Northwestern University Athletics
Transcript from Coach Fitzgerald's Monday News Conference
9/22/2008 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 22, 2008
2008 Northwestern Football
Head Coach Pat Fitzgerald
Weekly News Conference Transcript
Opening statement...
"Before I start talking about last week, I'd like to express our thoughts and prayers for Dante Love down in Muncie, Ind., at Ball State. Our entire football program watched that game on Saturday and we're all college football fans. It's a tough blow to him and the Ball State football family and I want to express our thoughts and prayers to Dante. We're thinking about them and supporting them up here in Evanston.
Looking back at Saturday's game, it was a hard-fought win. I give a lot of credit to Ohio. I thought they came in here like they did in Columbus and Laramie, Wyo. They battled all game and they're one heck of a football team. From an injury standpoint, wide receiver Andrew Brewer will not play on Saturday based on how things progressed this weekend. After talking to our athletic training staff this morning, I fully expect that Tyrell Sutton will play. What limited capacity he'll have in practice, we'll figure out through the week. But we're excited for his return. He has a leg injury that I think might slow him down early in the week but we fully anticipate him playing Saturday.
It was a physical football game and I'm proud of how our defense responded when their backs were against the wall, especially in sudden change situations. Obviously there is a lot to work on this week. Number one is executing offensively. We had one-man breakdowns at times, especially in the third quarter and those cannot happen for us to be successful, especially in Iowa City. We just need to get back to work fundamentally and technically and we'll improve and get better on that side of the ball. Defensively, we need to communicate better. We had some issues from that standpoint and our lack of discipline gave up some explosion plays that are going to kill us in Big Ten football. Obviously, our inability to secure the football in the punt return game will hurt us in the future. That, along with not very good execution in our kick return game, led us to be in a tie in the kick return game outside of how Amado Villarreal executed. I'm proud of him for earning Big Ten Player of the Week honors. We play every play as hard as we possibly can and we're making some big plays."
On Tyrell Sutton's status...
"After talking to Tyrell I'm confident he's going to play on Saturday. I'm not going to be very specific but he has a leg injury that won't hold him back in the game."
On Northwestern's history with Iowa...
"I don't know if it was much of a rivalry when I first came here. I think it was 21 straight years we lost to Iowa. Coach (Gary) Barnett stressed that if we wanted to get out of the cellar and take the next step as a football program, we need to consistently compete and beat Iowa. In our last 11 games with them, we're 6-5. We're taking steps to move in the right direction because to be consistent is the hallmark of a good program. It's Big Ten football. That's why our guys are here. To go to a school like Northwestern to get a world-class education, have the opportunities that come with that, and play football and compete for Big Ten championships. Iowa is our first test in the Big Ten but every game is for the Big Ten championship."
On Iowa running back Shonn Green...
"Shonn is a very physical back who plays behind his pads well. We'll be prepared, put a lot of air in our helmet and try to tackle him. They're going to run the football and open things off their play-action pass game once we load the box. They'll double-move us like they did a year ago and take their shots down the field. That's what you get when you play Kirk Ferentz's team. They're tough, physical, and they'll do what they do very well in all three phases. You need to out-execute them fundamentally and technically to have a chance in the game."
On Iowa's talented defensive linemen...
"They're strong, physical and they execute. It seems like they've been in the Big Ten for about 20 years. I remember when they were young and wreaking havoc in people's backfield. You have to cover them up but they won't allow you to do that. Their motors are relentless and they execute fundamentally. (Iowa defensive coordinator) Norm Parker has been a fixture in the Big Ten for a number of years and they'll have a great plan to stop our run game and force us to throw the ball. They're very disciplined in the back half as well so it will be our stiffest challenge of the year, no doubt about that."
On Iowa's two quarterbacks...
"Well, they aren't the same guy, obviously one is lefty and one is right-handed. Schematically, they are similar. What I've seen so far on film, they run similar packages and involve their tight ends quite a bit. They have great weapons on the outside to complement Shonn and they just ask the quarterbacks to put the ball in their playmakers' hands and manage the game. They'll take their shots deep when we load the box, it's no mystery what Iowa does on offense. We'll try to execute and play physical football and it'll be a great challenge for us."
On Northwestern's play on defense since the Duke game...
"I think we're two weeks more experienced. Each year your team has a different identity and a different mindset. I said after the game I thought we left our pride in the locker room in Durham and didn't bring it out to the field. The last two weeks it's been a point of emphasis to execute fundamentally and technically up front and Saturday we took the next step to get off blocks and fit properly in the run game. We did that which put them in some long-yardage situations and I felt we rushed the passer really well."
On preparing the team for Kinnick Stadium...
"You have to focus. We can't control the raucous crowd and we know it's going to be that way. We'll have crowd noise in practice and other things but you just have to focus and make the tough plays on the road. You have to make the big third-down conversions on offense and defense. You have to take care of the ball in the kicking game to win the field position battle and you can't give up anything cheap as a defense. You have to control what you can control and that's your play, your attention to detail and making tough plays."
On C.J. Bacher's play against Ohio...
"I like the way he responded. I don't think he played his best game and he'll be the first to admit that. But he responded and kept battling and when we needed to get some first downs to put the game away, we did. He made a big throw to Eric Peterman. He managed the game pretty well and I thought we did some things out of character, from the coaches to all 11 players on the field. When we win and the quarterback plays well, C.J. gets all the credit, and when we win and we don't put up 150 points, the quarterback gets all the blame. It all depends on who you're listening to. If we go out and we get better this week and improve, and we get better each day, we'll be fine. We still haven't played to our potential yet and that's what's encouraging to me."
On redshirt freshman Jordan Mabin...
