Northwestern University Athletics
Photo by: Stephen J. Carrera
The Skip Report: Walsh Taking Advantage of Opportunities
11/11/2016 5:36:00 PM | Football
By Skip Myslenski
NUsports,com Special Contributor
THEN. . . . Five weeks ago, in the third quarter of the Wildcats' visit to Iowa, linebacker Brett Walsh roared down Kinnick Field to cover a kickoff. "As most people know, guys from Iowa are pretty big," he remembers. "He (a Hawkeye) just got under me and I ran straight into him. I'm not sure what happened. But I think my helmet came down and I couldn't really see what was happening."
He stayed down, but was he out? "That's what I don't know because my helmet is over my eyes. I don't know if I'm unconscious or I just can't see because the helmet's over my eyes. We still don't know that," he says. "But I had a bunch of blood on my face. My nose got messed up. You can see the scars and stuff. Yeah. It took me a little while to try and get up, and they just told me to stay down at that point. Some trainer there said, 'Just relax and stay down.' In my mind I'm getting ready to go play the next play. But they told me just relax and stuff like that. I just listened to what they told me to do."
The Northwestern training staff removed his helmet and jersey and shoulder pads, and carefully tended him as teammates and foes and a stadium full of fans silently watched. He was motionless. Was he afraid? "That was the first time I got really hit like that. So maybe a little bit," he admits. "I think it was more scary because they were telling me not to move. That worried me a little bit. My first instinct wasn't anything bad. I wasn't scared. But when they told me not to move, that was the first time it crossed my mind that something could be seriously wrong. But I had faith. I felt like I was going to be OK."
Did he ever fear that he might not be able to play again?
"When they told me to relax, and they put that thing around my neck to support it, and they put me on the stretcher, I was a little concerned," he says. "I had some neck pain and I wasn't sure if there was something wrong with my neck. I don't know what it feels like when you hurt your neck, so at that point I got a little concerned. But, again, I kept my faith. I felt like I'd be OK."
He was put on the stretcher and wheeled off the field and, as the audience applauded, he responded with a reassuring thumb up. "I could move everything at that point," he explains. "I'm not really sure what's going on with my neck. It hurt a little bit. But I just wanted to give everyone a thumbs up because at that point I felt good enough. I felt fine."
He was taken to the hospital across the street from Kinnick and, after undergoing a battery of tests, he was told he was good to go. "That was motivating for sure," he recalls, and that evening he and members of the training staff drove home in a van.
At his family's home in Monrovia, California, his mom Serena Snyder watched this all unfold. "She actually handled it pretty well," he says. "She's kind of been through things like this with me. I got hit by a car when I was young, had multiple surgeries and stuff. So she's kinda gotten used to— not used to it. But she handled the situation well and was more worried about calming everyone down. They told me on TV it looked really scary. But she knew when I gave the thumbs up I was OK, and she didn't want people to worry."
AND NOW: He was shut down for a week, which just happened to be the 'Cats' bye week, but when they began practicing for their Oct. 15 visit to Michigan State, he was there among them. Was he hesitant to mix it up? "Definitely not any fear. Maybe it was a reminder I have to go harder," he says. "I've been through a lot of instances when the game was taken away from me. So when you do get it back, you've just got to go full go. You've got to take a leap of faith, I guess. This wasn't too bad. It was a big hit, for sure. But it was just one of those things. You've got to get back into it like nothing ever happened. It's just football."
Then last Saturday, with Jaylen Prater sidelined by an injury, Brett Walsh made the first start of his career and ended the game with a career-high eight tackles. He will start again this Saturday when the 'Cats visit Purdue, and here is what he says when asked about the stark difference between his portrait back then and his portrait now. "It's just one of those things, you've got to keep the faith the whole way," he says. "No matter how bad things seem at times, you've got to keep fighting. I'm just taking advantage of the opportunity I have now. But it's kinda funny. A couple weeks ago I was carted off and now I'm in a bigger role. You've got to be ready for those things. I wasn't going to let getting hurt prevent me from taking advantage of the opportunity."
