EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — C.J. Bacher’s eyes should be wide with anticipation when the Northwestern quarterback takes the field Saturday against Minnesota.
Coming off a wild 48-41 overtime win at Michigan State when he threw five TD passes — one a game-winner — and passed for a school-record 520 yards, Bacher faces a Minnesota defense that hasn’t stopped much of anything this season.
While the Gophers (1-5, 0-3) are trying to fine tune a spread offense of their own, they might have trouble containing one at Ryan Field. Minnesota is yielding 515 yards per game — 345 passing — and 37 points. The Gophers have lost four straight.
“As everybody can see, the spread offense is here to stay … It’s an offense that’s tough for defenses,” Minnesota coach Tim Brewster said.
“It forces defensive players to go out and play in space, which isn’t something that big linebackers like to do. What you’ve got do is continue to work toward getting more speed and athleticism on the field.”
Minnesota’s offensive coordinator is Mike Dunbar, who held the same position with Northwestern from 2002-2005.
Even practicing against the spread offense — as the Gophers do on a daily basis — doesn’t mean much once a game starts.
“It helps quite a bit because you play against it every week, but everyone runs it just a little bit different,” Gophers defensive end Willie VanDeSteeg said. “There is a quarterback in each offense that might give you a look that’s just a little bit different from another team.”
Bacher is improving and that has lifted Northwestern’s hopes after a rugged stretch. In fact, the Wildcats’ roller-coaster season could be headed toward a bowl.
After a 2-0 start, the Wildcats suffered a humbling home field loss to Duke and then were overwhelmed 58-7 at Ohio State. The following week Northwestern (3-3, 1-2) led Michigan late before losing when a fourth-quarter fumble by Bacher set up the go-ahead TD in a 28-16 loss.
But the Wildcats regrouped behind Bacher’s record-setting performance to beat the Spartans in East Lansing last week.
“I think early on a lot of us were worried about just not messing up almost, playing kind of tentatively and just trying to get our assignments accomplished,” Northwestern center Trevor Rees said.
“The last few weeks it’s been a lot more of just letting it go. If you mess up, you mess up. But try to do everything full speed and attack the defense. It’s really been working well. We’ve been more successful as an offense as a whole.”
With star running back Tyrell Sutton missing four straight games with an ankle injury, Bacher has been throwing with regularity and success. He completed 38 of 48 last week with no interceptions.
“Seven of the last eight quarters, I think we’ve really shown what this offense can do when we execute,” Bacher said.
“We have a lot of playmakers and we have a great game plan every week. If we can just come out and play like that, make the plays that are out there for us, we can put up a lot of points on the board.”
The Gophers’ offense is led by quarterback Adam Weber, who completed 24-of-44 passes for 280 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions in a 40-20 loss to Indiana last week.
His favorite receiver was Eric Decker, who made eight catches, one for a score.
The Gophers have been hurt by 20 turnovers this season, 18 by the offense.
“This offense will work if you get your guys to buy into it and you get the guys to work within the system. Not to say that we’re not doing that, but there is definitely room for improvement,” Weber said.
“That’s what we’re looking for — we’re looking to be like Indiana, we’re looking to be like Northwestern. We have the potential to, but we need to stop hurting ourselves in the game.”
Source: www.sportingnews.com
