Northwestern University Athletics
Photo by: Stephen J. Carrera
The Skip Report: "It's over now and we have to improve."
11/10/2016 9:29:00 AM | Football
By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
They convened last Saturday in the house they share after the offense they catalyze had been effectively silenced by Wisconsin. "We talked about it, thinking about what we should have done, what plays we could have made," running back Justin Jackson says, recalling the conversation he then had with quarterback Clayton Thorson. "But it's one of those things where it's, 'Well, it's over now and we've got to improve.' Obviously, as an offense, we have to show up and play a better game. With he and I being leaders, along with AC (wide out Austin Carr) and other guys, we look at each other and (say), 'We've got to go this week. We've got to get it going. We've got to get it started.'
"We can't really worry about what happened last week. We can let it motivate us. We can let it inspire us to do better. But we can't let our downfall of last week effect this week of practice or this game with Purdue."
The offense they catalyze had confronted the Badgers off a string of performances that ranged from smartly professional to dazzlingly pyrotechnic. It had put up 38 points at Iowa and 54 at Michigan State, 24 at home against Indiana and 20 at Ohio State, and now about it there was swagger, a palpable sense of confidence. But Saturday they managed just a single touchdown and controlled the ball for less than 20 minutes (19:35), and so here, shortly after the conclusion of the Wildcats' first practice for their Saturday visit to Purdue, Jackson is asked about the state of that confidence. "We need to have a great week of practice, and we really had a good day today," he says. "Just to get it back, my coach gave me more plays today, more reps today. Running out there and going full speed and seeing the looks helps you gain confidence for Saturday.
"Every week is a new week. We did great the first week against Western Michigan. We didn't do as well the next week (against Illinois State). So it's a week-to-week thing. If you let the week before positively or negatively effect you— maybe you did great the week before and you're not doing so great in the first quarter, you're like, 'What's happening?' You can't let it effect you. Then you'll be underperforming. You've really just got to take it play-by-play. It really is like that. You've really got to stay in the moment. If your mind is everywhere, it's tough to play like that. It's tough to play Big Ten football like that."
It was especially tough last Saturday for Justin Jackson, who very much views himself as a runner. "Yeah. Yeah. That's what I do best. That's what I love," he has enthused on more than one occasion. Yet the Badgers let him do that hardly at all and, on this afternoon, he ended with just 13 carries as Thorson attempted a career-high 52 passes. "It's funny," he says. "You're so used to having the ball in your hands so much and when you don't, how do you find other ways to contribute? That's the kind of game it was. I had to do a lot of pass pro. I had to run a lot of routes out of the backfield, stuff like that. It's just one of those games. It's the way the game's going. I can't control that. All I can control is what I do each and every play. If I'm helping the team on that play, I'm doing my job.
"You give everything you can for the squad. Whether you're playing or on the sideline or giving the scout look at practice, everyone's important. It's tough as a running back when you're throwing the ball a lot. But you kinda have to swallow your pride and go out there and do your job."
In the first quarter on Saturday he netted just six yards on five carries and was once stuffed on a fourth-and-one. In the second he did break a run off for 28 in the 'Cats lone touchdown drive of the game, but that was his only carry during those 15 minutes. He would get just seven more in the second half and, at game's end, he had netted a mere 42 yards. "Obviously, with a great run defense like that, we had some game plan things going in," he says. "They didn't work early. But personally, for me, I never think about what play's going to be called next. I just go out there and do it. Do I wish we'd gotten the run game going a little more to help Clayton and the receivers out? Yeah. Of course. I think it's tough on our tackles when they've got two great D ends and they can run up the field every play with no run responsibility.
"So, yeah, it was tough the whole game. . . . They're great tacklers. They just read plays well. Guys were reading, it was a slow play at first, then they'd shoot the gap and be right where I was. Their defense is really tailored to stop the run game, and they do it well. We didn't play well enough, we didn't block well enough, I didn't run well enough on Saturday to get our run game going. We've got to fix that this week."
"They were a very physical, well-coached team. They had some playmakers," the center Brad North will say of that group that stuffed the 'Cats run game. "But at the end of the day it's on us to create holes for JJ and the other running backs. At the end of the day, we didn't come ready to play."
Was there any one thing that made the Wisconsin defense so stout?
"I don't know if it was any one thing," Brad North says. "They're just a very well-coached team and they had a lot of hard-working guys. They just got the better of us. I like to think we have a lot of pride in our play. We just didn't bring it that day. This week's a new week. We're gonna practice harder. We're gonna get it done."
A day earlier the defensive end C.J. Robbins said, "Our backs are against the wall and our sense of urgency needs to rise on the defensive side of the ball."
"For sure," Justin Jackson says when asked if the offense shares that sense. We're fighting for bowl eligibility. We don't want to be 6-6. We want to be 7-5. But in order to get there, we've got to be 5-5 first. We've got to win this game against a team that, the past few weeks, has played really hard. They're not afraid to do anything. They're going to do fake punts. They're going to go for it on fourth-and-five. They don't care. They're just going to go out and play and have a good time. We're going to do what we do. We're going to play our way. We've just got to make sure we're doing it better than they are, that we're executing better than they are.
"We have that fire. We have that mentality that our backs are against the wall because, quite honestly, they are. We're four-and-five, we have three games left and we want to send these seniors out with a good bowl. So we've got to go out there and win."
