Northwestern University Athletics
Photo by: Stephen J. Carrera
The Skip Report: Monday Notes - Iowa
10/12/2015 5:05:00 PM | Football
By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
Quick hitters from Pat Fitzgerald's traditional Monday presser. . . .
CORNER MATTHEW HARRIS, who was carted off the field during the 'Cats Saturday loss to Michigan, has broken bones in his face and it out for the foreseeable future. "A good time to ask me (about his return) will probably be right after the bye week (at the end of the month)," he said when asked when that might occur.
ONE POINT OF EMPHASIS in the days leading up to that Michigan game, Fitzgerald noted, was the importance of first and second downs. The reason for that was obvious. No team wants to face a third-and-long against any defense, let alone a defense as strong as the Wolverines'. But that was the 'Cats fate in last Saturday's first half, when their game was effectively settled, and here is why.
On their first possession Justin Jackson was stopped for no gain on first down and, on second, Clayton Thorson's pass to Christian Jones fell incomplete. On their second possession Jackson was thrown for a four-yard loss on first down and, on second, Thorson's pass to Austin Carr fell incomplete. On their third possession Jackson did gain three on a first down rush and, on second, three more on a reception from Thorson, but the 'Cats failed to convert a manageable third-and-four. On their fourth possession Solomon Vault was stopped for no gain on first down and, on second, Thorson's pass was batted back to him for no gain. On their fifth possession Jackson gained three yards on first down and, on second, Thorson's pass to Mike McCugh fell incomplete. On their sixth possession Jackson gained two yards on first down and, on second, Thorson's pass to Cameron Dickerson fell incomplete. Then they ran out the clock on their final possession.
So Fitzgerald was accurate on Monday when he said, "We put ourselves in third-and-long almost the entire day. With their defense, that's a recipe for disaster. I think they're outstanding, especially up front. But we sure compounded the problem. Not physical enough up front. . . . Up front, we couldn't get any movement on our one-on-ones. That made it tough sledding for Justin. We've got to get our run game going. That's our bread-and-butter. We've got to be able to run the football."
THE 'CATS, of course, never did manage to run the football against the Wolverines, who limited Jackson to just 25 net yards on his dozen carries. That buttressed a contention often made by Fitzgerald, who regularly avows that Big Ten games are determined by the mano-a-mano combat that goes on in the trenches. He echoed that theme on Monday when he said, "They (Michigan) didn't do anything we didn't prepare for. That's probably where our offensive guys were frustrated.
"When I met with some of the Leadership guys on our offense, I said, 'What could we have done differently?' They said, 'Everything you guys showed us last week is exactly what they did.' So got to credit Michigan. They executed, we didn't. We've got to win in those one-on-one situations. We're going to be in them again the next six weeks. There were plenty of times in the first five (weeks) that we did (win). Just got to get back to accomplishing that."
ANOTHER OF FITZGERALD'S beliefs is that you've got to flush away disappointments and move on, which his 'Cats must certainly do with undefeated Iowa set to visit Ryan Field on Saturday. "You've got to get off the mat. You get knocked down, you don't have the game that you're capable of having, you've got to get up. There's no other choice," he reiterated on Monday.
"I like the way the guys were this morning. They came with a great attitude. We coached the you-know-what out of them. Put the game away pretty quick and moved on. I think I'll know a lot more tomorrow walking off the field (after practice). But where they were at this morning was a positive place. . . . I think they were mad-- mad at themselves individually, mad at the performance that we did not have. We talked about what did we do in the first five weeks to have that success. It was the way we prepared and obviously the way we performed."
MICHIGAN, Fitzgerald also said, is "Playing as hot as anybody in the country." Then, in the next breath, he added, "You'd probably say Iowa is right there with them. We have to rise to the occasion."
SATURDAY is the 'Cats homecoming game. Saturday the 'Cats will honor their 1995 edition that went to the Rose Bowl. Saturday the 'Cats will wear new uniforms designed in tribute to that storied team. But, most importantly, Saturday the 'Cats will face the team that sits atop their division, a team that must be beaten if they hope to achieve their goal of appearing in their conference's title game. "I think there's extra motivation because they're in the driver's seat in the Big Ten West. That's the bottom line," Fitzgerald said of that reality.
"They've put themselves in that position by the way they've played. They've won their games. They've found ways to win close games, tough games. That's a hallmark of (Hawkeye coach) Kirk (Ferentz's) teams. They're tough. They're physical. They do what they do. They do it well. They execute fundamentally. They don't make mistakes. They typically don't beat themselves.
"You've got to execute to beat them."
NUsports.com Special Contributor
Quick hitters from Pat Fitzgerald's traditional Monday presser. . . .
