Northwestern University Athletics
Photo by: Stephen J. Carrera
The Skip Report: "Good Things Are Going to Happen"
9/20/2016 9:35:00 AM | Football
By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
UPON FURTHER REVIEW. . . .
AUSTIN CARR finished Saturday's win over Duke with a half-dozen catches for 135 yards and a touchdown, and now leads the Big Ten with 283 receiving yards. But here's the thing. "We missed him five or six times that I think would have really broken that game open, and we missed him in other games too," Pat Fitzgerald said Monday at his weekly presser, and then he went on to parse the wideout's success. "I just think he's running really good routes. I think technically he's very sound. I think he's catching the ball at a pretty-high percentage. I think he's had maybe two drops. So I think he's playing at a pretty consistent, pretty efficient level."
TRAE WILLIAMS made the first start of his career on Saturday, stepping in for the injured senior Matthew Harris, and the Blue Devils targeted the redshirt freshman 11 times. He won 10 of those battles. "Not to shabby for a guy in his first start," Fitzgerald said of him. "And as I reminded him today, he'll continue to be targeted. So get used to it."
"Coming into the game, I knew I was going to be challenged because it was my first start," Williams himself later said. "Coaches, older guys were telling us they're going to be coming after you. That's what you prepare for. You know they're going to come after the young guy. That was an opportunity that I really wanted to be able to shine in. Anytime they came after me, I wanted to make sure I could make a play or do whatever I could to make a difference in the game."
"It's always a plus when you have a young guy on the corner that prepares like he's been the starter the whole time," said safety Jared McGee, the redshirt sophomore who himself made his first career start in place of the injured Kyle Queiro. "When you have a corner out there who's able to make the calls before you even give him a coverage, it's always a plus."
FLYNN NAGEL, filling another role once held by Harris, returned five punts on Saturday, the most by a 'Cat in memory. "Our guys always have a green light. What they choose to do with it, I can't jump in their heads and say, 'Catch it and run,'" Fitzgerald said of that. "You ever done that before? Well. It's pretty scary to have your eyes up (tracking the ball) and 11 dudes breathing down your neck. I've never done it either. But we tell the guys to be aggressive, to err on the side of being aggressive catching them. It's funny. I've been asked numerous times do you coach guys not to catch punts. Absolutely not. But it's pretty scary stuff, which is where I'm at coming back to Flynn. I think he's confident back there. I thought Matthew was confident back there. A couple years ago we had a dude back there named Venric (Mark), and we were the number-one punt return team in the country. Typically your return game is based on 10 unselfish guys and a dude. And if you've got the dude, the 10 unselfish guys can stink because the dude will make everybody miss. That was Venric. So. Continue to try and find dudes. That would be great. I think Flynn's got a chance to be one of those guys. He was pretty fearless Saturday. It was pretty cool."
"How would I define a dude?" Nagel later said when asked to do just that, and then he chuckled. "I'm not exactly sure. I guess if I'm back there, I think I am a dude because that's what he wants. I just try to do what the coaches tell me to do. Do my job and trust those 10 unselfish guys are doing their jobs."
Fitz said Venric was a dude, he was told.
"He was. Venric was a dude," he agreed.
Can he be at that level?
"I hope so," he finally said. "Venric was unbelievable. I watched some film on him. I hope I can. Time will tell."
THE OFFENSIVE LINE, which Fitzgerald called out after its poor work in Week Two against Illinois State, paved the way for Justin Jackson to gain 69 yards on nine carries in Saturday's first quarter. That averages out to 7.7 ypc. But in the final three quarters, he managed to net a mere 25 yards on 19 carries. That averages out to 1.3 ypc. "We're a work in progress. That's the best way for me to describe it. We've been consistently inconsistent up there," Fitzgerald said when asked about the O line's work against the Blue Devils. "I thought we (the line) had a solid week (of practice) last week. We influxed some competition into practice and the same starters went out there. But I expect those twos to continue to push our starters. Because if our starters aren't playing (well) enough, I reserve the right to play the best 11 players on every single play. But you've got to earn that and when you don't earn that, you don't get the opportunity. So the same five went out. I saw, at times, improvement. But we've got to continue to get that next group ready because if guys aren't playing well, we've got to make changes."
AND FINALLY: This soliloquy from Fitzgerald, when asked if his 'Cats had responded to his admonition that a bunch of them were playing to not make mistakes instead of to make plays: "Some guys. Yeah. Not enough. But some. Again. I was pretty demonstrative today. I think we're far from where we need to be. It's a by-product of guys preparing the right way. I'll be a broken record. I'll say that until I retire. You have to prepare, and part of that is mental. A big part of that is mental. How you're talking to yourself. How you're preparing and visualizing. The amount of time you spend really, truly studying what we're doing. What your opponent's doing, their strengths, the areas they try to attack you. Then how you talk to yourself in-game. I think a lot of guys who have confidence and belief and trust in themselves, they just go do what we coach them to do. Guys who don't (have trust in themselves) show inconsistency, and right now I just don't think we have enough guys who trust in themselves. We don't have enough guys who just cut it loose. They get in their own heads. . . . We've got a couple guys who are way too sensitive. You miss a block. Who cares? Learn from it, go block 'em the next play. You miss a tackle. Who cares? Keep playing. Good things are going to happen. If I had a little more depth in some areas, I'd make some more changes. If for no other reason than to let some guys step back for a second, exhale, relax and then go back in and play some more. Some guys right now just have to settle down and play. That's on us as coaches. We've got to get them to do that."