NUsports.com Special Contributor
They convened last Saturday in the house they share after the offense they catalyze had been effectively silenced by Wisconsin. "We talked about it, thinking about what we should have done, what plays we could have made," running back Justin Jackson says, recalling the conversation he then had with quarterback Clayton Thorson. "But it's one of those things where it's, 'Well, it's over now and we've got to improve.' Obviously, as an offense, we have to show up and play a better game. With he and I being leaders, along with AC (wide out Austin Carr) and other guys, we look at each other and (say), 'We've got to go this week. We've got to get it going. We've got to get it started.'
"We can't really worry about what happened last week. We can let it motivate us. We can let it inspire us to do better. But we can't let our downfall of last week effect this week of practice or this game with Purdue."
The offense they catalyze had confronted the Badgers off a string of performances that ranged from smartly professional to dazzlingly pyrotechnic. It had put up 38 points at Iowa and 54 at Michigan State, 24 at home against Indiana and 20 at Ohio State, and now about it there was swagger, a palpable sense of confidence. But Saturday they managed just a single touchdown and controlled the ball for less than 20 minutes (19:35), and so here, shortly after the conclusion of the Wildcats' first practice for their Saturday visit to Purdue, Jackson is asked about the state of that confidence. "We need to have a great week of practice, and we really had a good day today," he says. "Just to get it back, my coach gave me more plays today, more reps today. Running out there and going full speed and seeing the looks helps you gain confidence for Saturday.
"Every week is a new week. We did great the first week against Western Michigan. We didn't do as well the next week (against Illinois State). So it's a week-to-week thing. If you let the week before positively or negatively effect you— maybe you did great the week before and you're not doing so great in the first quarter, you're like, 'What's happening?' You can't let it effect you. Then you'll be underperforming. You've really just got to take it play-by-play. It really is like that. You've really got to stay in the moment. If your mind is everywhere, it's tough to play like that. It's tough to play Big Ten football like that."
It was especially tough last Saturday for Justin Jackson, who very much views himself as a runner. "Yeah. Yeah. That's what I do best. That's what I love," he has enthused on more than one occasion. Yet the Badgers let him do that hardly at all and, on this afternoon, he ended with just 13 carries as Thorson attempted a career-high 52 passes. "It's funny," he says. "You're so used to having the ball in your hands so much and when you don't, how do you find other ways to contribute? That's the kind of game it was. I had to do a lot of pass pro. I had to run a lot of routes out of the backfield, stuff like that. It's just one of those games. It's the way the game's going. I can't control that. All I can control is what I do each and every play. If I'm helping the team on that play, I'm doing my job.
"You give everything you can for the squad. Whether you're playing or on the sideline or giving the scout look at practice, everyone's important. It's tough as a running back when you're throwing the ball a lot. But you kinda have to swallow your pride and go out there and do your job."
In the first quarter on Saturday he netted just six yards on five carries and was once stuffed on a fourth-and-one. In the second he did break a run off for 28 in the 'Cats lone touchdown drive of the game, but that was his only carry during those 15 minutes. He would get just seven more in the second half and, at game's end, he had netted a mere 42 yards. "Obviously, with a great run defense like that, we had some game plan things going in," he says. "They didn't work early. But personally, for me, I never think about what play's going to be called next. I just go out there and do it. Do I wish we'd gotten the run game going a little more to help Clayton and the receivers out? Yeah. Of course. I think it's tough on our tackles when they've got two great D ends and they can run up the field every play with no run responsibility.
"So, yeah, it was tough the whole game. . . . They're great tacklers. They just read plays well. Guys were reading, it was a slow play at first, then they'd shoot the gap and be right where I was. Their defense is really tailored to stop the run game, and they do it well. We didn't play well enough, we didn't block well enough, I didn't run well enough on Saturday to get our run game going. We've got to fix that this week."
"They were a very physical, well-coached team. They had some playmakers," the center Brad North will say of that group that stuffed the 'Cats run game. "But at the end of the day it's on us to create holes for JJ and the other running backs. At the end of the day, we didn't come ready to play."
Was there any one thing that made the Wisconsin defense so stout?
"I don't know if it was any one thing," Brad North says. "They're just a very well-coached team and they had a lot of hard-working guys. They just got the better of us. I like to think we have a lot of pride in our play. We just didn't bring it that day. This week's a new week. We're gonna practice harder. We're gonna get it done."
A day earlier the defensive end C.J. Robbins said, "Our backs are against the wall and our sense of urgency needs to rise on the defensive side of the ball."
"For sure," Justin Jackson says when asked if the offense shares that sense. We're fighting for bowl eligibility. We don't want to be 6-6. We want to be 7-5. But in order to get there, we've got to be 5-5 first. We've got to win this game against a team that, the past few weeks, has played really hard. They're not afraid to do anything. They're going to do fake punts. They're going to go for it on fourth-and-five. They don't care. They're just going to go out and play and have a good time. We're going to do what we do. We're going to play our way. We've just got to make sure we're doing it better than they are, that we're executing better than they are.
"We have that fire. We have that mentality that our backs are against the wall because, quite honestly, they are. We're four-and-five, we have three games left and we want to send these seniors out with a good bowl. So we've got to go out there and win."
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