Northwestern University Athletics
Photo by: Caylor Arnold-USA TODAY Sports
The Skip Report: Iowa Recap
10/18/2015 3:35:00 PM | Football
By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
The 'Cats won the toss and deferred, and soon enough Iowa faced a third-and-nine at their own 26. Now they blitzed, and Hawkeye quarterback C.J. Beathard threw incomplete. But corner Marcus McShepard had lined up offside, and so the down was replayed. This time Beathard found wide receiver Matt VandeBerg for 17, and safety Traveon Henry was called for a late hit at the play's end.
That set the Hawkeyes' up at the 'Cats 37, where soon enough they faced another third down. This time they needed 10 for a first, and here their receiver Tevaun Smith was called for pass interference on a fly down the left boundary. But, behind him, 'Cat defensive end Xavier Washington was called for roughing the passer, and so once more the down was replayed. This time the 'Cats held and Iowa punted.
Now, soon enough, the 'Cats faced their own third down, and here Clayton Thorson threw from the right hash toward Christian Jones on the left boundary. He was picked by Hawkeye corner Desmond King, and with that the 'Cats had made their fourth mistake Saturday morning at Ryan Field.
Less than three minutes had elapsed in the most-crucial game of their season. But already its tone, its tenor, its story line had been established. "You can't," Pat Fitzgerald would lament after his team fell by 30, "play the way we did against a very well-coached, a very disciplined, a very fundamentally-sound football team, and expect to be successful."
"There's no excuses for how we played today," the defensive end Dean Lowry would soon add. "I think it came down to execution. We had a great week of practice. We were focused. But things didn't go our way today and we didn't respond well."
"We knew what they were going to do. We know how they run their defense and how they run their offense, and they know how we run ours," Jones would then conclude. "It came down to who wanted it more, and who was going to focus up and execute. We just didn't do it."
A week earlier, at Michigan, the 'Cats had suffered their first loss of the season. But, as they prepared for Iowa, they talked only of responding, of rebounding against the team that had control of their West Division in the Big Ten. Our goals are still ahead of us, they avowed, and if we topple the Hawkeyes, we can yet play in the conference championship game down in Indianapolis.
The stakes were high, then, on this Saturday, but the 'Cats went down three after Thorson's interception and down nine after Iowa running back Akrum Wadley swept left for 35 yards on the first play of the second quarter (the PAT failed). He had appeared in just three games this season. He had totaled a mere 35 yards on eight carries. He had been inserted here only after starter Jordan Canzeri had been injured. But, less than four minutes later, Wadley banged in from four yards out for his second touchdown of the day and now the 'Cats were down 16.
Their own offense, in turn, would never establish the run, ending its day with just 51 net rushing yards on 26 carries. It would also suffer from any number of dropped balls. But here, after gaining just 29 yards on its first 18 plays, it finally did rouse itself, unfurling a 12-play, 76-yard drive that ended with Thorson's four-yard toss to Jones under the north goal post. Now, on the Hawkeyes' first play, Henry picked Beathard, and just over three minutes later the 'Cat deficit was down to six after a Jack Mitchell field goal.
It was still six early in the third quarter when this one fully turned Iowa's way, and again it was the unheralded Wadley who stole the spotlight running off the edge. "When their receivers cracked our safeties, our corners didn't fit well," said Fitzgerald, explaining the Hawkeyes' success on the outside. "Then when we were there, we missed tackles. And he obviously made plays, so you've got to credit him. It looked like they blocked our Will linebacker, our boundary safety all day. If that's going to happen, it's going to be a long day against Iowa. That's what happened."
"We knew their wide receivers were going to crack," added 'Cat corner Nick VanHoose, who had a rough day trying to contain Wadley. "When you're on man coverage and someone goes to crack, you've got to have really, really good eyes. It's a pretty tough job to do, and it's something I didn't execute well today."
That is what was at work on the Hawkeyes' first drive of the third quarter, which opened with Wadley sweeping for 24 and ended just under six-and-a-half minutes later with him banging in from two yards out for his third touchdown of the day. Now, on the 'Cats first snap after that score, Thorson and Justin Jackson muffed a handoff, Iowa recovered, and three plays later Wadley scored again, this time from four-yards out.
Over five minutes still remained in the third quarter. But, with that, this one was effectively over.
Pat Fitzgerald often says stats are for losers. But, sometimes, they do effectively tell the tale. Consider. In the first quarter, when the 'Cats fell behind, they ran just 12 offensive plays, gained just 28 yards, picked up just one first down and held the ball for just 4:59. But then, when they rallied in the second quarter, they ran 28 plays, gained 90 yards, picked up six first downs and held the ball for 9:23. And finally, when this one got away from them in the third quarter, they ran just 15 plays, gained just 34 yards, picked up just two first downs and held the ball for just 4:32.
"Although we want to play with tempo, we've got to be a ball control offense. That's the name of the game," Fitzgerald would say, explaining the importance of those numbers. "We're not set up right now to go two plays and score. We've got to be able to control it. Obviously, we weren't able to do that."
The result?
"Defensively, we just ran out of gas. We couldn't get off the field," he said. "You've got to credit our opponent. I thought Iowa, at the point of attack, blocked well. We missed as many tackles as we have all year, which came out of nowhere. We've been tackling pretty well."
And now?
"The team's got to make a decision," he said. "(Is it) a team that went out and won five games and made plays all over the place, or a team that the last two weeks, quite frankly, is void of making plays?"
"We try to focus on what we can control, and we think that it's been very disappointing, our performances the last two weeks," Dean Lowry would soon conclude. "We know we can do better. We've got to look at ourselves in the mirror tonight and ask ourselves if we're the team that beat Stanford and Minnesota, or the team that came out and performed today.
