I've been so wrapped up with recruiting and the big OV weekend that I forgot to post my Lindy's season preview. So here it is. There's really nothing here that you, as true die-hards, don't know, but it will whet your appetite for August.
This is my piece for the Big Ten magazine (the national magazine version is just a much shorter version of this). The format and word counts for each section are pretty strict.
I am posting it in three posts because it's too long for one.
OVERVIEW
Clayton Thorson just graduated as one of Northwestern’s all-time great quarterbacks. He started 53 straight games and set school records for wins, yards, touchdowns and just about every other career mark in the book.
Yet many people in Evanston expect an upgrade at the position this season. Those are the type of expectations surrounding Clemson transfer Hunter Johnson.
A former five-star prospect out of Brownsburg (Ind.), Johnson was ranked as the No. 1 quarterback in the nation by ESPN in 2017. He played one year at Clemson, completing 21 of 27 passes in limited reps on a College Football Playoff team as a true freshman.
Then, a quarterback named Trevor Lawrence (you may have heard of him) showed up the following spring and chased both Johnson and starter Kelly Bryant away. Johnson transferred to Northwestern, a place he always figured he’d end up because his older brother, Cole, was a walkon for the Wildcats from 2013-16 and he already had a relationship with all of the coaches.
Johnson, who sat out last season as a transfer and will be a redshirt sophomore in the fall, is the total package. He’s 6-foot-2 and 208 pounds, and has a rocket arm and better speed than most people think. He’s smart and hard-working, and he’s already earned his teammates respect by running the scout team last season. It all makes for a compelling story.
About the only person raining on Johnson’s inauguration parade is Pat Fitzgerald. The head coach tried all spring to dump cold water on the red-hot hype around Johnson. At every opportunity, Fitzgerald talked about the process of Johnson learning the offense, and walking before he can run. The coach has a point. Johnson spent last season running the opponents’ offense every week, not Northwestern’s, so spring football was his first crack at running the Wildcats’ attack.
On top of that, Fitzgerald has yet to name Johnson the starter. During spring practice, he split quarterback reps five ways, among Johnson, walkon TJ Green (37 career passes), Aidan Smith (0), Andrew Marty (0) and Jason Whittaker (0). That may have been gamesmanship on the part of Fitzgerald, who likes to keep a secret and didn’t name Thorson his starter the last time he had a quarterback battle, in 2015, until the week before the season opener.
Still, everyone fully expects No. 15 to trot out with the first-team at Stanford Stadium on Aug. 31. What happens after that is the important question.
OFFENSE
Northwestern’s offense struggled in 2018, finishing 12th in scoring and yards, and dead-last in rushing in the Big Ten. So it won’t be too difficult to improve this season.
Clemson transfer Hunter Johnson may be the most talented quarterback Northwestern has ever had. While the graduated Clayton Thorson set just about every Northwestern career passing record, he had an inconsistent 2018, throwing 17 TDs and 15 INTs, and often struggled under pressure. It’s hoped that Johnson – who was 21-of-27 passing for 234 yards, with two touchdowns and an interception in seven games as a true freshman at Clemson in 2017 – will be more accurate than Thorson and present more of a threat as a runner. Johnson is still learning the offense after spending a year running the scout team last season, so it will probably take him some time to get comfortable behind center.
One thing that Johnson will have to help him is a dependable running game, led by Isaiah Bowser. The 216-pounder carried the offense over the last eight games of 2018, running for 864 yards and six TDs. His powerful, north-south running style proved to be just what NU’s struggling offense needed as it found a rhythm in the second half of the season. His thunder will be countered by the lightning of faster backs like senior John Moten IV and sophomore Drake Anderson in 2019. The oft-injured Jesse Brown will also try to carve out a role.
Johnson also has a group of experienced receivers to which to throw. Senior Bennett Skowronek is Mr. Reliable, a physical, 6-foot-4 possession receiver who has started 27 straight games and caught 90 passes over the last two years. He and 6-foot-2 Ramaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman (20 catches in 2018) will give Johnson a pair of big targets on the outside. Speedsters Kyric McGowan (16 catches, 2 TDs), Riley Lees (22, 3) and J.J. Jefferson (10, 2) all showed some ability to stretch the field at times last season. The superback position was dealt a blow when Cameron Green announced his retirement, so some combination of the dynamic-but-often-injured Trey Pugh, Charlie Mangieri and part-time defensive end Trent Goens will have to pick up the slack.
