The idea of defense in football is to keep an opponent as far away from one’s goal line as possible. But even when they’ve done that, things haven’t always worked for the Northwestern Wildcats this season.
An NU defense that was a strength last season has had difficulty stopping big plays to a degree that was approaching critical before Saturday’s 20-17 victory over Kansas. And it’s still a concern. The Wildcats have been pierced for nine touchdowns from 20 or more yards through three games.
On the plus side, they only allowed one of those, a 20-yard TD pass, against Kansas.
“If we don’t give up 45-yard touchdown passes,” defensive tackle Luis Castillo said, “we’re going to win.”
Six of those nine big plays were in the first halves of losses to Texas Christian and Arizona State, devastating long-distance assaults that leave their mark on scoreboards and on psyches. After yielding only 15 touchdown passes all of last season, NU has given up nine already in 2004.
Kansas netted 303 passing yards. To their credit, the Wildcats made the Jayhawks throw 51 times to get those yards, a poor 5.9 yards per attempt.
Part of the reason was adjustments. Coaches cut back on the number of defensive packages and simplified assignments, particularly for the defensive backs. That reduced the chances for mistakes and enabled players to play faster, with fewer decisions to make on the fly.
“Anytime you give up as many big plays as we were giving up, you can’t ignore it,” defensive end Barry Cofield said. “Usually when big plays occur, it’s a lot of little missed assignments, little breakdowns. So we put an emphasis on cutting out those little things, and I think it helped.”
But not all of the distance problems have been solved.
Jayhawks quarterback Adam Barmann completed 13 passes of 10 yards or longer. A 49-yard completion set up a Kansas field goal. Third-down completions of 12 and 13 yards converted consecutive third-and-longs, and Barmann missed a wide-open receiver for what would have been a 31-yard touchdown.
Injuries are one of the causes of the defensive vulnerability. Junior defensive end Loren Howard, the team’s best pass rusher and sack leader, underwent ankle surgery and might be lost for the rest of the season. With defensive ends David Ngene and David Thompson also injured, NU must rely on 300-pounders like Castillo, Colby Clark and Cofield and blitzing for a pass rush.
Defensive backs are only as good as the rush in front of them. NU has more sacks (six) than its three opponents (five), but opponents are averaging 2 more yards per pass reception and more than the Wildcats per pass attempt, one of the more revealing indicators of overall offense.
Receivers made uncontested catches on too many of the long scoring plays. There was a decline against Kansas, but coverage breakdowns do no favors for the pass rush.
“We need to cover a second longer so the rush or a blitz gets there,” safety Dominique Price said. “There is a lot of high risk with defensive backs. When you have a breakdown, it shows up.”
The defense has turned in increasingly stronger performances at stopping touchdowns in the shadow of its own goal post. TCU and ASU scored on six of seven trips inside the NU 20. But after Texas Christian scored two touchdowns in its four trips, none of Arizona State’s three trips resulted in touchdowns. Kansas scored on all three of its opportunities inside the 20, but netted zero points on three other possessions reaching the NU 30.
Still, the defense remains a mystery despite returning eight starters, including both cornerbacks and a safety. “It’s frustrating because we thought we were on a better track,” coach Randy Walker said. “This is a defense with a lot of guys coming back.”
