Freshmen Fields, Ward crack two-deep

In general, Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald prefers to redshirt true freshmen, but he is making an exception for at least two rookies to start the 2009 season.

The Wildcats unveiled their depth chart for the season opener against Towson next Saturday, Sept. 5, and freshmen Arby Fields and Patrick Ward both made the two-deep. Fields will backup Stephen Simmons at tailback and Ward will be the second-string left guard.

Other highlights:

Scott Concannon and Simmons will return kickoffs.

Brendan Smith and Andrew Brewer are the punter returners.

Stefan Demos will handle all three kicking duties: punting, placekicking and kickoffs.

In addition, Northwestern announced on Friday that Mike Kafka, Sherrick McManis, Corey Wootton and Smith will serve as the team captains this season. Smith is a team captain for a second consecutive year, making him just the eighth player in Northwestern's 122-year history to serve in that capacity for two different seasons (the last was Barry Gardner in 1997 and 1998.)

Click here to see the complete two-deep. You can view both a spread (four wide receivers) and pro-set (three wideouts and a superback) formation by selecting them from the Offense drop-down menu.