{"id":17686,"date":"2015-10-01T16:36:02","date_gmt":"2015-10-01T21:36:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=17686"},"modified":"2015-10-08T15:18:38","modified_gmt":"2015-10-08T20:18:38","slug":"fitzgerald-expect-hard-fought-battle-in-saturdays-big-ten-opener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/fitzgerald-expect-hard-fought-battle-in-saturdays-big-ten-opener\/","title":{"rendered":"Fitzgerald: Expect \u2018hard-fought battle\u2019 in Saturday\u2019s Big Ten opener"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jordan Ray<\/p>\n

The past three football games between the Northwestern Wildcats and Minnesota Golden Gophers have been tight, defensive struggles, and Wildcats coach Pat Fitzgerald said to expect more of the same this weekend.<\/p>\n

\"Pat<\/a>
Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald is pictured. (Big Ten)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cOver the years, this has always been a hard-fought battle,\u201d Fitzgerald told reporters Monday. \u201cI don\u2019t expect anything different this week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Minnesota has won the past two games in the series, with last year’s victory coming off a fourth quarter kickoff return for a touchdown.<\/p>\n

This year’s matchup, which serves as the Big Ten opener for both teams, features a pair of proven defenses coupled with struggling offenses.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody is scoring points against them,\u201d Minnesota coach Jerry Kill said of Northwestern during a press conference Monday. \u201cSo we\u2019ve got a great challenge ahead of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Allowing only 8.8 points per game, the Wildcats (4-0) own the nation\u2019s third-best scoring defense, according to ESPN<\/a>. They also rank second in the country in defensive efficiency.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have full confidence that [our defense] will hold any team we face under 10 points,\u201d sophomore running back Justin Jackson said.<\/p>\n

The Gophers (3-1) held No. 4 TCU\u2019s high-powered offense to only 23 points in Minnesota\u2019s lone loss of the season. The Horned Frogs have averaged 60.3 points per game in their three games since.<\/p>\n

\u201cMinnesota embodies everything that Jerry Kill is about,\u201d Fitzgerald said. \u201cDefensively, they\u2019re outstanding. They\u2019re one of the best, if not the best, in the Big Ten.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the defenses have excelled, the offenses have been inconsistent. Both teams rank in the bottom fourth of the country in offensive efficiency, according to ESPN.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, we\u2019ve struggled a little bit, and we\u2019re not happy with where we are as far as our red zone efficiency,\u201d senior guard Shane Mertz said, \u201cbut we\u2019re working, and we will fix that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Part of that inconsistency stems from injuries. Kill recently described his team<\/a> as having an injury list \u201ca mile long.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jerry<\/a>
Minnesota coach Jerry Kill is pictured. (Big Ten)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of people decimated by injuries right now, and we\u2019ve certainly been hit hard,\u201d Kill told reporters Monday. \u201cSo we\u2019ve got to work and do a heck of a job teaching the guys that are going to have to play Saturday to get better.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Wildcats had four players suffer injuries in their win over Ball State, including veteran left tackle Geoff Mogus, whose status for Saturday remains unclear.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow, I\u2019m in the situation where I may not be playing next to the same guy I played next to last week,\u201d Mertz said.<\/p>\n

Senior defensive end Deonte Gibson said Northwestern\u2019s nonconference schedule has prepared them for Saturday\u2019s challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose games are very valuable because they prepare us to play at the stage and at the level where we believe we can win our division,\u201d Gibson said.<\/p>\n

Kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. from Ryan Field. The game will be broadcast on Big Ten Network.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Photo at top: Northwestern’s Ryan Field. (Jordan Ray\/MEDILL)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jordan Ray The past three football games between the Northwestern Wildcats and Minnesota Golden Gophers have been tight, defensive struggles, and Wildcats coach Pat Fitzgerald said to expect more of the same this weekend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":147,"featured_media":17691,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,436],"tags":[192],"class_list":["post-17686","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","category-spring-2015","tag-promo"],"yoast_head":"\nFitzgerald: Expect \u2018hard-fought battle\u2019 in Saturday\u2019s Big Ten opener - Medill Reports Chicago<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/fitzgerald-expect-hard-fought-battle-in-saturdays-big-ten-opener\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Fitzgerald: Expect \u2018hard-fought battle\u2019 in Saturday\u2019s Big Ten opener - 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