Northwestern University Athletics
The Skip Report: Iowa Upon Further Review
10/24/2017 5:12:00 PM | Football
By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
UPON FURTHER REVIEW. . . .
ONE LAST LOOK: Justin Jackson, of course, set up the Wildcats' winning touchdown on Saturday with a 23-yard catch-and-run in overtime that included a bit of legerdemain. Asked Monday at his weekly presser what that play looked like on film, Pat Fitzgerald exclaimed, "It was a really good call by Mick (McCall, the offensive coordinator) to start off with. They were a little misaligned. It looked as if they were getting into their man-free concept and their combo in the back got in the box late, then we went where he was coming from. So we had a chance for the completion right out the gate. Now he's panicking, driving inside-out to make that tackle, and in space I'll take Justin any day of the week. Then he just willed his way down to the goal line. I thought on the next play, I thought he scored. (The refs ruled otherwise and Clayton Thorson snuck it in a snap later.) But just a great, all-around, individual performance. It was a heck of a catch, too. The ball was a little high and outside. A really good catch by him."
BREAKING THE ICE: The 'Cats were shut out by Iowa in Saturday's first half and, on their first possession of the second, they went three-and-out. Only now did their offense stir and here, after a tough two yards by Jackson, it was set up with a first at the Hawkeye 17. Then, on consecutive plays, came runs of seven, four and six yards not by Jackson, but by the man who backs him up, the speedy redshirt first-year Jeremy Larkin.
"It came at a crucial time, when we were down 70," he said Monday. "So it was definitely a turning point because the D was able to go out there, get another stop, and then things started to roll offensively."
Said Fitzgerald: "You see him (Larkin) getting better and better each week."
BREAKING THROUGH: Northwestern coaches liked the depth in their running back room last spring, but that was not the case in the one used by the linebackers. That room, they felt, was thin, and so they moved Warren Long into it. He, for one thing, had played that position in high school. Then, for another, he had been injured last fall and replaced as Jackson's backup by John Moten IV. But Monday, speaking of Larkin, Fitzgerald said, "He's won the backup role, and I think Johnny Moten's a really good player. I think he's a great football player. But to Lark's credit, John got a little banged up earlier in the year and Lark just jumped at that opportunity.
"That's why you've seen him a little bit more. John's ready to go and John's competing. But with a healthy Justin Jackson, it's probably just spelling him the last five weeks of the season. It's great to see Justin healthy, but I think Lark's got a bright future. You can see his speed. He's got a great understanding and feel for our offense. I think the sky's the limit for him. I make fun with Justin. 'You better keep getting yards. Twenty-eight's coming for you.' He doesn't like that very much, but I'm going to keep saying it. It's kinda fun."
And just how did Larkin seize the opportunity?
"Just coming every day ready to work," he answered. "Just really embracing the role I had, whether it was special teams or being backup or whatever it might have been. It was just coming in everyday and, whatever role I was assigned, just going and running with it."
I'VE GOT A CONFESSION TO MAKE: It was clear early on that Jackson was a special talent, but still he was worked slowly into the lineup back when he was a true freshman. One reason for that was he had to learn how to pass block, a chore he was never asked to handle in high school. So it was hardly a surprise Monday when Larkin, asked about adjustments he has had to make, said, "Pass pro. I never blocked in high school, so coming here was a really big adjustment. That was one of the main things I really had to work on, so it was getting in there every day. Working the technique and being able to identify who you're blocking was something new to me."
THE SETUP: Five plays before Larkin finally put the 'Cats on the board Saturday, they were facing a third-and-15 at the Hawkeye 49. Here Thorson looked to throw, but, as often happened this day, he found no one open.
"They were taking away all our receivers. Those guys did a great job all game taking away our receivers," he later said, and so now he bolted.
"Saw a lane and just took it. Bottom line," he went on, and here he scampered for 21 before getting upended while trying to hurdle Hawkeye safety Amani Hooker. "That was a big play just because we didn't have a whole lot of momentum at the time," concluded Thorson.
And did he in fact try to hurdle Hooker?
"Wasn't sure where the first down was. So I guess I did."
"You need to help our football team win," Fitzgerald said of Thorson on Monday. "I thought some of the plays he made down the stretch, especially in the second half, were the difference in us winning. That third-and-long play he made when they were playing two-man— our line did a nice job protecting and getting the pocket in a solid place. There was a big hole up the middle for him to make that play. That was big in the game."
AND FINALLY, THE WEEKLY QUIZ: After the 'Cats opened their Big Ten season with losses to No. 5 Wisconsin and No. 2 Penn State, that O line that held so firm on that play was dissected, splayed onto a platter and slipped under a microscope. The resultant analysis wasn't pretty. So how about now after wins over Maryland and the Hawkeyes?
"The rotation's not nailed down," said Fitzgerald. "I'd say there's a handful of those guys that are play-to-play, day-to-day. They're not playing consistent enough. It comes back to pad level. It comes back to fundamentals. It comes back to attitude.
"How would I grade them? We've won two games, so that's positive. But we can still be a lot better. We can still be a lot better. Have we improved? Yeah. We're improved from where we were a few weeks ago, a month ago. But we need to be, and we should be, a lot better. I expect we will be if we keep working."
