Northwestern heads to Minnesota this weekend intent on improving to 3-0 and gaining an early stranglehold on the Big Ten West Division. Skip Myslenski provides a final look at the week that was in Wildcats chatter and a glimpse at what awaits them Saturday at TCF Bank Stadium (11 a.m. CT, BTN).
MORE: Complete Game Preview
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KID OF THE WEEK: He stymied Wisconsin last Saturday with his three interceptions, and so it was no surprise that the spotlight washed over redshirt-freshman safety Godwin Igwebuike in the days that followed. He earned the Jim Thorpe Defensive Back of the Week Award; and the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week Award; and the unofficial award as the 'Cat most-needled this week by his teammates, who took to calling him a star.
They did that, of course, all in good fun, but it turns out that any number of them already knew that Igwebuike had the goods to truly be just that. "All of us on the team have known that Godwin is a special character, a special player," middle linebacker Collin Ellis said this week. "And Ibraheim (Campbell, the injured senior he replaced in the lineup) really took him under his wing. I talked to Ibraheim after the game. I'm like, 'You did a good job getting him prepared.' He was where he was supposed to be a majority of the time. He's a good ball player. He goes up, gets the ball. He made some crazy, athletic catches. But that's something we've known (he could do)."
"He played on the scout team before the Cal game and some of the plays he made on Saturday were similar to the plays he made in practice, just flying around the field, being everywhere," echoed running back Treyvon Green. "Like Collin said, we'd seen it all along. But to see it on the field is a different story."
A BIT OF THE STORY: Igwebuike starred as both a running back and a cornerback at Pickerington (Ohio) North, and was told by the 'Cats that he could choose which position he would play in college. It turned out this was not an easy matter for him. "I remember being in his house and telling him, 'You've got to make a decision here pretty soon,'" Pat Fitzgerald recalled.
"Then the following phone calls, `pretty soon' is becoming 'like tomorrow.' It got towards camp and we're, `We've got to figure out which playbook to give you. So what do you want to do?' He decided the day he reported he wanted to play db, or like the day before. Jerry Brown (the defensive backs coach) and I were hoping that he'd choose defense. Matt MacPherson (the running backs coach) was not. The Dean (Brown) got him. He's a heck of a player. He could play tailback for us too. He's talented."
"In the end, a lot of it was longevity," Igwebuike said this week, explaining his decision. "If I could excel at either/or, I think giving the hits would be the wiser decision. Then the opportunity to play at the next level, I think the stock for dbs is going up and the need for running backs is not as great as before. That's pretty complicated. But basically what it came down to was longevity."
IN THE WAKE: MacPherson, the running backs coach who is tutoring his own phenom in Justin Jackson, smiled when asked about Igwebuike's decision. "I always joke with him," he then said. "I tell him, `I guess you weren't tough enough to carry the ball. There's only one guy carrying the ball and I guess you didn't want to be that guy.' Or I'll say, `Hey, you want to be a kickoff returner?' Or, `One more injury and you're moving to running back.' So I always give him crap about it."
And how does he respond?
"He says, `I'm good, coach. I'm all right. I'm good.'"
QUICKLY NOTED:
• Igwebuike was close to playing last season as a true freshman. "He was really close, really close," said Fitzgerald. But? "We stayed healthy there. We were pretty healthy at the safety position, then we had some older guys we were able to fill in. I try really hard not to waste a guy's year in the kicking game. Sometimes it happens. But I tell the staff, if we're going to play freshmen, we're going to play them at their positions first. He was close. I'm a "Top Gun" fan, so he was on the deck. He was close. But we didn't need to shoot him off."
• The `Cats travel this weekend to Minnesota, which is 4-1 overall and 1-0 in the Big Ten. "I start every game in my prep with special team's evaluation," said Fitzgerald. "That's where I judge the character of our opponents. With Minnesota, that's what jumps off the tape at you. Those guys, if that's their role, they're outstanding." They're outstanding enough, in fact, to lead the conference in kickoff returns with an average of 24.7 yards.
• But some of the Gophs' other stats are anomalous when compared to their record. For they are last in the league in passing yards per-game (113.2); in first down (17.8 pg); in sacks (9) and in third-down conversions (36.4 percent).
• Like Wisconsin last week, the Gophs are built around the run, and their stud is 5-foot-11, 220-pound senior David Cobb. "I feel he's been here forever," linebacker Ellis said of him. "He's big, he's shifty and he can run. Just like last week, the biggest key is getting to him. They've got a good offensive line. They're going to give us a lot of different looks, try and get our eyes in the wrong places. That, coupled with a good running back, is a formidable force. So we've got to do a better job this week. We weren't good enough last week."
• Speaking of the Gophers offense, Fitzgerald said: "Some similarities to Wisconsin and a lot of similarities to Northern Illinois (where Minnesota coach Jerry Kill previously worked). Quarterback run threats at all times. One of the best plays they run is their boot-naked package off their primary run plays.Then their play-action pass game down the field."
• Gophers quarterback Mitch Leidner, a 6-foot-4, 237-pound sophomore, has completed just 52.6 percent of his passes and been hampered for a month with a sprained MCL in his left knee. But in their rout of Michigan two Saturdays ago, he was accurate enough to throw for one touchdown and healthy enough to run for another. "He didn't look like (he had a knee issue) in their last game," Fitzgerald noted.
• The Gopher to watch on defense is linebacker Damien Wilson, whose 51 tackles are fourth-best in the BIg Ten. They are also more than twice the number any of his teammates have.
AND FINALLY: Asked for the 731st time about his team's turnaround after starting 0-2, Fitzgerald said, "I think we're getting better. Most teams that can do that make October and November something pretty special. This is a big game. It's nice to be in the middle of October and (have) a big game. Here we go. Let's see how we handle the second test on the road. We handled the first one well (at Penn State). Let's see how we handle the second one."
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