Anyone watching Northwestern’s 27-24 win against Eastern Michigan could see the role special teams played in the game. But junior Stefan Demos’ game-winning kick with six seconds remaining was only one aspect of how the unit affected the game.
Through the first three quarters of action, junior running back Stephen Simmons returned kickoffs three times and got back to the NU 25-, 31- and 24-yard line. The fourth quarter was a different story, as he took his next kickoff to the NU 47 and shortened the field for the Wildcats’ two-minute drill when he ran back to the NU 42.
All Simmons needed was a few more looks at the Eagles’ kicking team.
“I just started seeing creases and I just went,” Simmons said. “I was thinking too much at first. When I started going, things opened up for me.”
The Cats’ punt-return game was a different matter. NU was pinned inside its own 5-yard line on the first two punts of the game. Later in the fourth quarter, senior safety Brendan Smith was unable to field a punt after signaling for a fair catch. The ball appeared to bounce off senior receiver Andrew Brewer, and the Eagles got the ball back.
“I signaled fair catch, and I was trying to come up to the ball and I couldn’t get there,” Smith said. “I was trying to explain to the refs that I have the right to the ball, but they were saying that it was my teammate that stopped me from getting the ball. I didn’t see it hit anyone.”
Dueling Dual-Threat Quarterbacks
At the start of the fourth quarter, sophomore Dan Persa spelled Mike Kafka at quarterback and ran for five yards on his first snap. He followed by handing the ball off to sophomore Jacob Schmidt for 10 yards and then left the game.
NU coach Pat Fitzgerald said Persa was inserted into the game by design and that he plans to use him differently each week.
“We’re going to try to play both of them and play them to their strengths,” Fitzgerald said. “We’re going to try to use Dan because he’s a tremendous athlete. We’re going to try and use him in different ways.”
The offense had little game tape to analyze the Eagles’ pass defense because Army threw only five times in the teams’ meeting last week. Despite this challenge, Fitzgerald and Kafka felt the offense adjusted well.
“We were very prepared,” Kafka said. “Offensively, I thought we did OK passing-wise and protection-wise. They really didn’t show us a whole bunch, but for what they gave us, we were prepared and we made some adjustments.”
A bright spot for a half
Lost in the midst of squandering a 21-point lead was the solid play of NU’s linebacking crew in the first half. The group’s highlight came on sophomore Ben Johnson’s 70-yard interception return for a touchdown in the second quarter, which gave the Cats their biggest lead at 21-0.
Less flashy but just as impressive was junior middle linebacker Nate Williams, who racked up seven tackles in the first half and a three-yard tackle for a loss. However, he added just two tackles in the second half to finish with nine. Junior outside linebacker Quentin Davie was a similar story. He had six tackles in the first half but managed only two in the second half.
The linebackers said they need to play with the same intensity for 60 minutes instead of 30.
“We came out real quick and then in the second half we let down and we let them back in the game,” Johnson said. “(Eastern Michigan) brought it to us. The backers have a lot of work to do to be a great corps.”
Notes:
NU posted its seventh-straight victory versus a Mid-American Conference opponent, improving its record against the conference to 14-8-1 overall … The Cats have outscored their opponents 28-0 in the first quarter and 58-10 in the first half so far this season … Johnson’s 70-yard interception return for a touchdown is the longest since Harold Blackmon returned an interception 75 yards against Indiana for a touchdown in 1999 … Senior cornerback Sherrick McManis, who was listed as doubtful on the team’s injury report, did not play with a leg injury … Junior wide receiver Sidney Stewart was a late scratch due to an undisclosed illness.
