Northwestern, Iowa kind of treading the same water

Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald is tired of waiting around for a few areas of his team to come together.

So, while on bye last week, it was 'good on good” during practice for the Wildcats (3-4, 2-2 Big Ten), who'll face Iowa (5-2, 2-1) Saturday at Kinnick Stadium. 'Good on good” is No. 1 unit vs. No. 1 unit.

'We had to get some things cleaned up from a schematic standpoint as coaches,” Fitzgerald said Monday. 'And then some guys who are really playing too inconsistent, we really had to work hard to get them one-on-one and figure out where their issues are ... We went good on good. We're far from a finished product, so we did a lot of good-on-good work last week.”

On Oct. 11, the Wildcats hooked up with Nebraska in a physical matchup at Ryan Field. The Huskers scored 17 points in the fourth quarter to pull away 38-17.

True freshman running back Justin Jackson continued his impressive run for Northwestern. He carried 22 times for 128 yards and a pair of TDs. He's seventh in the league with 90.0 yards a game and averages 4.70 yards a carry.

This becomes a relevant matchup on a few levels. In the last two weeks, Iowa's rush defense has crumbled, allowing 528 yards on 85 carries (6.2 yards a carry).

'So far, so good,” Fitzgerald said about the 5-11, 185-pounder from Carol Stream, Ill. 'He's going to play a great defense this week, one of the best we've played in every category. They're going to be where they're supposed to be. Coach [Phil] Parker and his staff do a great job. They always have. They do what they do and they do it well and they do it physically and they play well together. It'll be a huge challenge for him this week.”

Northwestern will be searching for dimension in its offense. Quarterback Trevor Siemian is sixth in the conference with 213.7 yards a game. His 5.6 yards per attempt is 13th and 57.0 completion percentage is 10th in the league. He also has battled an ankle injury.

'He's a great guy, I commend him a lot for fighting through what he's been fighting through,” wide receiver Kyle Prater said. 'To come out there every game and put his best foot forward, it means a lot. I feel like everyone is rallying behind him. He's going to come into this game probably a little dinged up, but he's going to go out there and play and he's going to be great.”

Northwestern's recent successful teams have been steered by running quarterbacks, with Dan Persa and Kain Colter quickly coming to mind. Siemian is a prostyle pocket passer.

'I think Trevor is healthier than he's been,” Fitzgerald said. 'We expected to do some things with him at the beginning of the year. Unfortunately, that ended up changing through some injuries.”

Fitzgerald talked about getting more out of his receivers.

'We've got to be better on the outside,” he said. 'It'd sure be nice if we could make some guys miss and turn a 4-yard hitch into an 8-yard gain. Seems like right now the only guy making people miss consistently is Justin Jackson at the tailback position. That's not enough.

' ... Even go back to Persa's year when we could run. He completed about 72 percent and a lot of those throws were for 10 yards or less. We had a lot of guys catch and make guys miss and make nickels into dimes and dimes into quarters. When this offense is humming, you're throwing at a high percentage, you're catching at a high percentage and you're making the first guy miss at a high percentage. Right now, we're not doing that.”

With that said, Northwestern superback (tight end) Dan Vitale will be the top receiver going into Saturday's game, averaging 40.3 yards a game (17th in the league). Iowa's Damond Powell (39.7 yards a game) and Kevonte Martin-Manley (38.6) are Nos. 19 and 20 in the league.

Iowa averages just 10.9 yards a completion, that's tied for 95th in the nation.

Fitzgerald also talked about strengths and weaknesses on the offensive line, specifically citing right tackle as a hot spot.

Injury list

... Linebacker Collin Ellis is out with a concussion. Wide receiver Miles Shuler is on the depth chart after taking a scary hit against Nebraska. Vitale, Prater and safety Ibraheim Campbell (hamstring) are all day to day, Fitzgerald said.

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