Having watched Northwestern put up 52 points against his team, Indiana coach Cam Cameron might not be the best person to ask about stopping the Wildcats. On the other hand, Cameron knows what doesn’t work against NU’s zany hurry-up offense.
Cameron offered this advice Tuesday to future NU opponents: Key on running back Damien Anderson and force quarterback Zak Kustok to throw.
“See if they can beat you throwing the football,” Cameron said. “They haven’t had to do that yet.That’s going to be the ultimate test.”
Because NU doesn’t huddle, it makes it difficult for teams to get into the proper defense. But Purdue might be able to stop, or at least slow, the Wildcats on the ground. The Boilermakers rank second in Big Ten rushing defense, allowing 3.5 yards per carry and 120.3 yards per game.
Purdue’s defense has to face a spread offense in practice every day, so it might have an advantage when it lines up against NU. But Purdue’s offense is based on passing first, while NU’s emphasizes running the ball out of traditional passing formations. There’s another difference between the Purdue and NU offenses: Anderson.
“We do not have the ability at Purdue to simulate the running style or the speed of Damien Anderson,” Purdue coach Joe Tiller said. “What they see during the week and what they’re going to see on Saturday is going to come at them at two different speeds.”
The Inertia Bowl: Something has to give Saturday when Wisconsin visits Michigan State. The Spartans opened with three non-conference victories before dropping their first two Big Ten games. The Badgers opened with three non-conference victories before dropping their first three Big Ten games.
Michigan State has won the last six meetings at Spartan Stadium, though it later forfeited a 29-10 victory in 1994.
Wisconsin coach Barry Alvarez compared Spartans 251-pound tailback T.J. Duckett to Ron Dayne, who weighed about 260 when he set the all-time major-college rushing mark last fall.
Duckett “really reminds me of the guy we used to have around here for a while,” Alvarez said. “They’re very similar. Everyone wants to compare them because of their size. But size is misleading. They’re both great running backs.”
Michigan State coach Bobby Williams isn’t ready to make the same comparison.
Duckett “is still learning the game,” Williams said. “To compare him to Ron Dayne, it wouldn’t be fair. Somewhere down the road, maybe a year or so, it might be fair to make that comparison.”
Sidelines: Ohio State is No. 1 in this week’s Sagarin Football Ratings and Jeff Sagarin estimates the Buckeyes are a field goal better than No. 2 Nebraska. Sagarin’s ratings are part of the complicated formula that makes up the Bowl Championship Series standings. . . . Indiana conceded an average of 42 points against North Carolina State, Kentucky, Iowa and Northwestern. The Hoosiers gave up six to Cincinnati. . . . Ohio State coach John Cooper has a pretty high opinion of junior cornerback Nate Clements. “I haven’t seen anybody better than him,” said Cooper, who watched Wisconsin All-American Jamar Fletcher last weekend in Madison. . . . Penn State coach Joe Paterno didn’t downplay reports that finger-pointing has broken out among the Nittany Lions after a 25-16 loss to Minnesota dropped Penn State to 2-5. “I don’t care if they want to finger-point,” Paterno said. “The guys who finger-point better be able to produce.” Penn State has to win its remaining five games or it will miss out on the bowls for the first time since 1988. . . . If Purdue quarterback Drew Brees ran for 80 yards against Michigan, how much will IU quarterback Antwaan Randle El scamper for Saturday? Asked what his defense needs to work on, Michigan coach Lloyd Carr snapped, “Fundamentals.”
