By Chris Estrada
Northeastern’s 27-0 loss to Northwestern Saturday at Ryan Field in Evanston, Ill., had a little bit of everything for the Huskies.
There was a little bit of good in getting all-important experience in a major venue, a little bit of bad in terms of penalties and a little bit of learning for the 10 games ahead. All in all, head coach Rocky Hager said it was a worthwhile test playing against both the Wildcats and their 16,000-plus crowd.
“They had good discipline and had a high level of execution, which made us unable to endure any mistakes in order to expect success,” he said.
Hager added that the sizable audience contributed to the team’s playing.
“When you play in big places, you get accustomed to the crowds so you can perform at a high level anywhere,” he said. “It’s going to be loud in Durham, New Hampshire, or when we go down to Amherst. And I know it’s going to be loud in Dover, Delaware. … This experience allows the crowds to help the players at learning to handle the situation.”
Starting junior quarterback Anthony Orio (10-for-18, 69 yards) looked sharp on the Huskies’ opening drive, completing two third-down conversion attempts to keep the offense on course. Sophomore kicker Mat Johnson came up short on a 46-yard field goal attempt, following a collision between Orio and senior running back Maurice Murray.
The Wildcats responded with a 72-yard drive that ended with quarterback CJ Bacher diving across the goal line to give Northwestern a 7-0 lead.
After forcing the ‘Cats to settle for a field goal at the beginning of the second quarter, junior backup quarterback John Sperrazza (9-for-14, 82 yards) took control on the next Husky drive, a 49-yard push that featured a 27-yard pass to junior receiver Chris Plum. But the drive stalled at the Wildcat 25 and Johnson’s second attempt, a 42-yarder, fell short again.
Bacher (23-for-29, 243 yards) followed up Johnson’s missed kick by finishing a 75-yard possession with a two-yard pass to receiver Ross Lane for a 17-0 Wildcat lead. Orio hopped back in at quarterback for NU near the end of the first half and spearheaded a push to the Northwestern 29, but was unable to convert a fourth-and-11 pass.
The second half saw Northwestern jump up 24-0 with a one-yard touchdown run from tailback Tyrone Sutton (24 carries, 108 yards) after an unnecessary roughness and late hit call against Northeastern kept the drive going. Wildcat kicker Amado Villarreal capped the scoring later in the game with a 35-yard field goal.
The Huskies host Richmond Saturday at 12:30 p.m. at Parsons Field. Hager said the Richmond Spiders carry several similarities to Northwestern on offense, but the main focal point is senior wide receiver Arman Shields, a pre-season All-CAA selection that is “probably as good [if not] better as anyone we saw at Northwestern.”
“They know they will have a veteran offensive football team and I think they will try to put the game away early against our defense,” he said. “The defense, they did good against us last year (a 12-7 loss), but they’ve graduated most of them. … We need to put ourselves in situations where we can get the ball over the goal line and not have to try field goal attempts.”
