Northwestern University Athletics
Photo by: Stephen J. Carrera
The Skip Report: Purdue Upon Further Review
11/14/2016 6:39:00 PM | Football
By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
UPON FURTHER REVIEW. . . .
YOUNG GUNS: Corner Montre Hartage is a true sophomore and Saturday, in the 'Cats cruise at Purdue, he had a pair of picks and a pair of pass break ups. Wideout Flynn Nagel is also a true sophomore and, after a pair of receptions Saturday, he is the second-leading receiver on the team. (He also returns punts.) Running back John Moten IV is a redshirt freshman who Saturday netted 119 yards on 18 carries (7.4 ypc), and those three are not the only performers from their class who are contributing to the 'Cat cause.
Defensive ends Joe Gaziano (two sacks Saturday, four on the season) and Trent Goens. Starting D tackle Jordan Thompson. Corners Trae Williams and Alonzo Mayo. Superback Cameron Green. They too are either true sophomores or redshirt freshmen who are or have been on the two-deep this season. "I think you can go back, at some point in training camp, I said for us to have some semblance of consistency we're going to need that class step up," Pat Fitzgerald noted Monday.
"I didn't think we were going to need this much production out of them at that time. But I think they're maturing. I think they're improving. I think the future with that group is exciting. But we've got to be much more consistent with that younger group. You just gave me the highlights, and I'm not going to mention names. But I've got plenty of lowlights with that group too. That group is kind of like our team. We're average. It's very indicative. We've got some guys playing at a really high level and we've got some guys not pulling their weight. They need to play better here these last two weeks. They need to fill their role, whatever that role may be. My hope is they'll have some personal pride and play better. I'm sorry. I'm not going to be specific. But they know who they are."
THEN AND NOW: Hartage ascended to a starter's role when Keith Watkins went down for the year in training camp and has remained there through the inevitable maturation process. "Honestly, first game of season, nervous," he remembered on Monday. "Got butterflies everywhere. Trying to figure out what the receiver was about to do in front of me. Trying to make sure I got the calls. Trying to make sure my alignment was correct. So, yeah. It was pressuring. It was overwhelming at the time. But slowly but surely I started getting more comfortable. I started trusting myself. I started watching more film. Just overall started becoming more comfortable with the position and just playing fast and playing for fun."
AND STILL THE LEGEND GROWS. . . . Austin Carr continues to lead the Big Ten in receptions (75), receiving yards (1,102), yards per game (110.2), receptions per game (7.5) and touchdowns (12). But back in 2012 when they both were true freshman, recalls fellow wideout Andrew Scanlan, "He came in running routes and we would watch him just to make fun of him. No lie. It was hilarious. As freshmen, we all did them a little differently, we all ran funny routes. But AC's routes were so hilarious. I bring it up to him all the time. 'You remember that exact route you just ran for a touchdown five years ago?' Then we just sit there and laugh. They were very unorthodox, so to speak. He was just a raw athlete here. I kind of joke with him all the time. (Receiver) Coach (Dennis) Springer didn't know his name the first week. Yeah. They were so unorthodox and so unique, I don't know how he came from that to a-thousand yard receiver. But he did it. That's a credit to his hard work, to his work ethic. That's what he does. That's what he's always been."
. . . .AND GROWS: Carr is a former walk-on who composed a mashup of "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon and "Ordinary People" by John Legend, and then sang it while accompanying himself on the piano at the 2013 Student-Athlete Talent Show. (He won it.) Now he is one of 10 semifinalists for the Biletnikoff Award, which goes to the best collegiate receiver in the country. "I didn't meet him in recruiting. I met him the first day he showed up," Fitzgerald recalled on Monday. "The first time I got to know Austin he was on my injury report because he cut his finger with a butter knife and wanted an MRI because he was concerned he may have hurt a tendon and it might hurt his ability to play the piano."
"This is true now?" your Scribbler interrupted incredulously.
"I'm not making it up. I'm like, 'Who? Let's go. Get the MRI. Whatever you've got to do. You guys are the doctors. I'm the coach.' Then I'm like, 'Wow. Now we've got receivers that are worried about their piano playing.' We weren't playing very well at receiver at the time. That was probably after a 78-drop practice and I'm like, 'Here we go again. No more butter knives in the receiver room and let's get a piano.' I think that's what's so cool about college football. Guys like Austin that are just spectacular stories. He's about all the right things off the field. He's an amazing student. Going to walk out of here with multiple degrees. He's a Biletnikoff semifinalist. He's leading the Big Ten in receptions. I've said it. He can do anything he wants post-football. I think he's going to get a chance to play (in the NFL) for a little while. I think his play has earned him that and there's no one around here who's surprised because of his work ethic. We're all really, really happy for him. It couldn't happen to a better person."
