One of the more heroic moments in college football last season was seeing Northwestern QB Dan Persa make a game winning pass to beat Iowa 21-17, only to have his Achilles tendon explode when he went to celebrate with his teammates. The 2010 season didn't go great for Northwestern after that, giving up lopsided losses to Illinois and Wisconsin before losing in yet another bowl game to Texas Tech.
This year Dan Persa returns, as the most experienced and perhaps valuable QB in the Big Ten. His Achilles has been repaired, and all of Evanston will be looking to him and his surgically reconstructed leg to finally lead the Wildcats to a bowl victory.
Pat Fitzgerald has now been coach at Northwestern for an amazing five years. Amazing both because of the success he has managed to have at historically difficult Northwestern, and because that success has not gotten him snagged by a higher profile program. Fitzgerald has a winning record in Evanston, has taken the Wildcats to three straight bowl games ( and got them eligible in 2007 to boot) and when you combine all of that with Fitz's status as a legendary player for NU, you wonder just how long it will be until the build a statue of the man.
As he begins his sixth year as head coach, one has to wonder if he can keep it up, fighting against the stringent academic standards of Northwestern and a very difficult divisional schedule.
The Offense
In a word, Dan Persa. Persa led his team by a wide margin with 26 touchdowns last year, 15 passing and 9 rushing. He threw for 2500 yards, completed about 75% of his passes and threw just four INTs. Even while only playing in ten games last year, Persa still had the second most rushing yards for the Wildcats, with 519 yards, a mere 11 behind leader Mike Trumpy.
NU with Persa on the field was 7-3, NU without was 0-3, being blown out in two of the three games. Suffice it to say that it is important for Northwestern to have Persa back at 100% this year, and cannot afford to lose him again.
The running game is particularly troubling. Persa carries so much of the load with his arm that a real rushing threat is desperately needed to take some pressure off of him. Mike Trumpy led in rushing yards last year with an okay 530, and managed a good 4.6 ypc, but he too missed the last two games of the season with a wrist injury. If Trumpy is going to be the compliment to Persa, he is going to need to stay healthy and get a lot more carries, because opponents defenses are going to be keying on Persa in the run game and the passing game. With so much riding on Persa and his reconstructed ankle, the fewer designed QB runs they have, the better.
The Defense
As I mentioned before, the last three games of the season were pretty rough for Northwestern, and while these games were without Dan Persa, they seemed to also be without their entire defense. Against Illinois at Wrigley Field NU gave up an astonishing 519 yards on the ground, including a record breaking 330 from Mikel Leshoure. The next week Wisconsin put up 70 points on NU (although aided by SEVEN 'Cats turnovers.) And in the bowl game against Texas Tech, Northwestern changed things up a bit when Taylor Potts threw for 369 yards and four touchdowns.
If Northwestern really wants to make a run this year, and get back to a fourth straight bowl game, it needs to fix those defensive problems. It wont help matters that the Cats lose their best defensive lineman Corbin Bryant and good LB Quinten Davie, and will have to fill the void with RS freshmen.
Pat Fitzgerald was a standout defensive player at NU in the 90's, and has squeezed blood from the stone before on defense. He motivates his players better than most in college football, could probably convince me to run through drywall if given the opportunity. However unless some talent reveals itself on D this year, or the offense becomes super productive to the point of not even needing the defense there will be lots of points given up in Evanston this year.
The Schedule
Date
Opponent
09/03/11
at Boston College
09/10/11
vs. Eastern Illinois
09/17/11
at Army
10/01/11
at Illinois
10/08/11
vs. Michigan
10/15/11
at Iowa
10/22/11
vs. Penn State
10/29/11
at Indiana
11/05/11
at Nebraska
11/12/11
vs. Rice
11/19/11
vs. Minnesota
11/26/11
vs. Michigan State
Things could be a lot worse for Fitz this year, I am ready pencil in at least three of the non conference games as wins. Boston College is going to be a real interesting game, and will probably tell us a lot about Northwestern this season. BC is a pedestrian offensive team but last year finished in the top 20 in scoring defense. Seeing Persa and the offense go up against that D should be good television, but when BC is on offense it might be dreadful. It is a toss up.
In conference putting Indiana and Minnesota in the win column is pretty safe bet, and equally safe putting Nebraska Michigan State and Penn State there too. Having Illinois and Iowa at home might have made me change my mind on this, but I see those as losses as well. Which leaves Michigan, specifically hosting Denard Robinson and the new Brady Hoke edition Wolverines in prime time. Tentatively I put this as a toss up as well.
The short passing offense, supercharged by Dan Persa, will still be operational. The defense, losing some stars, will be a huge question, especially after last year's late-season debacle. A bowl game is probable, a "Dan Persa just made your d-line hyperventilate" montage is certain, but the talent disparity and small home crowds will assure at least one more year of JNW chants.
Our Best Guess:
Even though they are bringing back their coach of six years, this Northwestern team is remarkably similar to Michigan. Good offense with a great player at the helm, a defense that is questionable at best, and an unmitigated disaster if their QB goes down.
I like Dan Persa a lot as a player, and he has done some great things in his short time already at Northwestern, but I also know that an Achilles injury is serious business. I am willing to reassess this decision after seeing Persa play some real games this season, but with that hanging over this team's head I will opt for the opponent in the toss ups.