NUsports.com Special Contributor
UPON FURTHER REVIEW. . . .
AUSTIN CARR finished Saturday's win over Duke with a half-dozen catches for 135 yards and a touchdown, and now leads the Big Ten with 283 receiving yards. But here's the thing. "We missed him five or six times that I think would have really broken that game open, and we missed him in other games too," Pat Fitzgerald said Monday at his weekly presser, and then he went on to parse the wideout's success. "I just think he's running really good routes. I think technically he's very sound. I think he's catching the ball at a pretty-high percentage. I think he's had maybe two drops. So I think he's playing at a pretty consistent, pretty efficient level."
TRAE WILLIAMS made the first start of his career on Saturday, stepping in for the injured senior Matthew Harris, and the Blue Devils targeted the redshirt freshman 11 times. He won 10 of those battles. "Not to shabby for a guy in his first start," Fitzgerald said of him. "And as I reminded him today, he'll continue to be targeted. So get used to it."
"Coming into the game, I knew I was going to be challenged because it was my first start," Williams himself later said. "Coaches, older guys were telling us they're going to be coming after you. That's what you prepare for. You know they're going to come after the young guy. That was an opportunity that I really wanted to be able to shine in. Anytime they came after me, I wanted to make sure I could make a play or do whatever I could to make a difference in the game."
"It's always a plus when you have a young guy on the corner that prepares like he's been the starter the whole time," said safety Jared McGee, the redshirt sophomore who himself made his first career start in place of the injured Kyle Queiro. "When you have a corner out there who's able to make the calls before you even give him a coverage, it's always a plus."
FLYNN NAGEL, filling another role once held by Harris, returned five punts on Saturday, the most by a 'Cat in memory. "Our guys always have a green light. What they choose to do with it, I can't jump in their heads and say, 'Catch it and run,'" Fitzgerald said of that. "You ever done that before? Well. It's pretty scary to have your eyes up (tracking the ball) and 11 dudes breathing down your neck. I've never done it either. But we tell the guys to be aggressive, to err on the side of being aggressive catching them. It's funny. I've been asked numerous times do you coach guys not to catch punts. Absolutely not. But it's pretty scary stuff, which is where I'm at coming back to Flynn. I think he's confident back there. I thought Matthew was confident back there. A couple years ago we had a dude back there named Venric (Mark), and we were the number-one punt return team in the country. Typically your return game is based on 10 unselfish guys and a dude. And if you've got the dude, the 10 unselfish guys can stink because the dude will make everybody miss. That was Venric. So. Continue to try and find dudes. That would be great. I think Flynn's got a chance to be one of those guys. He was pretty fearless Saturday. It was pretty cool."
"How would I define a dude?" Nagel later said when asked to do just that, and then he chuckled. "I'm not exactly sure. I guess if I'm back there, I think I am a dude because that's what he wants. I just try to do what the coaches tell me to do. Do my job and trust those 10 unselfish guys are doing their jobs."
Fitz said Venric was a dude, he was told.
"He was. Venric was a dude," he agreed.
Can he be at that level?
"I hope so," he finally said. "Venric was unbelievable. I watched some film on him. I hope I can. Time will tell."
THE OFFENSIVE LINE, which Fitzgerald called out after its poor work in Week Two against Illinois State, paved the way for Justin Jackson to gain 69 yards on nine carries in Saturday's first quarter. That averages out to 7.7 ypc. But in the final three quarters, he managed to net a mere 25 yards on 19 carries. That averages out to 1.3 ypc. "We're a work in progress. That's the best way for me to describe it. We've been consistently inconsistent up there," Fitzgerald said when asked about the O line's work against the Blue Devils. "I thought we (the line) had a solid week (of practice) last week. We influxed some competition into practice and the same starters went out there. But I expect those twos to continue to push our starters. Because if our starters aren't playing (well) enough, I reserve the right to play the best 11 players on every single play. But you've got to earn that and when you don't earn that, you don't get the opportunity. So the same five went out. I saw, at times, improvement. But we've got to continue to get that next group ready because if guys aren't playing well, we've got to make changes."
AND FINALLY: This soliloquy from Fitzgerald, when asked if his 'Cats had responded to his admonition that a bunch of them were playing to not make mistakes instead of to make plays: "Some guys. Yeah. Not enough. But some. Again. I was pretty demonstrative today. I think we're far from where we need to be. It's a by-product of guys preparing the right way. I'll be a broken record. I'll say that until I retire. You have to prepare, and part of that is mental. A big part of that is mental. How you're talking to yourself. How you're preparing and visualizing. The amount of time you spend really, truly studying what we're doing. What your opponent's doing, their strengths, the areas they try to attack you. Then how you talk to yourself in-game. I think a lot of guys who have confidence and belief and trust in themselves, they just go do what we coach them to do. Guys who don't (have trust in themselves) show inconsistency, and right now I just don't think we have enough guys who trust in themselves. We don't have enough guys who just cut it loose. They get in their own heads. . . . We've got a couple guys who are way too sensitive. You miss a block. Who cares? Learn from it, go block 'em the next play. You miss a tackle. Who cares? Keep playing. Good things are going to happen. If I had a little more depth in some areas, I'd make some more changes. If for no other reason than to let some guys step back for a second, exhale, relax and then go back in and play some more. Some guys right now just have to settle down and play. That's on us as coaches. We've got to get them to do that."
••••••
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