Northwestern University Athletics
Photo by: Stephen J. Carrera
The Skip Report: Western Michigan Upon Further Review
9/4/2016 3:56:00 PM | Football
By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com
UPON FURTHER REVIEW. . .
THE ANALYSIS was direct, pointed, succinct. "Time of possession. Line of scrimmage. Turnovers," Pat Fitzgerald would say on Saturday, minutes after his team fell to Western Michigan by a point in their season opener at Ryan Field. "Our last four losses. Same thing. Line of scrimmage. Not being able to fit gaps right. Not tackling well. Not targeting sometimes. Not staying and finishing blocks. And then, obviously, our inability to sustain drives, and to get off the field on third down. That recipe— no defense can stay on the field that long."
THE WILDCATS, down that point, began their final possession on their own 35 with 5:38 remaining. Here, in quick succession, Clayton Thorson hit super back Garrett Dickerson for two, and Justin Jackson picked up two, and Thorson found wideout Austin Carr for 29 and a first down at the Broncos' 32. Now he connected again with Dickerson, who dragged Western linebacker Asantay Brown for the last of his 14-yard gain, and then it was Jackson over left tackle for 12 and a first down at the Bronco six.
This time Thorson accepted the snap and faked to Jackson and rolled left, open space in front of him and the end zone beckoning. But Western swarmed quickly, and he was hit at the one by its linebacker Robert Spillane, and the ball popped out and bounded into the end zone. There it was recovered just inside the boundary by Western safety Davontae Ginwright and, after review, the ball was awarded to the Broncos. "If he has possession in the end zone, it's a touchback," Fitzgerald later said of this ruling. "That's what was explained to me. My understanding, that's the call."
"Pulled the ball. Came around the edge. Saw a lot of space," Thorson would say of the play itself. "It closed pretty quickly. I've got to hold onto the ball. Can't fumble on the one-yard line."
THAT FUMBLE by Thorson will loom, for many, as the defining moment of this affair, and obviously it was a significant play. But significant too was this. The Broncos took over here with 2:54 remaining and were twice able to convert third-down situations on their way to running out the clock.
"It comes down to making plays when it counts," safety Godwin Igwebuike said. "We were put in a position to succeed a lot today. But there were times—third downs; explosive passes—where we just didn't make plays that we know we're capable of."
ONLY TWICE last season did an opponent manage to run more than 80 plays against the Northwestern defense. That happened in their Outback Bowl loss to Tennessee and, counter intuitively, in their two-point win over Nebraska. But on Saturday, Western not only did just that, finishing with 84 plays to the Wildcats' 53 (and 39:04 of possession to the 'Cats' 20:56). It also sustained a 19-play drive, and a 16-play drive, and a 12-play drive and a 10-play drive. Then, as an exclamation point, there was that eight-play drive that ran out the clock.
"Sometimes today I think we tried to do a little too much as individuals, as players," the linebacker Jaylen Prater later said when asked about the defensive difficulties. "At times, you're trying to do everything. You're scratching, clawing. But at the end of the day we have to go out there, communicate with each other, be on the same page, run the same coverage, fill the gaps."
"Defensively, I thought when we were fitting gaps right and tackling, we were in good shape," said Fitzgerald. "But when we put or heads in the wrong spot— we're supposed to fit outside, we're inside; we're outside, we're supposed to be inside; we didn't get off blocks well enough; we didn't tackle well enough; we didn't create a turnover. Those are areas we've been stressing all camp. We can't go through a game with the amount of experience we have back on defense without a turnover. We had a pick that we dropped. I didn't see us ripping the ball as well as we had in camp. So a lot of work to do obviously. Yeah. We've got a long week ahead of us."
AT THE START, there was no hint that this would be a long afternoon for the 'Cats. They took the opening kickoff and unfurled a 15-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, and then their defense forced the Broncos into a quick punt. But their next two possessions were a three-and-out and a five-and-out and now, with 36 seconds remaining in the first half, Western started the drive that could well stand as a symbol of this afternoon. It was their longest one of the day, the one that lasted 19 plays, it covered 68 yards, ate up 10:08 and led to a field goal. It included a pair of fourth-down conversions and an 18-yard run by their quarterback Zach Terrell on a third-and-17 from their own 40.
THE 'CATS led 7-6 at the half, and then trailed by six after Western took the second-half kickoff and drove for a touchdown. But two possessions later they reclaimed it behind Jackson, who would end this day with 124 net rushing yards and a pair of receptions for 47 yards and all three of the Wildcats' touchdowns. Here, on a third-and-three from the Western 46, he swept right and, behind a big block by Dickerson, dashed for the score that once more put the 'Cats up one.
Now, even with 7:39 remaining in the third, the end game of this one was on, and it went down like this. Western again dented the 'Cat D, twice converting on third down and once on fourth down while putting together a 16-play drive that ended in a field goal. The 'Cats came right back with an eight-play drive that featured a 37-yard reception by Jackson and ended with his one-yard touchdown run, which put the 'Cats up five. Western responded once more, this time cobbling together a 12-play drive that ended when their running back Jamuauri Bogan barely got in on a fourth-and-goal from the one.
So the 'Cats were down one after Western failed on a two-point conversion, but soon enough they were first-and-goal at the Bronco six. Then Clayton Thorson rolled to his left.
MINUTES LATER, near the end of his press conference, Pat Fitzgerald said, "You've got to come back fighting. That's how we're going to coach the guys. We're going to stick together. We're going to coach the heck out of 'em. And we're going to have a damn good football team. I just believe that. That's where we're going to go."
