Northwestern University Athletics
The Skip Report: Monday Notes - Ball State
9/21/2015 6:04:00 PM | Football
By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
News and notes, quotes and anecdotes as the seventeenth-ranked 'Cats await a Saturday night visit from 2-1 Ball State. . . .
LAST WEEK, while discussing how it felt to be part of a dominating defense, senior tackle C.J. Robbins said, "Honestly, all of that for us comes from film study. Obviously we study film very closely and try to get keys if we can, then on the field it's just about keying and getting off as fast as you can. As you get older, obviously the game slows down for you. When you're younger, it seems fast."
"Like he said, the older you get the more you understand what offenses are trying to accomplish against you," senior defensive end Deonte Gibson added. "It's not like they're bigger and stronger and just want to mow you over. They actually have a plan. So certain formations have certain keys that we can figure out, which eventually narrows down the options they have to work against you. It prepares you a lot. You have only two options (to worry about) instead of 50."
Then Monday, when asked why his team's defense has been so dominant, Pat Fitzgerald--not insignificantly--echoed those observations. "I think it's the way they're preparing. Hank (defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz) and the staff are doing a good job. But at the same time the guys are very, very focused," he said, and here he chuckled and recalled a play from the 'Cats victory over Duke.
"We made a call that didn't fit the personnel on the field, and the D line comes off and they're ripping my rear end. 'You can't call that. What are you doing?'" he finally said with an appreciative smile. "That shows you the depth of football IQ this defense has right now. . . There's a lot of room for improvement across the board as a football team. But that group is playing with great confidence and trust and camaraderie."
HERE IS ONE STAT that proves this. Through three weeks opponents have been successful only only 6-of-43 third-down conversion attempts (14 percent). "We preach it. And the guys understand the importance and significance of the down, if that makes sense," Fitzgerald said when asked to explain its dominance in this area.
DEFENSIVE END DEAN LOWRY was himself dominant against Duke, ending his afternoon with six tackles, an interception and a pass break-up. And here's the thing. He played only 60 percent of the snaps as the 'Cats rolled through D linemen to keep them fresh in the heat.
THE 'CATS, on Saturday, did roll up 201 rushing yards and surrender just a single sack against the aggressive Duke defense. Yet its O line remains very much in flux with some players banged up and others recovering, with multiple players rolling in-and-out and some manning multiple positions. Brad North, who started at center in the season opener, saw some time at guard against the Blue Devils and Geoff Mogus, a fixture at left tackle in this young season, played some guard as well. Adam DePietro, who was injured in Week Two, remains sidelined, but Matt Frazier, who has yet to play while recovering from a staph infection, is getting closer to doing that (though it won't be this Saturday).
This fluidity flies in the face of convention, which avows that--to be successful--that line must be a cohesive whole that works with the precision of the New York City Rockettes. Asked if he would prefer that to the competition being engendered by the shuffling going on here, Fitzgerald said, "I'd rather have five guys who are All-Big Ten and All-Americans and road graders, and not play anybody else. But that's not the cards we've got right now. The difference between number five and number eight right now isn't that astronomical.
"Cush (offensive line coach Adam Cushing) and I, we did a lot of research this offseason and I talked to a couple guys I really respect who have done this, who have rolled multiple offensive linemen. When they're close, we do it at every other position. So why not do it with the O line? It's not traditional. Who cares? When guys are that close, we do it at every other position, so why not there? If five guys emerge and take over, that's what we'll do. But until then, we'll play multiple guys."
STILL, on Monday, Fitzgerald had some kind words for his O line, which he has often criticized this season. "As the game went along," he said here, "I thought it played a little better. I thought they imposed their will, especially down the stretch. The way we ran the ball at the end of the game was encouraging."
HIS CRITICISM on this afternoon was instead directed at his wide receivers. "We blocked atrociously on the perimeter. Our wide receivers were awful," he said of them. "They know that. They've got a lot of work to do there. The (Christian) Joneses of the world, and some other guys who are leaders out there, need to step up and start playing well. They didn't play very well on Saturday, and they know it."
YOUNG QUARTERBACK Clayton Thorson was another who struggled on Saturday, finishing his day just 9-of-23 for 70 yards with a pair of interceptions. But Fitzgerald said he never thought of replacing him and, later, superback Dan Vitale added this. "I'm not worried about him. I don't think anybody on our team is. I expect some really great things from him this week," he added.