As usual, the biggest question marks will be on the offensive line, where the Wildcats break in three new starters, as well as new OL coach Kurt Anderson. Anderson feels fortunate to have fifth-year senior center Jared Thomas leading the unit. Rashaun Slater, who has started 26 of 27 games in two years at NU, will move to left tackle, while big and physical Gunnar Vogel takes over Slater’s old right tackle spot. The guard positions will be manned by the versatile Nik Urban and Sam Stovall, a redshirt freshman who has impressed Anderson with his physicality and attitude.
DEFENSE
Northwestern’s defense will again be built around a rugged front seven led by two of the best defenders in the Big Ten in defensive end Joe Gaziano and middle linebacker Paddy Fisher.
Up front, the Wildcats have an embarrassment of riches at defensive end. Gaziano, an NFL-level talent, has started 27 straight games and earned All-Big Ten honors for the second year in a row last season after leading the team with 12.5 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks. The other side is anchored by Samdup Miller, who has started all 27 games he’s played in Purple and rang up 53 tackles and 6.5 TFL last season. Behind them are Goens, a versatile fifth-year senior; pass-rushing specialist Earnest Brown IV, who finished second in TFL (7.5) and sacks (4.0) in limited reps; and redshirt freshman Devin O’Rourke, a former four-star prospect who, at 6-foot-6 and 248 pounds, has tremendous upside.
There’s so much talent at DE that Trevor Kent, yet another promising end, was moved inside to tackle. Alex Miller, a senior and Samdup’s older brother, will start at one tackle spot, and the other will go to either the bulked-up Kent or Jake Saunders, who has had problems staying healthy.
At linebacker, the Wildcats boast a pair of tackling machines in Fisher and Blake Gallagher, who finished 1-2 on the team – and in the Big Ten – in tackles a year ago. Fisher, who has 229 tackles over the last two seasons, is building a career on the level of NU MLB greats like Pat Fitzgerald (his head coach), Tim McGarigle (his LB coach) and Anthony Walker (Indianapolis Colts). Gallagher racked up 127 tackles and earned third-team all-conference honors in his first season as a starter. The other outside linebacker spot is up for grabs and figures to be a battle between walkon Chris Bergin, who started four games last season, and redshirt freshman Jaylen Rivers.
At cornerback, where NU suffered a rash of injuries in 2018, Greg Newsome II is the rising star. He earned a starting job as a true freshman before getting hurt, then returned to reclaim it at the end of the season. Newsome will nail down one starting spot, while Trae Williams, who has started 14 games over the last two years, will man the other side. Roderick Campbell and Cameron Ruiz, who was impressive in spot duty last season, figure to round out the two-deep.
Junior JR Pace and redshirt sophomore Travis Whillock give the Wildcats an athletic starting pair at safety that finished third and fourth, respectively, in tackles a year ago. The playmaking Pace has six interceptions over the last two years, most on the team. Bryce Jackson will provide depth.
SPECIAL TEAMS
The kicking game must improve for Northwestern to make another run in the West. Charlie Kuhbander struggled with accuracy and injury a year ago, making just five of nine field goals. Backup walkon Drew Luckenbaugh hit three of four in Kuhbander’s absence, including a game-winner in overtime against Nebraska, but then he got hurt, forcing punter Jake Collins to handle placekicking. The Wildcats made just one kick of more than 37 yards all season.
Punter, too, is up in the air after the departure of the steady Collins, a grad transfer. Either Cody Gronewold or Jake Genyk (son of special teams coach Jeff Genyk) will likely win the job.
Northwestern doesn’t generally get much out of its return game, but the dangerous McGowan and Lees could provide a boost on kick and punt returns, respectively.
SCHEDULE ANALYSIS
Northwestern stunned Stanford at home in the 2015 season opener to jump-start what would eventually become a 10-win season. This year, the Wildcats will be looking to do the same thing – but on the road against the Cardinal this time. We’ll know a lot more about this 2019 unit after that stern test, two time zones away in Palo Alto.
The Wildcats figure to be in a dogfight with Iowa, Wisconsin and possibly an emerging Nebraska team for the West division crown this year, and they get two of those three (Nebraska and Wisconsin) on the road. That could be a blessing for a team that went just 3-4 at home last season but was a perfect 5-0 away from Ryan Field.
