While the eyes of the nation will be intently fixed on the clash of unbeaten powers Ohio State and Indiana Saturday at the always-menacing Memorial Stadium, a different Big Ten matchup in the opening week of conference play also deserves the attention of the adrenaline-seeking college football fan. Northwestern welcomes
Minnesota to the misty confines of Ryan Field for an 11 a.m. contest that’s truly a must-see event, given the amount of credit the Wildcats have received from voters in the AP Top 25 Poll. NU, for whatever reason, has climbed the rankings to No. 16, squeaking in behind Oklahoma and just before USC, earning the highest ranking among Big Ten teams not named Ohio State or Michigan State.
In a vacuum, the Northwestern bubble would be due to pop sometime very soon. The warning signs are already in place, beginning with an overhyped win over Stanford and capped off with a fortuitous victory over Ball State last weekend. But given how the Big Ten West, which is a few years away from being renamed the “Segunda División,” is shap- ing up, the Wildcats’ ascension in the polls may not come crashing down for some time.
How Northwestern has managed to put points on the board this season is a complete enigma. Redshirt freshman quarterback Clayton Thorson emerged as the lesser of three evils going into the season, and his 53.2 percent completion percentage and 4:3 touchdown to interception ratio is indicative of that accomplishment.
Sophomore running back Justin Jackson takes the bulk of Northwestern’s carries and will continue to get even more touches as the season progresses if Thorson’s inconsistency continues. Jackson’s averaging over 29 rushes per game, which is going to wear on the undersized sophomore who averaged just over 20 carries per game a season ago.
It took an entire half for Northwestern to figure out Ball State last Saturday, and even after it started moving the ball, the Cardinals were within a touch- down for the final two minutes of the third quarter and the entirety of the fourth quarter.
In sharp contrast, head coach Pat Fitzgerald’s defense ranks second in the nation in defensive efficiency (92.83), which breaks crisply from its 96th-ranked offensive efficiency (33.51). The sample size is now large enough for those numbers to hold weight, especially given the range of opponents Northwestern has taken on in Stanford, Eastern Illinois, Duke and Ball State. The discrepancy between both sides of the ball is alarming, and this style of one-dimensional football doesn’t lend itself well to earning a spot in a bowl game after New Year’s Day. With all of Northwestern’s deficiencies slowly bubbling to the surface as the weeks go by, the scary, maddening and all-around mind-boggling catch is that the Wildcats might be able to get away with it all and hold their spot in the middle ground of the national rankings. After all, the Big Ten West is a perfect platform for teams to pretend like they hold any national prominence.
Northwestern’s remaining opponents, seven of which hail from the Big Ten West, have an average Football Power Index ranking of 46.75 and together make up the 52nd hardest remaining strength of schedule for the rest of the year.
It wouldn’t be reality-defying if Northwestern finds itself clawing at a trip to the Big Ten Championship game in December, especially with winnable matchups against Minnesota, Nebraska, Penn State, Purdue and Illinois slated for the next two months. It would take some sort of sick miracle, but having a crack at the Buckeyes or Spartans in a Power Five conference championship game is the sort of high-reward, low-risk situation that mediocre teams like Northwestern dream about.
The gridlocked Big Ten West, which is marked by perennially average football, is as much a launching pad for poor teams as it is a home for them. After navigating its way through its non-conference schedule unde- feated, Northwestern is now in a position to capitalize on the mystery that is the Big Ten West. While it may lack the fireworks produced by the 4-0 Hoosiers on a weekly basis, Northwestern’s conference opener is an intriguing beginning of what has the potential to be a strange run at a conference championship and national legitimacy.
Do you think Northwestern is overrated, or is it deserving of the No. 16 ranking in the nation? Let Jake know at jake.powers@dailycardinal.com
