Northwestern University Athletics
Photo by: Stephen J. Carrera
The Skip Report: Illinois State Presser
9/5/2016 7:44:00 PM | Football
By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
HISTORY LESSON I: No. 18 Stanford opened its 2015 season on a September afternoon at Ryan Field and was throttled by the Wildcats, who held it without a touchdown while winning by 10. The Cardinal would close out that season 12-2, ranked No. 3, as PAC-12 champions and with a 29-point win over Iowa in the Rose Bowl. On Monday morning, two days after his own team opened its 2016 season with a one-point loss to Western Michigan, Pat Fitzgerald recalled that bit of recent history for his players. "They (Stanford) come in here and I would say we beat them up a lot more than Western Michigan beat us," he later recalled.
"And I reminded the guys about what they decided to do collectively as a program— learn from it and get better. You look at the end of the year, you could say they were one of the best teams in the country. So one game doesn't make a season unless you repeat the negativity. Then it becomes your identity. You can't allow it to happen. And then, half the country played inferior teams. So after one week, you're going to sit there and say, 'Wow, these guys are great.' Then they go out and play week two, 'Wow, they're terrible.' Don't get on the roller coaster here early. Just learn, grow, get better, embrace that and get things going in the right direction. Get the train out of the station. Go get win number one."
HISTORY LESSONS II & III: The AFLAC Trivia Question asked which was the last college football team to win the national championship after losing its first game. "I saw it on TV and looked into it," safety Kyle Queiro recalled just moments after his coach had talked of Stanford. "The 1983 Miami Hurricanes, and they didn't lose the way we did. They got scraped (28-3), actually, by Florida, and ended up winning the national championship (with an 11-1 record and an Orange Bowl win over Nebraska). Also, that same year, Jim Valvano and N.C. State basketball team, another Cinderella story, won the national championship (over Clyde Drexler, Hakeem Olajuwon and a Houston team known as Phil Slama Jama). That fueled me up. It's a long season. There's work to do. But it's not like we're going into uncharted waters. Other teams have done it before."
"Even Coach Fitz, the year (1995) they went to the (1996) Rose Bowl, they lost to Miami, Ohio (in Week Two)," added linebacker Joseph Jones, who was seated next to Queiro. "So we've just got— we've already flushed it. Obviously, using it as fuel. But putting it in the rear view mirror and looking forward."
A DIFFERENT KIND OF LESSON: Not only did the 'Cats defensive line rotation on Saturday include a true freshman (Alex Miller) and a pair of redshirt freshmen (Joe Gaziano and Trent Goens). That side of the ball also featured five other players making the first starts of their careers and taking on new-and-bigger roles.
"Man, you learn a lot being out there," Fitzgerald said of those twin baptisms. "I think that's what was pretty common with a lot of our players that were in that kind of mode. They learned a lot, and they'll be better because of it."
What the difference from being a role player to having a key role?
"Everything. I mean everything's different," he said. "First of all, you probably get way too amped up to play. You spend way too much emotional energy pre-game. By the time you catch your second wind, it's typically halftime. And then you get to the end of the game and you go, 'That went way too fast. I wish I could go back and start the game over.' Now you move forward with that wisdom."
ONE MORE BAPTISM: Another who made the first start of his career was redshirt-sophomore right guard Tommy Doles, who played so well the coaches named him the Offensive Big Playmaker of the Game.
"He didn't make any big plays with his catches and runs," Fitzgerald said of him. "But he was the key block in springing JJ (Justin Jackson on his 46-yard touchdown run), and I thought he played really well the whole game. I thought he was violent with his hands. He played the way he is every day. He's a high-energy guy. He comes the same way with an unbelievable attitude . . . He's about as consistent an individual as you will see. Is he coming in (to the interview room) next? Yeah. You guys better tape your ankles. He's got some juice now. He's a passionate guy. From an offensive lineman's standpoint, that might be the best rookie start I've seen from a guy in a long time."
"It means a lot coming from him. So pretty cool to hear," Doles would later say when asked about that compliment. "I was excited to have this opportunity . . . but I think I was able to go out there, cut it loose, play with aggression. We talk about trust yourself all the time, and it's such a real thing. That was never more real for me than this week. I could have come out timid, or second guessing myself. But I knew I was prepared well and I could just go and trust the scheme and play as hard as I could."
QUICKLY NOTED: Jackson was the obvious choice as the Offensive Player of the Game against the Broncos. "He was outstanding," said Fitzgerald. "We had plays that were blocked for minus-four, he got three. We had plays that were blocked for four, he got 12. He had a really good game." . . . Tellingly, no awards were given for Defensive Player of the Game or Defensive Big Playmaker . . . One reason for that: On Saturday, while draining the last 2:54 off the clock, Western converted a pair of third-downs, and ended the afternoon seven-of-17 in those situations. It also went four-of-four on fourth-down attempts. "The reason they were able to do that was they were all fourth-and-shorts. So credit to them, first of all," Fitzgerald said of that last stat. "But most of them shouldn't have been fourth-and-shorts. That's obviously a discredit to us." . . . Running back Warren Long, who was scheduled to have an increased workload this season as Jackson's backup, broke his hand Saturday and is out, said Fitzgerald, "For the foreseeable future." . . . Defensive lineman Jordan Thompson, who cracked the rotation last season as a true freshman, was held out of Saturday's game with a lower-body injury and is day-to-day.
AND FINALLY: Doles' dad Jack is an announcer for an NBC radio affiliate in western Michigan, and was on the sideline Saturday as a credentialed reporter. "It was just like high school," Doles recalled. "He would assign himself to our games . . . I'd get to see him on the sidelines every week. I didn't see him during the game (on Saturday). But afterwards, even though it was disappointing, I was able to see my dad and give him a hug. A pretty special moment."
