Northwestern University Athletics
The Skip Report: Five Weeks in November
10/27/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
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Following a week away from their usual Saturday battles, Northwestern was back to the grind on Monday, and Skip Myslenski reports the news and notes from a Monday press conference featuring Pat Fitzgerald, DT Greg Kuhar and WR Kyle Prater.
Monday Press Conference Video: Coach Fitzgerald | Student-Athletes
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THEIR FOCUS last week, the 'Cats' bye week, was getting healthy for their upcoming visit to Iowa (Saturday, 11 a.m. CT, BTN). So, not surprisingly, that was the first subject broached with Pat Fitzgerald at his traditional Monday presser. He said receiver Miles Shuler, who exited Ryan Field on a stretcher late in the Nebraska game, "ran around today. So we'll list him as day-to-day."
And superback Dan Vitale, who was also injured against the Huskers? "Same thing."
And receiver Kyle Prater, who too was injured that evening? "Same thing."
And middle linebacker Collin Ellis, who did not play at all that night? "He's out."
And safety Ibraheim Campbell, who has not played since their Sept. 27 win at Penn State? "He'll be day-to-day."
PRATER, who tweaked an ankle against Nebraska, was one of the two 'Cats who followed Fitzgerald behind the microphone. "I'm ready to go. I feel great," he said when his turn came.
But could he have played last Saturday if a game had been scheduled?
"I don't think so," he admitted. "The bye week came at the right time. We used last week to get a lot of people healthy. Unfortunately it came after a loss. But it's what we needed."
ELLIS' situation is both more serious and more complex than any of the others. "I'm more worried about him overall than with him playing," Fitzgerald said Monday. "My hope is obviously, if things work out, he'll get a chance to play again. If not, we'll move forward that way.
"But it's not a short-term concern. It's always long-term and what's best and right for the guys in every injury. It's really an unfortunate deal, but it's not his first [concussion] either. So we're going to make sure. We're always very cautious, we always go through our protocol. He's been great. But at the same time we've got to do what's right not only for him hopefully being able to play, but more importantly for him for the rest of his life."
So is he week-to-week? Out for the season?
"Honestly, I don't think anyone can predict those kinds of answers when it comes to anything head-related, concussion-related," Fitzgerald replied. "It's an inexact science. It's one that we take very seriously. I think all of college football does. I've got two grade-school football players (his sons Jack and Ryan) and they take it very seriously. I think medicine is in as good a place as it's been. But I think it's still going to evolve, and you deal with it on a case-by-case basis.
"It's a tough deal for him. He's doing a great job, though, helping Anthony (Walker, who has replaced him) and helping the guys. But it's a tough deal and my heart's broken for him."
WALKER, the redshirt freshman, dazzled as Ellis's replacement against the Nittany Lions, ending that afternoon with a team-high eight tackles and an interception he returned 49 yards for a touchdown. The next two games, while spelling Ellis, he accumulated just an assisted tackle, but he picked up five against the Huskers, including one for a four-yard loss. "I think he's settled in now," Fitzgerald said of him on Monday. "It's one thing to go out and start your first game and have great success. You're kind of the darling, so to speak.
"But now you're into what it really means to be a player. The weekly grind. The daily grind. What goes into each day preparing for that day of practice. There's a progression to the week, a process to the week. I think your first one (game) is always something special. But once you get into it, hopefully it becomes a routine and I think Anthony's into a very good routine. I think it helps him a lot having Chi Chi (Ariguzo) next to him. I really do. I think Chi Chi's been a calming force for him in there, and Anthony's done a good job getting in a routine and playing pretty well."
QUARTERBACK Trevor Siemian has not missed a game, but he has been operating on a damaged right ankle since the season's second week. "I think Trevor's healthier than he's been, which helps," Fitzgerald would report on Monday.
He had been asked about the need for a running quarterback, which is all the rage in college football, and that was how he began his reply. But then, as he continued on, he touched on some of the other topics that have fettered the 'Cats offense this season. "We expected to be able to do some things with him early in the year. Unfortunately, that ended up changing through some injuries," he here began. "But we've been able to run the ball pretty well. We've been able to do some things pretty well.
"But we've got to get better on the outside. It'd sure be nice if we could make some guys miss and turn a 4-yard hitch into an 8-yard gain. It seems right now the only guy consistently making some people miss is (running back) Justin Jackson. That's not enough. When we've been pretty good here offensively, the quarterback gets a lot of credit when you win and blame when you lose. That comes with the territory.
"But go back to (Dan) Persa's year (of 2010), he threw for 72 percent, 71 and change (73.5 percent, in fact, racking up 2,581 yards in just 10 games). A lot of those throws were for under 10 yards. We had a lot of guys catch and make guys miss, make nickels into dimes and dimes into quarters. When this offense is humming, you're throwing at a high percentage, you're catching the ball at a high percentage, and you're making the first guy miss at a high percentage. Right now, we're not doing that very well."
AND FINALLY, Prater on Siemian: "You see Trev come in every day to rehab, he's been fighting through that ankle. I commend him a lot for fighting through what he's been fighting through, and to come out there every game and put his best foot forward. It means a lot. That's a great leader. He's our quarterback and everyone's rallied around him. He's going to come into this game probably a little dinged up. But he's going to go out there and play, and he's going to be great. He's gotten better each day and so has everyone else."
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