GAME BREAKDOWN
KEY MATCHUP: Northwestern, given the medical retirement of sophomore RB Jeremy Larkin, has been uncharacteristically struggling to run the ball. The Wildcats, in fact, ranks next-to-last nationally, averaging 69.8 yards per game on the ground.
“You have to adapt, and that is where we are,” said coach Pat Fitzgerald. “We aren’t going to stop working our tails off to run the football. We have to win the line of scrimmage, we have to run the football, and we have to stop the run. That’s Big Ten football. It starts and ends with me. We have to look at what we can do and how we can do it better from a schematic standpoint. We have to find a way to get it done.”
Getting it done against Rutgers could be doable. The Scarlet Knights are 121st nationally against the run, allowing 237.7 yards per game.
DRAFT SLANT
–QB Clayton Thorson is rated fourth among senior quarterbacks by NFLDraftScout.com. At 6-4, 226 pounds, he has the size needed, and he’s showing that he has recovered well from a torn ACL suffered in the 2017 Music City Bowl. “Quarterback play obviously is between your ears and from the foundation, the floor up. You could see in the Purdue game (the opener) he wasn’t really able to drive off that surgical leg,” coach Nick Fitzgerald said. “He’s got, I think, outstanding fundamentals. But from the standpoint of lower body strength, you can see that getting better each week.”
ROSTER REPORT
–DL Samdup Miller, a sophomore, recorded a career high and team-leading tackles 14 tackles against Nebraska.
–DB JR Pace, a sophomore, recorded two interceptions last week against Nebraska, picking off Adrian Martinez in the end zone in the third quarter and again in overtime.
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