"He competed all spring for the cornerback position and he was neck-and-neck coming out of camp with Justan Vaughn. We wanted to play Justan as much as we could early and bring Jordan along and he just kept battling. We thought he played well against Duke and then Thursday before Southern Illinois, Justan reinjured himself. He's getting better each week and I thought he tackled better against Ohio than the week before. He's only played in three football games for us so he'll be tested. Kirk (Ferentz) sees the depth chart and knows there is a redshirt freshman out there. He'll be ready for the challenge. Iowa's wide receivers are very fast, very talented and very physical so it's going to be a great challenge for him."
On where the breakdowns on offense were...
"I think it was across the board. At the end of the day, if we don't execute a protection, we have to move in the pocket. If we don't run a precise route, our timing is off. If we make a wrong read and throw it to the wrong guy, it looks like we're making bad decisions with the ball. If we don't put our guys in the right formation to be successful, it's on us as coaches. About 54 percent of our plays in the second half were for one yard or less so it was tough to get momentum going as an offense. It's tough to get a good feel for yourself going. We just need to execute better, move the chains and keep drives alive."
On injured offensive lineman Kurt Mattes...
"We get our injury report tonight. I don't think he's going to play this week based on the workout I saw today but he's getting closer. He's doing a great job on his rehab."
On the play of the offensive line at Iowa...
"It's the same each week. If all of a sudden you say, Oh my gosh, we're playing on the road, you lose focus and you lose control. We just need to execute and make the tough plays. There are no young guys on our offensive line anymore, they've played four football games. That's their attitude. They're playing hard and giving us a chance to be successful. We need to focus on how we execute and make plays."
On Ross Lane's play in the red zone...
"I don't think anything is going on, maybe we haven't gotten him the ball as much as we want. Ross will get the ball, he's a good football player."
On the offense's play in the second half...
"We felt that the way they were playing our run game that the quarterback run play was there for us. When you have the lead and you're taking time off the clock and the play is there, you're going to run the clock. I thought it was a good adjustment. On the fourth-down play, if we get a block we might even score. We have to involve the quarterback run and I like the plan that we had, especially down the stretch."
On the team's overall style of play...
"I don't care what we do or how we do it, if we win I'm happy. Winning cures all ills. I was a linebacker coach here and we won some games like 150-149 (laughter) and I felt pretty good on Saturday night after we won. I knew we had a lot of work to do but we found a way to get the job done. If we keep improving and getting better I'll be happy with our football team. Hopefully a by-product will be that we win games. I'm proud of how we responded. We were down in one area and picked each other up. That's what good teams do and we're aspiring to be a good football team."
On his desire for more big plays last week maybe resulting in turnovers...
"It was just us running our offense. One play we ran a wrong route, another play we had a breakdown in protection, one ball was a little late, and one play C.J. tried to throw the ball away and he didn't put enough on it. At the end of the day I believe he's managed the games really well. I thought Saturday was a little out of character for our whole offense. We've taken care of the ball really well in three of four games and we need to go back to taking care of the ball and taking what the defense gives us."
On the play of the linebackers...
"In the past, we've had some guys where it was a one-man show but this group has played really well. I like the way Quentin (Davie), Malcolm (Arrington), and Prince (Kwateng) are playing and we're getting other guys in. Nate Williams has been in and you'll see Ben Johnson when he's healthy along with Mike Dinard. I think we have good depth there. But those three guys are playing fast and physical. They could be better with their discipline and their reads, they can still tackle better but I like the steps we've made. It's good to play behind that defensive line we've got. I was a pretty good player in 1995 but not because of me, it was because of an unselfish defense, and that's what I'm starting to see right now."
On what the team has accomplished so far...
"I know we're getting better. We're an improving program and that credit goes to our coaches and players. Their attitude is they need to get better and they need to improve. This week was one of our better weeks of practice. We need to fix some things offensively but we'll focus on those this week to execute better on Saturday."
On Eric Peterman's punt returns...
"I thought he just didn't execute well fundamentally. He took his eyes off the ball on one and didn't get the other one put away when he muffed it. He just needs to be better technically and do what he's coached to do."
On switching to a morning practice schedule...
"It helps our guys academically. Our GPA the last two years has been higher than it has ever been in our program's history. We'll start meetings at 6:50 and our guys are on the field at 8:40 with classes after that. Guys understand class attendance is mandatory. I'll be on campus this week to meet with some of our guys, especially freshmen. That's why they came here, they want an education at a school that will prepare them for life. They're doing a great job academically and I'm proud of them for that. I think they enjoy the morning schedule."
On NU's ability to sack the quarterback...
"It starts with the effort level up front. We're rolling a lot of guys through and they're doing a nice job executing what we're asking them. I thought we were pretty disciplined from a rush-lane standpoint against Boo Jackson and the long pass plays were lack of discipline up front but more with our eyes in the back half."
On the players' ability to remain focused...
"I think any college football player needs to be careful who he listens to, whether it's the students, the people back home, the family, the media, or themselves. I learned that as a student-athlete here when things weren't going so well and the sky was falling and then we got better and everyone wanted to be your friend and tell you how good you are. It's a lifestyle. You need to listen to yourself and trust yourself and know why you're successful in life. Our mission is to be consistently ready every week and go into each week 0-0. If you ride the emotional rollercoaster, that's what you'll be as a player and as a team and our guys have done a great job listening to themselves and from a leadership standpoint what it takes to be successful. I think we've matured and gotten better and that's our mission."
On having the students back at Ryan Field...
"It was awesome. To come at 8:35 for Walk with Us and to walk down Walker Way, and to have them there pregame with their energy, it was awesome. It was great to see the class of 2012 at the soccer game Friday, and for me to teach them the fight song. We'll be a little better as we move along at singing together but a big hearty thank you to our students. If you travel to Iowa City, travel safe and be smart and we look forward to seeing you there."
