Across the beat: Getting to know Northwestern

Northwestern opened its football season with a Week 0 win over Nebraska and hasn't played since, taking an extra day in Ireland to celebrate before having last weekend off.

So let's get to know the Wildcats via Louie Vaccher, publisher and managing editor of Wildcat Report on the Rivals network.

Here's our five-question Q&A about the Wildcats:

1. Lots of people saw Northwestern's Week 0 win over Nebraska -- have there been any significant developments since then, though? Sometimes feels easy to forget about those teams with Week 0 games that have Week 1 off.

Answer: Not really. Northwestern was smart and scheduled a bye week after the Ireland game (unlike Nebraska, which scuffled for three quarters with North Dakota last Saturday). The Wildcats stayed an extra day in Dublin before returning home.

Since then, things have been pretty quiet in Evanston. Northwestern isn’t releasing a two-deep or an injury report this season, so we don’t even know anything about the health of the team.

2. One game is hardly a season-maker, but it looked like QB Ryan Hilinski was much more comfortable and settled in against Nebraska. What's gone into him finding a rhythm in Year 2 at Northwestern?

Answer: I think the single biggest factor is that it’s Hilinski’s second year in offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian’s offense.

Remember, Hilinski transferred from South Carolina in the spring of 2021 and took part in just a couple weeks of spring practice. He wasn’t really expected to play last season as the No. 3 quarterback, but he was pressed into duty against Duke, ironically, after starter Hunter Johnson imploded and was benched, and No. 2 Andrew Marty got hurt.

The other thing is that Hilinski really worked on himself this offseason. He lost weight to improve his mobility and really worked on his strength and fitness levels.

You saw the results. In Week 0, he looked like a different player. He was confident, got the ball out on time and was very accurate. Hilinski was locked in a battle for the No. 1 job with backup Brendan Sullivan throughout fall camp.

It looks like coaches picked the right guy.

3. Does all discussion about Northwestern's O-line revolve around Peter Skoronski, or is it a strong unit all-around?

Answer: Skoronski is the star, no question. He’s a dominant player and is as good as advertised. PFF.com rates him as the top tackle in college football and he’ll likely be a first-round draft pick.

But the guys around him had a heck of a game against Nebraska, too. Hilinski wasn’t sacked and was hurried just once, and Evan Hull and Cam Porter combined to rush for 214 yards and two touchdowns.

Coach Pat Fitzgerald said that the unit graded out above 90% for the first time since offensive line coach Kurt Anderson arrived in 2020. That’s why they were collectively named the offensive player of the week for the Wildcats.

The strength of the line is the tackles, with Skoronski on the left and Ethan Wiederkehr, a sixth-year player with 26 starts under his belt, on the right.

Inside, guards Josh Priebe and Conrad Rowley, and center Charlie Schmidt – three guys who often struggled last year – really took the next step in their development. Nebraska has a strong, physical D-line, and the Wildcats dominated the line of scrimmage.

It’s also worth pointing out that the entire line is healthy; injuries really took a toll on the unit last season.

4. Nebraska threw for 355 yards and averaged 8.3 yards/attempt -- was that more the Mark Whipple influence on the Cornhuskers, or trying to take advantage of a perceived weakness in Northwestern's pass defense?

Answer: Nebraska’s success through the air is a concern, for sure. But I think there were a few reasons for quarterback Casey Thompson’s numbers.

Whipple, a new arrival from Pitt, likes to throw the ball, as you pointed out. Thompson had some success early, so they stuck with it. Starting cornerback AJ Hampton suffered a “lower body injury” during the game and didn’t return, so the Huskers tried to take advantage of some matchups with less experienced players.

Plus, the Huskers couldn’t run the ball. They ran for just 110 yards on 3.5 yards per carry – a year after running for an ungodly 427 yards against the Wildcats – so they tried to just air it out.

Coming into the game, the secondary was thought to be the strength of the defense. They have veterans across the board who have started a lot of games in Hampton (if healthy) and Cameron Mitchell at corner, and Coco Azema and Rod Heard II at safety.

5. Short of just asking "vibe check?" ... How optimistic do things feel around Northwestern going into this one? Last season obviously didn't go well, so beating a team in the opener that won last season's matchup 56-7 has to lead to some pretty strong feelings of even-year magic for Pat Fitzgerald, right?

Answer: There’s a definite buzz around the program right now. That was a big win over Nebraska in the national spotlight of Week 0, when it was the only Power Five game on the schedule. It also made them 1-0 in the Big Ten West.

I think fans are thinking that Northwestern may be able to work its “even-year magic” again this season. The Cats have been riding a rollercoaster the last four years: they won the Big Ten West in 2018, finished last in 2019, won the West again in 2020 and finished last again last season.

This is an even-numbered year, so maybe things are on the upswing again.

The win over Nebraska was a big confidence boost for the program after last year’s embarrassment in Lincoln. The Wildcats were a 13-point underdog and outplayed them on both sides of the ball.

Now they’ll get a chance to redeem themselves against Duke, another team that beat them last season. The Blue Devils have won three in a row against NU, so the Wildcats have a score to settle.