THINKS THE EAGLES STOLE ONE
Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald is fond of saying that when a Wildcats player gets hurt, his backup must "pick up the flag."
It's a trademark Fitzism, along with "more weight on the bar" (added importance as the season progresses), "flush it" (move on), and the self-explanatory "it hasn't been a yellow brick road."
No, it has been as smooth as a dirt road for the Wildcats, who had to rally from 18 down at Purdue and 25 down against Indiana to earn their two Big Ten victories.
And they'll need four-wheel drive to notch conference win No. 3 tomorrow.
Penn State is visiting Northwestern, and if you glanced at the Big Ten statistics, you'd swear the Nittany Lions are the greatest team in the Midwest.
They lead the conference in scoring defense, pass defense, rushing defense, total defense, total offense, pass efficiency, third-down conversion percentage, opponent's third-down conversion percentage, sacks, and fewest sacks allowed.
And one more: oldest coach. Joe Paterno will turn 83 in December.
"What you get in a Joe Paterno-coached team is consistency across the board," Fitzgerald said. "Their emotion, the way they execute . . . they're very consistent in all three phases, and that's why they're as successful as they've been in Joe's tenure."
Paterno has also not been afraid to evolve.
Even after losing the star-studded receiving triumvirate of Deon Butler, Derrick Williams and Jordan Norwood, Paterno starts three wideouts (Derek Moye, Graham Zug and Chaz Powell), and each has at least 21 catches.
Quarterback Daryll Clark lit up Michigan on Saturday for four touchdown passes and 230 yards.
"They're going to take 10 shots Saturday," Fitzgerald said. "I guarantee you there will be 10 deep balls."
That will put the spotlight on a banged-up and suddenly inexperienced Northwestern secondary.
The foursome of cornerbacks Sherrick McManis and Jordan Mabin and safeties Brendan Smith and Brad Phillips was viewed as the savviest and most battle-tested group in the league.
But McManis reinjured his quadriceps Saturday against Indiana, and it's a stretch to think he'll play at full strength against Penn State.
Fitzgerald's most hopeful remark was that McManis "moved around a little bit" during a Monday morning workout.
Phillips, limited by a shoulder injury against Indiana, has more bruises than a carton of peaches. Smith had surgery on his thumb but is expected to play.
Fellow safety Brian Peters played with a cast protecting his left hand Saturday.
The result? Unproven defensive backs such as walk-on Ricky Weina, Demetrius Dugar, and Jared Carpenter must . . .
"Pick up the flag," Fitzgerald said.
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