Northwestern University Athletics
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The Skip Report: Upon Further Review
9/26/2016 4:09:00 PM | Football
By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
UPON FURTHER REVIEW. . . .
ON SATURDAY, after his Wildcats fell to 1-3 with their loss to Nebraska, Pat Fitzgerald said that his players "Better get ready to get their rear ends coached off this week." On Monday, at his weekly presser, he was asked what he would say to people who might wonder why he hasn't been doing that since training camp.
"I have been," he said.
But you made it sound like it was going to be tougher for them.
"Yeah. We're going on the road (to face Iowa on Saturday). It's going to be a hard game. I mean. I haven't changed my coaching style. I've coached the guys hard. I've gone through the plan I typically go through each year. I tweak it based on the team, based on our health. But my routine through training camp, my routine through the first month of the season hasn't changed a whole heck of a lot in maybe the last eight years, nine years. And then you figure out what your team is after you watch them play and then you kind of evolve and change. But we practice pretty hard around here."
What has he learned after watching this team play and what changes has that knowledge produced?
"We were pretty inconsistent the first couple of games. So trying to solidify that," he said. "I still don't think we're there yet. That comes from repetition, obviously, and that doesn't change. But making sure that the situations we're putting our guys in at practice are as competitive as they can possibly be. The issue wasn't necessarily practice. Maybe one practice I didn't like throughout the whole time that we've been together with this group. The issue's been game execution. So trying to put them in as realistic a game situation as we can at practice from the standpoint of intensity. We'll always do situational football. Everybody does that. But from an intensity standpoint, especially the last two weeks— after we get out of training camp mode, we probably haven't had this intense of practices in maybe five years or so. That's probably what's changed."
ON SATURDAY, after Jack Mitchell missed a PAT and a 27-yard field goal attempt, Fitzgerald said the place kicker's job was "Obviously wide open right now." On Monday, when asked how that competition between Mitchell and Matt Micucci would be settled, he said, "Whoever has the most-consistent week (in practice) will go out there."
Later, when asked Mitchell's issues, he said, "There's some inconsistencies fundamentally. . . . But Jack's made a lot of kicks for us, and I have confidence in him. He's got to have confidence in himself and go out there and do it consistently. Kicking is like the golf analogy. You can overthink it and when you overthink it, you're in deep trouble. You've just got to trust your swing and go out and do it."
ON SATURDAY, with his 'Cats facing a fourth-and-seven at the Huskers' 23 with 19 seconds remaining in the first half, Fitzgerald called a fake field goal attempt. It failed when Mitchell's pass to Micucci picked up only two. On Monday he said Mitchell's struggles had nothing to do with the decision, that "I wanted to try and score a touchdown."
And why didn't the play work?
"They didn't cover everybody. It would have been nice if they did. So a little bit more pressure than I maybe anticipated. But we got what we wanted and we didn't block at the point of attack. The right guard and the right tackle didn't block. If they would have blocked, we would have had a first down with 13, maybe 14 seconds left. That would have given us two shots in the end zone, which is why we did it."
ON SATURDAY, with Justin Jackson limited to just 79 net rushing yards, Clayton Thorson threw 37 times, completing 24 for 249 yards and a touchdown. But he was also picked twice (once in the end zone) and sacked four times and so, when asked Monday how he would evaluate his quarterback's overall performance, Fitzgerald said, "I'd probably give it a C-plus-ish. We can't turn the ball over in the red zone. We can't take two sacks in the high red zone when we're across the 50 there at the end of the first half and were moving the ball really well. We had some guys that were open that we didn't hit. I think he's got to be much more consistent. He knows that."
ON SATURDAY, while often employing the quarterback read-option, Nebraska netted 310 rushing yards and rolled up 556 yards of total offense. "Seven plays for 170 yards," Fitzgerald said Monday when asked what the problem was with his run defense. "There were seven explosive plays. That was the problem. That was the problem. The other however many were fine. I don't think all those were runs. A couple were passes. But that was the difference in the game, and we've typically been pretty good there. A couple were from mental mistakes. A couple were from missed tackles. One was from having bad eyes on a double move by a redshirt-freshman corner. That's five out of seven that jump out to me. That was the problem."
