8/30/2023 football Edit

Behind Enemy Lines: Northwestern Wildcats Football Edition

Richie O'Leary • TheKnightReport

Publisher

With the 2023 Rutgers Football season getting ready to kick off, here at The Knight Report are bringing back one of our most popular features as each week will interview the Scarlet Knights upcoming opponent's beat writer to learn more about each team ahead of the game.

With that being said, let's kickoff our first preview as TKR spoke with WildcatReport.com's publisher Louie Vaccher to learn more about the Wildcats.

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Other than the obvious one, what are some of the main storylines coming out of Northwestern Football this training camp?

LOUIE VACCHER: "I guess this question falls under the “other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?” category. There were a lot of “other” storylines in camp this year. Northwestern has a new interim head coach in David Braun, who has never been a head coach nor had a Power Five job before, so we don’t yet know what kind of coach he’s going to be. The Wildcats have six new assistant coaches on staff this year, including a couple with nebulous titles in Skip Holtz, a special assistant to the head coach, and DJ Vokolek, a defensive assistant. We don’t know much about what their roles will be.

On the field, there was a quarterback battle in camp between Cincinnati/Eastern Michigan transfer Ben Bryant and Brendan Sullivan, who started five games for the Wildcats last season. Braun has already picked a starter and won’t announce it before the game, but I would be shocked if it’s not Bryant. Northwestern also added a couple receiver weapons from the portal in Cam Johnson (Vandy/Arizona State) and AJ Henning (Michigan) who could breathe some life into the offense. Defensively, they added three linemen from the portal to fill some gaping holes."

Two part question here.

— 1. OC Mike Bakakian returns to Northwestern as OC once again this season, but how did he manage to retain his job after such an ugly showing in 2022?

— 2. What does the offense look like so far this season and will there be in improvements? Also who’s the players to watch here?

LV: "I asked fired head coach Pat Fitzgerald that same question during spring practice. Basically, he admitted that the biggest factor is that he didn’t want to change coordinators on both sides of the ball in one season. He fired defensive coordinator Jim O’Neil at the end of the season and felt that he wanted stability on at least one side of the ball. Bajakian – a New Jersey guy, by the way – certainly didn’t do anything special to earn the job last season. Northwestern scored just 13.8 points per game in 2022, the worst number among Power Five teams."

LV: "As I mentioned above, Northwestern added some key pieces through the portal that should pay immediate dividends. Bryant is a veteran with two years as a starting college quarterback under his belt, one at Eastern Michigan and one at Cincinnati. If he can just get the ball to the right players at the right time, and hold onto the ball, the offense should be much improved. They had the worst turnover margin in the nation last season. Johnson is a veteran possession receiver with more than 1,300 career receiving yards, and Henning has the type of speed that can blow the top off of a defense – something Northwestern rarely has in its arsenal. Cam Porter should be back to form as the bell cow running back after an ACL tear wiped out 2021 and slowed him in 2022. The biggest concern is the offensive line, where only one starter returns and there are several question marks. Overall, I expect them to be better this season – but let’s be honest, there’s really no place to go but up."

On the flip side, Northwestern has a new DC / now Interim HC in David Braun, safe assumption he will call the plays here? Also what stands out about his defense and who are the players to watch on this side of the ball?

LV: "Yes, Braun will retain play-calling duties for the defense, in addition to his being the head coach. There has only been one open practice this fall, so we don’t know much about what his system will be. He talked in the spring about it being about 50% of what he ran the last four years at North Dakota State, 30% of what Northwestern ran under legendary DC Mike Hankwitz and about 20% of what O’Neil ran the last two years.

Northwestern’s strength is its back seven. All three starting linebackers return, including Bryce Gallagher, the middle linebacker and leader of the defense who led the team in tackles last season, and Xander Mueller, their No. 2 tackler and sacker a season ago. At safety, playmaker Coco Azema returns after missing most of 2021 with an injury, and Rod Heard II has played a lot of football over the last three years. The primary concern is once again up front, and especially at tackle, where just two scholarship players return from a defense that was 110th in the country against the run last year."

With everything going on, what’s the feeling like among the fanbase for this game versus Rutgers?

LV: "Honestly, this is one of the few games on the schedule that fans feel like the Wildcats have a legitimate shot to win. It’s also probably the only Big Ten game where they will be a single-digit underdog. Like Northwestern, Rutgers had just one Big Ten win last season (though it’s definitely tougher sledding in the East division), so fans are reasonably optimistic that the Cats can come home with a W.

Somewhat lost in the hazing scandal and Fitzgerald firing is the fact that Northwestern was a terrible team last season. They went 1-11, the program’s worst record since 1989, and are riding an 11-game losing streak. They are only going to have a few chances at notching a win this season, and this is one of them."

Finish the following sentence, Northwestern will win this game if…..

LV: "They take care of the football, stop the run and make a big play or two. I expect this to be a pretty tight game. So if Northwestern can win the turnover battle and come up with an explosive play or two, whether it’s on offense defense or special teams, they could sneak out of Piscataway with a victory. Defensively, the goal will be to contain the running game and put the game squarely on Gavin Wimsatt’s shoulders. Of course, that’s easier said than done."

Prediction for the game and why?

LV: "I don’t think there is a team in America looking forward to the start of the season more than Northwestern. They can’t wait to put the summer behind them and just get back to playing ball. The one positive thing about this scandal is that it has brought this team closer together. “Galvanized” is the word Braun likes to use. The Wildcats have an “us against the world” mentality right now, and you can understand why.

For that reason – and a heavy, industrial strength dose of optimism – I’m picking the Cats in this one. I think they’re going to come out and surprise everyone by snapping the nation’s longest losing streak. I’m not sure why I feel this way, but I do. I’ll call it Northwestern 23, Rutgers 20."