"This game will bring a lot of reflection."
NUsports.com Special Contributor
The 'Cats won the toss and deferred, and soon enough Iowa faced a third-and-nine at their own 26. Now they blitzed, and Hawkeye quarterback C.J. Beathard threw incomplete. But corner Marcus McShepard had lined up offside, and so the down was replayed. This time Beathard found wide receiver Matt VandeBerg for 17, and safety Traveon Henry was called for a late hit at the play's end.
That set the Hawkeyes' up at the 'Cats 37, where soon enough they faced another third down. This time they needed 10 for a first, and here their receiver Tevaun Smith was called for pass interference on a fly down the left boundary. But, behind him, 'Cat defensive end Xavier Washington was called for roughing the passer, and so once more the down was replayed. This time the 'Cats held and Iowa punted.
Now, soon enough, the 'Cats faced their own third down, and here Clayton Thorson threw from the right hash toward Christian Jones on the left boundary. He was picked by Hawkeye corner Desmond King, and with that the 'Cats had made their fourth mistake Saturday morning at Ryan Field.
Less than three minutes had elapsed in the most-crucial game of their season. But already its tone, its tenor, its story line had been established. "You can't," Pat Fitzgerald would lament after his team fell by 30, "play the way we did against a very well-coached, a very disciplined, a very fundamentally-sound football team, and expect to be successful."
"There's no excuses for how we played today," the defensive end Dean Lowry would soon add. "I think it came down to execution. We had a great week of practice. We were focused. But things didn't go our way today and we didn't respond well."
"We knew what they were going to do. We know how they run their defense and how they run their offense, and they know how we run ours," Jones would then conclude. "It came down to who wanted it more, and who was going to focus up and execute. We just didn't do it."
A week earlier, at Michigan, the 'Cats had suffered their first loss of the season. But, as they prepared for Iowa, they talked only of responding, of rebounding against the team that had control of their West Division in the Big Ten. Our goals are still ahead of us, they avowed, and if we topple the Hawkeyes, we can yet play in the conference championship game down in Indianapolis.
The stakes were high, then, on this Saturday, but the 'Cats went down three after Thorson's interception and down nine after Iowa running back Akrum Wadley swept left for 35 yards on the first play of the second quarter (the PAT failed). He had appeared in just three games this season. He had totaled a mere 35 yards on eight carries. He had been inserted here only after starter Jordan Canzeri had been injured. But, less than four minutes later, Wadley banged in from four yards out for his second touchdown of the day and now the 'Cats were down 16.
Their own offense, in turn, would never establish the run, ending its day with just 51 net rushing yards on 26 carries. It would also suffer from any number of dropped balls. But here, after gaining just 29 yards on its first 18 plays, it finally did rouse itself, unfurling a 12-play, 76-yard drive that ended with Thorson's four-yard toss to Jones under the north goal post. Now, on the Hawkeyes' first play, Henry picked Beathard, and just over three minutes later the 'Cat deficit was down to six after a Jack Mitchell field goal.
It was still six early in the third quarter when this one fully turned Iowa's way, and again it was the unheralded Wadley who stole the spotlight running off the edge. "When their receivers cracked our safeties, our corners didn't fit well," said Fitzgerald, explaining the Hawkeyes' success on the outside. "Then when we were there, we missed tackles. And he obviously made plays, so you've got to credit him. It looked like they blocked our Will linebacker, our boundary safety all day. If that's going to happen, it's going to be a long day against Iowa. That's what happened."
"We knew their wide receivers were going to crack," added 'Cat corner Nick VanHoose, who had a rough day trying to contain Wadley. "When you're on man coverage and someone goes to crack, you've got to have really, really good eyes. It's a pretty tough job to do, and it's something I didn't execute well today."
That is what was at work on the Hawkeyes' first drive of the third quarter, which opened with Wadley sweeping for 24 and ended just under six-and-a-half minutes later with him banging in from two yards out for his third touchdown of the day. Now, on the 'Cats first snap after that score, Thorson and Justin Jackson muffed a handoff, Iowa recovered, and three plays later Wadley scored again, this time from four-yards out.
Over five minutes still remained in the third quarter. But, with that, this one was effectively over.
Pat Fitzgerald often says stats are for losers. But, sometimes, they do effectively tell the tale. Consider. In the first quarter, when the 'Cats fell behind, they ran just 12 offensive plays, gained just 28 yards, picked up just one first down and held the ball for just 4:59. But then, when they rallied in the second quarter, they ran 28 plays, gained 90 yards, picked up six first downs and held the ball for 9:23. And finally, when this one got away from them in the third quarter, they ran just 15 plays, gained just 34 yards, picked up just two first downs and held the ball for just 4:32.
"Although we want to play with tempo, we've got to be a ball control offense. That's the name of the game," Fitzgerald would say, explaining the importance of those numbers. "We're not set up right now to go two plays and score. We've got to be able to control it. Obviously, we weren't able to do that."
The result?
"Defensively, we just ran out of gas. We couldn't get off the field," he said. "You've got to credit our opponent. I thought Iowa, at the point of attack, blocked well. We missed as many tackles as we have all year, which came out of nowhere. We've been tackling pretty well."
And now?
"The team's got to make a decision," he said. "(Is it) a team that went out and won five games and made plays all over the place, or a team that the last two weeks, quite frankly, is void of making plays?"
"We try to focus on what we can control, and we think that it's been very disappointing, our performances the last two weeks," Dean Lowry would soon conclude. "We know we can do better. We've got to look at ourselves in the mirror tonight and ask ourselves if we're the team that beat Stanford and Minnesota, or the team that came out and performed today.
"This game will bring a lot of reflection."
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