AN AMERICAN HERO: That is how Fitzgerald refers to Tom Hruby, the former Navy SEAL who walked onto the team in 2014; who, a day after Veteran's Day, was stopped on a fourth-and-one from the Purdue one; and who was then carried off Ross-Ade Stadium by Gaziano and left guard J.B. Butler. "I'm not going to get emotional up here," Fitzgerald said Monday, doing just that. "I think you know how I feel about our military and to have the privilege to be Tom's coach has been really special. . .and then to be able to get him into the game Saturday, that was special. That was really a special moment. Not trying to rub it in on Purdue. That had nothing to do with what we were trying to do. It was bigger than that. It was giving an American hero a chance to score a touchdown in college football, which would have been just absolutely, ridiculously cool. It didn't happen. But I think it was cool the way his teammates honored him at the end of the game. That's a moment I'll never forget the rest of my life and I hope Tom never forgets it either."
"That was an unbelievable moment," right guard Tommy Doles soon echoed. "You look at Tom, a guy who's done so much for our country— especially on Veteran's Day weekend, that was so special. There's nothing we can really do to thank him for everything he's done. But what a guy to have in the locker room. So much life experience. He's taught me so much, he's taught our team so much, just about mental toughness, the inspiration it takes, the attitude you can bring out in a competitive situation. We're fortunate beyond measure to have him in our locker room."
"I couldn't have said it any better," Moten then concluded. "Tom's a great guy and when I think things are getting hard, I just think of him. It makes me keep going."
AND FINALLY, FITZGERALD, whose 'Cats will qualify for a bowl bid with a win Saturday at Minnesota: "Absolutely it's a motivator. You go back to earlier in the season and we don't start the way we want to. I'm sure the noise was really negative. The only guys who were going to get it fixed were the guys in the locker room. I think to get to the postseason, albeit not the ultimate goal on our goal board, gives you an opportunity to do something that's only happened twice in our program's history. That's to win a bowl game. We don't hide from those things. We don't shy away it. Yeah, it's a huge motivator. No question. We're kind of a playoff mentality. Your back's against the wall. It's win or go home."
NUsports.com Special Contributor
UPON FURTHER REVIEW. . . .
YOUNG GUNS: Corner Montre Hartage is a true sophomore and Saturday, in the 'Cats cruise at Purdue, he had a pair of picks and a pair of pass break ups. Wideout Flynn Nagel is also a true sophomore and, after a pair of receptions Saturday, he is the second-leading receiver on the team. (He also returns punts.) Running back John Moten IV is a redshirt freshman who Saturday netted 119 yards on 18 carries (7.4 ypc), and those three are not the only performers from their class who are contributing to the 'Cat cause.
Defensive ends Joe Gaziano (two sacks Saturday, four on the season) and Trent Goens. Starting D tackle Jordan Thompson. Corners Trae Williams and Alonzo Mayo. Superback Cameron Green. They too are either true sophomores or redshirt freshmen who are or have been on the two-deep this season. "I think you can go back, at some point in training camp, I said for us to have some semblance of consistency we're going to need that class step up," Pat Fitzgerald noted Monday.
"I didn't think we were going to need this much production out of them at that time. But I think they're maturing. I think they're improving. I think the future with that group is exciting. But we've got to be much more consistent with that younger group. You just gave me the highlights, and I'm not going to mention names. But I've got plenty of lowlights with that group too. That group is kind of like our team. We're average. It's very indicative. We've got some guys playing at a really high level and we've got some guys not pulling their weight. They need to play better here these last two weeks. They need to fill their role, whatever that role may be. My hope is they'll have some personal pride and play better. I'm sorry. I'm not going to be specific. But they know who they are."
THEN AND NOW: Hartage ascended to a starter's role when Keith Watkins went down for the year in training camp and has remained there through the inevitable maturation process. "Honestly, first game of season, nervous," he remembered on Monday. "Got butterflies everywhere. Trying to figure out what the receiver was about to do in front of me. Trying to make sure I got the calls. Trying to make sure my alignment was correct. So, yeah. It was pressuring. It was overwhelming at the time. But slowly but surely I started getting more comfortable. I started trusting myself. I started watching more film. Just overall started becoming more comfortable with the position and just playing fast and playing for fun."
