Big News out of Boston; More Camp Reports; WR preview; Penn State and Indiana

As Camp Kenosha grinds on in Wisconsin, a game-changing piece of news came out of Boston that will certainly affect the outcome of NU’s season opener.  Boston College All-ACC running back Montel Harris had a procedure performed on his left knee yesterday, which will force him to sit for the opener in Chestnut Hill.  EVR wishes Montel a speedy recovery, and hopefully he will be able to return for conference play.

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But EVR cannot ignore the effect that this will have on the NU-BC game.  Montel was the Eagles offense in 2010 and there is no reliable backup with much experience.  Sterlin Phifer is the sophomore listed on the depth chart – he has 17 career carries.  Either Phifer or classmate Chase Rettig (QB) will have to get the BC offense going or NU may roll in this game.  BC’s defense is good, but Dan Persa should eventually break through.  Look for NU to go from a touchdown underdog to a favorite by at least a field goal by game time.

Fortunately, NU is now a week and a half into summer practice and they have emerged injury free thus far.  But it is not for lack of effort.  Fitz has called Camp Kenosha “24/7 Football” given that the team is emerged into the game for one entire week.  On the other hand, Fitz has said on a number of occasions that he will toy around with the idea of eliminating two-a-days in future years (also noting that the NCAA may mandate it).  The theory being that the players arrive in camp in such great shape that the concept of the two-a-day has lost its effect.  EVR agrees with this, in theory, but notes that it will add to the temptation to require conditioning in the off-season – as opposed to it being optional.

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Speaking of getting into shape, defensive lineman Niko Mafuli arrived at camp this year at a svelte 306 lbs., 32 pounds less than his playing weight at the Ticketcity Bowl in January.  It remains to be seen whether Niko’s new physique will improve his football ability, but Fitz believes that the focus Niko put on his weight loss will translate to better focus on the field.  All EVR can recall about Niko’s season is that he was injured in the Vanderbilt game.  So that is not saying much.  Hopefully Niko can add much-needed depth to the D-Line in 2011.

EVR generally does not cite to the other NU blogs, but Sippin On Purple did a wonderful interview this week with walk-on running back Tyris Jones.  Definitely worth the read.  Awesome to hear the back story of one of the guys who may never see the field.

Skip Myslenski is, as always, doing a wonderful job of blogging and reporting for Camp Kenosha.  Here’s a quick run-down of this week.  Monday involved some situational practices, including goal line offense and running drills offensive plays out of their own end zone.  Both of these situations have required work in recent years.  Also, apparently, Fitz lined up at Center for a few drills.  Skip wrote separately Monday about the “no-name” linebacking corps, as Fitz named them on Big Ten Media Day.  It is basically open competition for these positions – although favorite have emerged for the starting roles.  But the LBs with the most experience will have to improve significantly from last year’s performance.  The LBs were constantly over-committing and finding themselves out of position.  This put an enormous amount of pressure on the defensive backs, and eventually lead to the debacle at Wrigley.  There will be more on the LB position in the coming weeks.

Tuesday’s story did not address much, but it does contain an embedded video of a handful of freshman discussing their first trip to Kenosha.  Wednesday, Skip wrote about the proficiency of the passing game, especially the precision of Dan Persa, and the physicality of the defensive line.  Overall, it appears that Camp Kenosha is moving along without a hitch and that the team is getting read for BC in just over two weeks!

One observation before EVR moves to the WR preview.  The Cats are now two weeks into camp and not a single beat writer has said a word about the running backs.  Lots of reports about how good Persa is looking and the athletic ability of the Cats receiving corps.  Stories about the physicality of the defensive line, the competition among the linebackers, and the leadership of the secondary.  But conspicuously absent is anything about the RBs.  Given how important an improved running game will be to the Cats success this season, the lack of news out of Kenosha is a cause for concern.

Wide Receiver Preview

The success of the Northwestern quarterbacks in the spread offense has been due in large part to the quality of receiver that NU has brought into the system.  For the last 12 years, the Cats have consistently fielded an arsenal of wideouts, all with smart route-running skills and soft hands to make the tough catch.  This season might be the best receiving corps that the Wildcats have ever had, which, along with a healthy Dan Persa, is a scary proposition for opposing defenses.

