NU stays concerned with safety heading into showdown at Purdue
Northwestern is set to visit Purdue on Saturday in a prime time battle for first place in the Big Ten West.
At least, that was the plan as of Monday evening. Everything is tentative in college football right now, thanks to the ongoing pandemic conditions.
The third undefeated team in the West division is Wisconsin, which has been sitting at 1-0 while two straight games were canceled due to a COVID outbreak in Madison. The Badgers announced Monday they have resumed team activities and plan to play at Michigan this week.
Northwestern is among the majority of Big Ten teams playing with close to a full roster. The Wildcats are 3-0 in the conference for the first time since 2000 after beating Maryland, Iowa and Nebraska.
NU coach Pat Fitzgerald talked Monday about the tasked of trying to stay safe while also preparing to play football games.
"I think No. 1, you've just got to make great choices socially," he said. "It's really challenging for our guys. I've been talking about this now since probably our first time getting together on Zoom press conferences. The challenge is every day, every moment, every interaction.
"To this point, knock on wood, they've done a great job. Same thing with our coaching staff, our support staff. Everybody that touches our program, we've got to really be in the same mindset that I'm in. I go to the office, the house, to the office, to the house. It's a great sacrifice from the normal experience, but our guys have done a really good job of it."
The task for players in college is certainly difficult. They're taking classes, doing homework, eating in groups and often in the proximity of regular students.
Notre Dame presented an interesting scenario last Saturday. Capacity was reduced, but students were in the stands and not socially distanced. Then when the Irish pulled off a double-overtime win against No. 1 Clemson, the students swarmed the field and surrounded the players. Time will tell if the Irish escaped that scenario without any positive COVID tests.
"College football's about pageantry and passion, right?" Fitzgerald asked. "It looked like their students were passionate and rushed the field - a risk that you have when you have fans in the building right now. That's ultimately a decision the Big Ten made to only have families in the stadium.
"I hope everybody comes out of it healthy and safe, but I frickin' love college football. I think it's awesome. I think the pageantry's unbelievable, but I think that's probably hard to drop that from happening when fans are in the building in such a big win."
Northwestern has used timely turnovers in its last 2 victories. They rallied from a 17-0 deficit to edge Iowa 21-20, then beat Nebraska at home 21-13 last Saturday. The Wildcats snagged two red-zone interceptions in the second half against the Cornhuskers, and have picked off 8 passes total in the first three games. Redshirt freshman safety Brandon Joseph has emerged as a rising star with 3 interceptions.
The NU secondary will have its hands full this week. Fitzgerald called Purdue sophomore David Bell the best receiver in the country, and Bell's numbers back it up. He has 22 receptions for 243 yards and 4 touchdowns in just two games.
Meanwhile, last year's star of the Boilermakers' offense was Rondale Moore, who opted out of the season, changed his mind, but hasn't played yet due to an unspecified injury. Fitzgerald said he expects to see Moore on the field Saturday.
Purdue's quarterback is Aidan O'Connell, a graduate of Stevenson High School who originally walked on. O'Connell threw for 371 yards in a win at Illinois on Oct. 31.
The Boilermakers are coming off a bye week because they were supposed to play at Wisconsin last weekend. The Purdue-Wisconsin game will not be made up, while Northwestern is set to host the Badgers next week.
Picking a winner in the West could get complicated.
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