Offseason conditioning workouts are wrapping up, Big Ten Football Media Days have concluded, and now the Northwestern Wildcats are ready to get training camp started in their new practice facility as they continue preparations for what should be a very competitive 2018 college football season. In the last two seasons alone, head coach Pat Fitzgerald has guided this Wildcats program to consecutive 10-win seasons and back-to-back bowl game victories. He’s the first coach in Northwestern history to do so. He’s hoping to make 2018 an encore performance but the question is do the Wildcats have what they need to pull that off?
Here’s a reset on last season…..
W-L: 10-3 (7-2, Big Ten West)
Bowl Game: Defeated Kentucky in the Music City Bowl
Best Win: 39-0 at Minnesota
Worst Loss: 41-17 at Duke
Final Rankings: No. 17 (AP), No. 17 (Coaches), No. 21 (CFP)
Most Outstanding Players: Quarterback Clayton Thorson, running back Justin Jackson, superback Garrett Dickerson, safety Godwin Igwebuike, defensive tackle Tyler Lancaster, and linebackers Paddy Fisher and Warren Long.
After a 2-1 start to the season, Northwestern dropped their conference openers against Wisconsin and Penn State by a combined score of 64-31. From there the Wildcats corrected the errors of those games and finished the regular season by winning seven straight. Those wins included three straight overtime thrillers against Iowa, Michigan State, and Nebraska, along with some blowout victories over Minnesota and arch-rival Illinois. Clayton Thorson threw for 2,844 yards, 15 touchdowns, had a completion percentage of 60.4, and finished with a passer rating of 121.3.
Justin Jackson’s 1,311 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns gave him 5,440 career yards and 41 career scores thus making him the schools all-time leading rusher. Garrett Dickerson was one of NU’s top receivers with 4 touchdown catches, while Igwebuike, Lancaster, Fisher, and Long combined for 250 tackles, 3 sacks, 3 interceptions, and 12 pass deflections.
What a difference a year makes…. The only players on this particular list that are returning this season are Thorson, Long, and Fisher, but they have some challenges ahead. Thorson is coming off a torn ACL he suffered in the Music City Bowl. Coach Fitzgerald is being tight-lipped about whether or not he’ll be ready for opening day (August 30th), plus players coming off of these types of injuries usually wind up changing their style of play.
Long will be asked to take on more responsibility as he’s one of the more experienced defensive players now. He went through some growing pains in his transition from running back to linebacker, but he’s had a full offseason to completely acclimate to his new position. Fisher was Northwestern’s leading tackler last year but he’ll be asked to do even more this year.
Jackson, Dickerson, Lancaster, and Igwebuike are now trying their luck in the NFL. Also gone from last year’s squad are other major contributors such as backup quarterback Matt Alviti (297 total yards, 2 combined touchdowns), some changes on the offensive line, utility player Corey Acker (116 career yards from scrimmage, 19 career special teams tackles), safety Kyle Quiero (59 tackles, 5 interceptions), and linebacker Brett Walsh (67 tackles, 1 sack).
That’s a lot of talent to lose but the “Cardiac Cats” still have some solid players to work with. Junior John Moten IV and sophomore Jeremy Larkin will look to fill the void that Jackson leaves behind. Both men have proven that they can run between the tackles and catch the ball out of the backfield as they combined for 673 total yards and 7 total touchdowns in reserve roles last season. Senior Solomon Vault, fellow senior Flynn Nagel, and junior Ben Skowronek will head the receiving corps this year. Junior Cameron Green (2 touchdown catches last year) is the favorite to win the starting superback job.
Vault returns to the lineup after missing last season with a lower-body injury. He caught 15 passes for 164 yards and two touchdowns while averaging 10.9 yards per catch in 2016. Nagel has been a playmaker since day one. In three years the Lemont, Illinois native has 92 receptions for 983 yards, 4 touchdowns, and he contributes on special teams as evidenced by his 244 kick and punt return yards. As for Skowronek, he led the Wildcats with 714 receiving yards in 2017.
On defense, the Cats’ have some other players that will help out Long and Fisher. Junior Defensive lineman Joe Gaziano (35 tackles, 9 sacks in 2017), junior defensive lineman Alex Miller (4.5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks), junior linebacker Nathan Fox (23 tackles between 2016 and 2017), senior cornerback Montre Hartage (7 career interceptions, 15 career pass deflections), RS-junior cornerback Alonzo Mayo (29 tackles last season), and senior safety Jared McGee (27 tackles, 4 pass deflections) will be called upon relieve last year’s departures.
Aside from plugging in new players, the other challenge will be the schedule for the upcoming year. As usual, the Wildcats scheduled a mix of both tough and mid-major opponents. They open the season with a conference game at Purdue which is rare enough, but this game will be played on a Thursday night (August 30th) which Northwestern has never done in it’s history. Purdue is looking to surprise the Big Ten this season.
After that Northwestern opens up it’s home schedule against Duke (September 8th) where they hope to avenge last years loss, then the Wildcats welcome Akron (September 15th) to Ryan Field the next week. The Zips have gone 0-17 against the Big Ten since 2002. After a bye week NU will host Michigan (September 29th) -with former Mississippi quarterback Shea Patterson in tow- for their first meeting since 2015, hit the road against Michigan State (October 6th) whom they’ve beaten twice in a row, then return home to face the new look Nebraska Cornhuskers (October 13th) led by Huskers’ legend Scott Frost.
Northwestern wraps up October with a trip to Rutgers (October 20th) for a first-ever meeting between the two schools, then finish the month with a home game against Wisconsin (October 27th) in what could decide the Big Ten’s west division champion. November will be the most interesting month for Pat Fitzgerald’s team. It starts when they host Notre Dame in Evanston (November 3rd) for the first time since 1976. It’ll be the first encounter with the Fighting Irish since that memorable game in 2014, and just the second meeting since 1995 (Northwestern won both games in South Bend).
After Notre Dame the Wildcats wrap up the road portion of their schedule with trips to Iowa (November 10th) with whom they own a two-game winning streak against, and Minnesota (November 17th) who could be a very much improved team from last year. And as usual, the Cats’ wrap up the season with the Thanksgiving weekend rivalry game when Illinois comes to Ryan Field (November 24th).
I have no doubt that NU will be bowl eligible again, but winning the Big Ten will be much taller task.