CORNER MATTHEW HARRIS, who was carted off the field during the 'Cats Saturday loss to Michigan, has broken bones in his face and it out for the foreseeable future. "A good time to ask me (about his return) will probably be right after the bye week (at the end of the month)," he said when asked when that might occur.
ONE POINT OF EMPHASIS in the days leading up to that Michigan game, Fitzgerald noted, was the importance of first and second downs. The reason for that was obvious. No team wants to face a third-and-long against any defense, let alone a defense as strong as the Wolverines'. But that was the 'Cats fate in last Saturday's first half, when their game was effectively settled, and here is why.
On their first possession Justin Jackson was stopped for no gain on first down and, on second, Clayton Thorson's pass to Christian Jones fell incomplete. On their second possession Jackson was thrown for a four-yard loss on first down and, on second, Thorson's pass to Austin Carr fell incomplete. On their third possession Jackson did gain three on a first down rush and, on second, three more on a reception from Thorson, but the 'Cats failed to convert a manageable third-and-four. On their fourth possession Solomon Vault was stopped for no gain on first down and, on second, Thorson's pass was batted back to him for no gain. On their fifth possession Jackson gained three yards on first down and, on second, Thorson's pass to Mike McCugh fell incomplete. On their sixth possession Jackson gained two yards on first down and, on second, Thorson's pass to Cameron Dickerson fell incomplete. Then they ran out the clock on their final possession.
So Fitzgerald was accurate on Monday when he said, "We put ourselves in third-and-long almost the entire day. With their defense, that's a recipe for disaster. I think they're outstanding, especially up front. But we sure compounded the problem. Not physical enough up front. . . . Up front, we couldn't get any movement on our one-on-ones. That made it tough sledding for Justin. We've got to get our run game going. That's our bread-and-butter. We've got to be able to run the football."
THE 'CATS, of course, never did manage to run the football against the Wolverines, who limited Jackson to just 25 net yards on his dozen carries. That buttressed a contention often made by Fitzgerald, who regularly avows that Big Ten games are determined by the mano-a-mano combat that goes on in the trenches. He echoed that theme on Monday when he said, "They (Michigan) didn't do anything we didn't prepare for. That's probably where our offensive guys were frustrated.
"When I met with some of the Leadership guys on our offense, I said, 'What could we have done differently?' They said, 'Everything you guys showed us last week is exactly what they did.' So got to credit Michigan. They executed, we didn't. We've got to win in those one-on-one situations. We're going to be in them again the next six weeks. There were plenty of times in the first five (weeks) that we did (win). Just got to get back to accomplishing that."
ANOTHER OF FITZGERALD'S beliefs is that you've got to flush away disappointments and move on, which his 'Cats must certainly do with undefeated Iowa set to visit Ryan Field on Saturday. "You've got to get off the mat. You get knocked down, you don't have the game that you're capable of having, you've got to get up. There's no other choice," he reiterated on Monday.
"I like the way the guys were this morning. They came with a great attitude. We coached the you-know-what out of them. Put the game away pretty quick and moved on. I think I'll know a lot more tomorrow walking off the field (after practice). But where they were at this morning was a positive place. . . . I think they were mad-- mad at themselves individually, mad at the performance that we did not have. We talked about what did we do in the first five weeks to have that success. It was the way we prepared and obviously the way we performed."
MICHIGAN, Fitzgerald also said, is "Playing as hot as anybody in the country." Then, in the next breath, he added, "You'd probably say Iowa is right there with them. We have to rise to the occasion."
SATURDAY is the 'Cats homecoming game. Saturday the 'Cats will honor their 1995 edition that went to the Rose Bowl. Saturday the 'Cats will wear new uniforms designed in tribute to that storied team. But, most importantly, Saturday the 'Cats will face the team that sits atop their division, a team that must be beaten if they hope to achieve their goal of appearing in their conference's title game. "I think there's extra motivation because they're in the driver's seat in the Big Ten West. That's the bottom line," Fitzgerald said of that reality.
"They've put themselves in that position by the way they've played. They've won their games. They've found ways to win close games, tough games. That's a hallmark of (Hawkeye coach) Kirk (Ferentz's) teams. They're tough. They're physical. They do what they do. They do it well. They execute fundamentally. They don't make mistakes. They typically don't beat themselves.
"You've got to execute to beat them."
Players Mentioned
WR
/ Football
WR
/ Football
RB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
QB
/ Football
RB
/ FootballA Day in the Life with Marcus Romain | Northwestern Football
Friday, May 01
Football - Caleb Tiernan Draft Night Press Conference (4/24/26)
Saturday, April 25
Jerry Neuheisel MIC'D UP | Northwestern Football
Friday, April 10
Football - Players Pro Day Media Availability (Beerntsen, Stone, Tiernan)
Tuesday, March 17