5-7 overall, 2-6 conference.
Hey, if I am wrong about just one of these games though, Fitz takes Northwestern to a record four straight bowl games, and that would be very impressive.
2011 Big Ten Football Preview: Northwestern Wildcats
One of the more heroic moments in college football last season was seeing Northwestern QB Dan Persa make a game winning pass to beat Iowa 21-17, only to have his Achilles tendon explode when he went to celebrate with his teammates. The 2010 season didn't go great for Northwestern after that, giving up lopsided losses to Illinois and Wisconsin before losing in yet another bowl game to Texas Tech.
This year Dan Persa returns, as the most experienced and perhaps valuable QB in the Big Ten. His Achilles has been repaired, and all of Evanston will be looking to him and his surgically reconstructed leg to finally lead the Wildcats to a bowl victory.
Pat Fitzgerald has now been coach at Northwestern for an amazing five years. Amazing both because of the success he has managed to have at historically difficult Northwestern, and because that success has not gotten him snagged by a higher profile program. Fitzgerald has a winning record in Evanston, has taken the Wildcats to three straight bowl games ( and got them eligible in 2007 to boot) and when you combine all of that with Fitz's status as a legendary player for NU, you wonder just how long it will be until the build a statue of the man.
As he begins his sixth year as head coach, one has to wonder if he can keep it up, fighting against the stringent academic standards of Northwestern and a very difficult divisional schedule.
The Offense
In a word, Dan Persa. Persa led his team by a wide margin with 26 touchdowns last year, 15 passing and 9 rushing. He threw for 2500 yards, completed about 75% of his passes and threw just four INTs. Even while only playing in ten games last year, Persa still had the second most rushing yards for the Wildcats, with 519 yards, a mere 11 behind leader Mike Trumpy.
NU with Persa on the field was 7-3, NU without was 0-3, being blown out in two of the three games. Suffice it to say that it is important for Northwestern to have Persa back at 100% this year, and cannot afford to lose him again.
The running game is particularly troubling. Persa carries so much of the load with his arm that a real rushing threat is desperately needed to take some pressure off of him. Mike Trumpy led in rushing yards last year with an okay 530, and managed a good 4.6 ypc, but he too missed the last two games of the season with a wrist injury. If Trumpy is going to be the compliment to Persa, he is going to need to stay healthy and get a lot more carries, because opponents defenses are going to be keying on Persa in the run game and the passing game. With so much riding on Persa and his reconstructed ankle, the fewer designed QB runs they have, the better.
The Defense
As I mentioned before, the last three games of the season were pretty rough for Northwestern, and while these games were without Dan Persa, they seemed to also be without their entire defense. Against Illinois at Wrigley Field NU gave up an astonishing 519 yards on the ground, including a record breaking 330 from Mikel Leshoure. The next week Wisconsin put up 70 points on NU (although aided by SEVEN 'Cats turnovers.) And in the bowl game against Texas Tech, Northwestern changed things up a bit when Taylor Potts threw for 369 yards and four touchdowns.
If Northwestern really wants to make a run this year, and get back to a fourth straight bowl game, it needs to fix those defensive problems. It wont help matters that the Cats lose their best defensive lineman Corbin Bryant and good LB Quinten Davie, and will have to fill the void with RS freshmen.
Pat Fitzgerald was a standout defensive player at NU in the 90's, and has squeezed blood from the stone before on defense. He motivates his players better than most in college football, could probably convince me to run through drywall if given the opportunity. However unless some talent reveals itself on D this year, or the offense becomes super productive to the point of not even needing the defense there will be lots of points given up in Evanston this year.
The Schedule
vs. Minnesota
Things could be a lot worse for Fitz this year, I am ready pencil in at least three of the non conference games as wins. Boston College is going to be a real interesting game, and will probably tell us a lot about Northwestern this season. BC is a pedestrian offensive team but last year finished in the top 20 in scoring defense. Seeing Persa and the offense go up against that D should be good television, but when BC is on offense it might be dreadful. It is a toss up.
In conference putting Indiana and Minnesota in the win column is pretty safe bet, and equally safe putting Nebraska Michigan State and Penn State there too. Having Illinois and Iowa at home might have made me change my mind on this, but I see those as losses as well. Which leaves Michigan, specifically hosting Denard Robinson and the new Brady Hoke edition Wolverines in prime time. Tentatively I put this as a toss up as well.
Off Tackle Empire's Take
Our Best Guess:
Even though they are bringing back their coach of six years, this Northwestern team is remarkably similar to Michigan. Good offense with a great player at the helm, a defense that is questionable at best, and an unmitigated disaster if their QB goes down.
I like Dan Persa a lot as a player, and he has done some great things in his short time already at Northwestern, but I also know that an Achilles injury is serious business. I am willing to reassess this decision after seeing Persa play some real games this season, but with that hanging over this team's head I will opt for the opponent in the toss ups.
5-7 overall, 2-6 conference.
Hey, if I am wrong about just one of these games though, Fitz takes Northwestern to a record four straight bowl games, and that would be very impressive.
May 24 9:04a by Joe Kutsunis