Northwestern Game Day: What to watch for

The motto for tonight's game should be “embrace the weirdness.”

Northwestern’s Saturday night season opener against Maryland will be like putting your foot in the wrong shoe. It's going to feel strange.

Head coach Pat Fitzgerald has coached 178 games at Northwestern, and this one is going to be memorable whether or not he gets his 100th win against the Terrapins. It will likely be the most unique game played in the history of Ryan Field/Dyche Stadium. At least until the next one.

There will be more than 46,000 empty seats in the stadium, as Northwestern expects just 1,000-1,100 fans in the stands (players and coaches from both teams got four tickets each for families and significant others). There will be no marching band. No cheerleaders. No Willie the Wildcat. Not even ubiquitous athletic director Jim Phillips will be on the sidelines.

But there will be crowd noise broadcast from speakers.

Even on the field, circumstances will be odd. Both teams are coming off profoundly disappointing 3-9 seasons and eager to get the taste of 2019 out of their mouths. Both have had significant opt-outs and, in Maryland's case, new players all over the field. Both will be starting new quarterbacks – and, if the Terps goes with expectations, both will be transfers who played at different programs last season.

But on the field, it will still be football, thankfully. We’ve got a list of things to watch:

Peyton Ramsey: Northwestern will have a bona-fide Big Ten quarterback behind center, something that was missing throughout a disastrous 2019. The Indiana grad transfer has 23 starts, more than 6,500 yards and 42 touchdowns under his belt. He will call the right protections, put the Cats in the right play and get the ball into the right guy’s hands. Those are things that were often missing a season ago.

We expect Northwestern to run the ball, as is their typical M.O., and then to use a lot of play-action passing behind it. Ramsey may line up under center, and not in a shotgun, more than we’ve seen in quite a while. And if Maryland puts pressure on him, Ramsey can move better than many people think. He probably won’t run for a ton of yards, but he can elude the rush and extend plays.

Tight ends: The Wildcats got seven catches from the tight end position last year. Seven. Florida Atlantic grad transfer John Raine had seven catches in the Boca Raton Bowl alone last season.

Look for the Wildcats to run a lot of two-tight end sets on Saturday. Raine could be a difference maker for this offense, and we’ll see a lot of both him and Charlie Mangieri, who was listed as No. 2 on the depth chart. It was a bit of a surprise not to see Trey Pugh’s name on the two-deep, but he will play if he’s available, and we may even see some of redshirt freshman Tom Gordon. Offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian likes utilizing tight ends to make his offense multiple, so this is a spot to watch.

Bajakian’s playcalling: This is Bajakian’s debut, so we’ll begin to see what his philosophy of “getting the ball into your playmaker’s hands” really looks like. Bajakian likes to talk about toughness and playing physical football, so expect the Wildcats to pound the ball early and often.

Isaiah Bowser, a 220-pound bruiser who was limited to just five games because of injury last year, is ideally suited to a power running game. The question is whether Bowser will be the bell cow and dominate the number of carries, or whether Coach Jake will spread the ball around to Evan Hull, Drake Anderson and No. 1, Jesse Brown, as well. Also keep an eye on true freshman Cameron Porter, who has impressed everyone in camp and could be the Cats’ future at the position.

QB pressure/contain: Defensively, a key for Northwestern will be putting pressure on Maryland’s quarterback. The Terps have yet to name their starter, but most observers expect Taulia Tagovailoa, the younger brother of Tua, to get the nod. Whether he or Lance LeGendre is the trigger man, putting pressure on him will be vital because Maryland has some wide receivers who can do damage downfield.

The Wildcats sacked the quarterback just 23 times last year, tied for the lowest number in the Big Ten. They also lost Joe Gaziano and Samdup Miller, their two starting defensive ends. Will Earnest Brown IV, finally the starter, be able to generate heat consistently? Is Adetomiwa Adebawore ready to be an every-down starter? It will be interesting to see whether Northwestern can get to the QB rushing just four against an offensive line that struggled last year, or whether DC Mike Hankwitz will have to dial up the blitz.

Youth in the secondary: Maryland’s Dontay Demus is a proven deep threat. Also watch for Rakim Jarrett, a five-star freshman who decommitted from LSU and turned down offers from Alabama and Clemson. They will test a suddenly green Wildcat secondary.

Northwestern will start redshirt freshman Brandon Joseph at safety in place of redshirt senior Travis Whillock, who has opted out of the season. Northwestern News Network also reported this week that experienced junior CB Greg Newsome II will be out with an injury. His replacement will likely be redshirt freshman Rod Heard II. Both Joseph and Heard – as well as backup safety Coco Azema – are talented, athletic players with big upsides, but they are young. Maryland will to try to pick on them downfield with their big-play receivers.

Freshmen who play: Fitzgerald has said that “everybody who is ready” will play this season. It makes sense, as it’s open season in 2020: players will not lose a year of eligibility whether or not they play any number of games.

Still, not all freshmen will be ready to go. In terms of true freshmen, Peter Skoronski starting at left tackle was the surprise of the two-deep. He is bound to experience some growing pains, but he’s as talented a first-year offensive lineman as Northwestern has had. Also look for Jordan Butler to potentially earn some PT at defensive tackle. In addition to Joseph, Heard and Azema, keep an eye on redshirt freshmen Wayne Dennis and Genson Hooper-Price, who both made the two-deep as reserve wide receivers. We could see a lot of rookies on special teams, too. Have your rosters ready.