Northwestern University Athletics
The Skip Report: Monday News Conference Notes
10/13/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
Skip Myslenski filed this report with a mix of good and bad news, and a revealing conversation with Chicago sports superfan and Wildcats senior defensive tackle Chance Carter.
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BAD NEWS FIRST: Senior middle linebacker Collin Ellis was injured late in Northwestern's defeat at Minnesota this weekend, a recurrence of the same injury that that kept him out of the Wildcats' win over Penn State. The prognosis for his return is uncertain. "We'll see how long it takes," is all Pat Fitzgerald could say on Monday.
BACK AT YOU: His spot will again be taken by redshirt freshman Anthony Walker, who had a pick-six and a team-high eight tackles as Ellis' replacement against the Nittany Lions. "It's a tough situation," Walker said on Monday. "He's like a big brother to me. I feel our relationship has gotten closer each week this year and for him to have to go through this injury again, it's a tough situation for him. But he told me he'll be there for me this week like he was for Penn State. So I feel pretty confident. I just want to go out there and do my job and help the team win anyway I can."
COMING AT YOU: The challenge for the 'Cats defense two Saturdays ago was Wisconsin's Melvin Gordon, the second-leading rusher in the Big Ten (174.3 ypg). Its challenge last Saturday was the Gophers' David Cobb, the fourth-leading rusher in the Big Ten (136.5 ypg). Now, ahead of them, is the Huskers' Ameer Abdullah, the third-leading rusher in the Big Ten (146.3 ypg). "He's kind of a mix of (the first two)," defensive tackle Chance Carter said of him. "He can make you miss a little bit more than Cobb could. It's going to be hard tackling that little guy (5-foot-9, 195 pounds). He's pretty good."
"Especially on our side (of the conference), it seems everyone has a pretty dynamic back. I would include us too with the young guy (freshman Justin Jackson)," Fitzgerald said of this recurring challenge. "Everything's kind of cyclical. A couple years ago it was the quarterbacks who were getting a lot of attention. Now I really think, across the board, there's pretty talented running backs, especially in the West (division). It's a different week, a different stud."
IN THE WAY: The senior Carter had been part of the defensive line rotation throughout this season. But, after starting all of the `Cats' dozen games last fall, he did not make his first start of '14 until Saturday against the Gophs.
"It's based on what guys do on a day-in, day-out basis," Fitzgerald said when asked about that. "Last year, he just wasn't consistent enough. He played too high. I call it getting on a bicycle. We teach our guys to play with their feet apart up front. He was playing like he was riding a bike. You get your feet close together, you get narrow and you get high, that's a combination for getting blown off the ball and not being able to control your gap.
"That opened up a crack and an opportunity for some other guys and they seized it. To his credit, he didn't pout. He didn't feel sorry for himself. He's just been working and now he's probably playing the best football that he's played in the last two years. That's why he's earned the starting role. It's happening not only with the way he's playing in games. But also, more importantly, with the way he's practicing. Really proud of the way he's finishing up his career. We're going to need him this week."
WHEN BAD IS GOOD: Carter had the `Cats only sack against the Gophs and, afterward, he celebrated by crossing his wrists. The reason? The genesis was the ESPN "30 for 30" documentary on the Detroit Pistons of the late `80s and early `90s, that notorious group that was aptly nicknamed the Bad Boys. This was a show the defensive line watched together and, afterward, the injured tackle Sean McEvilly suggested that it start referring to itself by that name as well. So, said Carter while explaining his gesture, "We have little shackles on our hands, like bad boys would.
"We're trying to take on the persona that the Pistons had. We wanted to take their name, but we wanted to try something different. It's just a little something different."
QUICKLY NOTED:
• Evanston-native and Loyola grad Carter calls himself a Chicago sports fan and these days, like so many, his favorite team is the Blackhawks. But -- coincidentally enough considering the way the D-line now views itself -- his heart once belonged to the Bulls, who scarred it with any number of their moves. "I had a big beef with the whole Bulls' front office," he explained. "Trading Elton Brand for Tyson Chandler. Getting Ron Mercer in here. I'm like, `OK, John Paxson. Give me something good here.'
One thing I will admit though that he got right and I got wrong was taking Derrick Rose instead of (former Kansas State star Michael) Beasley (who was an NBA bust and now plays for the Shanghai Sharks of the Chinese Basketball Association). So props to John Paxson on that, and getting (coach) Tom Thibodeau in here."
• When Carter made his recruiting visit to Stanford, which was also interested in him, he spent most of his time with current Colt quarterback Andrew Luck. "They were talking about him, `Oh, man. This guy's really good.' I was like, `All right,'" he remembered. "I really had no idea who he was, but then, boom, four years later he's leading the NFL in passing yards. `I'm like, `Wow. That guy showed me around Stanford.' That's pretty cool."
• Justin Jackson was named the Big Ten's Freshman of the Week after rushing for 106 yards and catching four passes for 50 more and a touchdown against the Gophs.
"He's hitting the hole and making plays out there," tackle Paul Jorgensen said of him. "It's really refreshing up front to have a guy like that in the backfield who can make plays like that. He reversed the field on a play this past weekend and picked up yards when you didn't think he was going to get any. So it's pretty special to have him in the backfield."
This marks the third straight week a 'Cat has copped that honor. Safety Godwin Igwebuike won it after getting three interceptions against Wisconsin and Walker won it after his work at Penn State. "So we're getting pretty good production from our young guys," Fitzgerald said in the understatement of the week.
AND FINALLY: The 'Cats, you may recall, fell to the Huskers last season on a Hail Mary pass on the game's final play. Since then, Fitzgerald said Monday, "We've pulled off if not every Hail Mary, almost every Hail Mary that's happened (in other games) to continue to coach that play. You can see little things in those plays that you can coach off of." Added Carter: "We went over victory last year. But it was kind of like, 'Yeah. We'll go over victory just in case, blah-blah-blah.' But now, since that happened to us, we go over victory and actually pay a lot more attention to it."
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