QUICKLY NOTED: The Boilermakers are guided by interim-head coach Gerard Parker, who took over when Darrell Hazell was fired following their loss to Iowa in mid-October. Under Parker they have fallen to Nebraska by 13, to Penn State by 38 and to Minnesota by 13. Still, said Pat Fitzgerald this week, "Coach Parker's done, I think, a terrific job. It's just impressive to watch the energy level those guys are playing at. We thought they were very talented a year ago when we played against them. It took us until the 56th minute to get the lead. (They scored their winning touchdown with 4:37 left.) So we know it's going to be a heck of a battle." Walsh would later echo his coach. "They're letting it all hang out," he said. "They have no regrets when they play. They play very, very hard, I think a lot harder than a lot of team we see across college football. We can't sleep on these guys. They definitely have a chip on their shoulder.". . . Boilermaker quarterback David Blough, a six-foot-one redshirt sophomore, leads the Big Ten with an average of 304.1 passing yards per game. He has thrown for 20 touchdowns, been picked 13 times and completed 58.1 percent of his passes. "I'm really impressed by David," Fitzgerald said of him. "I think of his 20 touchdowns, 11 are on deep balls, posts or goes. He reminds me a lot of (former 'Cat QB) Dan Persa, the way he throws the ball, how accurate he is.". . . The 'Cat defense has given up an average of 260.1 passing yards per-game, the worst in the Big Ten. Still, when asked about the Boilermakers penchant for throwing, safety Jared McGee said, "We see it as an opportunity for us to make plays. The more the ball's in the air, the more chances we have to get our hands on it.". . . But the 'Cats have not caused a turnover in their last two games. "It's a concern. It's a big concern," Fitzgerald said of that drought. "It's the name of the game. We've got to get better.". . . 'Cat wideout Austin Carr continues to lead the Big Ten in receptions (70), receiving yards (1,010) and receiving touchdowns (10). But Boilermaker DeAngelo Yancey, who has just 34 catches on the season, is averaging a league-best 20.1 yards per reception. . . . Last Saturday the 'Cats faced a Wisconsin defense that is surrendering just 13.8 points and 101.2 rushing yards per-game. That ranks, respectively, tied for second and tops in the conference. The Boilermaker defense, in stark contrast, is surrendering an average of 37.7 points and 248.3 rushing yards per-game. That ranks, respectively, worst and second-worst (by a tenth-of-a-yard) in the conference.
AND FINALLY, FITZGERALD, as his 4-5 'Cats try to qualify for a bowl game: "It's a three-game season. I think our guys understand what they need to do and how they need to do it to get there. Now the challenge is going out and actually doing it."
NUsports,com Special Contributor
THEN. . . . Five weeks ago, in the third quarter of the Wildcats' visit to Iowa, linebacker Brett Walsh roared down Kinnick Field to cover a kickoff. "As most people know, guys from Iowa are pretty big," he remembers. "He (a Hawkeye) just got under me and I ran straight into him. I'm not sure what happened. But I think my helmet came down and I couldn't really see what was happening."
He stayed down, but was he out? "That's what I don't know because my helmet is over my eyes. I don't know if I'm unconscious or I just can't see because the helmet's over my eyes. We still don't know that," he says. "But I had a bunch of blood on my face. My nose got messed up. You can see the scars and stuff. Yeah. It took me a little while to try and get up, and they just told me to stay down at that point. Some trainer there said, 'Just relax and stay down.' In my mind I'm getting ready to go play the next play. But they told me just relax and stuff like that. I just listened to what they told me to do."
The Northwestern training staff removed his helmet and jersey and shoulder pads, and carefully tended him as teammates and foes and a stadium full of fans silently watched. He was motionless. Was he afraid? "That was the first time I got really hit like that. So maybe a little bit," he admits. "I think it was more scary because they were telling me not to move. That worried me a little bit. My first instinct wasn't anything bad. I wasn't scared. But when they told me not to move, that was the first time it crossed my mind that something could be seriously wrong. But I had faith. I felt like I was going to be OK."
Did he ever fear that he might not be able to play again?
"When they told me to relax, and they put that thing around my neck to support it, and they put me on the stretcher, I was a little concerned," he says. "I had some neck pain and I wasn't sure if there was something wrong with my neck. I don't know what it feels like when you hurt your neck, so at that point I got a little concerned. But, again, I kept my faith. I felt like I'd be OK."
He was put on the stretcher and wheeled off the field and, as the audience applauded, he responded with a reassuring thumb up. "I could move everything at that point," he explains. "I'm not really sure what's going on with my neck. It hurt a little bit. But I just wanted to give everyone a thumbs up because at that point I felt good enough. I felt fine."
