Cats lose a snoozer
EVANSTON-Northwestern went 79 yards for a touchdown on its first drive of the game for a 7-0 lead over Duke. Unfortunately, that turned out to be the lone highlight for the Wildcat offense.
Duke scored three touchdowns in the second quarter and coasted to the finish for a 21-7 win over Northwestern at Ryan Field. It was the second straight win over the Wildcats for the Blue Devils, who whipped NU 41-17 last year in Durham.
This game was considerably more competitive, but the end result was the same for Northwestern, which dropped to 1-1 and snapped a nine-game winning streak that was the longest in the Power Five.
Here are our six points on a snoozer of a game that featured a scoreless second half and was as dreary as the overcast skies above Evanston:
Northwestern’s offense was anemic: For the second straight game, Clayton Thorson and the Wildcats came out smoking. He went 5-for-5 for 31 yards, Jeremy Larkin ripped off a 40-yard run, and after Larkin ran it in from the 2 the Wildcats had a 7-0 lead. It was all downhill from there, however, as Northwestern’s next 12 drives ended with five punts, four turnovers on downs, two interceptions and the end of the half. Northwestern outgained Duke 282-204 but went just 1-for-5 on fourth downs and, most importantly, didn’t put any points on the board after the first drive. The lack of a deep threat seemed to hurt the Wildcats, who were never able to stretch the field or create explosion plays.
The quarterback shuffle continued: As expected, Thorson once again alternated every couple series with backup TJ Green. The results were mixed. Thorson wound up 22-for-38 passing for 198 yards, with one interception when he floated a long sideline route to Bennett Skowronek. He also missed his target or threw the ball late a couple times. Green was 9-for-18 for 84 yards and one pick of his own. Thorson didn’t think that the rotating quarterbacks had anything to do with the offense’s lack of rhythm throughout the game. Thorson was also sacked three times and Green was dropped once. Each were throwing behind a patchwork line that featured two young tackles. Ethan Weiderkehr came in at right tackle after Rashawn Slater left the game with a lower body injury and Gunnar Vogel replaced injured left tackle Blake Hance. Head coach Pat Fitzgerald didn’t have an update on the health of either player after the game.
A turn of events in the second quarter decided the game: The score was tied 7-7 in the second quarter when a few misplays cost Northwestern dearly. Green and Thorson threw interceptions on consecutive series. The defense rose to the occasion to stop Duke after the first one, from Green, but the second one, by Thorson, was more costly. First, superback Cameron Green was ejected for targeting while tackling Marquis Waters on the return. Then, Duke immediately cashed in when Daniel Jones hit Jonahtan Lloyd on a 52-yard scoring strike on the first play after the pick. Lloyd got a step on freshman cornerback Greg Newsome on a post and caught the ball in stride for an easy six points. When the dust settled, Duke had the 14-7 lead that it wouldn’t relinquish.
Daniel Jones ripped the Wildcats…again: Last year, Jones put up more than 400 yards of offense against the Wildcats. His numbers weren’t nearly as big this time – he was 16-for-22 for 192 yards passing and had just 17 rushing – but he made the big plays that won the game for the Devils in that fateful second quarter, when he fired all three of his scoring passes. First came a 9-yarder to T.J. Rahming when he got loose from Montre Hartage on a slant near the goal line. Then came the big 52-yarder to Lloyd and finally a 7-yarder to Davis Koopenhaver. Jones finished the first half a highly efficient 11-for-14 for 159 yards. Jones left the game in the fourth quarter after a Joe Gaziano sack and backup Quentin Harris finished the game for Duke.
The defense’s great second half was wasted: After a shaky first-half performance in which Duke made some big plays, Northwestern’s defense completely stymied Duke in the second half, forcing punts on all seven Blue Devil possessions. Duke didn’t have a single drive of more than six plays in that span and went three-and-out four times. In all, Duke gained 76 yards and produced just four first downs in the last 30 minutes. Northwestern also sacked Duke quarterbacks three times in the second half, including successive sacks by Gaziano and Jordan Thompson in the fourth quarter. The Wildcat defense did its part, but the offense couldn’t capitalize and produce any points.
Fitzgerald had a couple fourth-down head scratchers: Northwestern’s sluggish offense woke up on the first drive of the second half, going 76 yards in 10 plays to the Duke 4-yard line. There, facing a fourth-and-goal and trailing 21-7, Fitzgerald opted to eschew the chip-shot field goal and go for the touchdown. It backfired as Thorson was sacked for a 7-yard loss. After the game, Fitzgerald said he was merely trying to jump start his sputtering offense and that his defense, which forced a three-and-out, set up the Wildcats on a short field on the next drive. Again, the offense failed to convert that into points. There was also a fourth-down call in the second quarter that may have been more costly. Facing a fourth-and-9 at the Duke 40, Fitzgerald passed up a punt to go for it and Thorson’s pass fell incomplete. Duke took advantage of its short field, scoring what turned out to be the last points of the game on a Jones-to-Koppenhaver touchdown.