Northwestern University Athletics
Transcript from Coach Fitzgerald's Monday News Conference
10/6/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Oct. 6, 2008
2008 Northwestern Football
Head Coach Pat Fitzgerald
Weekly News Conference
Opening Statement...
"We have an exciting game on the horizon here with two football teams that are playing their best football of the year. We had the chance to watch Michigan State's game on Saturday and it was an impressive performance by them, battling all the way to the end and making huge plays down the stretch. When I look at them on tape, it doesn't take long to see the success their offensive line has had opening holes for arguably the best back in the Big Ten and in the country in Javon Ringer. He's a very physical back with great patience, plays behind his pads well and seems to get stronger as the game goes on. If you load the box up, their quarterback Brian Hoyer can make you pay and they have weapons on the perimeter. On defense, they're an attacking, physical 4-3 defense and they come at you multiple ways. Up front, all four guys have a great motor and they roll six or eight guys in on the line and at linebacker. What a great fourth-down play (vs. Iowa) by Decker, perfect scrape to get Shonn Greene and seal the victory for them. They show multiple coverage concepts and it's going to be a great challenge for our offense. In the kicking game, if you ended the season right now I think Brett Swenson would probably be the special teams MVP of the league the way he is kicking the ball.
Our focus last week was to focus on improving and to take that mentality every day. I thought we did that and came back last night with a 12-period practice. I think our focus was outstanding and the guys showed improvement. This will be a huge challenge for us. We're facing one of the most physical teams we've played this year.
We're excited to have our fans here at home. They were incredibly supportive in our win against Ohio and we're going to need their support again to have a chance to compete again on Saturday."
On the magnitude of this game...
"I think every game (the next game) is the biggest game of my tenure. Our focus each week is that we're 0-0 and trying to find a way to go 1-0 in every game. It's no different than it was last week or the week before, you just prepare and give yourself an opportunity to compete and be the best team you can be for that three-hour window on Saturday."
On getting the one-game-at-a-time mentality to trickle down to his players...
"You just have to be consistent in your message, vision and approach. It doesn't change week to week. I think back to the beginning of the season and we weren't ranked so the significance of that on our team is very minimal. We're focused on what's important. If we pay no attention to things that have no relevance on the game, regardless of whether it's this week or any week, we'll be in the right position mentally to go out and execute our responsibilities. Guys have done a good job buying into it one practice and one play at a time."
On what he told players they could control on Saturday...
"Number one was to take advantage of the day off and rest, stay off their feet and go through the dynamic warm-ups a couple times. Number two was to learn something. Last night I asked the team what they learned from watching football on Saturday. To hear their response about turnovers and how significant that was in the Vanderbilt game, watching teams play on special teams, what they learned from watching Michigan State play Iowa, I think they are very focused. You look at the Big Ten right now and it's very similar to last year: very competitive top to bottom and anyone can win on any given day. I think that's what our guys learned from watching our opponents play on Saturday as opposed to catching the tail end of another game after you play at 11 a.m. on Saturday."
On how Michigan State is using Javon Ringer...
"The identity of Michigan State football is the identity of Mark Dantonio, and that's toughness. They try to do what they do better than you can stop them. What I'm impressed with about Javon is his patience in the hole, setting up his blockers, and how humble he is. To see the gesture he made to his offensive line after the big win against Notre Dame speaks volumes to the young man and who he is. It's going to be a great challenge. They run him power, with the toss and really multiple ways."
On passing along his experiences of success as a player to his team...
"The only expectations of success are your own. If you focus on people that are outside of your family or outside of your control you're going to ride the roller coaster. You win a big game and everyone is excited and wants to be your friend. Come Sunday morning you're 0-0 and it's time to go back to work. The expectations around here never change. Maybe the expectations in the media or outside our football program change but we can't control that so we don't worry too much about it."
On the differences in preparing for a 2:30 p.m. start...
"We're used to being up at 5:15 every morning for practice at 8 so we'll be ready to go regardless of what time they tell us to kick off. But for our fans I'm excited for them. It's been a while since we've been in this position as a football program and for our fans, students and alumni, this is what it's all about. It's nice to be home after playing in a hostile environment like Kinnick Stadium and we look forward to the opportunity."
On how the week off helped them recover physically...
