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Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald can’t stop complimenting Michigan State’s defense
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Northwestern hasn’t had an easy first few weeks of the 2019 season.
To start, the Wildcats lost to Stanford 17-7. TJ Green, the team’s backup quarterback — who replaced the starter due to poor play — was lost for the season in that game with an injury. Running back Isaiah Bowser got hurt, too.
Bowser then missed Week 3 (after a Week 2 bye), but Northwestern defeated UNLV 30-14. For Week 4, the Wildcats host Michigan State.
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Michigan State has been, well, Michigan State over the first three games. The offense, outside of a 51-point outburst against Western Michigan, has been stale and the defense has been absolutely dynamite. Defensively, through two games, the Spartans allowed -6 rushing yards. Yes, -6.
In Week 3, Michigan State lost 10-7 and allowed 76 total rushing yards. A loss is a loss and 76 rushing yards allowed may seem like a lot, but, the Spartans have a dominant defense. That’s understood.
Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern’s coach, certainly understands that as well. And on Monday, he went on about how great the Spartans are on that side of the ball:
“I think it starts with their personnel,” Fitzgerald said. “They’ve got All-B1G players across the board at every position. They’re well coordinated, they play physical, they play great team defense. You very rarely see them beat themselves, they tackle incredibly well and then they have their change-ups that keep you honest to supplement their base defense.”“[Dantonio] is one of the best coaches to coach our game for a reason. He gets his guys to play at a high level. They play just outstanding team defense.”
Kevin covers Big Ten football for Saturday Tradition.