Northwestern had hands full vs. OSU

November 11, 2008 at 12:00a.m.

With seven victories, the Wildcats are still in a good position for the postseason.

EVANSTON, Ill. (AP) — Coming off their worst loss of the year, Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald tried to put the Wildcats’ season in perspective on Monday.

“We’ve got seven wins,” said Fitzgerald. “We’re in a place as a program with two games remaining in the regular season that not many teams in Northwestern history have been a part of, at least not since 1950. We’re in a good spot. We’re a very confident team; we’ve played very well all year.”

The Wildcats are 3-3 in the Big Ten after a 45-10 drubbing last Saturday at the hands of then-No. 11 Ohio State. Fitzgerald saw plenty of room for improvement, particularly on third down after his defense allowed the Buckeyes to convert eight-of-13.

With Northwestern traveling to face Michigan this Saturday, Fitzgerald is hopeful that the defense will revert to its previously strong form.

“We have to make the plays that are there for us to make,” he said. “If we do that like we have the majority of the year — we’ve been outstanding on third down as a defense — I think we’ll look back on Saturday and see it as an anomaly.”

Wildcat fans will again have to wait to see who will line up behind center against the Wolverines with starting quarterback C.J. Bacher nursing a leg injury. Bacher has missed the last two games, with Mike Kafka filling in.

Fitzgerald said Bacher, who was available as the emergency quarterback against Ohio State, is close to full strength.

“I liked the way he ran around today. He ran around a lot better today than he did a week ago,” Fitzgerald said. “We’re a spread team and the quarterbacks have to be able to do some things with their feet. If he’s close and he’s healthy enough and he can go out and execute, he’ll be our starting quarterback.”

Redshirt sophomore Stephen Simmons will make his second career start at running back this Saturday in place of Omar Conteh, who injured a ligament in his knee late last week. Conteh will miss the rest of the season after having surgery last Friday. He had been filling for star Tyrell Sutton, who is out with a regular season-ending wrist injury.

Simmons rushed for 34 yards on 14 carries against Ohio State. Fitzgerald said he expects a better performance from Simmons after a full week of preparation as the starter.