Northwestern didn’t award a defensive player or defensive big playmaker of the week for its 31-23 loss to Duke on Saturday. That wasn’t by accident.

The Blue Devils scored touchdowns on their first three drives of the game, racking up 247 yards in the process. And it was explosive plays that did the Wildcats in.

On the first scoring drive, Duke hit Northwestern for a 23-yard pass. On the second, a 42-yard run up the middle for a touchdown. On the third, it was an 81-yard pass play that also drew a pass-interference penalty that was declined.

Just 33 seconds into the second quarter, Duke led 21-0. Northwestern outscored Duke 23-10 the rest of the way, but the damage was done.

Head coach Pat Fitzgerald saw the same thing from his defense in the season-opening win over Nebraska, too. The Huskers connected on 32- and 58-yard passes, and racked up a 46-yard run. Two of them went for touchdowns.

“Both games have an explosive-play, negative connotation to them,” said Fitzgerald during his Monday press conference. “When we don’t give up an explosive play, we’ve been pretty good.”

Indeed, after the first three drives, the Blue Devils gained just 214 yards over the last 44:27 of the game. Their lone touchdown over that span came in the fourth quarter after – what else? – an explosive play, a 51-yard completion off of a tipped pass.

Fitzgerald says that “self-inflicted wounds” are at the heart of the big plays they’ve allowed. On Jordan Waters’ 42-yard touchdown run, the coach said that the Wildcats missed not one, not two, but three tackles.

Safety Jaheem Joseph was succinct in his assessment of the defense’s performance.

“We beat ourselves,” he said. “All of the touchdowns were (on or after) explosives.”

It’s not a coincidence that many of the big plays the Cats have surrendered have occurred early in the game. You might have heard that the Wildcats have a problem with slow starts. In both games they’ve played this season, the Cats have faced double-digit deficits early in the second quarter.

Fitzgerald likes “the fighting spirit” his team has displayed thus far this season, battling back from two 11-point deficits to beat Nebraska and twice cutting the lead to five points after falling behind by three TDs against Duke. He just wants the Wildcats to avoid digging those big holes in the first place.

Fitzgerald told an interesting story from his days as a Wildcat player. The two-time national defensive player of the year said that, early in his career, he was having problems with inconsistent play, especially early in games. So he changed his pre-game approach.

“I became an emotional monster,” he said.

That wasn’t part of his off-the-field personality, but he found that it gave him the spark he needed to compete from the first snap of the game.

Fitzgerald sees many of the younger players getting significant playing time for the first time in their careers – guys like Joseph, Garnett Hollis, Theran Johnson and Xander Mueller – struggling to find their right pre-game ritual.

“They need to get into their routine and settle in to be the player they’re capable of being,” said Fitzgerald.

Something has to be done to shake Northwestern out of its early-game doldrums. As Fitzgerald pointed out several times on Saturday and again on Monday, the Wildcats can’t afford to spot teams 21 points and expect to win.

Cats won't overlook SIU: Don’t think for a moment that Northwestern will be looking past Southern Illinois because they come from the Football Championship Subdivision.

Fitzgerald knows better. His first loss as a head coach in 2006 came at the hands of FCS New Hampshire. Then, 10 years later, came perhaps the worst loss of his career, when his Wildcats dropped a 9-7 decision to Illinois State.

And if they need more recent evidence than that, the Wildcats just have to look around college football.

Four FCS teams knocked off larger-division programs last weekend. That brings the total to six inter-subdivisions upsets already this season. Last year, a total of 12 FCS teams beat FBS opponents. Four of the defeated programs were from the Power Five, and one, Washington, was ranked 20th in the AP poll when Montana upset them.

Fitzgerald said that he will be sharing those numbers with his squad this week to make sure they stay focused on the Salukis. He thinks the primary reason for all of the upsets is that the difference in talent level isn’t so great, both between and on the sidelines.

“No. 1 there are great players everywhere,” he said. “And they’re all well coached.”

Southern Illinois comes into Ryan Field with an 0-2 record. The Wildcats are currently 13.5-point favorites.

‘T-Go’ breaks out: Tight end Thomas Gordon came into the 2022 season with two career catches. He matched that in the Wildcats’ win over Nebraska. Then he more than doubled that career total again on Saturday against Duke, when he snared five catches for 78 yards.

Gordon’s first catch was ESPN Top 10-worthy, a 17-yarder over the middle in which he reached back with his right hand and snagged a Ryan Hilinski pass thrown behind him. He made a couple other highlight-reel catches, too.

Fitzgerald appreciates Gordon’s catching ability, but he also likes the physicality he brings to the line of scrimmage.

“I’m proud of the way he’s blocking right now,” he said.

Gordon is in his third year in Evanston, but this is the first time he’s getting significant playing time. Fitzgerald couldn’t be happier for him.

Fitzgerald praised Gordon for overcoming the injuries that have plagued him during his career, as well as for being “a really good special teams player and a great teammate,” even if he wasn’t getting on the field as a tight end.

Gordon didn’t want to detail his injury history but said that he fought through “shoulder issues” to get his shot at playing time this season.

But he also reminded everyone that he was playing behind some pretty good players during his career, including grad transfer John Raine in 2020.

Gordon said that the last two games, in which he has caught seven passes for 117 yards, the third-most on the team, is the role “he always envisioned” for himself when he arrived as a “superback” under previous offensive coordinator Mick McCall’s system in 2019.

“I was just waiting for my opportunity,” he said. “I’m just happy to be out there.”