This is my piece for the Big Ten magazine (the national magazine version is just a much shorter version of this). The format and word counts for each section are pretty strict.
I am posting it in three posts because it's too long for one.
OVERVIEW
Clayton Thorson just graduated as one of Northwestern’s all-time great quarterbacks. He started 53 straight games and set school records for wins, yards, touchdowns and just about every other career mark in the book.
Yet many people in Evanston expect an upgrade at the position this season. Those are the type of expectations surrounding Clemson transfer Hunter Johnson.
A former five-star prospect out of Brownsburg (Ind.), Johnson was ranked as the No. 1 quarterback in the nation by ESPN in 2017. He played one year at Clemson, completing 21 of 27 passes in limited reps on a College Football Playoff team as a true freshman.
Then, a quarterback named Trevor Lawrence (you may have heard of him) showed up the following spring and chased both Johnson and starter Kelly Bryant away. Johnson transferred to Northwestern, a place he always figured he’d end up because his older brother, Cole, was a walkon for the Wildcats from 2013-16 and he already had a relationship with all of the coaches.
Johnson, who sat out last season as a transfer and will be a redshirt sophomore in the fall, is the total package. He’s 6-foot-2 and 208 pounds, and has a rocket arm and better speed than most people think. He’s smart and hard-working, and he’s already earned his teammates respect by running the scout team last season. It all makes for a compelling story.
About the only person raining on Johnson’s inauguration parade is Pat Fitzgerald. The head coach tried all spring to dump cold water on the red-hot hype around Johnson. At every opportunity, Fitzgerald talked about the process of Johnson learning the offense, and walking before he can run. The coach has a point. Johnson spent last season running the opponents’ offense every week, not Northwestern’s, so spring football was his first crack at running the Wildcats’ attack.
On top of that, Fitzgerald has yet to name Johnson the starter. During spring practice, he split quarterback reps five ways, among Johnson, walkon TJ Green (37 career passes), Aidan Smith (0), Andrew Marty (0) and Jason Whittaker (0). That may have been gamesmanship on the part of Fitzgerald, who likes to keep a secret and didn’t name Thorson his starter the last time he had a quarterback battle, in 2015, until the week before the season opener.
Still, everyone fully expects No. 15 to trot out with the first-team at Stanford Stadium on Aug. 31. What happens after that is the important question.
OFFENSE
Northwestern’s offense struggled in 2018, finishing 12th in scoring and yards, and dead-last in rushing in the Big Ten. So it won’t be too difficult to improve this season.
Clemson transfer Hunter Johnson may be the most talented quarterback Northwestern has ever had. While the graduated Clayton Thorson set just about every Northwestern career passing record, he had an inconsistent 2018, throwing 17 TDs and 15 INTs, and often struggled under pressure. It’s hoped that Johnson – who was 21-of-27 passing for 234 yards, with two touchdowns and an interception in seven games as a true freshman at Clemson in 2017 – will be more accurate than Thorson and present more of a threat as a runner. Johnson is still learning the offense after spending a year running the scout team last season, so it will probably take him some time to get comfortable behind center.
One thing that Johnson will have to help him is a dependable running game, led by Isaiah Bowser. The 216-pounder carried the offense over the last eight games of 2018, running for 864 yards and six TDs. His powerful, north-south running style proved to be just what NU’s struggling offense needed as it found a rhythm in the second half of the season. His thunder will be countered by the lightning of faster backs like senior John Moten IV and sophomore Drake Anderson in 2019. The oft-injured Jesse Brown will also try to carve out a role.
Johnson also has a group of experienced receivers to which to throw. Senior Bennett Skowronek is Mr. Reliable, a physical, 6-foot-4 possession receiver who has started 27 straight games and caught 90 passes over the last two years. He and 6-foot-2 Ramaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman (20 catches in 2018) will give Johnson a pair of big targets on the outside. Speedsters Kyric McGowan (16 catches, 2 TDs), Riley Lees (22, 3) and J.J. Jefferson (10, 2) all showed some ability to stretch the field at times last season. The superback position was dealt a blow when Cameron Green announced his retirement, so some combination of the dynamic-but-often-injured Trey Pugh, Charlie Mangieri and part-time defensive end Trent Goens will have to pick up the slack.