NUsports.com Special Contributor
UPON FURTHER REVIEW. . . .
ONE LAST LOOK: Justin Jackson, of course, set up the Wildcats' winning touchdown on Saturday with a 23-yard catch-and-run in overtime that included a bit of legerdemain. Asked Monday at his weekly presser what that play looked like on film, Pat Fitzgerald exclaimed, "It was a really good call by Mick (McCall, the offensive coordinator) to start off with. They were a little misaligned. It looked as if they were getting into their man-free concept and their combo in the back got in the box late, then we went where he was coming from. So we had a chance for the completion right out the gate. Now he's panicking, driving inside-out to make that tackle, and in space I'll take Justin any day of the week. Then he just willed his way down to the goal line. I thought on the next play, I thought he scored. (The refs ruled otherwise and Clayton Thorson snuck it in a snap later.) But just a great, all-around, individual performance. It was a heck of a catch, too. The ball was a little high and outside. A really good catch by him."
BREAKING THE ICE: The 'Cats were shut out by Iowa in Saturday's first half and, on their first possession of the second, they went three-and-out. Only now did their offense stir and here, after a tough two yards by Jackson, it was set up with a first at the Hawkeye 17. Then, on consecutive plays, came runs of seven, four and six yards not by Jackson, but by the man who backs him up, the speedy redshirt first-year Jeremy Larkin.
"It came at a crucial time, when we were down 70," he said Monday. "So it was definitely a turning point because the D was able to go out there, get another stop, and then things started to roll offensively."
Said Fitzgerald: "You see him (Larkin) getting better and better each week."
BREAKING THROUGH: Northwestern coaches liked the depth in their running back room last spring, but that was not the case in the one used by the linebackers. That room, they felt, was thin, and so they moved Warren Long into it. He, for one thing, had played that position in high school. Then, for another, he had been injured last fall and replaced as Jackson's backup by John Moten IV. But Monday, speaking of Larkin, Fitzgerald said, "He's won the backup role, and I think Johnny Moten's a really good player. I think he's a great football player. But to Lark's credit, John got a little banged up earlier in the year and Lark just jumped at that opportunity.
"That's why you've seen him a little bit more. John's ready to go and John's competing. But with a healthy Justin Jackson, it's probably just spelling him the last five weeks of the season. It's great to see Justin healthy, but I think Lark's got a bright future. You can see his speed. He's got a great understanding and feel for our offense. I think the sky's the limit for him. I make fun with Justin. 'You better keep getting yards. Twenty-eight's coming for you.' He doesn't like that very much, but I'm going to keep saying it. It's kinda fun."
And just how did Larkin seize the opportunity?
"Just coming every day ready to work," he answered. "Just really embracing the role I had, whether it was special teams or being backup or whatever it might have been. It was just coming in everyday and, whatever role I was assigned, just going and running with it."
I'VE GOT A CONFESSION TO MAKE: It was clear early on that Jackson was a special talent, but still he was worked slowly into the lineup back when he was a true freshman. One reason for that was he had to learn how to pass block, a chore he was never asked to handle in high school. So it was hardly a surprise Monday when Larkin, asked about adjustments he has had to make, said, "Pass pro. I never blocked in high school, so coming here was a really big adjustment. That was one of the main things I really had to work on, so it was getting in there every day. Working the technique and being able to identify who you're blocking was something new to me."
THE SETUP: Five plays before Larkin finally put the 'Cats on the board Saturday, they were facing a third-and-15 at the Hawkeye 49. Here Thorson looked to throw, but, as often happened this day, he found no one open.
"They were taking away all our receivers. Those guys did a great job all game taking away our receivers," he later said, and so now he bolted.
"Saw a lane and just took it. Bottom line," he went on, and here he scampered for 21 before getting upended while trying to hurdle Hawkeye safety Amani Hooker. "That was a big play just because we didn't have a whole lot of momentum at the time," concluded Thorson.
And did he in fact try to hurdle Hooker?
"Wasn't sure where the first down was. So I guess I did."
"You need to help our football team win," Fitzgerald said of Thorson on Monday. "I thought some of the plays he made down the stretch, especially in the second half, were the difference in us winning. That third-and-long play he made when they were playing two-man— our line did a nice job protecting and getting the pocket in a solid place. There was a big hole up the middle for him to make that play. That was big in the game."
AND FINALLY, THE WEEKLY QUIZ: After the 'Cats opened their Big Ten season with losses to No. 5 Wisconsin and No. 2 Penn State, that O line that held so firm on that play was dissected, splayed onto a platter and slipped under a microscope. The resultant analysis wasn't pretty. So how about now after wins over Maryland and the Hawkeyes?
"The rotation's not nailed down," said Fitzgerald. "I'd say there's a handful of those guys that are play-to-play, day-to-day. They're not playing consistent enough. It comes back to pad level. It comes back to fundamentals. It comes back to attitude.
"How would I grade them? We've won two games, so that's positive. But we can still be a lot better. We can still be a lot better. Have we improved? Yeah. We're improved from where we were a few weeks ago, a month ago. But we need to be, and we should be, a lot better. I expect we will be if we keep working."
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