"He has all the ability in the world. You can't deny that. And we trust him. He knows what he is doing, he knows what he has to do. Yeah, Duke was a great defense and they got to him. But we know what kind of person he is. He goes against arguably one of the best defenses in the country every single day at practice, and we've seen how good he is then. So we know he has the ability to do great things. We're not worried about that. We've just got to keep doing our job and we'll be fine."
THE 'CATS were facing a third-and-one early in the fourth quarter when Warren Long, sprung by a Vitale block and rumbled 55 yards for a touchdown. That play not only pushed their lead to nine, it also provided Fitzgerald a clip that he reviewed with his own defense on Monday morning. "We talk about having depth to your defense in short yardage situations," he explained. "The safeties aren't going to make the play to stop it for no gain, but thy are going to prevent a big play. It's coach's talk until you can see it and have evidence. So it was a tough teaching example for Duke, but a great teaching example for us."
CLASSES STARTED FOR THE 'CATS on Monday and, in that same morning meeting, Fitzgerald told his players, "It is unacceptable to use football as an excuse for poor performances academically. And it's unacceptable to use academics as an excuse for poor performances in football."
"Stats don't lie. We stink in October. We've been terrible, and I'm tired of it quite frankly," he would explain that afternoon. "We've got to be better. The guys understand that. They get it. I stood up our engineers and pre-med guys today. There's a bunch of them, double digits. They're our best students. They always show up with an unbelievable attitude, bust their butt every day in practice and they play well. I challenged the other guys to handle their business. They will. I'm confident of that."
"Obviously we talked about it today in our team meeting, and I'm sure it'll go on," Vitale would later say. "The biggest thing is you've got to be able to focus on both things, football and school. Personally, it helps me out because it's more structured. You know where you've got to be and when you need to be there, whether it's for film or class or whatever it is. That helps me out. As long as we eliminate all outside distractions and do what we're supposed to do, we should have success and continue on the path we've been on."
NUsports.com Special Contributor
News and notes, quotes and anecdotes as the seventeenth-ranked 'Cats await a Saturday night visit from 2-1 Ball State. . . .
LAST WEEK, while discussing how it felt to be part of a dominating defense, senior tackle C.J. Robbins said, "Honestly, all of that for us comes from film study. Obviously we study film very closely and try to get keys if we can, then on the field it's just about keying and getting off as fast as you can. As you get older, obviously the game slows down for you. When you're younger, it seems fast."
"Like he said, the older you get the more you understand what offenses are trying to accomplish against you," senior defensive end Deonte Gibson added. "It's not like they're bigger and stronger and just want to mow you over. They actually have a plan. So certain formations have certain keys that we can figure out, which eventually narrows down the options they have to work against you. It prepares you a lot. You have only two options (to worry about) instead of 50."
Then Monday, when asked why his team's defense has been so dominant, Pat Fitzgerald--not insignificantly--echoed those observations. "I think it's the way they're preparing. Hank (defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz) and the staff are doing a good job. But at the same time the guys are very, very focused," he said, and here he chuckled and recalled a play from the 'Cats victory over Duke.
"We made a call that didn't fit the personnel on the field, and the D line comes off and they're ripping my rear end. 'You can't call that. What are you doing?'" he finally said with an appreciative smile. "That shows you the depth of football IQ this defense has right now. . . There's a lot of room for improvement across the board as a football team. But that group is playing with great confidence and trust and camaraderie."
HERE IS ONE STAT that proves this. Through three weeks opponents have been successful only only 6-of-43 third-down conversion attempts (14 percent). "We preach it. And the guys understand the importance and significance of the down, if that makes sense," Fitzgerald said when asked to explain its dominance in this area.
DEFENSIVE END DEAN LOWRY was himself dominant against Duke, ending his afternoon with six tackles, an interception and a pass break-up. And here's the thing. He played only 60 percent of the snaps as the 'Cats rolled through D linemen to keep them fresh in the heat.
