Wildcats host No. 20 Wisconsin in divisional battle
After struggling to muster any semblance of a rushing attack in the wake of Jeremy Larkin’s medical retirement, Northwestern had a breakout performance in its 18-15 victory at Rutgers last Saturday.
The Wildcats rushed 47 times for 128 yards against the Scarlet Knights, led by freshman Isaiah Bowser, who had 24 carries for 108 yards and the team’s only two touchdowns, including a go-ahead score with 8:12 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Northwestern had amassed just 68 total rushing yards on 77 carries in the three games following Larkin’s sudden retirement but found its rhythm on the ground against Rutgers. Freshman Drake Anderson had seven carries for 24 yards, and senior walk-on Chad Hanaoka added six carries for 26 yards as well as two catches for 15 yards.
The run game improvement couldn’t have come at a better time as the Wildcats host 20th-ranked Wisconsin Saturday in a battle for divisional supremacy in the Big Ten West.
“From a play-selection standpoint, from the flow of the game, from different situational things, we wanted to try to get the guys, all three, involved, and then kind of see who kind of took things over as the game went along,” Fitzgerald said. “Mid-part of the game, I thought Chad played very, very well, and then we were sprinkling in the two young guys.
“And then Isaiah kind of just started playing a little bit better as the game went along. I thought he played really well behind his pads in the second half and ran with some physicality, so that was encouraging to see … I’m really proud of those three guys.”
Northwestern’s running back by committee approach will be put to the test Saturday, and the inexperienced backfield will need to regroup quickly if it hopes to replicate its most recent success against Wisconsin.
Meanwhile, the Badgers’ ground attack is the most explosive in the conference, averaging 282.1 rushing yards per game, and is spearheaded by the nation’s leading rusher, Jonathan Taylor. Taylor averages 158.4 rushing yards per game and is the only running back in the country to have reached the 100-yard mark in every game. He has 170 carries for 1,170 and eight touchdowns, all of which lead the conference.
“He puts the ball in the soft spot,” Fitzgerald said of Taylor. “He knows exactly where the soft spot is going to be based on formation, based on front. If it was just him, maybe it would be a little bit easier, but they’ve got a three-headed monster at running back … They’re really, really good.”
Wisconsin running back Taiwan Deal is the team’s second-leading rusher with 52 carries for 353 yards and five touchdowns, and sophomore Garrett Groshek has 36 carries for 230 yards to go with 13 receptions for 122 yards and a touchdown.