Northwestern University Athletics
The Skip Report: Penn State Upon Further Review
10/9/2017 3:16:00 PM | Football
By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
UPON FURTHER REVIEW. . . .
SOME GOOD NEWS: Justin Jackson, who has been banged up much of this season, showed glimpses of his old self in the 'Cats' loss to Penn State, and for that was selected by the coaches as their Offensive Player of the Game.
"I thought that was maybe his best performance of the year. Look forward to continuing to work hard to get him going," Pat Fitzgerald said Monday at his weekly presser.
And, physically, how did Jackson come out of the game?
"Great," said Fitzgerald. "Best he's been all year post-game."
APPRECIATE HIM: Jackson is now just 18 yards short of being the program career rushing leader, a number he should get Saturday against a Maryland defense that Ohio State just ravaged for 62 points.
"Amazing. Absolutely spectacular from the standpoint of durability. Toughness. Resolve. Anytime you start talking about those types of accomplishments over a career, it's just absolutely spectacular," Fitzgerald marveled Monday when asked about his running back. "Sometimes we take for granted those types of players. I know we don't. But it's just human nature to go, 'Oh, yeah. He had another good game.'
"It seems like yesterday he was a freshman. Where I've seen the most growth is in Justin's leadership. He's willing to get out of his comfort zone. He's willing to back up the responsibility of being in a captaincy role, which more and more today is more difficult than it's ever been. We're in a feeling society. You don't want to hurt each other's feelings. But he's a guy who's going to be honest. And I think he's earned so much respect from his teammates—he doesn't say a lot. But when he does, guys know he's being honest with them, he's being real. Just really seen great growth in him from that aspect."
NOT-SO GOOD NEWS: Not surprisingly, since the 'Cats produced no big plays, the coaches did not pass out an Offensive Big Playmaker of the Game award.
"We had the ball, what, four or five times across the 50 with opportunities to go score?" said Fitzgerald. "Not to get that accomplished was really the tell-tale sign of the game."
"Obviously Saturday (at Maryland) we've got to be better. We've got to be better," the wide out Flynn Nagel soon added. "Our offense just has to stop shooting itself in the foot. We had some drives where we were getting some momentum, getting things going, then whether it was a penalty, a missed block on the perimeter, what have you, we kinda shot ourselves in the foot. But going forward I think we're in a good spot. We've just got keep our heads up, not hang our heads from Saturday."
"The biggest concern from my standpoint is we've got to get much more consistent offensively, especially up front. Our lack of consistency there is really hurting us," Fitzgerald would conclude. "Then I watch a lot of Big Ten ball as I go through my week of preparation, and this is something that's not unique to us. You see a lot of commonalities. Teams that are moving the ball pretty well are playing really well upfront, and the teams that aren't are not. So we've just got to continually drive guys fundamentally. We've got to make sure they're not overthinking things. Then they've got to play fast and cut it loose. I see that happening on our defensive line. I see that group really playing hard, playing fast, playing physical."
POST-VIEWING REVIEW: Fitzgerald, in the immediate wake of a game, often prefaces an answer by noting that he has yet to see the tape. Monday he was asked what he had seen while watching a rerun of his team's loss to the Nittany Lions.
"Like I said earlier, I thought our defensive line was really active. That may have been the best game that they've played all year. Again, it wasn't just one guy. Collectively as a group I thought they played really, really hard. I thought there were multiple opportunities out there that definitely would have changed the momentum of the game."
Offensively or defensively?
"Both. But especially offensively. We're first-and-goal at the nine. We go four negative plays in a row. I don't have a big solution for that. All four should have been successful. Those are all plays, other times in the game, we execute. Other times in the year, we've executed. That was indicative of the day. Indicative of the day. And it wasn't just one guy. Those are the things we've got to get fixed. You do it through fundamentals. You do it through focus, discipline and competition. Some guys, if they're not performing well, we've got to get different guys in."
GOTTA GET DOWN: Before this season, the 'Cats were not called for a single targeting penalty. But back in early September, down at Duke, safety Jared McGee was hit with one. and then Saturday that call was made on both middle linebacker Paddy Fisher and safety Godwin Igwebuike.
"I think the one was a really good call on Paddy," Fitzgerald said when asked about them. "He's got to lower the contact, we call it the strake zone. It's kind of like baseball. It's got to be from the letters to above the knees on the quarterback, and he was just too high. He dropped down, he just didn't drop down far enough. So that's a great call. The other ones are tough. Like I've said, I'm a proponent of the call because we're trying to take it (hits to the head) out of the game. But those are two really challenging calls that could probably go either way."
SUITING UP: By rule, both 'Cats must sit for Saturday's first half at Maryland. McGee is expected to start in place of Igwebuike, but just who's going to step in at middle linebacker?
"I've got a redshirt year left," said Fitzgerald, the old middle linebacker his own self. "So I'm going to wear 51 (his old number) and (first-year linebacker) Blake (Gallagher's) going to move to 52. That's our plan in the middle. Then I'll be gassed by about the second series, so we'll figure it out after that. No. You prepare guys every week. So whoever it is that earns the starting roles as linebacker and safety through the week based on their performances will go out there and start. Then we'll have two pretty good players who will be lathered up and ready to go for the second half."
And how many plays do you think he would last?
"It's a different game now," linebacker Brett Walsh said with a smile. "He's one of the greatest of all time. But we always joke, he didn't have to play spread teams. So it would be funny to see."
"I think it'd be nice to have Fitz in there for the run game," concluded McGee with a smile of his own. "Pass dropping, don't know about that. But that's funny that he said that."
