Few Northwestern players are as emotional as sophomore punter Stefan Demos. But he’s got a perfectly good reason.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Heading into halftime, Northwestern looked like a team in trouble.

Michigan had pushed the Wildcats around on both sides of the ball and held a 14-7 lead. The Big House, where NU had not won since 1995, was rocking. And the weather was miserable, a frigid mix of rain, snow, and wind.

Coach Pat Fitzgerald preached a simple message to his reeling team: Respond.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. — The headlines were big and bold.

“Michigan sets 129-year futility record,” said ESPN.com.

“Michigan sank to an all-time low on a day as miserable as its season,” said the Associated Press lead.

You’d think the season-old story of Michigan losing games could take a back seat to something bigger that was produced on the other sideline.

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ANN ARBOR, Mich. ­— C.J. Bachér has experienced frustration almost as often as television announcers have mispronounced his last name.

There have been injuries, interceptions, tough losses and last season’s 6-6 finish that left Northwestern one win short of a bowl berth.

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Ann Arbor, Mich. — Entering Saturday’s game, Michigan running back Carlos Brown had four yards on three carries this season.

It only took one carry against Northwestern for Brown to eclipse that total. And more yards came in bunches.

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Ann Arbor, Mich. — An auspicious beginning for Northwestern quickly turned to favorable.

Three plays into the game, Michigan stood at the NU 8-yard line. Safety Stevie Brown had intercepted C.J. Bachér on a crossing route into double coverage, and the momentum was in the Wolverines’ hands.

The hand of Cats defensive end Corey Wootton gave that momentum right back to NU. Wootton blocked J.C. Lopata’s 22-yard field goal, negating the Wolverines’ chip-shot chance for an early lead.

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It’s a cold rainy morning here at The Big House, and Northwestern and Michigan  are out on the field for warmups. Here is what to watch for as the action unfolds today.

1. Bacher is playing, but which one? — C.J. Bacher will start at quarterback for NU today after missing the last two contests due to a hamstring injury. Even if he is fully healed, it is hard to know what to expect from the senior signal caller today. Throughout his career as a starter, including this season, Bacher has been wildly inconsistent. It’s difficult to know what he’s going to give you on any given day. Interceptions have been a particular problem; Bacher has 30 of them since the start of last season, against 29 touchdowns. Today, Bacher needs to play up to his potential and avoid costly turnovers, especially with his team missing its top-two running backs.

2. Running game, run aground? — On that note, it’s hard to say whether the Cats will be able to run the ball at all today. Running backs Tyrell Sutton and Omar Conteh are out with injuries, leaving sophomore Stephen Simmons as the starter. Simmons ran for only 34 yards on 14 carries last week against Ohio State. Quarterback Mike Kafka has been the team’s leading rusher the past two weeks, but he will sit in favor of Bacher today. It’s unlikely Bacher will run much, considering his gimpy leg. So will Simmons or anyone behind him on the depth chart be able to make any progress on the ground, or will Bacher have to throw the ball 60 yards? NU would benefit greatly from the former.

3. Special teams — NU has been uneven on special teams this season. In particular, the Cats have struggled in the kickoff return and coverage games. NU has not returned any kicks for touchdowns this season, but has fumbled a few returns. The coverage has fallen apart at times. On the other hand, Michigan has been superb on special teams. Martavious Odoms leads the Big Ten in punt return average, Boubacar Cissoko leads in kick return average and Zoltan Mesko leads in punting average. However, Michigan is 10th in the conference in kickoff coverage, so maybe today will be the day NU breaks one. In any case, the Cats can’t afford to make special teams errors today.

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Northwestern’s first half of football against Michigan mirrored the weather conditions: ugly.

A resurgent C.J. Bachér made sure the second half was a different story.

Bachér led a suddenly explosive offense to two critical third-quarter touchdowns, and the Wildcats’ defense came up with two critical stops in the final five minutes to preserve a gutsy 21-14 win.

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Florida was rumored to be one of the nation’s fastest teams, running one of the best spread offenses in the country, in the best conference in college football.

Michigan had lost three games in the regular season, two to spread teams, and was said to be a classic Big Ten team defined by one word.

Slow.

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When Rich Rodriguez accepted the head coaching position at Michigan last December, many predicted he would break all sorts of established traditions there. After all, his personality and his playbook differ greatly from those of predecessors like Lloyd Carr and Bo Schembechler.

Rodriguez has brought change to the Wolverines, but not every broken convention has been met with applause in Ann Arbor.

Michigan will miss a bowl game for the first time in 34 years, causing much consternation and hand-wringing among media members and fans. Continue reading »