Northwestern Wildcats (West Division)
Location: Evanston, IL
Stadium: Ryan Field (47,130)
Coach: Pat Fitzgerald (10th year): 60-53 at NU/overall, 30-42 v B1G
2014 Northwestern Wildcats (5-7)(3-5) 2015
Northwestern Wildcats
24 California 31 S5 Stanford
15 Northern Illinois 23 S12 Eastern Illinois
24 Western Illinois 7 S19 at Duke
29 at Penn State 6 S26 Ball State
20 Wisconsin 14 O3 Minnesota
17 at Minnesota 24 O10 at Michigan
17 Nebraska 38 O17 Iowa
7 at
Iowa 48 O24 at Nebraska
9 Michigan 10 N7 Penn
State
43 at Notre Dame 40 (OT) N14 Purdue
38 at Purdue 14 N21 at Wisconsin
33 Illinois 47 N28 Illinois (Chicago)
Coach Pat Fitzgerald will try to
keep the Wildcats from having three consecutive losing seasons for the first
time this century. He will do so with
experienced offensive and defensive coordinators. Both OC Mick McCall and DC Mike Hankwitz have
been with the Northwestern program for eight years. The offense returns only six starters and
will have to replace Trevor Siemian at QB.
The battle in spring practice was between redshirt freshman Clayton
Thorson and senior Zach Oliver, with sophomore Matt Alviti also getting reps. While Oliver started a game and has the edge
in arm strength and Alviti appears to be more mobile, Thorson appears to be
going into preseason drills with the edge at QB. Whoever is taking snaps behind center should
benefit from a better ground game in 2015, as sophomore Justin Jackson is fresh
off an outstanding 2014 in which he gained over 1100 yards (including 162 in an
upset of Wisconsin) and scored 10 touchdowns.
They lose talented backup Treyvon Green, but return Warren Long and
Solomon Vault, each of which saw significant playing time in 2014. Erratic QB play hurt Northwestern’s passing
game last year, but if that is corrected, the Wildcats should be able to mount
an airborne threat. Gone is leading
receiver Kyle Prater, but coming back is slot back senior Dan Vitale, who was
their second-leading receiver with 40 catches for 402 yards. Also returning as a deep threat is WR Cameron
Dickerson (24 reception/318 yards) who figures to be the main target. Seniors Miles Schuler and Christian Jones
will also figure into the rotation. Also
adding depth to the SB position will be senior Mark Szott, whose size (260
pounds) will make him tough to bring down.
The offensive line should be able to perform better than last year as
three starters return, led by senior RG Matt Frazier and his classmate LT Geoff
Mogus, both of who have started since their redshirt freshman seasons. Also joining them with experience since his
redshirt freshman year will be junior Eric Olson. Sophomore Brad North appears to have the edge
at center after spring practice and likewise for junior LG Adam DePietro.
The strength
of this team resides on the defensive line.
All four starters return, highlighted by senior DE Dean Lowry (41
tackles, 4 tfl, 4 sacks) and his classmate and fellow bookend Deonte Gibson (14
tackles, 3 tfl, and a sack). The
Wildcats will also be strong in the middle with both starting DTs returning,
senior CJ Robbins and junior Greg Kuhar.
Robbins started all but one game a year ago and garnered 13
tackles. Northwestern will also utilize
him on special teams as he has blocked field goals in his career. Kuhar started 10 games last year and managed
29 tackles with two TFLS and a recovered fumble. Injury-plagued Sean McEvilly was granted
another year of eligibility and will see quite a bit of time at either DT
spot. Also figuring in the mix will be a
trio of redshirt freshmen at the DT spot, Ben Oxley, James Prather, and Fred
Wyatt who will help fortify the middle of the line. The Northwestern linebacking corps loses two
starters, but get back sophomore Anthony Walker, who started seven games last
year and did very well, with 51 tackles, nine TFLs and two interceptions. The
other two spots are still up for grabs, but junior Jaylen Prater and senior
Drew Smith look to have the edge at WLB and SLB respectively. Depth will be a concern here, as Northwestern
also lost Chi Chi Ariguzo and Jimmy Hall, who figured in the two-deep at
linebacker. There is better news in the
secondary, as the ‘Cats return three starters, led by senior FS Traveon Henry,
who was second on the team in tackles with 73.
Henry’s quickness allows him to come up and blitz, as shown by his 2.5
tackles for loss. Experienced corners
Nick VanHoose and Matthew Harris also return.
Both are adept at shutting down opposing receivers, as Harris was right
behind Henry in tackles with 70 and had 3.5 tackles for loss to go along with
two interceptions. VanHoose was almost
as impressive, with 59 tackles and three tackles for loss and two picks as
well. Sophomore Godwin Igwebuike looked
to have the edge in the spring and looks to take over at SS.
Unfortunately,
the ‘Cats seemed to have struggled in special teams the past few seasons, but
look to improve this year despite breaking in a punter with little experience,
sophomore Hunter Niswander. However,
junior kicker Jack Mitchell returns after going 14/18 on field goals with a
long of 46. Solomon Vault has shown
explosiveness returning kickoffs, as he had an 89 –yarder for a score last
year. The Wildcats look to improve their
punt return s this year, as they only managed to return nine punts in
2014. Miles Schuler looks to be who will
be back as a punt returner when the season starts.
Northwestern
returns 14 starters and after a couple of injury-plagued seasons, can only
improve in that respect. If Thorsen or
Oliver can develop fairly quickly, and the strength of the defense (D-line) can
stay healthy, look for Northwestern to get to a bowl game this year.
2015 Projection: 6-6 (4-4) 5th
in West Division
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