Wisconsin's 2018 season is still a few months away, but it's never too early to get the inside scoop on the teams the Badgers will square off against this fall.
The Badgers will head back to Ryan Field to take on the Northwestern Wildcats on Oct. 27, so we asked Louie Vaccher of WildcatReport.com a few questions about what the Wildcats are expecting out of their football team in 2018.
Our questions and Louie's answers are included below.
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It looks like the Wildcats lost a few key parts of last year’s defense to graduation - who do you expect to take on new starting roles in 2018, and what do you think the Northwestern defense as a whole will look like this year?
Louie Vaccher: Northwestern lost some key players on defense, most notably 300-pound monster Tyler Lancaster at defensive tackle and a pair of safeties who anchored the secondary in Godwin Igwebuike and Kyle Queiro. But the Wildcats have players with the talent, if not experience, to fill those roles. Filling Lancaster’s extra-wide shoes will most likely be Alex Miller, a rotational tackle who will step into a bigger role this year. At safety, Jared McGee, who has been a nickel back and spot starter the last couple seasons, and J.R. Pace, who showed big-play potential as a true freshman last year, will step into starting roles.
Once again, Northwestern’s front seven should be stout against the run. The strength up front will be the defensive ends Joe Gaziano and Samdup Miller, who are strong against the run but can also get after the passer. The Wildcats’ defensive leader will be middle linebacker Paddy Fisher, who was a revelation last season as a redshirt freshman, leading the team with 113 tackles. They also return both starting cornerbacks, including All-Big Ten candidate Montre Hartage.
Quarterback Clayton Thorson was injured in Northwestern’s bowl game win over Kentucky and the consensus seems to be that he won’t be ready for the start of fall camp. Do you think that’s accurate, and if he misses parts of camp or the regular season who do you think will play quarterback in his place?
Louie Vaccher: Thorson, a fifth-year senior who has started the last 39 games for the Wildcats, tore his ACL in Northwestern’s 24-23 Music City Bowl win over Kentucky last Dec. 29. He had surgery in January, less than seven months before the Wildcats’ opener at Purdue on Aug. 30. While head coach Pat Fitzgerald hasn’t given any hints, I’m hearing that Thorson probably won’t be ready until the end of September. If Thorson isn’t ready to go, his replacement will be green – in experience and probably in name. The three backups vying for the job are sophomore walkon T.J. Green, sophomore Aidan Smith and redshirt freshman Andrew Marty. The three have combined for one career pass attempt, by Green, the son of former NFL QB Trent Green.
More of a game manager-type, Green may have the inside track going into the fall. He may have the weakest arm of the bunch, but he has the best command of the offense and is least likely to make mistakes. Eventually, coaches hope that Marty, who looks the part at 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds and has a big arm, will win the job. But at this point, Green looks like the most likely choice.
The Wildcats had a remarkable run of stability in their coaching staff under Pat Fitzgerald over the last few years, but there are a few new faces in Evanston this year. Can you takes through those changes and what prompted them?
Louie Vaccher: There are three new coaches on Fitzgerald’s staff this season. That may not garner much attention at many schools, but it qualifies as big news for a NU staff that had been completely intact since 2011, by far the longest such streak in the nation.
Louis Ayeni is the new running backs coach and recruiting coordinator, Tim McGarigle is the new linebackers coach, and Jeff Genyk is in the newly created position of special teams coordinator. In addition, former running backs coach Matt MacPherson made a move to defensive backs coach and associate head coach. One thing making the transition easier is familiarity. Ayeni and McGarigle both played and coached at Northwestern, while Genyk was on Gary Barnett’s staff during the glory days of the mid-1990s, when Fitzgerald was the team’s star linebacker.
The coaches who left the program are beloved defensive backs coach Jerry Brown, who retired after 25 years with the Wildcats, and linebackers coach Randy Bates, who is now the defensive coordinator at Pittsburgh after 12 years in Evanston. (Genyk was added as the 10th assistant coach.)
What’s the biggest question mark that the Wildcats still have to solve on offense and defense after their spring camp?
Louie Vaccher: Well, offense is an easy answer: quarterback. If Thorson isn’t ready to start the season, the Wildcats will start an unproven player. Compounding the matter is that NU opens up with a tough road conference game at Purdue. If Thorson isn’t behind center to open the season, expect Northwestern to rely on its running game and defense until No. 18 returns.
Defensively, the one area where they will have to improve is preventing explosion plays. Northwestern had a very stout run defense a year ago, but teams burned them deep, especially early in the season. Last year’s Wisconsin game was a case in point. Northwestern will be strong at cornerback, but the safety position, with two new starters, will likely take some time to jell.
The Wildcats are coming off of another 10-win season and from my vantage point they look like Wisconsin’s biggest threat in the Big Ten West for 2018. Did Northwestern’s 2017 season live up to the pre-season expectations? And what’s reasonable to expect from them in 2018?
Louie Vaccher: I think Northwestern pretty much met expectations last season in reaching 10 wins for the third time in six years and just the fifth time in school history. The Wildcats got off to a rough start, standing at 2-3 after a home loss to Penn State on Oct. 7, but then they ripped off eight straight wins, including the Music City Bowl, the most consecutive victories the team has recorded since 1995. I picked them to go 9-3 in the regular season last year, and that’s where they ended up, though they lost one game I didn’t think they’d lose (to Duke) and won one I didn’t expect them to win (over Michigan State).
Northwestern will be solid on both sides of the ball in 2018, but I doubt that the Wildcats will be able to reach double-digit wins again. One reason is the schedule. Thorson’s status may put early games against Purdue and Duke in question. Then, on Sept. 29, the gauntlet begins: five games in seven weeks against bowl teams from a season ago. Two of their crossover matchups are against Michigan and Michigan State, and they added a non-conference game against Notre Dame on Nov. 3. I figure eight or nine wins will be the maximum for this NU team.
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John Veldhuis covers Wisconsin football, basketball and recruiting for BadgerBlitz.com on the Rivals.com network. Follow him on Twitter at @JohnVeldhuis.
