In a defensive struggle that no one was expecting, it was Northwestern’s much maligned unit that stepped up when it mattered most.
The Wildcats’ defenders forced a fumble with less than two minutes left to secure a 23-13 win over Vanderbilt on Saturday. As a result, the defense’s performance gave a sputtering offense enough time to regain its composure.
“Our defense gave us a chance to stay in the ballgame,” coach Pat Fitzgerald said. “We played very well, very sound. We got good pressure on the quarterback. We affected him and there’s no question about that.”
The fumble came just seconds after NU took a 16-13 lead, and it allowed the Cats to run off precious seconds from the clock. Senior defensive end Tyler Scott broke through to Vanderbilt quarterback Jordan Rodgers unabated and forced the football onto the turf where freshman defensive end Dean Lowry was able to fall on it.
“As a defense we said we weren’t done,” Scott said. “We wanted to go out there and get some pressure on (Rodgers) and cause him to throw the ball away or something. It turned out even better.”
NU trailed 10-3 at halftime, but outscored Vanderbilt 20-3 in the second half as its defense forced two fumbles, holding the Commodores to one-of-seven on third down. The offense was sparked by the insertion of Trevor Siemian into the game as quarterback. The redshirt sophomore led the Cats on two crucial scoring drives in the fourth quarter to give NU its first lead and then the lead it would keep.
NU’s offense put up 239 yards in the second half after mustering up only 85 yards in the first half including 10 yards passing. The initial spark plug after halftime was junior running back Venric Mark, who ran for 123 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries. Mark was able to absorb some big hits and continue driving forward, which Siemian said is one of the most surprising things about the 5-foot-8-inch back.
“Everybody knows (Mark is) fast,” Siemian said. “His ability to break tackles (is most impressive). Everybody thinks that since he’s a small guy he can’t run in between the tackles, but you rarely see the first guy bring him down, whether it’s in the box or on the perimeter.”
Siemian was put in after junior quarterback Kain Colter was unable to get the offense moving. Siemian’sthree drives in the second half at the helm of the offense resulted in 10 points, including an 11-play, 86-yard drive to take the 13-10 lead. Colter’s bright spot was a 29-yard touchdown run after the Commodores overplayed a designed quarterback run.
Vanderbilt came out throwing the ball around the field and racked up 61 of its 77 yards on the opening drive through the air, cashing in for its only touchdown of the game. For the rest of the game, Commodores quarterback Jordan Rodgers threw for 148 yards and completed just half of his passes.
The key to the decreased production in the air was the pressure that NU’s defensive line was able to put on Rodgers. The quarterback was sacked three times and fumbled on the opening play of a drive late in the fourth quarter. He was hurried several times throughout the rest of the game and that thus forced to be less accurate.
“It’s always a big thing for us,” senior defensive end Quentin Williams said. “Affecting the quarterback is huge and we did a good job of it today.”
NU’s offense converted on just two-of-six third downs in the first half, but it found a way to stay on the field in the second half, converting six of 11 opportunities. The Cats were successful, although they did not keep the third-down distances manageable. Six of the 11 opportunities were five yards or longer, and the offense converted on two of them. However, NU was able to convert on four of the five opportunities inside five yards, which allowed NU to control the ball for more than 18 minutes in the second half.
The Cats’ defense also played well on third down, forcing the Commodores off the field on 11-of-15 third-down attempts. Vanderbilt was unable to pick up the short distances in the third quarter, twice squandering opportunities to move the chains on third and three. The one conversion that the Commodores had on third down in the second half came on the drive that resulted in the only points Vanderbilt would have in the second half.
“We focused on what we learned last week,” Scott said. “We weren’t very good on third down and we went back and watched the film to see where we messed up and focused on our fundamentals and working those techniques to get us off the field.”
