Northwestern University Athletics
The Skip Report: Media Day Takeaways
8/12/2016 1:47:00 PM | Football
By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
Notes and quotes from that annual August ritual known as Football Media Day, which the Wildcats hosted Wednesday afternoon. . . .
LATER THAT AFTERNOON, along the lakefront at their new Hutcheson Field, they would practice for the first time in pads this preseason. So definitive answers about their physical strengths-and-weaknesses still await answers that probably won't be delivered until they wrap up Camp Kenosha on Aug. 20. But already, all testify, they have aced chemistry, a most-important ingredient in their success last fall. "Off the field, we're as close, as tight with each other than we've ever been since I've been here," offered outside linebacker Jaylen Prater, a fifth-year senior. "This is the closest team, the biggest group of brothers that I've had since I've been here. That helps practically. You can you look at each other (on the field) and not have to worry, 'Is he doing this? Is he doing that?' You can look at each other and trust each other to be there for you."
"Before this year, last year's was one of our closest teams. You saw on the field, we played for each other," added defensive lineman C.J. Robbins, himself a sixth-year senior. "There was a deeper meaning to playing the game of football. You were playing for each other. Coming off that year and having the freshmen see that tight-knit group, it really translated and we became even closer than that. So what does it mean? How does it benefit us? It's trusting each other on the field and knowing we'll be in spots where we need to be, things like that."
THEIR DEFENSE, of course, catalyzed the 'Cats last fall, and it, in turn, was catalyzed by the anger that had built up during consecutive 5-7 seasons. And this year's motivation? "Last year, as a defense, we had this mentality that we were going to come into every game, every practice, and we call it, 'Being the dog.' Being dominant. Being aggressive. And not letting anyone take anything from us. Just grind it out. C.J. brought it up last night in a team meeting. And (former safety) Traveon (Henry) gave a speech before one of the games last year about being a king. That's another thing we tried to take on— just having a little swagger that previously we never really had. Last year we came into it with this dog mentality and having to work for everything. Now we have a little more confidence, a little more swagger than we usually do. That's something we really operated on last year and have carried into this year."
'But you've always got to keep that chip-on-the-shoulder mentality, and that anger inside of you," Robbins will soon note. "But for us now— we made statements (as a defense last season), but people don't think we made statements. So that anger is still there, but there is a little different mentality to it. I had a talk last night about mentality and about being a dog, someone who grinds, someone who is gritty. Having that mentality in general is what we want to go with."
Is he talking about just the defense, or the team as a whole?
"The team as a whole. There are key players on that offense who have— you've got J.J. (running back Justin Jackson), you've got (running back) Warren (Long), you've got people like that. But you've also got guys people don't know about, like (offensive lineman) J.B. Butler. He's one of the most-gritty people on the O line. So it's from top to bottom."
ON DEFENSE, when it comes to concrete matters, the 'Cats must replace the estimable ends Deonte Gibson and Dean Lowry. The leaders-in-the-clubhouse to do that at this moment are junior Xavier Washington and fifth-year senior Ifeadi Odenigbo, who has long been labeled a pass-rush specialist. "Since I've been here, everybody's like, 'He's a pass-rush specialist. He's a pass-rush specialist,'" even he said on Wednesday. "I guess that was cool at one point. But now, I want to do more for my team and not be just a specialist, but more of an every-down guy. I can still be that pass-rusher guy. But I can also be the run stopper. I want to be a guy you can count on."
ODENIGBO, weighed a mere 205 as a freshman and could bench no more than 270. Wednesday, when asked those stats now, he said (respectively) 285 and 430, and this was no surprise. For one other fact all attested to on Wednesday was these Wildcats are a bigger and stronger group than the one that closed out last season. "We put in a lot of work (in the weight room)," explained Robbins. "The PRs (personal records) that everybody had day-in and day-out— everybody made a gain in his strength. I definitely think there was a change in the team strength and competitiveness. We fostered, in workouts, to always be competing against each other so much that it came to be fun. We just wanted to compete. It was good."
ON OFFENSE, when it comes to concrete matters, the issues are clear and well-known: the Wildcats must improve a passing game that was inconsistent last season; establish an attack that is more balanced; and spice both up with some explosive plays. "That," Pat Fitzgerald said Wednesday, "is going to get people out of the box and get us an opportunity to run the ball more efficiently and cleaner. You can say what you want about last year and it's over. But everybody in the country, including my seven-year old son, knew we were running the ball, and still we ran it. I don't think our offense gets enough credit for that. I don't think our offensive line gets enough credit for that. We should have more balance (this year) and, if we can have that, we can be more explosive."
AND FINALLY, while we're on it, Fitzgerald, when asked about limiting the carries of Jackson, who last season averaged 26 per-game: "I think Warren Long has earned that. Warren had a great season last year. When we went through our self-scout, we didn't play Warren enough. He's definitely going to have a role. We have a pretty solid one-two punch there with those guys, and I don't think it will hurt Justin's production at all. I think it will help him. . . . You look at the production of our defensive line last year. Dean Lowry probably averaged less than 40 plays in the first half of the season and was making all kinds of plays. That paid dividends in November when he WAS fresh, right? So, try to get a little more balance in the offense. Try to get a little more balance in the running back room is something we'll look to do."
