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Nebraska Football: Huskers vs Wildcats, An Early Look at Northwestern

The Nebraska football team will continue their quest for the West when they take on their next Big Ten West Division opponent the Northwestern Wildcats on October 24th.

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At times, Northwestern has been one of those opponents that creates butterflies and anxiety in Husker fans’ stomachs. Since Nebraska entered the Big Ten in 2011, three of the four games have been decided by three points or less, with the Huskers losing one of those matches. Overall, Nebraska leads the series against Northwestern 6-2 with the Huskers only losses coming eighty years apart, 2011 and 1931.

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Last season was a little different. The game began as a dog fight but eventually it turned into a track meet. Both Jordan Westerkamp and Tommy Armstrong were running the hurdles, leaping over Northwestern defenders while Ameer Abdullah was the team sprinter, rushing for 146 yards. The defense did their part as well sacking the Northwestern QB 4 times.

Nebraska didn’t need a miracle in the game like that did in 2013 with Westerkamp’s Hail Mary catch, but that doesn’t mean the 2014 game was short of spectacular plays, because there were plenty. My favorite was when Demornay Pierson-El showed his QB skills on a 16 yard touchdown pass to QB Tommy Armstrong.

Northwestern is led by head coach Pat Fitzgerald, who will be coaching his tenth season as a head coach. In 2006 he was made head coach when then head coach Randy Walker unexpectedly passed away due to a heart attack. Since that time, Fitzgerald and Northwestern have a 60-53 record. Fitzgerald is a fiery coach with high expectations, but maybe his expectations are a little too high for their program.

Northwestern has had two losing seasons in a row finishing both of the last two seasons at 5-7 and no bowl games. Another losing season could put Fitzgerald on the coaching hot seat if he is not there already.

I remember when Bo was on the coaching hot seat and some people were throwing around Pat Fitzgerald’s name as a possible Husker coaching hopeful.

Speaking of Husker coaches, Nebraska head coach Mike Riley and Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald have never coached against one another, so this will be a series first between these two NU coaches. The question is, who is the real NU?

One issue of many that Northwestern will have is who will be the starting QB with the graduation of Siemian? Northwestern has three QB’s that will compete for the starting job in Clayton Thorson, Matt Alviti, and Zach Oliver. Of the three Thorson is getting the most attention but he did not separate himself enough from the other two this spring to say for sure he would be the new starter.

Nov 22, 2014; West Lafayette, IN, USA; Northwestern Wildcats head coach Pat Fitzgerald in the 2nd half against the Purdue Boilermakers at Ross Ade Stadium. Northwestern won the game 38-14.Mandatory Credit: Sandra Dukes-USA TODAY Sports

Also gone is number one wide receiver Kyle Prater leaving senior Dan Vitale as the new number one returning wide receiver. Vitale had 402 yards receiving last season. The Wildcats do return their running who rushed for 1187 yards last season in Justin Jackson. Probably the strongest position group for the Wildcats are the defensive backs, as they return three starters from last season. The Northwestern defense looks to be fairly decent and may have to carry the offense for awhile.

Athlon predicts Northwestern to end up 5th in the Big Ten West division which will not play out well for Fitzgerald if this was to happen. I think Northwestern will have a tough road ahead of them. Their first game of the season is Stanford, but after that things probably won’t get very tough until they start Big Ten play with the exception of Duke, perhaps?

I suspect that the Huskers will be gracious winners again this season as the Big Red faithful applaud the departing Wildcats as they leave Tom Osbourne field after a profound beating. Huskers win this game easily. Go Big Red!

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