THE 'CATS, on Saturday, did roll up 201 rushing yards and surrender just a single sack against the aggressive Duke defense. Yet its O line remains very much in flux with some players banged up and others recovering, with multiple players rolling in-and-out and some manning multiple positions. Brad North, who started at center in the season opener, saw some time at guard against the Blue Devils and Geoff Mogus, a fixture at left tackle in this young season, played some guard as well. Adam DePietro, who was injured in Week Two, remains sidelined, but Matt Frazier, who has yet to play while recovering from a staph infection, is getting closer to doing that (though it won't be this Saturday).
This fluidity flies in the face of convention, which avows that--to be successful--that line must be a cohesive whole that works with the precision of the New York City Rockettes. Asked if he would prefer that to the competition being engendered by the shuffling going on here, Fitzgerald said, "I'd rather have five guys who are All-Big Ten and All-Americans and road graders, and not play anybody else. But that's not the cards we've got right now. The difference between number five and number eight right now isn't that astronomical.
"Cush (offensive line coach Adam Cushing) and I, we did a lot of research this offseason and I talked to a couple guys I really respect who have done this, who have rolled multiple offensive linemen. When they're close, we do it at every other position. So why not do it with the O line? It's not traditional. Who cares? When guys are that close, we do it at every other position, so why not there? If five guys emerge and take over, that's what we'll do. But until then, we'll play multiple guys."
STILL, on Monday, Fitzgerald had some kind words for his O line, which he has often criticized this season. "As the game went along," he said here, "I thought it played a little better. I thought they imposed their will, especially down the stretch. The way we ran the ball at the end of the game was encouraging."
HIS CRITICISM on this afternoon was instead directed at his wide receivers. "We blocked atrociously on the perimeter. Our wide receivers were awful," he said of them. "They know that. They've got a lot of work to do there. The (Christian) Joneses of the world, and some other guys who are leaders out there, need to step up and start playing well. They didn't play very well on Saturday, and they know it."
YOUNG QUARTERBACK Clayton Thorson was another who struggled on Saturday, finishing his day just 9-of-23 for 70 yards with a pair of interceptions. But Fitzgerald said he never thought of replacing him and, later, superback Dan Vitale added this. "I'm not worried about him. I don't think anybody on our team is. I expect some really great things from him this week," he added.
"He has all the ability in the world. You can't deny that. And we trust him. He knows what he is doing, he knows what he has to do. Yeah, Duke was a great defense and they got to him. But we know what kind of person he is. He goes against arguably one of the best defenses in the country every single day at practice, and we've seen how good he is then. So we know he has the ability to do great things. We're not worried about that. We've just got to keep doing our job and we'll be fine."
THE 'CATS were facing a third-and-one early in the fourth quarter when Warren Long, sprung by a Vitale block and rumbled 55 yards for a touchdown. That play not only pushed their lead to nine, it also provided Fitzgerald a clip that he reviewed with his own defense on Monday morning. "We talk about having depth to your defense in short yardage situations," he explained. "The safeties aren't going to make the play to stop it for no gain, but thy are going to prevent a big play. It's coach's talk until you can see it and have evidence. So it was a tough teaching example for Duke, but a great teaching example for us."
CLASSES STARTED FOR THE 'CATS on Monday and, in that same morning meeting, Fitzgerald told his players, "It is unacceptable to use football as an excuse for poor performances academically. And it's unacceptable to use academics as an excuse for poor performances in football."
"Stats don't lie. We stink in October. We've been terrible, and I'm tired of it quite frankly," he would explain that afternoon. "We've got to be better. The guys understand that. They get it. I stood up our engineers and pre-med guys today. There's a bunch of them, double digits. They're our best students. They always show up with an unbelievable attitude, bust their butt every day in practice and they play well. I challenged the other guys to handle their business. They will. I'm confident of that."
"Obviously we talked about it today in our team meeting, and I'm sure it'll go on," Vitale would later say. "The biggest thing is you've got to be able to focus on both things, football and school. Personally, it helps me out because it's more structured. You know where you've got to be and when you need to be there, whether it's for film or class or whatever it is. That helps me out. As long as we eliminate all outside distractions and do what we're supposed to do, we should have success and continue on the path we've been on."
Players Mentioned
OL
/ Football
OL
/ Football
DL
/ Football
RB
/ Football
OL
/ Football
OL
/ Football
DL
/ Football
QB
/ Football
SB
/ 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
