 "Photo: Matt Watras/The Daily Northwestern")
By Chris Gentilviso The Daily Northwestern
For 14 spring practices, "fight" was the term Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald coined for a drill pitting his offense against his defense.
On Saturday afternoon, the "fight" finally hit Ryan Field, lasting past the final seconds of the Wildcats' annual spring game. As the clock hit zero in the fourth quarter, the split Purple and White squads found themselves knotted in a 14-14 tie.
Abandoning traditional overtime rules, junior Amado Villarreal ousted redshirt freshman Stefan Demos in a field goal face-off, converting a 35-yard attempt to give the Purple squad a 17-14 victory.
But fight and score aside, Fitzgerald said he was most pleased with his roster of 95 staying clear of major injuries.
"We ran more plays today than in any other scrimmages, so I'm happy to see that we came out injury-free," he said.
Junior quarterback C.J. Bachér completed 22-of-39 passes for 219 yards, throwing two touchdowns and two interceptions in his first real-time action since offseason toe surgery.
"It felt good getting out there," Bachér said. "You can't really simulate a game situation in practice. Being able to get out here and scrimmage is the closest thing to game speed and intensity."
Of those 22 completions, the longest came in the first quarter, when sophomore wide receiver Andrew Brewer made a diving 27-yard touchdown catch to put Purple ahead, 7-0. But as Brewer came up with the ball, he limped off the field and did not return.
Fitzgerald said Brewer suffered a "stinger" that would not have any lasting effects.
Intensity was rampant on the Cats' defensive end, headed by four sacks, three forced turnovers and eight batted passes. Junior safety Akeem Hunter, who missed the entire 2006 season due to injury, struck for the biggest play, returning an errant Bachér pass 30 yards for a touchdown to tie the game, 7-7.
Senior cornerback Deante Battle added three blistering hits - one of which laid out junior wide receiver Eric Peterman. Battle said the Cats' physical play on defense was aided by their familiarity with the offensive sets.
"Playing against our offense every day, you pick up tendencies," Battle said. "Our coaches put us in perfect position. I didn't have to worry about anyone beating us deep. I just got there as soon as I could and hit (the receivers) hard."
Shaken by the second-quarter hit, Peterman persevered, leading the Cats' receiving corps with 10 catches for 104 yards. With junior running back Tyrell Sutton getting just two carries for 10 yards in the first two drives of the game, NU looked to spread its offense with an array of short passes.
Backup running backs Brandon Roberson and Stephen Simmons saw significant action, catching a combined seven passes for 60 yards.
"I call it a pseudo first offense," Fitzgerald said. "We have a lot of guys from our first huddle not playing with the first offense today, so it's just kind of the way it goes. What I liked better is that we kept battling."
With the conclusion of the spring season, that battle will now rest heavily upon the shoulders of the players. The Cats begin training camp Aug. 4 in Kenosha, Wis., leaving them two months of summer conditioning before the stretch run to their season opener against Northeastern on Sept. 1.
Rising as the face of the offense, Bachér expressed confidence that his team was up to the task over the summer.
"None of the coaches are around," Bachér said. "We have to lead ourselves. I think we have enough leaders out here to be able do that. We have to take the younger guys along with us and get better every day."
Reach Chris Gentilviso at c-gentilviso@northwestern.edu.
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