ON SATURDAY, with the 'Cats down 11 early in the fourth quarter, middle linebacker Anthony Walker jumped a pass by Husker quarterback Tommy Armstrong, Jr. But here, with an open field in front of him, he dropped what could have been a Pick Six, and on the evening ended with just four tackles.
"What did he do?" Fitzgerald said Monday when asked about his play against Nebraska. "He missed one tackle I think early in the first quarter, he had a chance on the reverse play in the alley. Had a ball in his hands that could have been a big interception. I think he was around the ball a handful of other times and just didn't make the plays he'd really want to make. Especially that interception opportunity. Probably changes the complexion of the game. That would have been a huge momentum swing if that would have happened. But he plays middle linebacker. People are going to block ya. It's the way that it goes. A year ago, especially early, people ran to the perimeter, and he was unblocked and made a lot of plays unblocked. But I've definitely seen improvement the last few weeks as he's gotten into better game shape after coming off the injury in training camp."
QUICKLY NOTED: Jackson, despite his modest rushing total, was the coaches pick as the 'Cats' offensive player-of-the-Nebraska-game. "Although Justin hasn't been at 100 yards the last few games, he's been playing really physical," Fitzgerald noted on Monday. "Really proud of what he's doing without the ball in his hands. Obviously, we have to be more consistent when he is running it. But really proud of what he's doing without the ball in his hands.". . . After collecting eight catches for 109 yards against the Huskers, wideout Austin Carr continues to lead the Big Ten in receptions (28) and receiving yards (392). Linebacker Jaylen Prater leads the conference in tackles with 38 (18 solo, 20 assist), and right behind him is safety Godwin Igwebuike with 37 (29 solo, eight assist). Those 29 solo tackles also lead the conference, and rank third in the country.
NUsports.com Special Contributor
UPON FURTHER REVIEW. . . .
ON SATURDAY, after his Wildcats fell to 1-3 with their loss to Nebraska, Pat Fitzgerald said that his players "Better get ready to get their rear ends coached off this week." On Monday, at his weekly presser, he was asked what he would say to people who might wonder why he hasn't been doing that since training camp.
"I have been," he said.
But you made it sound like it was going to be tougher for them.
"Yeah. We're going on the road (to face Iowa on Saturday). It's going to be a hard game. I mean. I haven't changed my coaching style. I've coached the guys hard. I've gone through the plan I typically go through each year. I tweak it based on the team, based on our health. But my routine through training camp, my routine through the first month of the season hasn't changed a whole heck of a lot in maybe the last eight years, nine years. And then you figure out what your team is after you watch them play and then you kind of evolve and change. But we practice pretty hard around here."
What has he learned after watching this team play and what changes has that knowledge produced?
"We were pretty inconsistent the first couple of games. So trying to solidify that," he said. "I still don't think we're there yet. That comes from repetition, obviously, and that doesn't change. But making sure that the situations we're putting our guys in at practice are as competitive as they can possibly be. The issue wasn't necessarily practice. Maybe one practice I didn't like throughout the whole time that we've been together with this group. The issue's been game execution. So trying to put them in as realistic a game situation as we can at practice from the standpoint of intensity. We'll always do situational football. Everybody does that. But from an intensity standpoint, especially the last two weeks— after we get out of training camp mode, we probably haven't had this intense of practices in maybe five years or so. That's probably what's changed."
ON SATURDAY, after Jack Mitchell missed a PAT and a 27-yard field goal attempt, Fitzgerald said the place kicker's job was "Obviously wide open right now." On Monday, when asked how that competition between Mitchell and Matt Micucci would be settled, he said, "Whoever has the most-consistent week (in practice) will go out there."
