Northwestern University Athletics
Photo by: Stephen J. Carrera
The Skip Report: Purdue Game Recap
11/15/2015 4:39:00 PM | Football
By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
Style points are awarded in diving and gymnastics, in figure skating and beauty pageants, but that is not the case in the game of football. All that is important here are the numbers on the scoreboard when the clock hits zero and, at that moment Saturday afternoon at Ryan Field, they showed that the 'Cats had seven more points than Purdue. "I'm not going to apologize for going one-and-o in a Big Ten game," Pat Fitzgerald was soon saying. "It's hard to win Big Ten games."
Saturday was Senior Day at Ryan Field, and the 'Cats were double-digit favorites over an opponent that had won just twice all season. They were primed and prepared, coming off consecutive wins over Nebraska and Penn State, and they opened this one with a flourish, driving 75 yards to a touchdown on their very first possession. Quarterback Clayton Thorson opened it with a completion to superback Dan Vitale, and then scampered for 15 on an option right. Now running back Justin Jackson picked up 12 over right tackle and finally, four plays later, his backup Warren Long popped through a yawning hole over left tackle, cut outside and raced 31 yards for the score.
Less than three minutes had gone by and the rout looked on, but that would prove to be an illusion as ephemeral as a fleeting thought. For on the Boilermakers' very first play their quarterback David Bough looked left and pumped left; and their wide receiver Domonique Young ran a stop-and-go along the right boundary; and 'Cat corner Nick VanHoose bit on the fake and let Young fly by him; and Bough pivoted and threw a strike to Young, who carried it home for a tying touchdown.
Now it was game-on, and this one transformed into a tooth-pull, a tug-a-war, a steel-cage-match replete with feints and blows. The 'Cat offense would again be inconsistent, would never again operate with the cool efficiency it showed on the opening drive. "We have to be way more efficient offensively," Fitzgerald would later say. "We had way too many one-man breakdowns up front. We had big holes and big seams, but one guy was able to trip up our back, which is unacceptable. And obviously not consistent enough in the passing game."
But The 'Cat defense would revert to its old self, would shut out the Boilermakers through the rest of the first half. "Our confidence is in a great place," the safety Traveon Henry would later say. "We just really have guys buying in to what's going on. It's really just trusting each other."
Henry himself picked Blough early in the second quarter and that set up Long's second touchdown of the day, which gave the 'Cats a seven-point halftime lead. But the Boilermakers took the opening kickoff of the second half and briskly marched 71 yards to tie this one up. Now the 'Cat tried to respond, did respond by driving to the Purdue 29, but on fourth-and-one Thorson's pass to Solomon Vault fell incomplete. Again the Boilermakers drove, drove all the way to the 'Cats 26, but here they stalled as well and this one was still tied when their placekicker Paul Griggs missed from 43 yards out.
Once more the 'Cat offense came onto the field.
Clayton Thorson would struggle all through this afternoon, ending it just nine-of-19 for 81 yards. Now, on the fourth play of this drive, he was flushed by a blitz, rolled right, threw toward Miles Shuler and was picked by Boilermaker corner Frankie Williams.
The 'Cat defense would give up yards through much of this afternoon, until this moment never limiting the Boilermakers to a three-and-out. Now, with momentum against it, it would do just that. "We use the analogy of being a fireman. The bell rings, it's time to go put the fire out," Fitzgerald would later say. "When you turn the ball over, there's a fire on the field and our guys have got to go put it out. Our defense did that 100 percent today."
That gave the ball back to the 'Cats at their own 18 and now, in at quarterback for them, was Zack Oliver, who had effectively relieved the injured Thorson a week earlier against Penn State. Quickly he hit Mike McCugh for 13 and Vault for 37, but on the first play of the fourth quarter he too was picked. Here, again, the 'Cat defense was asked to answer the bell and here, again, it did just that, forcing the Boilermakers into another three-and-out.
Once more Oliver came out to guide the 'Cats, but after they picked up a first on a Purdue penalty, he threw a pair of incompletions and was sacked. Now, kicking with the wind, Hunter Nisawinder pinned the Boilermakers back at their five, and for the third straight time the 'Cat defense held them to a three-and-out. Here their offense took over at their own 42 and back at quarterback for them was Thorson. "Mick (McCall, the offensive coordinator) and I were talking," Fitzgerald would later explain.
