Northwestern football is back and looking for a precious sixth win on the season to secure bowl eligibility. Have we said that before? Perhaps, but it continues to be truer than ever with now just three
games left on the regular season schedule. A week after traveling to California to face No. 19 USC, the ‘Cats get another ranked test at home, welcoming No. 18 Michigan to Chicago for a battle at Wrigley Field. We spoke with Maize n Brew’s Nick Durand about what to know about this Wolverines team and his expectations for the game.
InsideNU: Michigan has looked like a playoff contender at times, and like a middle-of-the-road team at others. What are your expectations for the Wolverines through the rest of the season? What’s their floor and ceiling right now?
Nick Durand: My expectation (and seemingly for most fans) is that Michigan should win these next two games against Northwestern and Maryland and then it’s a big “we’ll see” against Ohio State in a few weeks. That’s the result that matters most of course – if this team wants to have a successful season and make the playoff, it’s going to have to go through the Buckeyes. I think we’ve seen this team playing at their floor for the last two games against Michigan State and Purdue with the defense playing good but not great and the offense sputtering. If the team wants to hit its ceiling, the run game needs to continue being dominant while the passing game finds more consistency both from the quarterback and the pass-catchers.
INU: After struggling with quarterback play a year ago, freshman Bryce Underwood has helped UMich’s offense become productive once again. How impressed have you been by him, and what impact do you expect him to make Saturday?
ND: Overall I’ve been pleased with Underwood’s performance this year, but the last two games have been pretty rough. Despite the hype I don’t think anyone truly expected him to come in and be elite this year – just be passable with some flashes of the elite talent. He looked to be developing nicely through the first seven games, but over the last two weeks we’ve seen him be pretty sloppy with his footwork and the accuracy has come and gone a bit. Furthermore he had an interception and a fumble against Purdue, which has been uncharacteristic for him so far. This Saturday, I’d hope that we see that the bye week did him some good. I’ll be watching his feet to see if he’s a bit calmer back there and throwing off a solid platform. Additionally, I’d expect him to continue making plays with his legs on designed runs and scrambles – an element that was badly missing from the offense last year.
INU: On the defensive side, give me a few players who are going to stand out on Saturday for ‘Cats fans who have yet to see Michigan play this season.
ND: The guy on Michigan’s defense that’s been standing out the most in recent weeks has been senior defensive end Derrick Moore. He’s a former top recruit that hadn’t really been productive until this year, but he’s been hot as of late with two sacks in each of the last three games (8.5 for the year). At linebacker, Michigan is hoping to get sophomore Cole Sullivan back from injury this week. He missed the game against Purdue a few weeks ago and it really showed, as his coverage skills are a great asset for the defense and Purdue was able to exploit the middle of the field in his absence. Jaishawn Barham also left the Purdue game with an injury, so it’s unclear if he’ll be in the lineup this week. If he’s on the field, Barham is also a guy that can make an impact on the edge with his speed of the ball, but you might see him playing some middle linebacker as well. In the secondary and at defensive tackle there’s not really any one player that stands out, but both groups have been getting solid play with a committee of players throughout the year.
INU: You wake up on Sunday morning having missed the game and see that Michigan lost. What are the most likely reasons you’d expect that to happen?
ND: Well when Michigan has struggled this year it’s been when they play on the road so that might give Northwestern some more hope for this weekend. If it ends in a Michigan loss I’d chalk it up to a few things. First I’d say we probably get another subpar showing from Underwood and the passing attack. While Michigan’s run game is good, it needs the passing game to back it up at times so teams don’t just stack the box and give Jordan Marshall no room to run. Next, I’d say that the defenses tackling issues would have to resurface. Most notably in the loss to USC, the Wolverines couldn’t tackle a soul and USC was able to exploit the defense in both the run game and the screen game. Tackling on the perimeter has really been a problem for the last two years and we’ve seen opposing offenses find success in the screen and short pass game. Finally, I’d say we also see the typical undisciplined mistakes from young teams on the road, such as a bunch of pre-snap penalties or missed assignments. Knock on wood, things haven’t been as bad in that department since the USC game, but we’ll have to wait and see.
INU: Finally, hit us with a prediction and score. Who wins this one, and by how much?
ND: I’ll bank on Michigan looking a bit better coming out of its bye week and take the Wolverines to win this one 31-16. I think the run game will have its success while the passing attack gets somewhat back on track to supplement the offense. Meanwhile, the defense plays a bend but don’t break style that should allow Northwestern to get into opposing territory a few times, but not deep enough to do real damage. Plus I expect plenty of Michigan fans in the stands in Chicago to create a pseudo-home environment.
