Northwestern University Athletics
Weekly News Conference Transcript
9/14/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 14, 2009
Northwestern Head Coach Pat Fitzgerald
Weekly Press Conference
Opening Statement...
"I just got done with a great film session and a really solid work-out this morning with our guys. There was a lot to learn from here on Saturday. The first part, probably 65 percent of that game, was played about as well as we could play. We did leave some points out on the board, we did leave some execution opportunities out there, but I thought we played well enough to win most football games. Then you flip it over, you look at the last 35 or 40 percent of the game: to Eastern Michigan's credit they took advantage of some miscues on our part. An inability to tackle on defense, an inability to make some plays when they were there on offense, and then the big turnover in the kicking game. We really put ourselves in jeopardy of winning the football game. Great kick by Stefan (Demos), great protection, with that three-man operation there, and we found a way to win. When you look at the evolution of team, on occasion as you look at the way we've played in the past and you can draw some strength on our experiences. Fortunately, we win those close games; I'd prefer to be in a lot less of them, but for some reason we win them. The credit goes to the players, our coaches, but trust me, a ton of work to get done this week. Fundamentally, first and foremost, to improve on the techniques and fundamentals, carry them one day at a time and then on to Syracuse. We don't block better, we don't run better, we don't throw it better, we don't catch it better, we don't get off the line of scrimmage on the defense line and attack, fit in the right gaps and tackle better, then we'll have the same experience that we had in the last 40 percent (against EMU). The attitude of the men was great this morning, lot of teachable and coachable opportunities. Now it's time to get to work on those."
On where his team is after two games...
"The season's a journey. It's one segment at a time, and you have to take it one play at a time, like we talk about around here all the time. It doesn't matter if you're a fifth-year senior or you're playing for your third time in the arena, early in the year it's still an evolving process where you hope to continue to improve and get better. Do I wish that we executed better and played fundamentally better in that last 40 percent (against EMU)? Absolutely. But we'll be able to learn from that, and improve from that, and get better. Quite frankly that was our first full game we had to play. We didn't play our best, but we found a way to win. Good teams do that, you learn and you move on."
On what he saw on film from the EMU game...
"It's never as good as you think and it's never as bad as you think. It doesn't matter if it's practice or a game: when you look at the one-man break-downs of fundamental and technique, in some areas where you have to make a play, those are some things that we can solve. That's what we talk about as coaches, "What can we do better?" Well, do less. We probably did too much for the amount of unknown we had going into that game. From a film standpoint, we went back and tried to turnover every stone like we do every week, and maybe we turned over too many. I know that we practiced a lot of things that we didn't see a week ago. Now that we have two weeks of empirical data on Syracuse, we'll be able to do that."
On where he thought breakdowns occurred against EMU...
"I think it was more fundamental. I thought our focus was good. We came out and started fast, went out and made a lot of plays early. There was good talk by not only the coaches but the players. We had two of our front-line guys out in (cornerback Sherrick) McManis and (running back Jeravin) Matthews, they were tremendous on the sideline. We just didn't execute our fundamentals or our technique. I don't care if you're playing for the Orland Park Pioneers, Northwestern or the Chicago Bears, if you don't execute fundamentally against good football players (everyone in college football is a good football player) you're in trouble. We put ourselves in a bad spot, and to Eastern Michigan's credit they took advantage of it. We've just got to learn from it and get prepared for a much-improved Syracuse team.
On Syracuse quarterback Greg Paulus...
"Well, there's no question he's been a catalyst to the attitude of the football team as a winner. His experiences at his previous institution, and the experiences he went through as an athlete, I think that gives him instant creditability in the locker room as a winner. Then you watch the way he's performed over the last couple of weeks, he's making plays, he's very mobile. They're asking him to do things that play to his strengths, and that's use his athleticism. He's putting the ball into his playmakers hands. He's played well, and to me, extremely impressive for not playing football since high school."
On what was missing from his team's play against EMU...
"I didn't see fundamental attack and getting off like we stress for the guys up front. I didn't see linebackers attack gaps properly, and I didn't see across the board on defense the tackling technique that we've been pretty sound at over the last two years. It was a step backwards fundamentally, but it was definitely a step that we can make back up and get it back to being our strength. All those things we experienced on Saturday can be corrected."
On what positives can be drawn from the game against EMU...