Later, when asked Mitchell's issues, he said, "There's some inconsistencies fundamentally. . . . But Jack's made a lot of kicks for us, and I have confidence in him. He's got to have confidence in himself and go out there and do it consistently. Kicking is like the golf analogy. You can overthink it and when you overthink it, you're in deep trouble. You've just got to trust your swing and go out and do it."
ON SATURDAY, with his 'Cats facing a fourth-and-seven at the Huskers' 23 with 19 seconds remaining in the first half, Fitzgerald called a fake field goal attempt. It failed when Mitchell's pass to Micucci picked up only two. On Monday he said Mitchell's struggles had nothing to do with the decision, that "I wanted to try and score a touchdown."
And why didn't the play work?
"They didn't cover everybody. It would have been nice if they did. So a little bit more pressure than I maybe anticipated. But we got what we wanted and we didn't block at the point of attack. The right guard and the right tackle didn't block. If they would have blocked, we would have had a first down with 13, maybe 14 seconds left. That would have given us two shots in the end zone, which is why we did it."
ON SATURDAY, with Justin Jackson limited to just 79 net rushing yards, Clayton Thorson threw 37 times, completing 24 for 249 yards and a touchdown. But he was also picked twice (once in the end zone) and sacked four times and so, when asked Monday how he would evaluate his quarterback's overall performance, Fitzgerald said, "I'd probably give it a C-plus-ish. We can't turn the ball over in the red zone. We can't take two sacks in the high red zone when we're across the 50 there at the end of the first half and were moving the ball really well. We had some guys that were open that we didn't hit. I think he's got to be much more consistent. He knows that."
ON SATURDAY, while often employing the quarterback read-option, Nebraska netted 310 rushing yards and rolled up 556 yards of total offense. "Seven plays for 170 yards," Fitzgerald said Monday when asked what the problem was with his run defense. "There were seven explosive plays. That was the problem. That was the problem. The other however many were fine. I don't think all those were runs. A couple were passes. But that was the difference in the game, and we've typically been pretty good there. A couple were from mental mistakes. A couple were from missed tackles. One was from having bad eyes on a double move by a redshirt-freshman corner. That's five out of seven that jump out to me. That was the problem."
ON SATURDAY, with the 'Cats down 11 early in the fourth quarter, middle linebacker Anthony Walker jumped a pass by Husker quarterback Tommy Armstrong, Jr. But here, with an open field in front of him, he dropped what could have been a Pick Six, and on the evening ended with just four tackles.
"What did he do?" Fitzgerald said Monday when asked about his play against Nebraska. "He missed one tackle I think early in the first quarter, he had a chance on the reverse play in the alley. Had a ball in his hands that could have been a big interception. I think he was around the ball a handful of other times and just didn't make the plays he'd really want to make. Especially that interception opportunity. Probably changes the complexion of the game. That would have been a huge momentum swing if that would have happened. But he plays middle linebacker. People are going to block ya. It's the way that it goes. A year ago, especially early, people ran to the perimeter, and he was unblocked and made a lot of plays unblocked. But I've definitely seen improvement the last few weeks as he's gotten into better game shape after coming off the injury in training camp."
QUICKLY NOTED: Jackson, despite his modest rushing total, was the coaches pick as the 'Cats' offensive player-of-the-Nebraska-game. "Although Justin hasn't been at 100 yards the last few games, he's been playing really physical," Fitzgerald noted on Monday. "Really proud of what he's doing without the ball in his hands. Obviously, we have to be more consistent when he is running it. But really proud of what he's doing without the ball in his hands.". . . After collecting eight catches for 109 yards against the Huskers, wideout Austin Carr continues to lead the Big Ten in receptions (28) and receiving yards (392). Linebacker Jaylen Prater leads the conference in tackles with 38 (18 solo, 20 assist), and right behind him is safety Godwin Igwebuike with 37 (29 solo, eight assist). Those 29 solo tackles also lead the conference, and rank third in the country.
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