{"id":19696,"date":"2015-11-04T14:31:05","date_gmt":"2015-11-04T20:31:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/?p=19696"},"modified":"2015-11-04T14:31:05","modified_gmt":"2015-11-04T20:31:05","slug":"northwestern-footballs-turnaround-a-matter-of-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.medill.northwestern.edu\/chicago\/northwestern-footballs-turnaround-a-matter-of-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Northwestern football’s turnaround a matter of time"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Jordan Ray<\/strong><\/p>\n

In Northwestern\u2019s first five games, it allowed only 35 points.<\/p>\n

The Wildcats gave up 106 in their three games since.<\/p>\n

The defense that carried the Wildcats to a 5-0 start and No. 13 ranking in the Associated Press poll unraveled down the stretch as the team lost two straight and almost a third entering the bye week.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you don\u2019t play well for a couple of weeks, everybody kind of casts you aside,\u201d coach Pat Fitzgerald<\/a> said. \u201cYou look at the way people are talking about Stanford. We shut \u2019em down. \u2026 We went to Durham, and we shut them down. That\u2019s the team that we\u2019re capable of.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

With Penn State (7-2, 4-1 Big Ten) coming to Ryan Field on Saturday to start the back half of the Big Ten Conference schedule, it\u2019s all a matter of time for Northwestern \u2014 time of possession, that is.<\/p>\n

In its last three games, Northwestern (6-2, 2-2 Big Ten) ranked second-to-last in the country in time of possession, holding the ball about 22 minutes per game. The Wildcats are undefeated this season when they win time of possession and 1-2 when they don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

During a 40-10 loss to Iowa, the Wildcats surrendered a season-worst 492 yards, as their defense again spent almost twice as long on the field as their offense.<\/p>\n

\"NU<\/a>
Chart details how Northwestern’s time of possession has related to its wins and losses this season. (Jordan Ray\/Medill)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cI think (the defense) wore down,\u201d said Dave Eanet, Northwestern\u2019s play-by-play announcer for WGN Radio.<\/p>\n

When Northwestern holds the ball longer than its opponents, it allows only seven points per game. When it doesn\u2019t, that number balloons to 35.3 points per game.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t just blame the defense.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got to stay on the field longer,\u201d quarterback Clayton Thorson<\/a> said. \u201cThat comes down to running the football and passing it consistently.\u201d<\/p>\n

Against Nebraska, Northwestern managed to eke out a 30-28 win thanks to a pair of long Thorson runs that set up touchdowns and cornerback Nick VanHoose<\/a>\u2019s interception returned for a score.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose three plays were the biggest plays in the game, really,\u201d Big Ten analyst and former Nebraska wide receiver Matt Davison said.<\/p>\n

But big plays don\u2019t exactly solve the clock issue.<\/p>\n

Nebraska still won time of possession, and the Wildcats gave up their third-highest point total of the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that\u2019s been the narrative the last few years with a team like Oregon, who scores so fast,\u201d Davison said. \u201cThis is a different scenario because, with the way Northwestern\u2019s offense had been playing the last couple of weeks, heck, they would take points any way they could get it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"NU<\/a>
Redshirt freshman quarterback Clayton Thorson is pictured. (Big Ten)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Then again, don\u2019t just blame the offense, either.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe had some very uncharacteristic self-inflicted wounds on third down,\u201d Fitzgerald said. \u201cThat, to me, was probably the most disappointing aspect of the (Nebraska game).\u201d<\/p>\n

Nebraska converted nine of 20 third-down opportunities against the Wildcats.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe put in a couple of new little things, not major, but they ended up looking like they were major as we watched the tape,\u201d Fitzgerald said. \u201cThat aggravates me because we\u2019re better than that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Third down has been an issue during the Wildcats\u2019 slide. Northwestern\u2019s last three opponents have converted on third down 48 percent of the time, a 28-percentage-point increase from Northwestern\u2019s first five games.<\/p>\n

The good news for Northwestern is that Penn State ranks second-to-last in Big Ten games in third-down conversions (28.6 percent).<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve just got to get back to doing what we do,\u201d linebacker Anthony Walker<\/a> said. \u201cWe have to win on third down, and that\u2019s our main goal. If we can win on third down, we\u2019ll be able to beat a lot of teams.\u201d<\/p>\n

Photo at top: Northwestern plays Penn State in a football game in 2013. The Wildcats and Nittany Lions face off Saturday at Ryan Field. (Penn State photo via Flickr<\/a>)<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Jordan Ray In Northwestern\u2019s first five games, it allowed only 35 points. The Wildcats gave up 106 in their three games since. The defense that carried the Wildcats to a 5-0 start and No. 13 ranking in the Associated Press poll unraveled down the stretch as the team lost two straight and almost a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":147,"featured_media":19725,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[509,31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fall-2015","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nNorthwestern football's turnaround a matter of time - 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\/northwestern-footballs-turnaround-a-matter-of-time\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Northwestern football's turnaround a matter of time - Medill Reports Chicago\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Jordan Ray In Northwestern\u2019s first five games, it allowed only 35 points. 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