Northwestern spent almost the entirety of the second half of their game against Ohio Saturday in two formations: power-I and Wildcat.
"We felt we were in an advantageous formation where we could get hats on hats," Fitzgerald said.
The Wildcats certainly did get hats on hats as they rolled to 373 yards and four trips to pay dirt on the ground. That was helpful for NU, who was breaking in a new quarterback, Ryan Hilinski, their third quarterback to see significant snaps this season in just four games.
Hilinski didn't have to do much except make a couple short throws to move the chains on third down and hand the ball off to Northwestern's trio of backs. That is going to change on Saturday night in Lincoln.
Nebraska's defense is playing at a very high level. They're two weeks removed from holding Oklahoma's explosive offense to a mere 23 points. On Saturday, the Huskers held Michigan State's strong rushing attack to under 100 yards for the first time this season.
"They held Michigan State to zero first downs in the second half," said Fitzgerald, whose own defense was gashed for 511 yards by the same Spartans in the opener. "It was one of the best defensive performances I've seen in a long time."
You can bet the the Huskers' top priority will be to contain the Wildcats' rushing attack, so Hilinksi will have to make some plays with his arm if Northwestern wants to leave Memorial Stadium with a win.
But he won't have to do it alone. Northwestern's running backs are confident they can help Hilinski generate offense in their first Big Ten road game of the season. Andrew Clair described the backfield of himself, Evan Hull and Anthony Tyus III as "a three-headed monster." All three bring different skillsets to the table.
Hull is the lead back and has the ability to gash defenses for big gains, like his 90-yard sprint to the end zone against Ohio, the third-longest run in school history.
If Hull is lightning, then Tyus III is thunder. The 230-pound true freshman seeks out contact and is a load to bring down for opposing defenses.
Clair, the graduate transfer from Bowling Green, has the most experience of the three. He is also brings a combination of power and speed, and is the best receiver out of the backfield.
Clair isn't worried about going against a stout defense, he has confidence that he and his fellow backs can find a way to still have success.
"Our mindset is always going to be match physicality with physicality," he said.
To complicate matters for the Wildcats, they will be playing in front of 90,000 fans at Memorial Stadium, which Fitzgerald calls "one of the cathedrals of college football."
After playing in front of empty seats in 2020 and an average of just 25,000 per game so far this season, this will be the toughest environment Northwestern has played in in quite a while.
Hilinski has experience playing in front of full and hostile houses in the SEC. Two years ago, he was a true freshman starter leading South Carolina to a win at Georgia's Sanford Stadium.
Communication will be difficult on Saturday, as left tackle Peter Skoronski pointed out. With Hilinksi making just his second start as a Wildcat, it is imperative that he is on the same page with his offensive teammates because calling audibles at the line won't be easy with all the noise.
When asked about Hilinski making the transition from handing the ball off to making plays in the passing game, Fitzgerald said he doesn't care how it happens, he just wants to win. He joked that NU would put freshman receiver CJ Johnson, a high school quarterback, under center and run the triple-option if they had to.
The Cats and the Huskers seem to always end up in close games. Eight of the last 10 have been decided by one score, and the 2018 and 2019 games were won by walk-off field goals, one for each side.
Fitzgerald doesn't expect this game to be any different.
"We're going to do what we have to do to win," he said.
