2019 Season Preview: Defensive Line
Fifth in a series of Northwestern position-by-position breakdowns going into the 2019 season.
The mark of great Northwestern teams of the last decade has been their defensive line play. They may not have always had the All-Americans and NFL draft picks that other Big Ten schools can boast (though fifty percent of defensive players drafted from the Wildcats during the Fitzgerald era have come from the defensive line). But Northwestern always maximizes the talent they recruit at this position.
A big part of their strength has been (shhh, we don’t want to say this too loud) defensive line coach Marty Long. A fixture on the staff since 2008, Long has worked with the titans of the trenches his entire stay and helped to cultivate seven NFL players from his division, most recently Dean Lowry, Tyler Lancaster, and Ifeadi Odenigbo. And with the crop of players in this year’s crew, a couple more will be added to the mix over the next couple of years (and beyond).
Most teams’ defensive success is predicated in how well they stop the run, and triumph in this area almost always starts with solid play up front. In his 11 years coaching the D-line for the Purple, the Wildcat defense has finished among the Big Ten’s top six rush defenses seven times.
And though the team’s sack numbers have never been stellar, they’ve typically done well at creating enough pressure to win the turnover battle. Under his tutelage, NU has finished in the top half of the conference in takeaways all but two years, and the lowest they’ve ranked is seventh. They’ve finished in the top five in INTs in nine of his eleven years, and the pressure from their defensive line has been a catalyst for thievery in the back end. The tanks up front have led the team in forced fumbles in six of his eleven years - their best coming last year with 7 of 15 strips caused by the front four.
The old coaching adage states that “it all starts up front,” and this year’s group will be anchored by one of Long’s best units.
The good
There’s a lot. This is one of the more unheralded groups in the Big Ten in terms of media attention, but any coach in the conference will likely say that Northwestern’s group of defensive ends ranks as one of the more frustrating units in the Big Ten.
Headlined by senior Joe Gaziano (aka Gazilla), the NU front helped occupy blockers and spearhead a defense that held teams under 110 rush yards per game last year. Eighty-five percent of their sack production returns, as does 71% of the forced fumbles.
Like most of the team (No. 1 in fewest penalties in NCAA), this group is very disciplined. The D-line accounted for a total of three penalties all year - one player jumped offsides (he’s not returning), and the other two were questionable roughing-the-passer penalties. Still, they indicate aggression and lets quarterbacks know they are relentlessly pursuing him.
The D-line engaged offensive linemen enough to allow LBs Blake Gallagher and Paddy Fisher to be All-Big Ten tackling machines, finishing first and eighth, respectively, in the league in tackles. They also controlled what became the 18th-best rush defense in the country, according to S&P+.
The Wildcats produced a minimal fourth-down conversion yield of 34% (just 8 of 23), which was tops in the Big Ten and sixth nationally. They also showed their athleticism by breaking up or knocking down 17 passes. They’re good at getting their hands up, timing the pass and disrupting the throwing lanes to limit those intermediate passes that can eat away at a defense.
Areas to improve
As well as they’ve played, there’s a reason many people don’t have this group ranked higher - there are still areas to shore up. Most notably, they need to get better at finishing plays and not losing TFL and sack opportunities. The Cats would sometimes generate a solid pass rush but not complete the play and allow yardage that shouldn’t have been gained. We saw this most glaringly in losses to Duke, Akron, Michigan and especially against Ohio State in the Big Ten championship game.
Northwestern’s sack total was near the bottom of the Big Ten, averaging just under two per game. In order to continue to disrupt opposing offenses - regardless of how quick quarterbacks get rid of the ball today - an increase in quarterback hurries, sacks and even TFLs will certainly help the cause.
What it comes down to
There’s a lot to like from this group, especially at defensive end. The Wildcats’ top four DEs could legitimately contend for the top four spots at any other Big Ten program - and that’s no Purple hyperbole.
All eyes will be on the middle of this line, though. Replacing two inside tackles is never an easy task, but at least they’ll be doing it with two guys that have a lot of experience in the program, including a growing and athletic converted DE. Their ability to occupy the middle and continue to let Fisher and Gallagher to do their thing will go a long way toward retaining their West division crown.
Expect the competition at DE to generate more three- and possibly even four-DE personnel sets to attack the quarterback on third-and-long situations. And perhaps this tradeoff of size for speed will be the missing ingredient for defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz’s sack recipe.
The starters
Redshirt senior DE Joe Gaziano (6-foot-4, 275 pounds; 27 starts) returns after earning second-team All-Big Ten honors last season, leading the team with 12.5 TFLs and 7.5 sacks. He also chipped in three forced fumbles (in important games at Iowa and Minnesota, and then in their bowl win against Utah) and made a career-high 44 tackles. His 16.5 sacks over the last two years are second best in the Big Ten. Though he’s a gentle guy out of his pads, Gaziano one of the Big Ten’s more feared pass-rushers - just ask Brian Lewerke, Art Sitkowski and his other quarterback victims. Gaziano says his two favorite sounds are when an OT says “look out,” and, even more, the grunt of a quarterback who’s just been “Gaz’d”.
Gaziano has a high football-IQ, as head coach Pat Fitzgerald attests, and his greatest asset is his relentless motor that makes it difficult to adequately gameplan against him without leaving some other vulnerability on the field. Gaziano will surely be the leader of this group and could help make the interior transition go smoother than expected.
Redshirt junior DT Jake Saunders (6-foot-2, 300 pounds; 0 starts) was pegged to be a significant contributor two years ago, but a preseason injury cut those plans short and he spent much of last year continuing to recover to full strength. He appeared in two games early last season and has been a noted practice warrior. He’s one the strongest players on the DL and has gained the praise of coaches for his weight room accomplishments over the last two years.
