Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/420291
GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • VOLUME 25, EXPRESS 11 • 9 BY BRIAN NEUBERT BNeubert@GoldandBlack.com P urdue knows it'll be playing Northwestern at noon Saturday in Ross-Ade Stadium. No one can predict, however, which Northwestern. "I wish I could," said Louie Vac- cher, who covers Northwestern for Rivals.com's WildcatReport.com. "It's been a roller coaster season. ... I can't explain it. Northwestern is always a difficult team to figure out but this year, I'm at a loss for words. I have no idea what to expect from this team from week to week." Roller coaster, indeed. Here's been the Wildcats' bi- zarre trajectory to date: R Lose to Cal and Northern Illi- nois at home to open a considered- to-be-promising season on the wrong foot. R Manhandle Penn State at Penn State to open Big Ten play, 29-6, then return home and beat Wisconsin, to this day still the Big Ten West co-leading Badgers' lone conference loss. R Lose at Minnesota, then at Nebraska; get destroyed by Iowa 48- 7; then lose a befuddling 10-9 con - test against melted-down Michigan. R Turn around and score 43 points to beat ranked Notre Dame in overtime in South Bend last week after just scoring 60 points total in the prior four games combined. This weekend's Wildcat perfor- mance might reveal whether the re- sult in Notre Dame Stadium was an outlier or a legitimate late-season turning point for what might be the Big Ten's biggest enigma. "I don't think we've had a prep- aration problem," Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald told local me- dia this week. "I think our guys have prepared well. I think we've had a performance problem on Satur- days and been way too inconsistent throughout the whole course of the year." The crazy thing about the Notre Dame win was just how random its components seemed. Even after scoring 43, the Wild- cats rank last in the Big Ten in scor- ing, averaging 20.5 points, and 11th out of 14 in total offense, averaging just 345.1 yards. Their passing game has been spotty, with quarterback Trevor Si- emian having thrown just six touch- downs this season against 10 inter- ceptions and the offense smarting from the season-long loss of wide receiver Christian Jones, the recent absence of valuable receiver Miles Schuler (out again this week, per re- ports) and the preseason transfer of star running back Venric Mark. But in South Bend, Northwest- ern erupted to finish the game on a 16-6 scoring run to stun the Irish. There were some cosmetic Game 11 Opponent Preview: Northwestern Noon ET • Ross-Ade Stadium • TV: ESPNU INCONSISTENT NORTHWESTERN VISITS PURDUE Stephen J. Carrera Northwestern quarterback Trevor Siemian has been the face of a struggling offense this season, having thrown four more interceptions in 2014 than touchdowns. Stephen J. Carrera Freshman Justin Jackson stepped in after the preseason transfer of star running back Venric Mark and is now a top-10 rusher in the Big Ten.