On Monday, Northwestern coach Randy Walker ripped into his trio of tight ends. He had expected them to be an integral part of his offense as blockers and receivers. But after three games, not one had caught a pass or blocked well enough to earn significant playing time.
That changed Saturday in NU’s 49-40 victory over Navy. Junior Eric Worley, who in his career had only five receptions for 36 yards, caught four against the Midshipmen for 57 yards, and redshirt freshman Taylor Jones caught another for 7 yards.
“Coach Walker called us out last week,” Worley said. “We weren’t blocking as well as we needed to. It was a little inspiration, that’s what you call it. But we practiced those plays all week and, quite frankly, I didn’t do anything special. It’s stuff we’ve done all along.”
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Other firsts:
– Senior Kevin Lawrence, who had been expected to be part of the Wildcats’ rotation at running back, finally got his first carry. He gained 11 yards late in the second quarter.
– Junior fullback Gilles Lezi, who is inserted as a blocking back in short-yardage situations, got his first reception of the season. It came midway through the first quarter, went for 2 yards and kept the Wildcats’ second TD drive alive.
– Running back Jason Wright, who rushed for 186 yards a week after getting 105 against Duke, became the first NU runner to have consecutive 100-yard games since Damien Anderson did that in their first two games of last season.
Injury update
Sophomore wide receiver Ashton Aikens, who a week earlier took a reverse 32 yards for a touchdown in the Wildcats’ win over Duke, missed Saturday’s game with a broken right index finger. He was hurt at practice Thursday and underwent surgery Friday, when two pins were inserted into the finger. He is expected back for his team’s Big Ten opener Saturday at Michigan State.
`Middies’ deep-sixed
Even though Navy players are often referred to as “Middies,” the school’s media guide informs that they should be “referred to as the Midshipmen or Mids. The term `Middie’ is inappropriate.”