As usual, the biggest question marks will be on the offensive line, where the Wildcats break in three new starters, as well as new OL coach Kurt Anderson. Anderson feels fortunate to have fifth-year senior center Jared Thomas leading the unit. Rashaun Slater, who has started 26 of 27 games in two years at NU, will move to left tackle, while big and physical Gunnar Vogel takes over Slater’s old right tackle spot. The guard positions will be manned by the versatile Nik Urban and Sam Stovall, a redshirt freshman who has impressed Anderson with his physicality and attitude.
DEFENSE
Northwestern’s defense will again be built around a rugged front seven led by two of the best defenders in the Big Ten in defensive end Joe Gaziano and middle linebacker Paddy Fisher.
Up front, the Wildcats have an embarrassment of riches at defensive end. Gaziano, an NFL-level talent, has started 27 straight games and earned All-Big Ten honors for the second year in a row last season after leading the team with 12.5 tackles for loss and 7.5 sacks. The other side is anchored by Samdup Miller, who has started all 27 games he’s played in Purple and rang up 53 tackles and 6.5 TFL last season. Behind them are Goens, a versatile fifth-year senior; pass-rushing specialist Earnest Brown IV, who finished second in TFL (7.5) and sacks (4.0) in limited reps; and redshirt freshman Devin O’Rourke, a former four-star prospect who, at 6-foot-6 and 248 pounds, has tremendous upside.
There’s so much talent at DE that Trevor Kent, yet another promising end, was moved inside to tackle. Alex Miller, a senior and Samdup’s older brother, will start at one tackle spot, and the other will go to either the bulked-up Kent or Jake Saunders, who has had problems staying healthy.
At linebacker, the Wildcats boast a pair of tackling machines in Fisher and Blake Gallagher, who finished 1-2 on the team – and in the Big Ten – in tackles a year ago. Fisher, who has 229 tackles over the last two seasons, is building a career on the level of NU MLB greats like Pat Fitzgerald (his head coach), Tim McGarigle (his LB coach) and Anthony Walker (Indianapolis Colts). Gallagher racked up 127 tackles and earned third-team all-conference honors in his first season as a starter. The other outside linebacker spot is up for grabs and figures to be a battle between walkon Chris Bergin, who started four games last season, and redshirt freshman Jaylen Rivers.
At cornerback, where NU suffered a rash of injuries in 2018, Greg Newsome II is the rising star. He earned a starting job as a true freshman before getting hurt, then returned to reclaim it at the end of the season. Newsome will nail down one starting spot, while Trae Williams, who has started 14 games over the last two years, will man the other side. Roderick Campbell and Cameron Ruiz, who was impressive in spot duty last season, figure to round out the two-deep.
Junior JR Pace and redshirt sophomore Travis Whillock give the Wildcats an athletic starting pair at safety that finished third and fourth, respectively, in tackles a year ago. The playmaking Pace has six interceptions over the last two years, most on the team. Bryce Jackson will provide depth.
SPECIAL TEAMS
The kicking game must improve for Northwestern to make another run in the West. Charlie Kuhbander struggled with accuracy and injury a year ago, making just five of nine field goals. Backup walkon Drew Luckenbaugh hit three of four in Kuhbander’s absence, including a game-winner in overtime against Nebraska, but then he got hurt, forcing punter Jake Collins to handle placekicking. The Wildcats made just one kick of more than 37 yards all season.
Punter, too, is up in the air after the departure of the steady Collins, a grad transfer. Either Cody Gronewold or Jake Genyk (son of special teams coach Jeff Genyk) will likely win the job.
Northwestern doesn’t generally get much out of its return game, but the dangerous McGowan and Lees could provide a boost on kick and punt returns, respectively.
SCHEDULE ANALYSIS
Northwestern stunned Stanford at home in the 2015 season opener to jump-start what would eventually become a 10-win season. This year, the Wildcats will be looking to do the same thing – but on the road against the Cardinal this time. We’ll know a lot more about this 2019 unit after that stern test, two time zones away in Palo Alto.
The Wildcats figure to be in a dogfight with Iowa, Wisconsin and possibly an emerging Nebraska team for the West division crown this year, and they get two of those three (Nebraska and Wisconsin) on the road. That could be a blessing for a team that went just 3-4 at home last season but was a perfect 5-0 away from Ryan Field.
