Wildcats reveal new wrinkle on offense during spring game
MARQUETTE — The Wildcats of NMU held their spring game this past weekend, with a few new wrinkles.
The Wildcats offense opened the game with quarterback Shaye Brown taking snaps under center, as opposed to their traditional spread–offense style. Both Brown and Coach Chris Ostrowsky spoke about what this new package means for the offense going forward.
“I think we’re just trying to change our identity a little bit. We want to show that we’re a multiple team. We want to get the running back running downhill a little bit more. And it also opens up a lot of play fakes, too. It makes it a lot easier to fake it so yeah, it’s pretty nice,” Brown said.
“I don’t think there’s any question that we have an identity on offense for sure. And we’re definitely going to look to tweak some things as we move forward, which you have to and that’s one of the things that we’re looking at,” said Ostrowsky.
A big name on the field was freshman running back Jordan Johnson who received a lot of praise from Coach Ostrowsky and he loves what he brings to the Wildcat offense.
“I like big backs. We like big backs as a program. If you can be vertical and have some size to you, you can really create some issues for teams and he’s a vertical runner. He’s a fast, physical, big kid that runs vertical,” Ostrowsky said.
The defense also looked very impressive and it looks like that will be one of the cornerstones of this Wildcat team next season. Coach Ostrowsky says this has been the most productive spring season he has had since he’s been at Northern.
“We’ve really worked hard in the weight room. We’ve done a really good job in the classroom. We’ve had 15 great practices with our spring season and 15 has been really wonderful. We’re going to take it one day at a time and take an honest true approach every day and we’re going to put the best possible product on the field,” Ostrowsky said.
The Wildcats will open their season on the road on September 5th versus Northwood. The home opener at the Superior Dome will be the following week on September 12th versus Quincy.