NUsports.com Special Contributor
HISTORY LESSON I: No. 18 Stanford opened its 2015 season on a September afternoon at Ryan Field and was throttled by the Wildcats, who held it without a touchdown while winning by 10. The Cardinal would close out that season 12-2, ranked No. 3, as PAC-12 champions and with a 29-point win over Iowa in the Rose Bowl. On Monday morning, two days after his own team opened its 2016 season with a one-point loss to Western Michigan, Pat Fitzgerald recalled that bit of recent history for his players. "They (Stanford) come in here and I would say we beat them up a lot more than Western Michigan beat us," he later recalled.
"And I reminded the guys about what they decided to do collectively as a program— learn from it and get better. You look at the end of the year, you could say they were one of the best teams in the country. So one game doesn't make a season unless you repeat the negativity. Then it becomes your identity. You can't allow it to happen. And then, half the country played inferior teams. So after one week, you're going to sit there and say, 'Wow, these guys are great.' Then they go out and play week two, 'Wow, they're terrible.' Don't get on the roller coaster here early. Just learn, grow, get better, embrace that and get things going in the right direction. Get the train out of the station. Go get win number one."
HISTORY LESSONS II & III: The AFLAC Trivia Question asked which was the last college football team to win the national championship after losing its first game. "I saw it on TV and looked into it," safety Kyle Queiro recalled just moments after his coach had talked of Stanford. "The 1983 Miami Hurricanes, and they didn't lose the way we did. They got scraped (28-3), actually, by Florida, and ended up winning the national championship (with an 11-1 record and an Orange Bowl win over Nebraska). Also, that same year, Jim Valvano and N.C. State basketball team, another Cinderella story, won the national championship (over Clyde Drexler, Hakeem Olajuwon and a Houston team known as Phil Slama Jama). That fueled me up. It's a long season. There's work to do. But it's not like we're going into uncharted waters. Other teams have done it before."
"Even Coach Fitz, the year (1995) they went to the (1996) Rose Bowl, they lost to Miami, Ohio (in Week Two)," added linebacker Joseph Jones, who was seated next to Queiro. "So we've just got— we've already flushed it. Obviously, using it as fuel. But putting it in the rear view mirror and looking forward."
A DIFFERENT KIND OF LESSON: Not only did the 'Cats defensive line rotation on Saturday include a true freshman (Alex Miller) and a pair of redshirt freshmen (Joe Gaziano and Trent Goens). That side of the ball also featured five other players making the first starts of their careers and taking on new-and-bigger roles.
"Man, you learn a lot being out there," Fitzgerald said of those twin baptisms. "I think that's what was pretty common with a lot of our players that were in that kind of mode. They learned a lot, and they'll be better because of it."
What the difference from being a role player to having a key role?
"Everything. I mean everything's different," he said. "First of all, you probably get way too amped up to play. You spend way too much emotional energy pre-game. By the time you catch your second wind, it's typically halftime. And then you get to the end of the game and you go, 'That went way too fast. I wish I could go back and start the game over.' Now you move forward with that wisdom."
ONE MORE BAPTISM: Another who made the first start of his career was redshirt-sophomore right guard Tommy Doles, who played so well the coaches named him the Offensive Big Playmaker of the Game.
"He didn't make any big plays with his catches and runs," Fitzgerald said of him. "But he was the key block in springing JJ (Justin Jackson on his 46-yard touchdown run), and I thought he played really well the whole game. I thought he was violent with his hands. He played the way he is every day. He's a high-energy guy. He comes the same way with an unbelievable attitude . . . He's about as consistent an individual as you will see. Is he coming in (to the interview room) next? Yeah. You guys better tape your ankles. He's got some juice now. He's a passionate guy. From an offensive lineman's standpoint, that might be the best rookie start I've seen from a guy in a long time."
"It means a lot coming from him. So pretty cool to hear," Doles would later say when asked about that compliment. "I was excited to have this opportunity . . . but I think I was able to go out there, cut it loose, play with aggression. We talk about trust yourself all the time, and it's such a real thing. That was never more real for me than this week. I could have come out timid, or second guessing myself. But I knew I was prepared well and I could just go and trust the scheme and play as hard as I could."
QUICKLY NOTED: Jackson was the obvious choice as the Offensive Player of the Game against the Broncos. "He was outstanding," said Fitzgerald. "We had plays that were blocked for minus-four, he got three. We had plays that were blocked for four, he got 12. He had a really good game." . . . Tellingly, no awards were given for Defensive Player of the Game or Defensive Big Playmaker . . . One reason for that: On Saturday, while draining the last 2:54 off the clock, Western converted a pair of third-downs, and ended the afternoon seven-of-17 in those situations. It also went four-of-four on fourth-down attempts. "The reason they were able to do that was they were all fourth-and-shorts. So credit to them, first of all," Fitzgerald said of that last stat. "But most of them shouldn't have been fourth-and-shorts. That's obviously a discredit to us." . . . Running back Warren Long, who was scheduled to have an increased workload this season as Jackson's backup, broke his hand Saturday and is out, said Fitzgerald, "For the foreseeable future." . . . Defensive lineman Jordan Thompson, who cracked the rotation last season as a true freshman, was held out of Saturday's game with a lower-body injury and is day-to-day.
AND FINALLY: Doles' dad Jack is an announcer for an NBC radio affiliate in western Michigan, and was on the sideline Saturday as a credentialed reporter. "It was just like high school," Doles recalled. "He would assign himself to our games . . . I'd get to see him on the sidelines every week. I didn't see him during the game (on Saturday). But afterwards, even though it was disappointing, I was able to see my dad and give him a hug. A pretty special moment."
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