"We just felt we wanted to take him out, let him take a breather for a second. We've talked about that quite a bit. When you research things, when you have a rookie quarterback--even a veteran quarterback--sometimes if you take them out, give them a series, he gets a chance to exhale and then go back in and go play. Would we have kept Zack in if we had gone down and scored? Maybe. Would we have gone back to Clayton? Maybe. But I just felt Clayton had settled down, felt good about where he was at. That's why I made the decision to do that."
"They were very open about that. We talked about that the whole year," said Thorson himself. "I needed to settle down a little bit, just get back in the groove."
He handed to Jackson for three on his first play back and then found Christian Jones for five. A Purdue offside penalty gave the 'Cats a first down at the Boilermaker 45 and then, on a third-and-six, he hit Austin Carr for eight and another first at their 33.
A holding penalty on tackle Eric Olson now threatened to stall this drive. But on a third-and-14, Thorson scrambled away from a rush, took off, got hit short of the sticks, but carried Purdue linebacker Jimmy Herman a good four yards to get a first.
"I drove my feet on contact. We had a few yards to go there and we were lucky enough to get it," he later said of that 16-yard run, and on the very next play he picked up 16 more after faking to Long, keeping and following him through the hole. That set the 'Cats up at the five, and three plays later Jackson took it in from two.
Now, with 4:37 remaining, the 'Cats were up seven. Now, for the fourth straight time, their defense held the Boilermakers to a three-and-out. Now, after getting the ball back at 3:39, they would simply run the clock out.
Style points are awarded in diving and gymnastics, in figure skating and beauty pageants, but that is not the case in the game of football. All that is important here are the numbers on the scoreboard when the clock hits zero and, at that moment Saturday afternoon at Ryan Field, they showed that the 'Cats had seven more points than Purdue. "You're not just going to walk on the field and blow a team out. That's not how it works, especially in the Big Ten," Justin Jackson was soon saying. "So we knew we were going to go out there and get in a fight. They had nothing to lose. They're playing for pride and they came out and played really well, especially defensively.
"These are the types of games last year we probably wouldn't have won. I think it speaks a lot to our seniors being the vocal leaders they need to be and keeping us up. Obviously it's easy to get down when things happen, there's up and downs in a game. But our seniors and our leaders did a great job of just keeping us up and saying, 'Look. we've just got to go out here and win this game. It doesn't matter how it looks. Just win the game.'"
NUsports.com Special Contributor
Style points are awarded in diving and gymnastics, in figure skating and beauty pageants, but that is not the case in the game of football. All that is important here are the numbers on the scoreboard when the clock hits zero and, at that moment Saturday afternoon at Ryan Field, they showed that the 'Cats had seven more points than Purdue. "I'm not going to apologize for going one-and-o in a Big Ten game," Pat Fitzgerald was soon saying. "It's hard to win Big Ten games."
Saturday was Senior Day at Ryan Field, and the 'Cats were double-digit favorites over an opponent that had won just twice all season. They were primed and prepared, coming off consecutive wins over Nebraska and Penn State, and they opened this one with a flourish, driving 75 yards to a touchdown on their very first possession. Quarterback Clayton Thorson opened it with a completion to superback Dan Vitale, and then scampered for 15 on an option right. Now running back Justin Jackson picked up 12 over right tackle and finally, four plays later, his backup Warren Long popped through a yawning hole over left tackle, cut outside and raced 31 yards for the score.
Less than three minutes had gone by and the rout looked on, but that would prove to be an illusion as ephemeral as a fleeting thought. For on the Boilermakers' very first play their quarterback David Bough looked left and pumped left; and their wide receiver Domonique Young ran a stop-and-go along the right boundary; and 'Cat corner Nick VanHoose bit on the fake and let Young fly by him; and Bough pivoted and threw a strike to Young, who carried it home for a tying touchdown.
Now it was game-on, and this one transformed into a tooth-pull, a tug-a-war, a steel-cage-match replete with feints and blows. The 'Cat offense would again be inconsistent, would never again operate with the cool efficiency it showed on the opening drive. "We have to be way more efficient offensively," Fitzgerald would later say. "We had way too many one-man breakdowns up front. We had big holes and big seams, but one guy was able to trip up our back, which is unacceptable. And obviously not consistent enough in the passing game."
But The 'Cat defense would revert to its old self, would shut out the Boilermakers through the rest of the first half. "Our confidence is in a great place," the safety Traveon Henry would later say. "We just really have guys buying in to what's going on. It's really just trusting each other."
