a 46-yarder from the left hash – and connecting on 4-of-5 extra points.
