The arrival of defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz a year ago keyed a significant defensive turnaround.
The Wildcats more than doubled their sack total, jumping from 10th to first in the Big Ten.
They allowed 110 fewer points, despite playing an extra game.
Hankwitz and his defensive staff are ushering in a new era of Northwestern football, one that is a far cry from the days of blowing 35-point halftime leads and winning big games by scores of 51-48 and 54-51.
“We’re trying to make new history by being a consistent winner, and that always has started with defense,” linebackers coach Randy Bates said. “You win with defense.”
It is no coincidence that the Cats’ most successful team this decade also had their stingiest defense in recent memory.
The last time a NU team gave up as few points per game as the 2008 squad did last year (20.2) was in 1996, when Gary Barnett took the purple to Pasadena with a defense that surrendered an average of 15.1 per game.
With a full season in Evanston under his belt, Hankwitz said he expects to be able to do even more with his defense this season.
“We’re going to do some different things,” he said. “We’ll be able to do a little more this year because the players don’t have to learn everything from ground one, so we’ll be able to expand a little.”
Hankwitz is no stranger to this process. He served as the defensive coordinator for six other schools before coming to NU and has had successful sophomore campaigns. In 1998, his second year at Texas A&M, Hankwitz’s unit finished in the top 10 nationally in points allowed.
The Cats are also finding it easier now that they have a year of seasoning in Hankwitz’s system. NU only had five months to make the transition to the new defensive sets before last fall.
They have 11 returning players with starting experience – and that does not include sophomore defensive end Vince Browne, who was named to several freshman All-American second teams despite a season-ending knee injury.
“There’s definitely some sense of familiarity (this spring) and a lot more confidence as well,” said junior middle linebacker Nate Williams, who filled in for Malcolm Arrington during the second half of last season.
That familiarity means the players are more comfortable with the play calls, allowing them to concentrate on other facets of the game.
“When you do know what you’re doing, it allows you to think about more – the down and distance, the situation – which will help all of us,” senior safety and co-captain Brendan Smith said.
Smith is the leader of the defense’s most experienced unit. The top six players return to the secondary, including junior cornerback Justan Vaughn, who missed the final 11 games of 2008 with a shoulder injury. Vaughn won a starting spot at Camp Kenosha last summer, but was knocked out of the second game against Duke. Then-redshirt freshman cornerback Jordan Mabin stepped into Vaughn’s role and played at a high level, earning freshman first-team All-American honors from various outlets.
Having to watch from the sidelines was difficult for Vaughn, but the experience motivated him to work hard in rehabbing his shoulder. He has just about made it back to his pre-injury form.
“It was just a big adversity for me,” Vaughn said. “I had to dig deep down and make sure I focused on getting better. Every day I gain more confidence in my body as well as myself.”
The competition between Mabin and Vaughn at second corner might be the closest of the position battles on the defensive side of the ball. On the line, Browne and senior Adam Hahn are expected to fill the starting end and tackle positions vacated by the departure of Kevin Mims and John Gill.
The other spot up for grabs is at outside linebacker, where sophomore Ben Johnson has been practicing with the first team this spring. He is trying to replace Prince Kwateng in the lineup, though Hankwitz and coach Pat Fitzgerald could also rotate a couple of players.
This environment of players pushing each other for playing time is one Fitzgerald and his staff strongly encourage. It is particularly beneficial for strengthening the team’s depth.
“When you’ve got competition, you’ve got a chance to have good players become great and great players become special,” Fitzgerald said. “When you look last year at the number of guys we had injured and the young men that were maybe twos on the depth chart behind them – the way they prepared to step up and take advantage of that opportunity was a big reason why we were able to be consistently successful.”
With injuries to projected starters Brad Phillips, Corbin Bryant and Corey Wootton, an All-Big Ten selection a year ago, there is even more of an opportunity for players to compete and get experience that could prove useful later on.
“We have guys that have been itching to play for a long time, and they’re finally getting their opportunity,” Browne said.
Wootton’s absence this spring is unfortunate, since he changes the dynamic of the defense whenever he is in the game. The team leader in sacks last season (10) attracts constant double teams, freeing up his teammates to make plays.
But until he gets back, the defensive players have to keep challenging one another so they are prepared to step up when called on, in helping to fulfill Fitzgerald’s vision of building a program that sustains its success based on defense.
