Another ever-popular Northwestern football blog

One of these days, we're going to break down Northwestern's figuratively sunny recruiting future in men's basketball. But for now, we're going to discuss the literally sunny outlook for NU football.

Weather.com claims it’ll be nearly 80 degrees and sunny at 4 p.m. Tuesday when Northwestern starts practicing in earnest for Saturday’s 6 p.m. game at Syracuse. In other words, it’ll be perfect weather that the players will be remembering fondly in a month or two when the Lake Michigan chill hits them.

So where will the Wildcats be on this awesome afternoon? Sweating profusely inside Trienens Hall in an effort to prepare for the Orange’s Carrier Dome.

They’ll do all of their practicing this week inside because NU’s indoor facility, like Syracuse’s dome, doesn’t have air conditioning. The Wildcats can open a few doors to try to lure a small breeze into Trienens, but it’s not going to make things comfortable for the players. And that seems OK with them…even guys like 290-pound senior left guard Desmond Taylor.

“Just from a big-body perspective,” he said with a smile, “it definitely will be a good thing to be inside. Especially, you know, certain people sweat more than others. Mainly big guys. Just having access to the indoor, that will definitely show what we need to do as far as proper hydration for our bodies.”

Taylor ranks himself as perhaps NU’s leader in perspiration, which means he has to lead the squad in fluid intake as well. He estimated that he gulped down 10 or 11 Gatorades last Friday and then had 3 or 4 more on Saturday prior to NU’s 11 a.m. kickoff against Eastern Michigan. Taylor’s teammates cracked up at his near-addiction to electrolytes.

“Hey, when you suffer full body cramps, you don’t want to get to that point,” Taylor said. “I do everything in my power to prevent that.”

But it’s not just about getting their bodies adjusted. It’s about training their minds to operate in a cacophonous cacoon. As they’ve done in the past leading up to games at Minnesota, the Wildcats will park their portable sound system directly behind the quarterbacks to get everyone ready for what could lie ahead.

“It’s necessary,” said senior safety Brendan Smith, who capped NU’s final trip to the Metrodome last fall with a game-winning interception return for a score. “I know from being in the arenas and being at Minnesota, you need to be very vocal when you’re communicating. Some of the younger guys, I’ve got to let them know it’s easy to make a call right now. But you’ve got to be louder. You’ve got to make sure your hand signals are there the whole time. If I’ve got to make a check to the D-Linemen, I’ve got to make sure (he) can hear it.”

ODDS AND (DEFENSIVE) ENDS
--Senior DE Corey Wootton, who had his right knee surgically repaired in January, admitted he doesn’t feel perfect yet. He has 1 tackle and 2 quarterback hurries through 2 games.

“It’s just more reps I need under my belt, you know, after being out for so long.” said Wootton, who sat out spring ball and didn’t participate every day in fall camp. “Getting used to the movements again and the game situations. Nothing can simulate game situations other than being out there….I definitely trust (the knee). It just feels a little different than last year’s (knee). I’ve just got to get used to it.”

--Speaking of defensive line play, coach Pat Fitzgerald said after Northwestern’s 27-24 escape against Eastern Michigan that he wanted to inspect the video before assessing the team’s problems against the Eagles’ surprisingly productive running game. The verdict?

“I didn’t see fundamental attack and get-off that we stress here with our front,” Fitzgerald said. “I didn’t see linebackers trigger and attack gaps properly. And I didn’t see, across the board on defense, tackling technique and fundamental that we’ve been that I think we’ve been pretty sound at for the last 18 months to two years.”

Wootton added that the D-Line didn’t do well focusing on their keys and filling their gaps. Both Fitz and Wootton believe everything can be corrected during practice…and Fitz suggested there’ll be a renewed emphasis on the fundamentals this week.

--Desmond Taylor earned the Northwestern coaches’ nod as offensive player of the game. He led a solid line that combined for 51 knockdowns against Eastern Michigan. Coach Pat Fitzgerald also lauded TE Josh Rooks and RG Doug Bartels for their impressive efforts.

The rest of this week’s award winners:
OFFENSIVE BIG PLAYMAKER: Redshirt sophomore superback Drake Dunsmore snagged 2 passes for 48 yards.
OFFENSIVE PRACTICE PLAYER: Redshirt freshman offensive lineman Chuck Porcelli from Montini.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER: Fifth-year senior safety Brendan Smith tied his career-high with a team-best 12 tackles.
DEFENSIVE BIG PLAYMAKER: Redshirt sophomore strong-side linebacker Ben Johnson intercepted a pass and returned it 70 yards for a score.
DEFENSIVE PRACTICE PLAYER: True freshman defensive end Anthony Battle from Mt. Carmel.
SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER: Redshirt junior kicker Stefan Demos booted the game-winning 49-yard field goal with six seconds left.
SPECIAL TEAMS PRACTICE PLAYER: True freshman outside linebacker Roderick Goodlow from Dallas.

LW