EVANSTON, Ill. -- Pat Fitzgerald is a card-carrying member of the neck roll generation. He's a College Football Hall of Fame linebacker. He's fiercely proud of his roots on defense.
But he insists he didn't plan it like this.
"It's not like I sat in a staff meeting and said, 'We're going to be a shutdown defense, and who cares about the offense!'" Fitzgerald said with a laugh. "It's not a program or a philosophical approach that we're going to be lower-ranked on offense and great on defense."
It has been the story of the season.