Northwestern University Athletics
The Skip Report: One Down, Two To Go
11/17/2014 12:00:00 AM | Football
With Saturday's win for the ages in the rearview mirror, Pat Fitzgerald and several Northwestern players met the media Monday to review the win over Notre Dame and the next two steps the Wildcats must take in order to reach the postseason.
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TWO TO GO: In spring, after the bracket for the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament is unveiled, all of its teams share a single goal of remaining in the dance as long as possible. "Survive and advance" is the way they put it.
Here in November, as they attempt to get the six wins needed for a bowl invitation, the 'Cats have adopted a similar mentality. For now they view themselves in a three-game playoff that opened last Saturday in South Bend. "Now we're moving on to round two," Pat Fitzgerald said Monday at his weekly presser. "You get in the playoff structure, you don't look back to last week. You don't look forward to the next week. You look at the task at hand.
"I expect the guys will come out and prepare the right way."
COLD REALITY: Their overtime win at Notre Dame was surely a bright beacon in their uneven season. But the harsh truth is this: it will mean nothing but a brief bit of euphoria unless the `Cats take care of their business Saturday at Purdue and at home against Illinois the Saturday after Thanksgiving. "I'm really looking forward to seeing our leadership and seeing how we respond to success," Fitzgerald also said Monday. "I think it's easy to respond to adversity. I think the hardest thing to do is respond to success. We'll see how we do this week."
A REMINDER: In 1995, the last time those two teams had met before Saturday, the `Cats also upset the heavily favored Irish. Fitzgerald, of course, was then their star linebacker and Monday morning he shared this bit of history with his players. Two weeks later, in their next game, they lost at home to Miami (Ohio). "He had mentioned it before," corner Nick VanHoose said early Monday afternoon.
"But when he brought it up today, it definitely sunk in a lot more. You think about it a little more. We had all this success, and people are texting and calling and telling you how great you are. But you've got to look at the big picture and put that behind you and move forward."
"I think that's big for us," added linebacker Jimmy Hall. "We've played better this year when our backs are against the wall, when no one thinks we can do it. So somehow we have to take that mentality into these next two games because our back is actually against the wall. We're playing to get into (a bowl game). We have to find a way to keep motivating ourselves the next two games."
HERE'S A WAY: After their win Saturday, in the privacy of their locker room, all the 'Cats seniors were brought forward. "We're running out of chances to play with these guys," recalled VanHoose, summarizing the message then delivered. "This family is going to come to an end eventually and we want to keep it going as long as possible. So these games matter a whole lot."
He was asked now about the effect of the narrow loss to Michigan.
"It was just another missed opportunity," he said. "But if we would have won that game, we could have gone into (the Irish) game thinking, `It's OK. We don't have to win this one because we've got two more possibilities to go to a bowl game.' But after that loss to Michigan, it hits you right in the face. If we don't win this game, we're not going to go to a bowl game and this family is going to die."
Meaning?
"As soon as the Illinois game is over, we get done, we come back, we get a couple weeks off. But as soon as it gets back into workouts and meetings and stuff like that, all the seniors are gone. It's a completely different, new team-dynamic. Then in summer we bring in a new freshman class, new people most of us haven't met yet, so it's a completely new family.
"That definitely puts way more motivation on us to play for our teammates. We want to keep this family going as long as possible."
CRASH LANDING: Asked about his team returning to earth after Saturday's success, Fitzgerald said, "All they had to do was watch the tape this morning. We had enough mistakes in all three phases to understand that you can win a lot of football games by playing with great effort and energy and passion and making big plays, and we made a bunch. Then you give yourself an opportunity to lose a game by turning the ball over, by critical penalties, by not executing in the kicking game and giving up explosive plays when we should be in position to make plays defensively.
"All those things I think are maybe overshadowed a little bit by the euphoria of the win externally. But internally you pop on the tape and you see the work we have to do and you get right back at it. We've been pretty good at letting go of the adversity. Now I would anticipate using (that mentality) the same way and let go of success and get back going."
SOME QUICK FLASHBACKS:
• The offensive line, after two-and-a-half games of poor play, was heroic against the Irish, keying an offense that that rolled up 263 net rushing yards and 547 total yards. "I think the guys have just taken their play personally and stopped thinking," Fitzgerald said of its resurrection. "They've been getting a little paralysis by analysis in over-thinking some situations. I think they just cut it loose and played, played hard. Made a lot of mistakes. But overcame a lot of those by playing with great effort."
• QB Trevor Siemian showed more mobility Saturday than he has since injuring his ankle in Week Two, and ended with a 6-yard touchdown run and 32 net rushing yards while suffering just two sacks. "For him, I think it gives him a lot of confidence," Fitzgerald said of that mobility. "If there's a one-man breakdown, or if we target the protection the wrong way with the wrong call, he can escape and get himself out of trouble. He was able to do that a handful of times. So that gives him a lot of confidence."
• After tying the game up with 19 seconds left in regulation and winning it in overtime, place kicker Jack Mitchell was named the Big Ten's Special Teams Player of the Week.
• By coincidence, Fitzgerald and offensive tackle Paul Jorgensen found themselves standing next to each other as Mitchell kicked the 45-yarder that tied it. "So for karma's sake we stood next to each other again for the kick in overtime," Fitzgerald admitted on Monday.
• Defensive tackle Greg Kuhar suffered a lower body injury against the Irish that will require surgery and is finished for the season. Wide receiver Miles Shuler, who has missed the last two games, also has been ruled out of Saturday's game at Purdue.
AND FINALLY: After the win Fitzgerald talked to his old coach Gary Barnett ("It was a fun conversation"), heard from almost all the other Big Ten coaches and was contacted by countless former teammates and alums. But most memorable to him was the FaceTime chat he had in the locker room with his three sons, who were back home. "That was a pretty cool moment," he recalled with a soft smile on his face. "That was one of the cooler moments that I've had as a dad. That was really cool."
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