Northwestern University Athletics
The Skip Report: Upon Further Review
11/7/2016 4:03:00 PM | Football
By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
UPON FURTHER REVIEW. . . .
ON SATURDAY, shortly after his team fell to No. 8 Wisconsin, Pat Fitzgerald said, "We had to make them play defense today. That was obviously the plan."
On Monday, asked what he meant by that, he said, "Their stats show they cause as many three-and-outs as anybody that you play, and their touchdown drives (given up) were drives. People made them play. Made them have to be on the field more than three, four, five, six plays."
ON SATURDAY the 'Cats ran five plays or less on eight of their 13 possessions (not counting their final one, which lasted just two plays and nine seconds). They also had a nine-play drive late in the first quarter that netted 46 yards and ended with Justin Jackson getting stuffed on a fourth-and-one; an eight-play, 87-yard touchdown drive at half's end; an eight-play drive that spanned the end of the third and start of the fourth quarters that pushed down to the Badger 19 and ended with a Clayton Thorson fumble; an eight-play drive on their next possession that netted 31 yards and ended with Thorson getting stopped short on a fourth-down scramble; and a seven-play drive on their penultimate possession that netted just 25 yards and ended with Jackson getting stuffed again on fourth-and-one.
On Monday, thinking of the Badger defense, Fitzgerald said, "They did a really good job of getting off blocks and playing with great swarm. They tackled very, very well. We had probably six runs that, if the primary tackler doesn't make the play, it's an explosive run. Their young man made the play, he tackled really clean and it's a four-yard gain. Up top (from the press box) it's like, 'Oh, it's another four-yard gain.' On the boundary you're, 'U-u-u-u-h. U-u-u-uh. There was the one. We had one-on-one and we just didn't get it.' That's why they're a Top Ten team. To beat those types of teams—really, to beat anyone in the Big Ten—those are the types of plays that you have to make. It's really not a magical formula. We just weren't able to do that and sustain enough."
ON SATURDAY the 'Cats had one possession that lasted longer than three minutes and another that lasted more than two. Each of the other 11 lasted between 40 seconds and one-minute forty-six seconds. Wisconsin, in contrast, had one possession that lasted 5:38, and another that lasted 5:35, and ended the game with a yawning edge in time of possession (40:25-19:35).
On Monday Fitzgerald was asked if he ever considered slowing down the 'Cats no-huddle approach to, for no other reason, give his D a breather. "I didn't think our pace was overly quick on Saturday. I don't think we were Texas Tech, Baylor type of mentality," he said. "But, yeah, absolutely. We put a lot of thought into that (pace of play). I'm going to play as fast as our defense allows us and I thought our defense, especially in the second half, was playing fine. Third quarter, we were great. We were outstanding. That's why that drive where we're at the 19 and end up playing defense on our side of the fifty was such a critical, critical drive. (Thorson's fumble was returned to the 'Cats 45.) When a team takes that much time, you have to be efficient with your possessions, and obviously we weren't on either side of the ball. As a matter of fact, I wanted to play faster. We just didn't get enough first downs. I wanted to make them play defense, I wanted to make them play. Obviously we didn't get that done."
ON SATURDAY, during Wisconsin's second possession, the 305-pound defensive end C.J. Robbins nimbly dropped back into coverage and broke up a pass. "Dropping is an experience in itself," he said Monday when asked about that play, and here he was smiling broadly. "Being a big guy, it's always cool, 'I get to drop.' But once you see the quarterback's eyes turn to you, you start running a little faster and get pretty nervous. Nah. At the start of the season, I wasn't dropping too well. I talked to (D line) Coach (Marty) Long about it, he's helped me out with it. I've been working pre-practice on my drops. So I was really happy to be able to get that this week. I've had some bad drops on film. So I was happy to be able to put one good one on film."
ROBBINS IS A RARITY, a sixth-year who got a pair of medical exemptions after breaking a foot in each of his first two seasons with the 'Cats. He is also a rarity in this way. He listens. "C.J.'s, he's special," Fitzgerald fairly rhapsodized on Monday. "Been through a lot. He played a position (D tackle), you're getting hit by two guys every play. Then we asked him to move outside because we felt we needed more size on normal downs. He did that, didn't bat an eye. Named captain by his teammates, which is the highest honor you can have. He's just a terrific, terrific young man. He's had a great impact not only on the field, but more importantly off the field. What you see with C.J. is what you get. He doesn't hide his passion. He doesn't hide his love for the game, his love for his teammates, his love for Northwestern. He's one of those guys, he wears his heart on his sleeve and that's the way he plays. I think he's going to leave an amazing legacy in that room. . . .
"He's a guy who has an amazing ability to relate to everyone. He's a man who's strong in his beliefs. But he also has a great ability to listen. Those type of leadership skills are lost today. Obviously tomorrow's the election. Thank goodness. This nonsense is over that we've been dealing with. We can move on as a country. In a world today that's divided, he's a guy who has convictions. But at the same time he's willing to listen and has empathy and has great love for him teammates. I wish we had more leaders like that in our society. You don't always have to be right. You just have to do what's right. Sometimes it ends up having success and sometimes it doesn't. But at least you know you have integrity, and you have character, and you can look yourself in the mirror and know you tried to do the right thing. When I think of C.J., that's what I think of. A guy who's just maximized everything the good Lord's given him. He's a grinder. He just works."
"I think C.J.'s a great leader, and I think what makes him a great leader is he's brutally honest," safety Jared McGee will add minutes later. "He's not afraid to tell you about yourself and he's not afraid to give you his critique. At the same time, he wants to be critiqued himself. He tells younger guys all the time, 'If you see me doing something I'm not supposed to be doing, get on me about it.' He's not hypocritical. I think that's was special about his leadership style."
AND FINALLY, ROBBINS, on the state of the 'Cats: "When we were 1-3, I said our backs are against the wall. Our backs are against the wall again. We have three games (left). We need at least two more wins to make a bowl, three more wins to solidify a good bowl. Our backs are against the wall, and our sense of urgency needs to rise on the defensive side of the ball. We need to fly around. Our effort needs to go up. Our play making needs to go up."
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