Northwestern University Athletics
Observations Made, Reactions Delivered: Kenosha Scrimmage
8/24/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 24, 2009
EVANSTON, Ill. -- The 'Cats packed up on Monday and returned home to Evanston from their summer camp in Kenosha. Before they departed, NUsports.com special contributor Skip Myslenski caught up with head coach Pat Fitzgerald for a session of
OBSERVATIONS MADE,
REACTIONS DELIVERED
OBSERVATION: Quarterback Mike Kafka played only one series in last Saturday's scrimmage and a whole litany of defenders, including highly-touted end Corey Wootton, played not at all.
REACTION: It was the same way we were with (former quarterback) C.J. Bachér. You hold the starting quarterback to one series. He's had over 600 reps in camp. In the scrimmage, I wanted to learn a lot about the young guys and the only way I can do that is by taking those guys out. I didn't plan to play the guys on defense a whole heck of a lot, so I just told the defensive staff to not even dress them.
O: Coaches love to say they can't comment until they see the tape. You've seen the scrimmage tape now.
R: Our competitive depth may be as high as it's ever been. We've got a lot of young players who, I think, are going to be impact players, at the minimum, on the kicking game. That was encouraging to see. . . But a lot of little details and little things need to be cleaned up.
O: In any camp, coaches have specific goals.
R: What we did is try to do a great job of asking our guys to be ultra-communicative, to just over-communicate. Especially our experienced guys. Hey, if this is hurt, if that's hurt, let us know. Like you asked why did Mike play only one series. He's had a ton of reps in camp. I don't need to see Mike. He's our starting quarterback. Maybe that was a little tweak we had (in this camp) with the experienced guys. We wanted to keep them healthy. Then you've got the guys in the next group, that gave us a little more opportunity to develop them and get them coached. I've liked our approach. Now, like I said, the key thing will be cleaning up some little things.
O: In any camp, too, coaches see some things they like and some things that leave them worried.
R: What I really liked is our depth up front, especially on defense. To see the way (redshirt freshman end) Quentin Williams has come on, the way (sophomore tackle) Jack DiNardo has come on. I'm pleased with that. On offense, I'm very pleased with the way the starting (line) is playing. Then you add (redshirt freshman) Neal Deiters and (junior) Keegan Grant. I've been very pleased with (true offensive lineman) Patrick Ward's development.
The backs are competitive. I'm not going to name a starter. I might list all the guys who are healthy and put "or" next to them. They're all going to play. Their skill sets are all a little different. But they're all playing really hard. They're all playing really competitively. Will some play more than others? Yeah. These next 12 days will determine who gets the ones and twos. But we're going to find ways to get the ball in their hands. They're all going to be involved in the backfield, they're all going to be involved in the offense and they're all going to be involved in the kicking game. It gives us depth and flexibility. It really does. So I'm pleased with that.
What am I concerned about? I wish it was hotter. The weather, it's been pretty cool. But I think our tempo takes care of that, how fast we practice. I guess that would be my only concern.
O: True freshman running back Arby Fields has been getting a lot of reps, some of them with the first unit.
R: He's got a chance to compete to be the guy who gets a lot of carries.
O: Eleven days ago, when asked if you were prepared to go running back-by-committee, you said, "We're prepared to do whatever it takes for us to win. So if it means playing three different guys, that's what we'll do. If one emerges, like Tyrell Sutton four years ago, then that's what we'll do. Time will tell." Has time told you anything?
R: No. Not yet. And I don't think we knew at this point it was going to be Tyrell. We knew he was going to play, but we didn't know it was going to be him (who emerged as The Man). Then, as the season went along, he kind of emerged. But the good news is we have depth, we have competition. We'll see how it all plays out.
O: Your superbacks, often forgotten, are among your more-experienced and more-talented skill players.
R: You'll see us use our superbacks a little bit more.
O: You're heading into a season with a bevy of skill players who must graduate, as the old saying goes, from being lounge acts to the heat of center stage.
R: In our program, we talk all the time about trusting yourself. You've got to trust what you're doing out here in practice is the same thing that's going to happen in the arena. That's easy to talk about, but now you've got to go out and do it. You hear us talk a lot about respond, play the next play, focus on the moment, learn from the past, flush it, move on, grow with it. That's how we try to handle it.
And we've also played a lot of guys. You know, we talk about the bus riders and the steak eaters. A lot of guys ride the bus and eat the steak, but they don't get in the game. The good news is most of the guys going into the game now have been in some sort of role already. You look at (running backs Scott) Concannon, (Stephen) Simmons, (Jeravin) Matthews, (Jacob) Schmidt, they've all been in games. You look at the superbacks, they've all played. Mike Kafka's started six games. Sidney Stewart (the wide receiver) has been in games. (Wide receiver) Zeke (Markshausen's) played in games. Brew's (wide receiver Andrew Brewer) played in games. (Wide receiver) Jeremy Ebert's been in games. Charles Brown (another wide receiver). So it's not their first time going out. Now Patrick Ward, Arby Fields, they go out and play? Yeah. It'll be a little bit different deal.
So there'll be a lot of learning, a lot of growth. But the good news is we start at home, so we'll have a little bit of continuity in what we're doing in the first couple of weeks.
Check out the Skip Myslenski Archive here.