"We feel like we're as healthy five weeks into a season as we have been in a couple years. All of our guys that have been a little banged up the first few weeks are close to 100 percent going into this week so that's encouraging from a depth standpoint. I feel like we'll have Kurt Mattes ready to go Saturday along with Stephen Simmons. In what roles they play all depends on how they practice this week. It looks like Keegan Grant was going pretty well yesterday so I feel pretty good about that group and Andrew Brewer ran pretty well yesterday. I feel good about the relative health of our football team."
On how the offensive line is playing...
"I think we're one week better. We had three redshirt freshmen start in a hostile environment in Iowa and to me that's very impressive. To have Keegan Kennedy in there as a first-year starter and Desmond Taylor at right tackle. We're a young group from an experience standpoint but they have five weeks of experience. Hopefully we'll add Kurt and Ramon Diaz into the mix for some depth so we're back to how we were from day one in terms of tempo and that gives me a lot of confidence going into game week."
On the balance between sticking with what's worked on offense and continuing to evolve...
"We really just need to have that mentality of improvement and getting better. No matter what you run you need to be better at it today than you were yesterday. You look at the great teams across the country and they don't get real exotic with what they do. Am I looking to reinvent the wheel week-to-week? No, and I believe we need to be playing our best football every week. We need to continue to improve our execution and continue to evolve and grow but you won't see us reinvent the wheel because that's not what good football teams do, that's not how you consistently improve."
On the importance of turnover margin...
"It's stressed every week. You look at what a lot of teams are doing in the country and they may not rank No. 1 or No. 2 statistically in offense, defense and the kicking game but if you're up there in turnover margin, you seize momentum, shorten the field for yourself and you get a chance to make some big plays. For us, it's critical that we win the turnover battle each week and this is no different than any other."
On how Northwestern and Michigan State's styles of play reflect their head coaches...
"I know in our game last year when Mark and I saw each other after the game in the tunnel, two defensive guys, we looked at each other and said, `that was fun.' It was almost surreal, the track meet that we went through against them. It was a hard-fought battle, a real warm afternoon, and it was a great football game. It wasn't a defensive gem on either side and the kicking game played a vital role in last year's game. We had a chance to win it there at the end but we came back and kicked a big extra point to put us up seven in overtime. I think both teams are led by tremendous leaders in the locker room, both are playing their best football of the year and both are hungry to improve. They had a full team victory against Iowa, they were methodical on offense and took advantage of the opportunities they had. This is why our men come here to play Big Ten football on the main stage. It's going to be a lot of fun."
On Michigan State quarterback Brian Hoyer...
"The confidence you see him play with is obvious. He's a great complement to the running game and they'll take their shots off play action with max protection. I've seen him evolve and it reminds me of how C.J. Bachér has been evolving. Obviously these quarterbacks are very talented but as they get more experience they gain confidence. Michigan State has a lot of weapons but we're obviously going to get a steady diet of Javon until we can stop it. We need to be disciplined in the back half and try to get some pass rush because they've been outstanding protecting the quarterback."
On how Northwestern handled its open week this year...
"A year ago we had a lot of dips but looking back I think we learned a lot from a season ago. Number one is taking care of the football, doing a better job stopping the run and limiting explosion plays. I think we're more mature, our guys do a tremendous job of understanding what we control. I was pleased with the way we went about last week. That was most concerning to me leaving Iowa City, going into a week off and how is our team going to handle this. We had a leadership council meeting to set the focus for the week. It's great to have that kind of leadership in the locker room. I felt we improved and got better. Just because you have a week off from games doesn't mean you have a week off from improving. Bye weeks haven't been very favorable to a lot of teams thus far. Looking back to 2005 and this year, bye weeks don't correlate into victory the following Saturday. I'll probably give our guys a history lesson this week so we need to make sure we get our minds in the right place, take care of yourself and what you can control."
On positive surprises on his team at this point in the season...
"I think the whole football team's attitude and approach has been great. I could name individuals but that's not who we are. I believe we're playing well as a football team and that's more of our identity than anything. We're improving, sticking together as a team and hopefully we'll continue to do that. We're not going out and out-playing anyone individually, or putting together a perfect game on one particular unit. We've played well as a team and that's what I'm most proud of. Hopefully it gives us a little confidence that if we stick to that plan, hopefully we've got a chance to compete."