NUsports.com Special Contributor
Notes and quotes from that annual August ritual known as Football Media Day, which the Wildcats hosted Wednesday afternoon. . . .
LATER THAT AFTERNOON, along the lakefront at their new Hutcheson Field, they would practice for the first time in pads this preseason. So definitive answers about their physical strengths-and-weaknesses still await answers that probably won't be delivered until they wrap up Camp Kenosha on Aug. 20. But already, all testify, they have aced chemistry, a most-important ingredient in their success last fall. "Off the field, we're as close, as tight with each other than we've ever been since I've been here," offered outside linebacker Jaylen Prater, a fifth-year senior. "This is the closest team, the biggest group of brothers that I've had since I've been here. That helps practically. You can you look at each other (on the field) and not have to worry, 'Is he doing this? Is he doing that?' You can look at each other and trust each other to be there for you."
"Before this year, last year's was one of our closest teams. You saw on the field, we played for each other," added defensive lineman C.J. Robbins, himself a sixth-year senior. "There was a deeper meaning to playing the game of football. You were playing for each other. Coming off that year and having the freshmen see that tight-knit group, it really translated and we became even closer than that. So what does it mean? How does it benefit us? It's trusting each other on the field and knowing we'll be in spots where we need to be, things like that."
THEIR DEFENSE, of course, catalyzed the 'Cats last fall, and it, in turn, was catalyzed by the anger that had built up during consecutive 5-7 seasons. And this year's motivation? "Last year, as a defense, we had this mentality that we were going to come into every game, every practice, and we call it, 'Being the dog.' Being dominant. Being aggressive. And not letting anyone take anything from us. Just grind it out. C.J. brought it up last night in a team meeting. And (former safety) Traveon (Henry) gave a speech before one of the games last year about being a king. That's another thing we tried to take on— just having a little swagger that previously we never really had. Last year we came into it with this dog mentality and having to work for everything. Now we have a little more confidence, a little more swagger than we usually do. That's something we really operated on last year and have carried into this year."
'But you've always got to keep that chip-on-the-shoulder mentality, and that anger inside of you," Robbins will soon note. "But for us now— we made statements (as a defense last season), but people don't think we made statements. So that anger is still there, but there is a little different mentality to it. I had a talk last night about mentality and about being a dog, someone who grinds, someone who is gritty. Having that mentality in general is what we want to go with."
Is he talking about just the defense, or the team as a whole?
"The team as a whole. There are key players on that offense who have— you've got J.J. (running back Justin Jackson), you've got (running back) Warren (Long), you've got people like that. But you've also got guys people don't know about, like (offensive lineman) J.B. Butler. He's one of the most-gritty people on the O line. So it's from top to bottom."
ON DEFENSE, when it comes to concrete matters, the 'Cats must replace the estimable ends Deonte Gibson and Dean Lowry. The leaders-in-the-clubhouse to do that at this moment are junior Xavier Washington and fifth-year senior Ifeadi Odenigbo, who has long been labeled a pass-rush specialist. "Since I've been here, everybody's like, 'He's a pass-rush specialist. He's a pass-rush specialist,'" even he said on Wednesday. "I guess that was cool at one point. But now, I want to do more for my team and not be just a specialist, but more of an every-down guy. I can still be that pass-rusher guy. But I can also be the run stopper. I want to be a guy you can count on."
ODENIGBO, weighed a mere 205 as a freshman and could bench no more than 270. Wednesday, when asked those stats now, he said (respectively) 285 and 430, and this was no surprise. For one other fact all attested to on Wednesday was these Wildcats are a bigger and stronger group than the one that closed out last season. "We put in a lot of work (in the weight room)," explained Robbins. "The PRs (personal records) that everybody had day-in and day-out— everybody made a gain in his strength. I definitely think there was a change in the team strength and competitiveness. We fostered, in workouts, to always be competing against each other so much that it came to be fun. We just wanted to compete. It was good."
ON OFFENSE, when it comes to concrete matters, the issues are clear and well-known: the Wildcats must improve a passing game that was inconsistent last season; establish an attack that is more balanced; and spice both up with some explosive plays. "That," Pat Fitzgerald said Wednesday, "is going to get people out of the box and get us an opportunity to run the ball more efficiently and cleaner. You can say what you want about last year and it's over. But everybody in the country, including my seven-year old son, knew we were running the ball, and still we ran it. I don't think our offense gets enough credit for that. I don't think our offensive line gets enough credit for that. We should have more balance (this year) and, if we can have that, we can be more explosive."
AND FINALLY, while we're on it, Fitzgerald, when asked about limiting the carries of Jackson, who last season averaged 26 per-game: "I think Warren Long has earned that. Warren had a great season last year. When we went through our self-scout, we didn't play Warren enough. He's definitely going to have a role. We have a pretty solid one-two punch there with those guys, and I don't think it will hurt Justin's production at all. I think it will help him. . . . You look at the production of our defensive line last year. Dean Lowry probably averaged less than 40 plays in the first half of the season and was making all kinds of plays. That paid dividends in November when he WAS fresh, right? So, try to get a little more balance in the offense. Try to get a little more balance in the running back room is something we'll look to do."
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