Northwestern University Athletics
Wildcats Hold First Scrimmage of the Spring
4/12/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
April 12, 2008
Spring Scrimmage Video
Watch Coach Fitzgerald's interview with NUsports.com
Watch post-scrimmage comments from John Gill
EVANSTON, Ill. -- For Northwestern's first spring scrimmage, the results were fairly predictable: some good, some bad, but still a long way to go until the Wildcats are ready to open the 2008 season.
With less-than-ideal weather conditions -- light rain falling and 40-degree temps -- there were still plenty of positives, however, to take away from Saturday's scrimmage, which was held in Ryan Field.
Running just less than 90 offensive plays, the Wildcats did not suffer any turnovers. A number of younger players stepped up and had some strong performances on both sides of the ball. In addition, Northwestern converted every PAT and field goal attempt on the day. And perhaps more importantly, the Wildcats came away from the scrimmage just about as healthy as they were when the day began.
"We improved as the day went along, especially with our offensive execution," said NU head coach Pat Fitzgerald. "But I'm glad we have two more weeks to practice this spring. The elements couldn't have been any better for a scrimmage. We know that we're going to have this kind of a day once or twice next season."
For most of the day, the "one's" went against the "one's," and the "two's" vs. the "two's."
"I felt our number two offense ran the ball really well," said Fitzgerald. "But on the flip side, our number-two defense didn't play very well against the run."
Redshirt freshman Scott Concannon led the Wildcats' ground attack, rushing for 83 yards on 17 carries. He also had a pair of TD's. Sophomore Stephen Simmons totaled 51 yards on 10 carries, and had the Wildcats' longest run from scrimmage, a 25-yard TD scamper.
Senior Tyrell Sutton had just six carries (28 yards) on the day while senior Omar Conteh did not dress.
All four quarterbacks played and combined to complete 19-of-37 passes for 154 yards. C.J. Bachér was 8-of-20 for 62 yards.
Defensively, there was constant pressure from NU's front four as they recorded a number of sacks and had several hurries on NU's signal callers.
"We're going to attack up front and create havoc at the line of scrimmage," said Fitzgerald. "We did a good job there today. But on the offensive side, we were thinking too much. We had too many mental mistakes there."
Senior punter/place-kicker Kyle Daley handled all the Wildcat PAT and field goal attempts, and had a perfect day.
Scrimmage Statistics (Unofficial)
Rushing
Concannon 17-83, 2 TD's; Simmons 10-51, 1 TD; Schmidt 9-32; Kafka 3-30; Sutton 6-28; Persa 2-3; Mauro 1-(4), Bachér 3-(6).
Passing
Bachér 8-20-0, 62 yds.; Kafka 5-9-0, 37 yds.; Persa 3-4-0, 33 yds.; Mauro 3-4-0, 22 yds.
Receiving
Frymire 4-44; Brewer 2-25; Rooks 2-24; Simmons 2-17; Ward 2-12; Concannon 2-12, K. Mitchell 2-7; Markshausen 1-13; Peterman 1-7; Lane 1-6.
