Repeat defender

Sporting News, The, Sept 9, 1996 by Jonathan Eig

In the not-so-good old days, when the Wildcats were Mildcats, Media Day at Northwestern was a bleak, poorly attended affair. Back then, Northwestern could have introduced a new starting quarterback named Jesus Christ, and only a handful of reporters would have bothered to take note. Headlines would have read, "Despite Apparent Second Coming, 'Cats Face Season of Adversity."

But on this Media Day, eight months after the culmination of the school's stunning Rose Bowl season, dozens of reporters await the Wildcats as they climb from the bowels of Dyche Stadium and onto their sun-drenched field which soon will have a more modern scoreboard. Nearby, a new indoor practice facility is under construction, as well as a new sports medicine room. Who says winning isn't everything?

A few reporters peel off to interview quarterback Steve Schnur, and a few more buttonhole last year's Heisman Trophy finalist, Darnell Autry. But the biggest cluster by far surrounds Pat Fitzgerald. Or, to be more specific, Fitzgerald's leg, which was broken late last season, depriving him the chance to play in the team's 41-32 Rose Bowl loss to USC. Cameras zoom in on Fitzgerald's purple scar, roughly the size of a silver dollar, because everyone knows how much weight the middle linebacker is expected to carry this season.

Autry may be the school's biggest star, and coach Gary Barnett may be the single greatest reason for the team's overnight success. But no one inspires Northwestern and symbolizes its fortunes better than Fitzgerald.

Team and team leader appear to have much in common. Northwestern is the smallest school in the Big Ten, and Fitzgerald, a 6-2, 235-pound senior from Carl Sandburg High School in the Chicago suburb of Orland Park, is one of the conference's smaller middle linebackers. Northwestern came from nowhere to win the Big Ten championship, just as Fitzgerald surprised every preseason prognosticator by winning several awards for defensive player of the year. Northwestern has always been considered a school with more brains than brawn, and Fitzgerald has been described as a player with great instincts but perhaps not enough size and speed to make an impact.

But the biggest parallel may be this: Despite their eye-catching performances last year, the Wildcats and Fitzgerald face skeptics as they begin the season Saturday against Wake Forest. Skeptics say Northwestern ran into a lot of lucky bounces and poorly prepared opponents last season. They also contend Fitzgerald has been overrated, his award-winning statistics inflated by a defensive system that funnels ballcarriers his way.

Now Fitzgerald faces a season of enormous challenges: He must come back from an injury, help prove Northwestern was no fluke and convince doubters he is a viable NFL prospect. And once again, he and the Wildcats will be inextricably linked: If Northwestern wants to make another run at the Rose Bowl, Fitzgerald will have to lead them.

"To me, he really personifies the team," Iowa offensive coordinator Don Patterson says. "I thought Northwestern got a lot of mileage out of their talent. Pat's a very intuitive and very smart player. The linebackers who get in a lot of trouble are those who make a lot of improper reads and false steps. He doesn't. He must be a good student of the game because it's not easy to fool him. I have a lot of respect for him--and he's the key to (that) defense."

To some extent, Fitzgerald's detractors are right--the defense is, indeed, designed to feature the middle linebacker. After Fitzgerald went down in November, sophomore Don Holmes posted equally strong numbers: 21 tackles, a sack and one pass breakup in two games. "There's no question our defense funnels plays to the linebacker," says Fitzgerald, an organizational studies major. "Most defenses do. So of course I'm going to get most of the tackles. I'm not going to sit here and brag that I'm this and I'm that. I love my defense, and it's a wonderful system to play for."

Gary Smith, a scout for the Chicago Bears and the BLESTO scouting combine, discounts the notion Fitzgerald looked good simply because of the team's 4-3 scheme. He says the decision to route traffic toward one player does not guarantee the player will make the necessary tackles.

"He's got all the ability," Smith says. "Some guys, I'm sure, are going to wonder about his size, his height and how much weight he can carry. I think most scouts feel comfortable rating him as a draftable player. He might have to come into the NFL as a special-teams guy, but he should get a chance to play in the league."

Fitzgerald finished his abbreviated season with 130 tackles (99 solo) in 10 games. In the Wildcats' upset of Michigan, he made 18 tackles and twice stopped Tim Biakabutuka at the goal line. Against Penn State, he recorded 17 tackles and a sack.

Northwestern, with Fitzgerald calling plays and supplying the motivation, finished the regular season with the nation's top-ranked scoring defense at 12.7 points allowed per game. The Wildcats also had the nation's third-best turnover margin (plus 20) and allowed the fewest touchdowns (17) of any Big Ten team.