No. 8 – Northwestern
This is the fourth in a series of previews on the 11 teams in the Big Ten in the order I predict them to finish.
NORTHWESTERN
Predicted finish in Big Ten: 8th, 3-5
Its been just over two years now since the sudden passing of Randy Walker and the promotion of then-linebackers coach Pat Fitzgerald as head coach at Northwestern.
During the six years that Walker was in charge, the Wildcats were just 37-46 overall, but he did led them to three postseason bowl games and Northwestern claimed a share of the Big Ten title in 2000.
Fitzgerald, who played for former head coach Gary Barnett at NU during the mid-90s, was a former Bednarik Award and Bronko Nagurski Trophy-winning linebacker as the Wildcats won two Big Ten championships (one outright) and participated in both the Rose and Citrus bowls during his playing days in Evanston.
Can Fitzgerald return his Wildcats to national prominence as a coach like he did as a player? It does look like he can put NU over the six-win hump this season and get Northwestern a bowl invite thanks to a weak schedule.
Fitzgerald has 14 starters returning, seven on each side of the ball, including senior quarterback C.J. Bacher, who threw for 3,656 yards during his junior campaign. One thing, though, that Bacher is going to have to do is limit his mistakes, as he threw just as many TDs passes and he did interceptions (19) last season.
Senior running back Tyrell Sutton returns as well. He gained just 522 yards on 108 attempts with four touchdowns, but missed the better part of seven games due to an ankle injury. Senior Omar Conteh, Sutton’s backup, gained another 447 yards on 96 carries with five more scores in 2007.
Bacher will have plenty of experienced receivers to chuck the ball to as three of his top four wideouts from last season return, and they are all seniors with Eric Peterman (66 rec., 744 yards, 3 TDs), Ross Lane (49 rec., 649 yards, 7 TDs), and Rasheed Ward (46 rec., 434 yards).
The offensive line also returns three starters, which should help clear holes for the backs and give Bacher time to throw.
The biggest question marks are on defense. While the Wildcats were able to score 25.8 points per game on average in 2007, the defense yielded 31 points per contest last season.
The all four starters return on the defensive line that include senior tackle John Gill, junior tackle Adam Hahn, senior end Kevin Mims, and junior end Corey Wootton.
The biggest hole that need to be fill is at middle linebacker. Senior Malcolm Arrington will slide over from the weakside to replace last year’s top stopper, Adam Kadela, who graduated.
Junior cornerback Sherrick McManus and junior free safety Brad Phillips are the returning starters in the secondary.
Northwestern could very well be 5-0 before hosting Michigan State on Oct. 11, but their schedule is decidedly tougher through the Big Ten portion of the slate. Bowl eligibility is very possible, as is seven wins, as long as they avoid meltdowns like they did against Duke last season.
Big Ten Schedule
Sept. 27 @ Iowa, Win
Oct. 11 vs. Michigan State, Loss
Oct. 18 vs. Purdue, Loss
Oct. 25 @ Indiana, Win
Nov. 1 @ Minnesota, Win
Nov. 8 vs. Ohio State, Loss
Nov. 15 @ Michigan, Loss
Nov. 22 vs. Illinois, Loss
