Northwestern University Athletics
Skip Myslenski: Checkin' In With Hank
9/29/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Sept. 29, 2009
By SKIP MYSLENSKI, NUsports.com Special Contributor
The 'Cats are surrendering 27.5 points per-game, the ninth best (or third worst) mark in the Big Ten and a full 7.3 ppg more than they allowed just a season ago. But, surprisingly, the rest of their defensive statistics are not. They are fourth in the conference in pass defense, fifth in the conference in rush defense, again fifth in the conference in total defense and here's an even more-amazing kicker. Their numbers in all of those categories are better than the ones they ended with after their Alamo Bowl loss.
Still. They have tackled shoddily, they have been bloodied by big plays, they have surrendered fourth-quarter leads on each of the last two Saturdays, they have failed to pitch a shutout in any of their last 10 quarters and, in those quarters, they have been battered for a dozen touchdowns and 93 points. So it was natural on Tuesday to check in with both Mike Hankwitz, the architect of their defense, and with Quentin Davie, the junior linebacker whose comments are inserted when appropriate.
The statistics were the first item pointed out to coordinator, those statistics that say something different from what has been witnessed on the field. "We're not performing as well as we think we can," Hankwitz immediately admitted. "We believe, we know we're better. I believe we will be better.
"Yeah. You can take out two, three plays from the last four games and we'd be 4-0. But we have higher expectations and when you have high expectations and you're not meeting those, frustration can happen. We're disappointed, but we're not discouraged because we're so damn close. That's what we're trying to get our players to realize. Even in the last game, as the game went along, we tackled a lot better, we did a lot of things better. But a play here, a play there, that's the difference.
"A year ago we were. . .making those plays. We had chances (to make them last Saturday). Brad (Phillips, the safety) makes an interception he's made in the past, points off the board, they don't score. You know. It could be a dozen things in each of the last two games, offense, defense, special teams. Take any one of those out of there and it's a different outcome. Well, it isn't. So we have to deal with what is. But I like the way our players responded, the way they responded today, and we believe we'll be better."
When you say you're not meeting expectations, the simplest question is why not?
"Well, there's a combination. We've had a bunch of guys battling through injuries (and) some of them haven't been playing, have missed games. Nate (Williams, the middle linebacker) missed games. You take the Syracuse game, we had first-time players playing in the game (in place of Williams and corner Sherrick McManis) and they made some mistakes. It can happen. Where our depth had been good, the D-line, (end) Corbin (Bryant) is coming off surgery, (end) Corey (Wootton) is coming off surgery, (tackle) Adam Hahn's coming off surgery, Brad Phillips is coming off surgery. Then Brad comes out of camp and he's got an arm and then he's got a bone bruise and then he's got a leg. They're not using those as excuses and I'm not making excuses. But they're factors that have factored into all of this too."
("I could point out a couple of things that stick out to anybody. Tackling and just the will to get to the ball and get the ball carrier down," said Davie. "I think that's what we're lacking right now. Attitude. Sometimes in practice we don't go as hard as we need to go and treat it as a game. Those things need to evolve and we need to tighten the attitude around practice. That's where it starts.")
When Corey gets back to what he was last year, what will that mean to the defense?
"He's close. Every game he gets better. But it's unfair to say that he's the difference in the way we play. You've got 10 other guys out there. Maybe if some of those other guys do their job, he's in a position to make a play."
("That's another thing we need to do as a defense. Pick the flag up for the guys who're down," said Davie. "That's one thing we're not doing too. We've got to stop looking around and, like Coach (Pat) Fitz(gerald) tells us, point the thumb at ourselves. We need to make a play and stop worrying about other guys.")
Why is the line getting gouged so badly on the run?
"It's a combination. Improper fits. It's kind of like a leaky dam. You put a finger there, plug that one, and then a guy would make a mistake over here. Unfortunately, we took turns making a mistake and if one guy doesn't fit, there goes your defense. So we've got to do what we're capable of more consistently. The line's got to do their job a little more consistently and our linebackers have to be more consistent. It can be frustrating if you look at it because you know if we do it right, we can be in the right position to make a play. Now we gotta get there. We've got to work a little harder to get there and I think our players are."
It doesn't seem you're blitzing as much as last year. True?
"Proportionally, we're zone blitzing basically as much. Some of it is the way teams are attacking us. Some of the things they're doing, it's not as easy to blitz those things. And that could be why they're doing it, because we did zone blitz more last year. So they're trying to get packages or personnel packages that limit that, that make it harder to overload an area. That's happened to a degree. And then when we have (blitzed), we haven't executed as well as we did a year ago."
("Teams are scheming more for us this year, scheming for our blitzes and playing packages where we can't do as many things as we do. . .," said Davie. "But we still have an aggressive mentality, linebackers to get in the gaps, D-line to shoot off the line. Everything is still aggressive. We just need to have the attitude to take it to the next level.")
Did you anticipate these struggles coming off those injuries?
"No. We had high expectations and we know we're not that far away. We take pride in finishing things and a year ago we did finish them. We put ourselves in a position to make plays and we did. This year, we've been out of position at a key time or not made a play we're capable of making. There're times we're in position and just not making the play we need to make."
Are you surprised you're not making them?
"Yeah, I am. But I have confidence in our players and we know we'll make them. It's one of those things. You've got to keep working. If you keep working hard, good things will happen. We haven't lost any faith in our players and I don't think they've lost any faith in themselves. I think they realize, 'We're getting there. Let's just keep pushing and we'll make those plays and the outcome will be different.'"
("Yeah, I'm kind of surprised that we as a defense don't have the attitude," said Davie. "That's one of our stresses, we stress attitude and investment. More than anything that we can't do, it's attitude, something that can be fixed. There's nothing we can't do.")
