Angelique Changelis of the Detroit News (you may know her from BTN) sent me some questions to answer about NU this week that will run in their paper later this week. I thought I'd share them here.
(By the way, as most of you know, I grew up in Detroit. I told Angelique that this is probably the first time my name will appear in the Detroit News since they published the 1983 All-Metro football team.)
It was announced Monday running back Jeremy Larkin is retiring from the game because of a diagnosis of cervical stenosis. What has been the reaction to that news?
Talk about a bombshell. I think all of Purple Nation was stunned when the athletic department tweeted the devastating news just about an hour before Pat Fitzgerald’s Monday press conference. Larkin is not out for the game. He’s not out for the season. He’s out forever.
Larkin had been the Wildcats’ best player through three weeks. He was really the only dynamic weapon on a Northwestern offense that has had its share of struggles early in the season. No matter what else was happening around him, the Wildcats could count on Larkin rushing for 100 yards (he broke the century mark in all three games) and making plays in the passing game. He was elusive and sneaky-fast, and he had that uncanny vision that all great backs seem to have. He was the heir apparent to all-time leading rusher Justin Jackson and showed flashes that he might have a higher ceiling.
And now, he’s gone. It’s difficult to imagine how the news on Monday could have been much worse.
With Larkin gone, junior John Moten IV has moved to the first team and Isaiah Bowser is listed as the backup. Moten has 12 carries for 21 yards and a touchdown this season and has 416 rushing yards on 86 carries in his career while Bowser recorded his first carry in week three versus the Zips. Can the Wildcats’ run production recover without Larkin?
The one solace here is that Northwestern does have depth in the backfield. Whether they will collectively be able to carry the flag in Larkin’s absence is the big question.
Moten is a seasoned veteran who will take the reins as the No. 1 guy. He is faster than Larkin but doesn’t have the wiggle that Larkin did. Moten has been productive in spot duty throughout his career but has had some problems staying healthy. Coaches are very excited about the future of Bowser. The true freshman is the Wildcats’ biggest back, and he showed some burst last spring (he enrolled early) and in fall camp. The other runners who could get pressed into duty are redshirt sophomore Jesse Brown (nine career carries) and Drake Anderson (zero), a true freshman and the son of former Northwestern great Damien Anderson.
So Northwestern has numbers in the backfield. We don’t know if they have another No. 1.
Clayton Thorson has started 42 games at quarterback. How do you think he’ll run this offense against a Michigan defense that has given up 36 points since the first half of the season opener at Notre Dame?
The key to Thorson’s performance will be the play of his offensive line. When Thorson has a clean pocket he can be as good as any quarterback in the country. When protection breaks down, however, he can be pressured into mistakes. Take the Akron game, for example. Thorson was under quite a bit of pressure in the second half and he threw two pick-6s and had a fumble that was returned for a touchdown. So he finished the game with six TDs – three for Northwestern and three for Akron. Northwestern doesn’t really have a deep threat who can blow the top off the defense, so Thorson will throw the underneath routes and try to dink-and-dunk his way down the field against the Wolverines.
Northwestern’s biggest concern going into this game is the offensive line, which will be playing against the best defensive front they’ll see all season. The O-line played well in the opener against Purdue, but since then they have been banged up and turned in subpar performances in losses to Duke and Akron. Starting tackles Blake Hance and Rashawn Slater both went down against Duke, and Hance and guard Tommy Doles, the best player on the line, both missed the Akron game. While Fitzgerald wouldn’t give the media an update on Monday – he is almost as secretive as Jim Harbaugh – the hope is that the week off gave those guys time to get healthy.
Where is this team's psyche coming off consecutive losses and a bye?
You’d think the Wildcats would be down after two lackluster home losses – including blowing an 18-point halftime lead to 21-point underdog Akron in as bad a half of football as I’ve seen in Evanston – followed by two weeks of stewing about it. But if I’ve learned one thing in 14 years of covering this team, it’s that they are very good at putting bad losses behind them. Lord knows, they’ve had a lot of experience doing it.
In 2016, they lost their first two at home as favorites, including a brutal 9-7 loss to FCS Illinois State that I think was the low point of the Fitzgerald Era. They rebounded to win four of their next five and wound up winning a bowl game. Just last year they got hammered at Duke and were 2-3 before turning things around and winning eight straight for their third 10-win season in six years.
The program has a mantra tailor-made for this situation: “flush it.” Fitzgerald gives the team 24 hours to wallow in a loss or celebrate a win, and then it’s on to the next game. They are very good at forgetting the last game and moving on.
Northwestern is ranked 11th in the Big Ten in total defense and Michigan’s offense is starting to find itself a bit. Where is the Wildcats’ defense most susceptible?
The Wildcats’ front seven is pretty stout and should be able to contain Michigan’s running game. Their Achilles’ heel through the first three games has been big plays, particularly in the passing game.
Northwestern has already surrendered 12 explosion plays in three games, nine of them through the air. Purdue hit them for 76- and 45-yard runs and 23- and 32-yard passes. Duke connected on 52- and 26-yard passes and a 25-yard run. Akron quarterback Kato Nelson really let it fly against NU’s secondary, throwing strikes of 56, 43, 40, 25 and 24 yards, the last two going for scores. Fitzgerald has talked about his defensive backs’ lack of eye discipline and it has shown. And it hasn’t only been young guys getting burned, either. Even seniors like Montre Hartage and Jared McGee have been burned.
