Just one week ago, linebacker Pat Fitzgerald recalled late Saturday afternoon, he and fellow members of Northwestern’s defensive unit felt “embarrassed and shocked” about blowing a three-touchdown lead and losing by two points to Miami of Ohio.
“Our defense took it to heart,” said Fitzgerald. “I took it as motivation.”
Saturday these motivated, disciplined Wildcat defenders reached their zenith. They snapped Air Force’s proud wishbone attack. They denied the Falcons a touchdown. They stonewalled an offense averaging 376 rushing yards per game and held it to 137. They highlighted a 30-6 rout that eased for now the memory of a loss that had “traumatized” the players, said their coach, Gary Barnett.
NU’s offensive performers were not mere spectators. Darnell Autry, blending speed, power and durability, rushed for 190 yards in 37 carries, caught four passes for 51 yards and scored on runs of 1 and 7 yards. Steve Schnur completed 16 of 22 passes for 206 yards. D’Wayne Bates caught seven for 110. And the line blocked so well that the Cats totaled 468 yards and Schnur was never sacked.
But basically, defense was the reason the Cats improved to 2-1, snapped their Dyche Stadium losing string at 10 games and resembled the team that shocked Notre Dame in its opener.
Defensive coordinator Ron Vanderlinden, architect of a unit that paced a 14-10 victory at Air Force last year, devised a game plan that was nearly flawless. The plan worked because the Cats on defense exhibited even more discipline than the airmen on the other side of the ball.
“We wanted to take away their quarterback, Beau Morgan,” said Barnett. “We wanted to bottle him up and make their fullback beat us.”
The Cats not only stopped Morgan, they stopped all the Falcons’ backs. Morgan rushed for 29 yards in 10 carries. His backup, Tom Brown, led all the visitors’ rushers with 40 yards. Six other backs totaled 68.
By design, the glamor boys in this Cats defense were the linebackers. Fitzgerald made 13 tackles, recovered a fumble and intercepted a pass. Casey Dailey had eight tackles, forced a fumble, made a sack and had another stop for a loss. Danny Sutter and Tim Scharf also were high on the tackle list.
“I was free to make tackles because of our D-line,” said Fitzgerald. “Guys like Matt Rice and Larry Curry. They kept the blockers from the backers, so we were free to fly all over the field.”
While the inside linebackers choked off the fullback dive, the first of the wishbone’s three options, outside backer Dailey explained how he utilized method acting to deceive his target, the quarterback, on the wishbone’s second option.
“I was playing the quarterback, but I made him think I was going for the pitch,” said Dailey. “It is a form of acting. It’s cat-and-mouse.”
When Morgan or Brown pitched the ball to their halfbacks for wishbone option No. 3, William Bennett and the rest of the defensive backs fulfilled their roles in the grand scheme.
“We tried to string out the play,” said Dailey. “Then the defensive backs came up to make tackles. So did guys from the back side. They kept pursuing. Air Force is very disciplined. We were disciplined too.”
“Northwestern was well-coached and ran very well,” said Morgan. “We couldn’t control things. It was one of the worst offensive days we’ve ever had.”
Barnett succeeded on a couple of daring gambles. After the second of Sam Valenzisi’s three first-half field goals bumped NU’s lead to 13-3, Valenzisi tried an onside kick that teammate Don Holmes recovered on the Falcons’ 46. This led to Valenzisi’s third field goal and a 16-6 halftime lead.
In the third quarter, punter Paul Burton passed 13 yards to Matt Hartl for a first down on the Cats’ 46.
“We look in every game to win with our special teams,” said Barnett. His scouting report indicated the plays would work.
Last week, Miami outscored NU 23-0 in the fourth quarter. Saturday the Cats had a 14-0 edge in the fourth period on Darnell Autry’s third TD and the first college TD by Adrian Autry.
“It was critical to do what we did in the fourth quarter,” said Barnett. “It was critical for our team and our growth to win this game.”
