The stats are horrifying, and they reflect what Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald has seen on film.
“The passing game,” he said, “is a major work in progress. We’re leaving way too many plays out there. We have guys open, we’re not getting them the ball. We have guys open, we overthrow. We have guys open, we drop the ball.
“Our rhythm, our timing, our ability to pitch and catch is not where it needs to be. It needs to get fixed and fixed in a hurry.”
If there’s anything worse than being the Big Ten’s lowest-scoring team, at 21 points per game, and having the conference’s third-worst passing attack, it’s the reality that things could get worse.
The Wildcats averaged 6.1 yards per pass attempt in home games against Cal, Northern Illinois and Western Illinois.
On Saturday, they’ll try to improve in front of 100,000-plus rabid fans at Penn State, which ranks 16th nationally with 4.4 yards allowed per play. The Nittany Lions lead the Big Ten in scoring defense at 11 points per game and rushing defense at 1.8 yards per attempt.
The only glimmers of hope: Top receiver Tony Jones could return to the lineup after missing two games with a leg injury, and quarterback Trevor Siemian’s right ankle gets seven more days to heal. His subpar performance Saturday against Western Illinois came two weeks after the ankle was injured.
“He didn’t drive off his back foot,” Fitzgerald said. “He was lazy with his feet. Conventional wisdom was you sit him against an FCS team. If we’d been clicking and scoring 500 points a game, then maybe that’s what we do. But we’re not in rhythm, and Saturday was an important day.”
Siemian downplayed the injury — a typical move for a player — and explained he opted for so many safe check-downs Saturday because “we didn’t want to turn the ball over with how well the defense was playing.”
Moneyball: Punter Chris Gradone was awarded a scholarship after the Week 2 game against NIU. Then the redshirt sophomore put on a clinic, planting six of his seven punts inside the WIU 20. Any correlation?
“I would not like to think so,” said Gradone, named Big Ten specialist of the week. “But it was definitely a confidence boost. They had only one scholarship (available), so to be the top walk-on was huge for me.”
Extra points: Fitzgerald said linebacker Collin Ellis (concussion) and safety Ibraheim Campbell (lower body) are day-to-day. … Practices will be open to the media Tuesday and Wednesday. … The Oct. 4 game against Wisconsin will kick off at 2:30 p.m. on ESPN2. … Defensive end Ifeadi Odenigbo tied a Big Ten record with his three forced fumbles Saturday. That feat was previously accomplished by Iowa’s Bob Sanders in 2003, Ohio State’s Antoine Winfield in 1995 and Michigan’s Jerry Hartman in 1967.
Twitter @TeddyGreenstein