For the Wildcats to have a shot at knocking off the Wolverines on Saturday at the Little House, they can’t surrender big plays like those.
(By the way, as most of you know, I grew up in Detroit. I told Angelique that this is probably the first time my name will appear in the Detroit News since they published the 1983 All-Metro football team.)
It was announced Monday running back Jeremy Larkin is retiring from the game because of a diagnosis of cervical stenosis. What has been the reaction to that news?
Talk about a bombshell. I think all of Purple Nation was stunned when the athletic department tweeted the devastating news just about an hour before Pat Fitzgerald’s Monday press conference. Larkin is not out for the game. He’s not out for the season. He’s out forever.
Larkin had been the Wildcats’ best player through three weeks. He was really the only dynamic weapon on a Northwestern offense that has had its share of struggles early in the season. No matter what else was happening around him, the Wildcats could count on Larkin rushing for 100 yards (he broke the century mark in all three games) and making plays in the passing game. He was elusive and sneaky-fast, and he had that uncanny vision that all great backs seem to have. He was the heir apparent to all-time leading rusher Justin Jackson and showed flashes that he might have a higher ceiling.
And now, he’s gone. It’s difficult to imagine how the news on Monday could have been much worse.
With Larkin gone, junior John Moten IV has moved to the first team and Isaiah Bowser is listed as the backup. Moten has 12 carries for 21 yards and a touchdown this season and has 416 rushing yards on 86 carries in his career while Bowser recorded his first carry in week three versus the Zips. Can the Wildcats’ run production recover without Larkin?
The one solace here is that Northwestern does have depth in the backfield. Whether they will collectively be able to carry the flag in Larkin’s absence is the big question.
Moten is a seasoned veteran who will take the reins as the No. 1 guy. He is faster than Larkin but doesn’t have the wiggle that Larkin did. Moten has been productive in spot duty throughout his career but has had some problems staying healthy. Coaches are very excited about the future of Bowser. The true freshman is the Wildcats’ biggest back, and he showed some burst last spring (he enrolled early) and in fall camp. The other runners who could get pressed into duty are redshirt sophomore Jesse Brown (nine career carries) and Drake Anderson (zero), a true freshman and the son of former Northwestern great Damien Anderson.
So Northwestern has numbers in the backfield. We don’t know if they have another No. 1.
Clayton Thorson has started 42 games at quarterback. How do you think he’ll run this offense against a Michigan defense that has given up 36 points since the first half of the season opener at Notre Dame?
The key to Thorson’s performance will be the play of his offensive line. When Thorson has a clean pocket he can be as good as any quarterback in the country. When protection breaks down, however, he can be pressured into mistakes. Take the Akron game, for example. Thorson was under quite a bit of pressure in the second half and he threw two pick-6s and had a fumble that was returned for a touchdown. So he finished the game with six TDs – three for Northwestern and three for Akron. Northwestern doesn’t really have a deep threat who can blow the top off the defense, so Thorson will throw the underneath routes and try to dink-and-dunk his way down the field against the Wolverines.
Northwestern’s biggest concern going into this game is the offensive line, which will be playing against the best defensive front they’ll see all season. The O-line played well in the opener against Purdue, but since then they have been banged up and turned in subpar performances in losses to Duke and Akron. Starting tackles Blake Hance and Rashawn Slater both went down against Duke, and Hance and guard Tommy Doles, the best player on the line, both missed the Akron game. While Fitzgerald wouldn’t give the media an update on Monday – he is almost as secretive as Jim Harbaugh – the hope is that the week off gave those guys time to get healthy.
Where is this team's psyche coming off consecutive losses and a bye?
You’d think the Wildcats would be down after two lackluster home losses – including blowing an 18-point halftime lead to 21-point underdog Akron in as bad a half of football as I’ve seen in Evanston – followed by two weeks of stewing about it. But if I’ve learned one thing in 14 years of covering this team, it’s that they are very good at putting bad losses behind them. Lord knows, they’ve had a lot of experience doing it.
In 2016, they lost their first two at home as favorites, including a brutal 9-7 loss to FCS Illinois State that I think was the low point of the Fitzgerald Era. They rebounded to win four of their next five and wound up winning a bowl game. Just last year they got hammered at Duke and were 2-3 before turning things around and winning eight straight for their third 10-win season in six years.
The program has a mantra tailor-made for this situation: “flush it.” Fitzgerald gives the team 24 hours to wallow in a loss or celebrate a win, and then it’s on to the next game. They are very good at forgetting the last game and moving on.
Northwestern is ranked 11th in the Big Ten in total defense and Michigan’s offense is starting to find itself a bit. Where is the Wildcats’ defense most susceptible?
The Wildcats’ front seven is pretty stout and should be able to contain Michigan’s running game. Their Achilles’ heel through the first three games has been big plays, particularly in the passing game.
Northwestern has already surrendered 12 explosion plays in three games, nine of them through the air. Purdue hit them for 76- and 45-yard runs and 23- and 32-yard passes. Duke connected on 52- and 26-yard passes and a 25-yard run. Akron quarterback Kato Nelson really let it fly against NU’s secondary, throwing strikes of 56, 43, 40, 25 and 24 yards, the last two going for scores. Fitzgerald has talked about his defensive backs’ lack of eye discipline and it has shown. And it hasn’t only been young guys getting burned, either. Even seniors like Montre Hartage and Jared McGee have been burned.
For the Wildcats to have a shot at knocking off the Wolverines on Saturday at the Little House, they can’t surrender big plays like those.