Leading the pack is All Big-Ten wideout Jeremy Ebert.    He also brought in ten touchdowns.  Ebert is only 6’0”, which is a touch short compared to his teammates, but his 195 frame makes him a relatively huge target.  He also has deceptive speed.  Like many great NU receivers in the past, Ebert was a high school QB, which is demonstrated by his on-the-field smarts.

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Starting with Ebert will be Demetrius Fields, Charles Brown, and Rashad Lawrence.  Fields is the prototype possession receiver with 24 and 25 catches in each of the last two seasons – none more than 26 yards.  He make Ebert look tiny at a stout 6’0” / 210.  He is a great route runner.  Brown finally began to come on at the end of his junior season, finishing with 16 catches for the season.  Brown has one of the most impressive springs of any NU offensive player – and has worked himself into a starting roll.  Lawrence impressed many as a true freshman in 2010 and is probably the Cats best deep threat, with receptions of 44 and 50 yards last year.  He is the tallest of the starters at 6’2” and he is expected to play a much larger role in 2011.

Cat fans saw the potential for greatness out of Venric Mark and Tony Jones last season, who will be returning as true sophomores and will certainly see part of the action.  Mark is too fast to be kept off  the field and Jones is another potential big-play threat along with Lawrence.  Look for these two, along with speedster Drew Moulton to figure into the equation as the first set of backups.  Another Soph., Mike Jenson, had an impressive spring and is currently listed on the two-deep depth chart as well.

Finally, the Cats are already prepared to re-load with freshmen Cameron Dickerson, Christian Jones, and Pierre Youngblood-Ary – all of whom tower at 6’3” and could be a dominant three-some in years to come.  Given the depth on the field already, its likely that only one of these guys will see action in 2011.  Pierre has looked the most impressive thus far.

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Penn State – October 22, 2011 – Ryan Field.  NU has had two consecutive heartbreaking disappointments against Penn State in the last two years.  In both games, the Cats were in position to win in the second half, but Penn State simply rolled.  NU players have a bad taste in their mouths about this game – especially Dan Persa, who will get his last chance at his hometown favorite.

On offense Penn State has yet to decide on a quarterback.  While Matt McGloin led the Lions to nice victories against NU and Michigan, he lacks the excitement of Rob Bolden, who is more likely to be the starter.  Silas Redd is the leading returning rusher and will be called upon as the workforce as Stephfon Green continues to get pushed down the depth chart after a breakthrough 2008.  The O-Line starts three seniors, so sophomore John Urschel will have to pull his weight to avoid being classified as the weak link.

On defense the Lions bring back a very veteran group of seven seniors and four juniors – and may be the most experienced defense in the league.  Problem being that the defense gave up 30 points of more in four of the last eight games – and almost allowed Dan Persa to run them out of the building.  Senior linebacker Nate Stupar will need to lead this defense to a more solid position if this team wants to compete in a tough Leaders division.

Indiana – October 29, 2011 – Bloomington, IN.  Bloomington has given the Cats fits over the last decade.   The Cats have only won two of the last five there, and the two wins were by three points and in overtime respectively.  Bloomington is lead into 2011 with a familiar face, Kevin Wilson, who along with Randy Walker was the architect of the Wildcat spread offense.  He has since coached from the booth in a national championship game and groomed a Heisman trophy winner.  So, yeah, he knows what he is doing.

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Problem is, it may take a while.  Needing to find a new starting QB, Dusty Kiel (brother of IU’s stunning QB commitment Gunner Kiel) will have to compete for the job.  The running back corps are extremely young, with redshirt sophomore D’Angelo Roberts expected to be the starter.  The Hoosiers do return WR Demarlo Belcher and TE Max Dedmond, who will need to be big playmakers on this young offense.  The O-Line is a relatively veteran group who will need to keep the QB upright for this offense to function.

Defensively, the Hoosiers have a decent amount of experience and talent, but there are some holes.  There are looking to start a freshman at linebacker with Chase Hoobler and sophomore Lawrence Barnett at CB.  This is a defense that had some pretty solid games against NU and Iowa – but also gave up 40 points four times – including an embarrassing 83 to Wisconsin.  Strong offensive should be able to score a lot of points on these guys if they don’t shape up.

Go Cats!