He was taken to the hospital across the street from Kinnick and, after undergoing a battery of tests, he was told he was good to go. "That was motivating for sure," he recalls, and that evening he and members of the training staff drove home in a van.
At his family's home in Monrovia, California, his mom Serena Snyder watched this all unfold. "She actually handled it pretty well," he says. "She's kind of been through things like this with me. I got hit by a car when I was young, had multiple surgeries and stuff. So she's kinda gotten used to— not used to it. But she handled the situation well and was more worried about calming everyone down. They told me on TV it looked really scary. But she knew when I gave the thumbs up I was OK, and she didn't want people to worry."
AND NOW: He was shut down for a week, which just happened to be the 'Cats' bye week, but when they began practicing for their Oct. 15 visit to Michigan State, he was there among them. Was he hesitant to mix it up? "Definitely not any fear. Maybe it was a reminder I have to go harder," he says. "I've been through a lot of instances when the game was taken away from me. So when you do get it back, you've just got to go full go. You've got to take a leap of faith, I guess. This wasn't too bad. It was a big hit, for sure. But it was just one of those things. You've got to get back into it like nothing ever happened. It's just football."
Then last Saturday, with Jaylen Prater sidelined by an injury, Brett Walsh made the first start of his career and ended the game with a career-high eight tackles. He will start again this Saturday when the 'Cats visit Purdue, and here is what he says when asked about the stark difference between his portrait back then and his portrait now. "It's just one of those things, you've got to keep the faith the whole way," he says. "No matter how bad things seem at times, you've got to keep fighting. I'm just taking advantage of the opportunity I have now. But it's kinda funny. A couple weeks ago I was carted off and now I'm in a bigger role. You've got to be ready for those things. I wasn't going to let getting hurt prevent me from taking advantage of the opportunity."
QUICKLY NOTED: The Boilermakers are guided by interim-head coach Gerard Parker, who took over when Darrell Hazell was fired following their loss to Iowa in mid-October. Under Parker they have fallen to Nebraska by 13, to Penn State by 38 and to Minnesota by 13. Still, said Pat Fitzgerald this week, "Coach Parker's done, I think, a terrific job. It's just impressive to watch the energy level those guys are playing at. We thought they were very talented a year ago when we played against them. It took us until the 56th minute to get the lead. (They scored their winning touchdown with 4:37 left.) So we know it's going to be a heck of a battle." Walsh would later echo his coach. "They're letting it all hang out," he said. "They have no regrets when they play. They play very, very hard, I think a lot harder than a lot of team we see across college football. We can't sleep on these guys. They definitely have a chip on their shoulder.". . . Boilermaker quarterback David Blough, a six-foot-one redshirt sophomore, leads the Big Ten with an average of 304.1 passing yards per game. He has thrown for 20 touchdowns, been picked 13 times and completed 58.1 percent of his passes. "I'm really impressed by David," Fitzgerald said of him. "I think of his 20 touchdowns, 11 are on deep balls, posts or goes. He reminds me a lot of (former 'Cat QB) Dan Persa, the way he throws the ball, how accurate he is.". . . The 'Cat defense has given up an average of 260.1 passing yards per-game, the worst in the Big Ten. Still, when asked about the Boilermakers penchant for throwing, safety Jared McGee said, "We see it as an opportunity for us to make plays. The more the ball's in the air, the more chances we have to get our hands on it.". . . But the 'Cats have not caused a turnover in their last two games. "It's a concern. It's a big concern," Fitzgerald said of that drought. "It's the name of the game. We've got to get better.". . . 'Cat wideout Austin Carr continues to lead the Big Ten in receptions (70), receiving yards (1,010) and receiving touchdowns (10). But Boilermaker DeAngelo Yancey, who has just 34 catches on the season, is averaging a league-best 20.1 yards per reception. . . . Last Saturday the 'Cats faced a Wisconsin defense that is surrendering just 13.8 points and 101.2 rushing yards per-game. That ranks, respectively, tied for second and tops in the conference. The Boilermaker defense, in stark contrast, is surrendering an average of 37.7 points and 248.3 rushing yards per-game. That ranks, respectively, worst and second-worst (by a tenth-of-a-yard) in the conference.
AND FINALLY, FITZGERALD, as his 4-5 'Cats try to qualify for a bowl game: "It's a three-game season. I think our guys understand what they need to do and how they need to do it to get there. Now the challenge is going out and actually doing it."
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