With less than 24 hours to kickoff at Ryan Field, Skip Myslenski looks ahead to Saturday's tilt between Northwestern and No. 17/16 Wisconsin, pitting a strengthening defensive unit against a vaunted rushing attack in today's Skip Report.
ACID TEST: Last Saturday, at Penn State, the `Cat run defense was as stout as British ale, holding the Nittany Lions to just 50 yards on 25 carries. But now, this Saturday at Ryan Field, comes Wisconsin, whose rushing offense can cut through an opponent like a tornado sweeping across a plain.
Just consider these numbers. The Badgers average 7.04 yards per-carry, the best in the nation. The Badgers average 343.3 rushing yards per game, third best in the nation. The Badgers have had 19 runs of 20 yards or more, the best in the nation, and they are tied for the number one spot with seven runs of 40-plus yards and four of 60-plus. Then there is their star Melvin Gordon, who is averaging 153 yards per game and 8.03 yards per-carry. "It's an absolutely gi-normous offensive line (all of its members weigh 310 or more) and the tight ends are really good at the point of attack," Pat Fitzgerald said of this rushing attack this week.
"They do a nice job trying to outnumber you by formation, they do a great job formation shifting and trading and then using the fly-sweep game to get your eyes up. Number one, we've got to do a great job up front controlling our gaps. We've got to stay in our gaps. Our linebackers have to make the D-line right and we've got to fit properly. Our safeties are going to have a lot of tackles Saturday because they're going to block everybody at the point of attack."
"Me and Traveon (Henry) know that and we're definitely prepared for it," acknowledged `Cats safety Godwin Igwebuike, the redshirt freshman who will be starting in place of the injured senior Ibraheim Campbell. "I feel like we're both pretty tough guys. So we're just going to embrace it, come down ready to hit."
Does he consider himself a hitter?
"I'd say I'm a hitter. I like to lay the wood. I like to be aggressive. Ever since I was a kid, I liked to play defense. Obviously I was a running back in high school as well. But it's one of the biggest reasons I wanted to play safety. To lay the hits instead of taking them."
And what about facing the highly-regarded Gordon a week after facing the equally-highly-regarded Penn State quarterback Christian Hackenberg?
"We're a team that's been doubted a lot," he finally said. "So when we get these kinds of a test, it's more of a blessing. We embrace tests like these. Getting an opportunity to play these big teams, big names, I think it's a chance for us to prove ourselves. We're excited. We're going to do what we came to do."
NOW AND THEN: Last season the `Cats defense surrendered an average of 27.1 points-per-game, ninth most in the Big Ten. This season that number is 16.8, third best in the conference. Last season it also surrendered 167.7 rush yards per-game and 4.1 yards per carry, again ninth in the Big Ten. This season those numbers are 117.2 and 2.9, which puts it in the middle of the conference pack at number seven. "All year we've been pretty hard on ourselves," said defensive end Deonte Gibson when asked about this marked improvement.
"We went through a tough offseason workout. The whole debacle we had in the run game (last) year, it was all on the D-line. We took that personally, and then we just approached it and attacked it every day as if we wanted to become the best run defense there is. That's what we've been doing since day one."
FLASHBACK (and maybe a hint of the future): A highlight of the `Cats win over Penn State was provided by the promising defensive end Xavier Washington, a true freshman who separated Hackenberg from the ball while sacking him on the second play of the fourth quarter. "He needed that," Gibson said of that play. "Going through freshman year, he's picked up a lot of great things early. But he started to get a little bit down on himself. So it was good to have him go out and play like himself and make a great play."
"I wouldn't say down," said Washington when asked about Gibson's observation. "I just came to a realization that it's not easy. I know now you're not going to make the play every time. It's not high school. It's going to be hard work. I just kept playing, kept playing through it, and my opportunity came to make a play and I was there. I was the person there to make it. I believe anybody on the D-line would have made the play just like I did if they had been in the situation."
But does a play like that give him more confidence?
"Oh, yeah. I definitely have more confidence now. It's about staying confident and knowing that at any moment I can be in a position to make a play."
QUICKLY NOTED: After missing the previous two games, wide receiver Tony Jones returned against the Nittany Lions and ended with three receptions for 31 yards. But he and quarterback Trevor Siemian failed to connect on other opportunities that were there, which led Jones to this week say, "I obviously have to spend a lot more time with Trevor on timing so we can complete a couple more passes than we did." Said Siemian: "A certain element of it is him knocking the rust off and me getting used to him being back. He's got that kind of speed, he has a little different speed out there. So it's good to have him in that sense. But we also need to get on the same page and reestablish the continuity we had going last year.". . . It was bittersweet last Saturday for middle linebacker Collin Ellis, who is set to return against the Badgers after sitting out the Penn State game with a injury. "The worst thing for a player is to sit there and not be able to participate with your teammates you've gone through so much with," he explained. "But as bad as it felt not to be able to play, it was still awesome to be there and get to be with my teammates and celebrate that win. It was a special feeling.". . . The Badgers lead the Big Ten in scoring defense (14.5 ppg) and total defense (260.8 ypg), and have yet to allow a redzone touchdown. . . . The Badgers' choreographer is 6-foot-6, 222-pound junior Tanner McEvoy, a dual-threat quarterback who has completed 59.3 percent of his passes (51-of-86) and averaged 69 rush yards per-game (third best on the team). "You might think he's just managing the position," Fitzgerald said of him. "I don't see that. I see a dynamic playmaker. He's scary with the ball in his hands.". . . McEvoy played safety last year for the Badgers, but was a quarterback at both Arizona Western College and Bergen Catholic. The latter is the same New Jersey high school attended by Northwestern brothers Cameron and Garrett Dickerson. . . . The No. 17 Badgers last won in Evanston in 1999. Since then they have lost in 2003 when ranked No. 20, in '05 when ranked No. 14 and in '09 when ranked No. 17.
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