"All the things that happened on Saturday are all correctable. They're all things that can be fixed, things that we drill, that we practice. Now I tell our coaches all the time, either we coach them or we allow them to do it, which one is it? So we need to do a better job coaching those fundamentals and techniques on an every play, every day basis. Not that we don't, we just need to have a greater sense of urgency. The same goes for the players: you've gone through a month of training camp, two weeks of the season, you've got to continue to keep that focus fundamentally and technically. You can use that to your advantage, and if things get a little chaotic, you can rely upon that and trust in that. And when you don't, you typically get what you deserve."
On challenges with playing in the Carrier Dome...
"It's one of the most hostile environments in the country. The fans are right on top of you. It's a little play-on-words there, the Carrier Dome; it's my understanding that there's no air conditioning in the dome. It'll be nice and warm, we'll need to be hydrated properly going into the game and do a great job of hydrating during the game. It's a night game, so that helps a little bit, you get a little bit more time to prepare and it'll be cooler outside. Those elements that are out of your control, they are what they are. It's going to be loud. We're going to be inside all week preparing for that. We'll have crowd noise all week, similar to how we do when we go on the road, right behind the quarterback. But you can't emulate it, you just go out and do what you do. Play poised, play focused football, and know that they have a great crowd and it'll be rocking. I believe it's going to be Legends Day and they'll honor Coach (Dick) MacPherson who I had a great opportunity to spend some time with this summer at the Hall of Fame in South Bend. They'll be a lot of former players back to honor Coach Mac and what he means to the Syracuse program. My hat's off to him and he's someone that I aspire to be like with the job he was able to do at Syracuse. It's going to be a great college atmosphere and a great challenge and I'm excited for it."
On the Syracuse "Stallion" formation...
"They've been very successful. I don't have the exact yards per rush, but they have their back-up quarterback in, so there's going to be a trickeration element there. Their superback (Cody) Catalina also played quarterback, so there's some trickeration ability there that we haven't seen yet. Every play has been some sort of run play, either down hill or sweep or some sort of misdirection. They have a nice little package, other people call it the Wildcat package, where you've got multiple tailbacks and some imposter looks there. We'll have to prepare for them all, then prepare for the next step as that package evolves for week three."
On how to defensively take advantage of Syracuse...
"They still make you defend the field, and that's what Syracuse is doing so well. (Paulus) isn't going progression, read, then coming back over here. I don't think a lot of quarterbacks in the college game are doing that, quite frankly. If you look at what he does, he takes what the defense gives him. That's the hallmark of a poised quarterback. He's done a really nice job getting the ball to Mike Owen, their tight end, in their empty game. They've done a great job spreading the field horizontally, so they put guys in one-on-one match-ups, similar to what we do in our empty package. It's just taking what the defense gives him. I can't say enough about how impressed I am by the way that he's played in two weeks. Since he's transferred, he's been playing quarterback again for only six months, and for me that's really impressive."
On the status of McManis and the play of cornerback Justan Vaughn...
"(McManis) ran around today. He ran around today during our workout. (Justan) can definitely play better. There are times when he needs to show up to the run with a better aggressiveness. But at the end of the day, he missed a lot of football last year. It's god to have him back out there, there's no question about that. We had a lot of guys out there in crunch time, because of dings and bruises in a game that may happen. They got out there in crunch time, and for the most part, most of those guys played pretty well."
On the rotation of his running backs...
"We're going to ask our guys to play to their strengths, and maybe stay away from some areas where they need to improve. We list those two guys at the top for a reason, with Stephen (Simmons) and Arby (Fields), and you're going to continue to see Jacob (Schmidt) and Scotty (Concannon). I thought Jacob played very well. I thought he ran hard, he ran with an attitude. I thought he really performed well and game us an opportunity to win.
On the play of the offensive line through two games...
"I thought we played much better on Saturday. We had 51 knock-downs this Saturday and getting knock-downs is what offensive linemen get paid to do. I thought we played with a much better attitude, I thought we finished blocks and I was really impressed with Desmond Taylor, he was our player of the game. The week prior it looked like he was coming off an injury and hadn't played against someone else. This week he was the old Des and played very well. Same thing with Josh Rooks, I thought he was really physical at the point of attack, thought he was decisive and played well in the kicking game. Those two guys really stood out to me along with (Doug) Bartels, who continues to get better, and I thought as a group we played well."
On the play of the defensive line...
"I think anytime you graduate a guy who is playing in the NFL (John Gill) you have a role to fill. No one will ever occupy what John Gill meant to our defense but guys need to step up and play to the best of their ability, we need to rotate guys and keep them fresh. Saturday we didn't attack our target, we didn't get off on the snap, we didn't get off blocks properly, and that's why you saw a solid rotation of guys going through. We were trying to find the right combination. I'm not concerned about those guys, they'll get it going."