"I believe in us. I believe in our team," Godwin Igwebuike soon echoed in conclusion. "I think we're going to bounce back better than ever."
NUsports.com
UPON FURTHER REVIEW. . .
THE ANALYSIS was direct, pointed, succinct. "Time of possession. Line of scrimmage. Turnovers," Pat Fitzgerald would say on Saturday, minutes after his team fell to Western Michigan by a point in their season opener at Ryan Field. "Our last four losses. Same thing. Line of scrimmage. Not being able to fit gaps right. Not tackling well. Not targeting sometimes. Not staying and finishing blocks. And then, obviously, our inability to sustain drives, and to get off the field on third down. That recipe— no defense can stay on the field that long."
THE WILDCATS, down that point, began their final possession on their own 35 with 5:38 remaining. Here, in quick succession, Clayton Thorson hit super back Garrett Dickerson for two, and Justin Jackson picked up two, and Thorson found wideout Austin Carr for 29 and a first down at the Broncos' 32. Now he connected again with Dickerson, who dragged Western linebacker Asantay Brown for the last of his 14-yard gain, and then it was Jackson over left tackle for 12 and a first down at the Bronco six.
This time Thorson accepted the snap and faked to Jackson and rolled left, open space in front of him and the end zone beckoning. But Western swarmed quickly, and he was hit at the one by its linebacker Robert Spillane, and the ball popped out and bounded into the end zone. There it was recovered just inside the boundary by Western safety Davontae Ginwright and, after review, the ball was awarded to the Broncos. "If he has possession in the end zone, it's a touchback," Fitzgerald later said of this ruling. "That's what was explained to me. My understanding, that's the call."
"Pulled the ball. Came around the edge. Saw a lot of space," Thorson would say of the play itself. "It closed pretty quickly. I've got to hold onto the ball. Can't fumble on the one-yard line."
THAT FUMBLE by Thorson will loom, for many, as the defining moment of this affair, and obviously it was a significant play. But significant too was this. The Broncos took over here with 2:54 remaining and were twice able to convert third-down situations on their way to running out the clock.
"It comes down to making plays when it counts," safety Godwin Igwebuike said. "We were put in a position to succeed a lot today. But there were times—third downs; explosive passes—where we just didn't make plays that we know we're capable of."
ONLY TWICE last season did an opponent manage to run more than 80 plays against the Northwestern defense. That happened in their Outback Bowl loss to Tennessee and, counter intuitively, in their two-point win over Nebraska. But on Saturday, Western not only did just that, finishing with 84 plays to the Wildcats' 53 (and 39:04 of possession to the 'Cats' 20:56). It also sustained a 19-play drive, and a 16-play drive, and a 12-play drive and a 10-play drive. Then, as an exclamation point, there was that eight-play drive that ran out the clock.
"Sometimes today I think we tried to do a little too much as individuals, as players," the linebacker Jaylen Prater later said when asked about the defensive difficulties. "At times, you're trying to do everything. You're scratching, clawing. But at the end of the day we have to go out there, communicate with each other, be on the same page, run the same coverage, fill the gaps."
"Defensively, I thought when we were fitting gaps right and tackling, we were in good shape," said Fitzgerald. "But when we put or heads in the wrong spot— we're supposed to fit outside, we're inside; we're outside, we're supposed to be inside; we didn't get off blocks well enough; we didn't tackle well enough; we didn't create a turnover. Those are areas we've been stressing all camp. We can't go through a game with the amount of experience we have back on defense without a turnover. We had a pick that we dropped. I didn't see us ripping the ball as well as we had in camp. So a lot of work to do obviously. Yeah. We've got a long week ahead of us."
AT THE START, there was no hint that this would be a long afternoon for the 'Cats. They took the opening kickoff and unfurled a 15-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, and then their defense forced the Broncos into a quick punt. But their next two possessions were a three-and-out and a five-and-out and now, with 36 seconds remaining in the first half, Western started the drive that could well stand as a symbol of this afternoon. It was their longest one of the day, the one that lasted 19 plays, it covered 68 yards, ate up 10:08 and led to a field goal. It included a pair of fourth-down conversions and an 18-yard run by their quarterback Zach Terrell on a third-and-17 from their own 40.
THE 'CATS led 7-6 at the half, and then trailed by six after Western took the second-half kickoff and drove for a touchdown. But two possessions later they reclaimed it behind Jackson, who would end this day with 124 net rushing yards and a pair of receptions for 47 yards and all three of the Wildcats' touchdowns. Here, on a third-and-three from the Western 46, he swept right and, behind a big block by Dickerson, dashed for the score that once more put the 'Cats up one.
Now, even with 7:39 remaining in the third, the end game of this one was on, and it went down like this. Western again dented the 'Cat D, twice converting on third down and once on fourth down while putting together a 16-play drive that ended in a field goal. The 'Cats came right back with an eight-play drive that featured a 37-yard reception by Jackson and ended with his one-yard touchdown run, which put the 'Cats up five. Western responded once more, this time cobbling together a 12-play drive that ended when their running back Jamuauri Bogan barely got in on a fourth-and-goal from the one.
So the 'Cats were down one after Western failed on a two-point conversion, but soon enough they were first-and-goal at the Bronco six. Then Clayton Thorson rolled to his left.
MINUTES LATER, near the end of his press conference, Pat Fitzgerald said, "You've got to come back fighting. That's how we're going to coach the guys. We're going to stick together. We're going to coach the heck out of 'em. And we're going to have a damn good football team. I just believe that. That's where we're going to go."
"I believe in us. I believe in our team," Godwin Igwebuike soon echoed in conclusion. "I think we're going to bounce back better than ever."
••••••
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