“Mad Dawg,” as he is called, will need to parlay that strength into presence in the middle of this defensive line, especially in the task of keeping Fisher and Gallagher disengaged from blockers and draped all over opposing ballcarriers. If this former top-50 DT prospect from Ohio can finally turn his reputation into responsibility on the field, the front four will be just fine.
Aside from Gaziano, the senior statesman of this group is senior DT Alex Miller (6-foot-3, 268 pounds; 0 starts). Miller has seemingly been in Evanston forever, but it’s because he played as a true freshman and has always shown up when his team needed him. They’ll certainly need that, and more, from the unsung hero of the line. Though undersized for his position in this conference, Miller also brings a high football-IQ that helped earn him playing time right away. He also is athletic enough to be a pretty good threat in pass defense and in the lateral game.
In his three years of experience, Miller has played in 37 games but has never actually started. 2017 was best year, with 22 tackles, 4.5 TFLs, 2 sacks and 5 pass knock-downs. Last year his numbers dipped (14 tackles, sack, TFL, 2 PDs), but he played his best game against Ohio State, where he accounted for three tackles and a sack. He also recorded a pair of stops in the Holiday Bowl win over Utah.
Alex’s younger brother, junior DE Samdup Miller (6-foot-3, 258 pounds; 27 starts), has certainly garnered more playing time than his big bro, but the Wildcats need both of them at their best to bring success to this defense. Samdup has started every game of his Northwestern career and last season notched 53 tackles to go with 6.5 TFLs and 1.5 sacks. He also forced four QB hurries and defended two passes.
Samdup is a former freshman All-America who’s deceptively strong and agile. Although he is second on the team in sacks over the least two years, he’ll be pushed hard by competition and may have to fight to keep his starting spot this season.
The competitive depth
The “competitor” whose name is creating the most buzz is junior DE Earnest Brown IV (6-foot-5, 254 pounds). Brown was a highly touted recruit who played in all 14 games last season, logging 22 tackles, 7.5 TFLs (tied for second on the team) and 4 sacks. He ended the season hot, with a TFL in each of his last four games. In the Big Ten title game, he had 2.5 TFLs to go with four stops against Ohio State, one of the schools he snubbed to come to Evanston. His most memorable moment was a scoop-and-score vs. Nebraska that helped turn that game around. Brown’s stock has risen maybe faster than any other Wildcat defender, and many observers believe he could eventually unseat Samdup Miller for that starting spot opposite Gaziano. Even if he doesn’t, he will continue to provide a great passing-down presence on the line.
Another gem at DE is redshirt senior DE Trent Goens (6-foot-3, 265 pounds), a guy who has seen and done just about everything during his career. As a reserve last year, he still managed 5.5 TFLs and 2.5 sacks, which put him sixth and fourth on the team in those respective categories. Like Gaziano, he’s got a relentless motor and a quick first step. Goens will be a three-way player for the Wildcats this season, playing DE, while moonlighting as a superback and contributing on special teams. No wonder Long calls him his “Swiss Army knife.”
Redshirt sophomore Trevor Kent (6-foot-6, 274 pounds) came to Northwestern as a highly-regarded DE but has made the move to DT this offseason due to the wealth of depth at DE and his ever-increasing size. Kent showed flashes of playing in six games last year and could very well work his way into the starting lineup, given Alex Miller’s lack of DT size and Saunders’ history of injury.
Two other players to keep an eye on are redshirt first-year DEs Eku Leota (6-foot-4, 239 pounds) and Devin O’Rourke (6-foot-6, 248 pounds).
Leota did not appear in any games last year but bulked up by 21 pounds since last fall. He was an early enrollee last year, so he’s been in the program nearly a year and a half. He could be a pass-rush specialist that would spell some of the starters in the late-second or early-fourth quarters.
O’Rourke appeared in the first three games last year, making two tackles, but then kept his redshirt year by not playing another down. Fitzgerald says he reminds him a lot of former Cat and current Green Bay Packer DE Dean Lowry. O’Rourke is likely being groomed for next season, once Gaziano graduates and Brown and Miller are seniors, but expect him to make some noise in 2019. He is simply too talented to stay not to get on the field.
Another DT looking to get increased play this season is beloved junior DT Joe Spivak (6-foot, 293 pounds). Making waves on national signing day in 2017 by turning down a scholarship to Michigan State to walk on at Northwestern, the charismatic Spivak got into nine games last year, primarily as a personal protector on the punt unit, but also in limited stretches on the defensive line. He’s a strong, low-leverage-type player with boar-like tenacity in the dirt, and he should have more sweat marks and stats this season.
Redshirt junior DE Mark Gooden (6-foot-1, 253 pounds) is an intriguing player who just can’t stay healthy. He’s only registered five tackles in two years as he suffered through a string of injuries, the latest of which kept him out of spring practice after offseason surgery. The reality is that, the DE position is so deep that it will take a miraculous recovery for Gooden break the two-deep this year.
Any extra help this season will be coming from incoming first-years DE Adetomiwa (Tommy) Adebawore (6-foot-2, 251 pounds), DT Jason Gold (6-foot-3, 260 pounds) and DT Duke Olges (6-foot-4, 242 pounds). Gold might be the player who sees the field the earliest, given Northwestern’s relative lack of depth in the middle of the line and his college-ready skill set. He is also the most likely to play in more than four games and strip off his redshirt. Gold is another D-lineman from Texas, and NU has had success with Lone Staters playing early upfront (see Miller, Alex; Miller, Samdup; and Brown, Earnest). If the trend holds true, expect to see quite a bit of Gold between the white lines this season.