Henry himself picked Blough early in the second quarter and that set up Long's second touchdown of the day, which gave the 'Cats a seven-point halftime lead. But the Boilermakers took the opening kickoff of the second half and briskly marched 71 yards to tie this one up. Now the 'Cat tried to respond, did respond by driving to the Purdue 29, but on fourth-and-one Thorson's pass to Solomon Vault fell incomplete. Again the Boilermakers drove, drove all the way to the 'Cats 26, but here they stalled as well and this one was still tied when their placekicker Paul Griggs missed from 43 yards out.
Once more the 'Cat offense came onto the field.
Clayton Thorson would struggle all through this afternoon, ending it just nine-of-19 for 81 yards. Now, on the fourth play of this drive, he was flushed by a blitz, rolled right, threw toward Miles Shuler and was picked by Boilermaker corner Frankie Williams.
The 'Cat defense would give up yards through much of this afternoon, until this moment never limiting the Boilermakers to a three-and-out. Now, with momentum against it, it would do just that. "We use the analogy of being a fireman. The bell rings, it's time to go put the fire out," Fitzgerald would later say. "When you turn the ball over, there's a fire on the field and our guys have got to go put it out. Our defense did that 100 percent today."
That gave the ball back to the 'Cats at their own 18 and now, in at quarterback for them, was Zack Oliver, who had effectively relieved the injured Thorson a week earlier against Penn State. Quickly he hit Mike McCugh for 13 and Vault for 37, but on the first play of the fourth quarter he too was picked. Here, again, the 'Cat defense was asked to answer the bell and here, again, it did just that, forcing the Boilermakers into another three-and-out.
Once more Oliver came out to guide the 'Cats, but after they picked up a first on a Purdue penalty, he threw a pair of incompletions and was sacked. Now, kicking with the wind, Hunter Nisawinder pinned the Boilermakers back at their five, and for the third straight time the 'Cat defense held them to a three-and-out. Here their offense took over at their own 42 and back at quarterback for them was Thorson. "Mick (McCall, the offensive coordinator) and I were talking," Fitzgerald would later explain.
"We just felt we wanted to take him out, let him take a breather for a second. We've talked about that quite a bit. When you research things, when you have a rookie quarterback--even a veteran quarterback--sometimes if you take them out, give them a series, he gets a chance to exhale and then go back in and go play. Would we have kept Zack in if we had gone down and scored? Maybe. Would we have gone back to Clayton? Maybe. But I just felt Clayton had settled down, felt good about where he was at. That's why I made the decision to do that."
"They were very open about that. We talked about that the whole year," said Thorson himself. "I needed to settle down a little bit, just get back in the groove."
He handed to Jackson for three on his first play back and then found Christian Jones for five. A Purdue offside penalty gave the 'Cats a first down at the Boilermaker 45 and then, on a third-and-six, he hit Austin Carr for eight and another first at their 33.
A holding penalty on tackle Eric Olson now threatened to stall this drive. But on a third-and-14, Thorson scrambled away from a rush, took off, got hit short of the sticks, but carried Purdue linebacker Jimmy Herman a good four yards to get a first.
"I drove my feet on contact. We had a few yards to go there and we were lucky enough to get it," he later said of that 16-yard run, and on the very next play he picked up 16 more after faking to Long, keeping and following him through the hole. That set the 'Cats up at the five, and three plays later Jackson took it in from two.
Now, with 4:37 remaining, the 'Cats were up seven. Now, for the fourth straight time, their defense held the Boilermakers to a three-and-out. Now, after getting the ball back at 3:39, they would simply run the clock out.
Style points are awarded in diving and gymnastics, in figure skating and beauty pageants, but that is not the case in the game of football. All that is important here are the numbers on the scoreboard when the clock hits zero and, at that moment Saturday afternoon at Ryan Field, they showed that the 'Cats had seven more points than Purdue. "You're not just going to walk on the field and blow a team out. That's not how it works, especially in the Big Ten," Justin Jackson was soon saying. "So we knew we were going to go out there and get in a fight. They had nothing to lose. They're playing for pride and they came out and played really well, especially defensively.
"These are the types of games last year we probably wouldn't have won. I think it speaks a lot to our seniors being the vocal leaders they need to be and keeping us up. Obviously it's easy to get down when things happen, there's up and downs in a game. But our seniors and our leaders did a great job of just keeping us up and saying, 'Look. we've just got to go out here and win this game. It doesn't matter how it looks. Just win the game.'"
••••••
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