AND STILL THE LEGEND GROWS. . . . Austin Carr continues to lead the Big Ten in receptions (75), receiving yards (1,102), yards per game (110.2), receptions per game (7.5) and touchdowns (12). But back in 2012 when they both were true freshman, recalls fellow wideout Andrew Scanlan, "He came in running routes and we would watch him just to make fun of him. No lie. It was hilarious. As freshmen, we all did them a little differently, we all ran funny routes. But AC's routes were so hilarious. I bring it up to him all the time. 'You remember that exact route you just ran for a touchdown five years ago?' Then we just sit there and laugh. They were very unorthodox, so to speak. He was just a raw athlete here. I kind of joke with him all the time. (Receiver) Coach (Dennis) Springer didn't know his name the first week. Yeah. They were so unorthodox and so unique, I don't know how he came from that to a-thousand yard receiver. But he did it. That's a credit to his hard work, to his work ethic. That's what he does. That's what he's always been."
. . . .AND GROWS: Carr is a former walk-on who composed a mashup of "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon and "Ordinary People" by John Legend, and then sang it while accompanying himself on the piano at the 2013 Student-Athlete Talent Show. (He won it.) Now he is one of 10 semifinalists for the Biletnikoff Award, which goes to the best collegiate receiver in the country. "I didn't meet him in recruiting. I met him the first day he showed up," Fitzgerald recalled on Monday. "The first time I got to know Austin he was on my injury report because he cut his finger with a butter knife and wanted an MRI because he was concerned he may have hurt a tendon and it might hurt his ability to play the piano."
"This is true now?" your Scribbler interrupted incredulously.
"I'm not making it up. I'm like, 'Who? Let's go. Get the MRI. Whatever you've got to do. You guys are the doctors. I'm the coach.' Then I'm like, 'Wow. Now we've got receivers that are worried about their piano playing.' We weren't playing very well at receiver at the time. That was probably after a 78-drop practice and I'm like, 'Here we go again. No more butter knives in the receiver room and let's get a piano.' I think that's what's so cool about college football. Guys like Austin that are just spectacular stories. He's about all the right things off the field. He's an amazing student. Going to walk out of here with multiple degrees. He's a Biletnikoff semifinalist. He's leading the Big Ten in receptions. I've said it. He can do anything he wants post-football. I think he's going to get a chance to play (in the NFL) for a little while. I think his play has earned him that and there's no one around here who's surprised because of his work ethic. We're all really, really happy for him. It couldn't happen to a better person."
AN AMERICAN HERO: That is how Fitzgerald refers to Tom Hruby, the former Navy SEAL who walked onto the team in 2014; who, a day after Veteran's Day, was stopped on a fourth-and-one from the Purdue one; and who was then carried off Ross-Ade Stadium by Gaziano and left guard J.B. Butler. "I'm not going to get emotional up here," Fitzgerald said Monday, doing just that. "I think you know how I feel about our military and to have the privilege to be Tom's coach has been really special. . .and then to be able to get him into the game Saturday, that was special. That was really a special moment. Not trying to rub it in on Purdue. That had nothing to do with what we were trying to do. It was bigger than that. It was giving an American hero a chance to score a touchdown in college football, which would have been just absolutely, ridiculously cool. It didn't happen. But I think it was cool the way his teammates honored him at the end of the game. That's a moment I'll never forget the rest of my life and I hope Tom never forgets it either."
"That was an unbelievable moment," right guard Tommy Doles soon echoed. "You look at Tom, a guy who's done so much for our country— especially on Veteran's Day weekend, that was so special. There's nothing we can really do to thank him for everything he's done. But what a guy to have in the locker room. So much life experience. He's taught me so much, he's taught our team so much, just about mental toughness, the inspiration it takes, the attitude you can bring out in a competitive situation. We're fortunate beyond measure to have him in our locker room."
"I couldn't have said it any better," Moten then concluded. "Tom's a great guy and when I think things are getting hard, I just think of him. It makes me keep going."
AND FINALLY, FITZGERALD, whose 'Cats will qualify for a bowl bid with a win Saturday at Minnesota: "Absolutely it's a motivator. You go back to earlier in the season and we don't start the way we want to. I'm sure the noise was really negative. The only guys who were going to get it fixed were the guys in the locker room. I think to get to the postseason, albeit not the ultimate goal on our goal board, gives you an opportunity to do something that's only happened twice in our program's history. That's to win a bowl game. We don't hide from those things. We don't shy away it. Yeah, it's a huge motivator. No question. We're kind of a playoff mentality. Your back's against the wall. It's win or go home."
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