Northwestern University Athletics
The Skip Report: Minnesota Upon Further Review
11/21/2017 11:51:00 AM | Football
By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
UPON FURTHER REVIEW. . . .
NOT ALONE: Last Saturday, after his team rousted Minnesota in wind, rain and everything but fire, Pat Fitzgerald copped to being a weather geek. Turns out he's not the only 'Cat with this affliction. The same is true of his offensive linemen, who understood what was to come the Monday before that game with the Gophs.
"We knew then, 'We're going to run the ball this week,'" guard Tommy Doles recalled on this Monday. "Offensive lineman, you hear power inside zone, that's what you want. The Big Ten, it's a ground game and the guys we've got behind us, I've said it before, we know if we do our job, they're going to make somebody miss. It's fun watching the tape and seeing what Jeremy (Larkin) and Justin (Jackson) do to guys.
"Then we just love embracing the elements. It's like when you first fell in love with football. It was one of those games for me, fifth, sixth grade, rain's pouring down, we all jump in the puddle after the win. Then you walk out there, no sleeves, linemen don't wear sleeves, Coach (Alex) Spanos (of the conditioning staff) doesn't wear sleeves, you just have that mentality, 'We're here to work and we'll handle whatever comes our way.'"
Larkin, the redshirt first year who spells Jackson, was sitting next to Doles, and smiling and nodding as he listened to the lineman's rap. So did he agree with it.
"Yes, definitely," he said. "When you see a forecast with a lot of rain and wind, you know it's going to be put in the running backs' hands. Whenever we get the chance to get the ball, we really take that to heart. This is our chance to make a play, to contribute."
THE CONTRIBUTION: The Gophs arrived at Ryan Field allowing an average of just 150.2 rushing yards per-game. But Saturday the 'Cats gashed their defense for 277, the third time in their six-game winning streak that they have run for 200-plus.
"Offensively, we've played much better up front the last two months than we did in the first month," Fitzgerald noted Monday at his regular, weekly presser. "That group has really, really improved this year."
How did it grade out on Saturday?
"I don't really care about grades. I'm not one of those head coaches, 'You have to have this grade to have a good game,'" Fitzgerald said. "Every coach grades it differently. I'm more concerned about point-of-attack grades and that was one of our better days with that group. Again, that group has improved. They've taken it upon themselves to work really hard. It's been fun to watch. I'm really happy for them."
"Upfront we've seen improvement because we've had this attitude that we're going to finish every play, that we're going to do our job and do it to the best of our ability," Doles explained minutes later. "With that we've been able to raise our standard every week knowing that— we improved a little bit in the Maryland game, but that's not good enough. What's the next step that we have to take? So continuous improvement, and not getting bored with that. We've been having a lot of fun doing it."
THE GARBAGE MAN: The Sam linebacker Nate Hall shined on Saturday with a team-high seven tackles, two-and-a-half sacks, a pick and a fumble recovery. That performance was enough to earn him both the Big Ten's Defensive Player of the Week award and the needle from his head coach.
"Kind of a garbage man," Fitzgerald, Irish eyes twinkling, would say when asked about Hall. "Two of the three sacks, it was scheme. He was unblocked. Congratulations. Thanks, Hank (Mike Hankwitz, the defensive coordinator). That worked out really well. Interception, it was a garbage pick. It was a tipped ball, it fell into his hands. That's all right. I played with a great player named Barry Gardner who was a garbage man too. All kinds of plays that were nothing but, 'Hey. Congratulations. Look what just fell into your lap.' Nah. He (Hall) played great. He played really physical. He was really active. He's having a great year."
"I'm just out there having more fun. I'm having more fun than I've ever had playing this game," Hall himself would later say when asked to explain his stellar play. "I improved in the off-season, improving my technique and getting stronger physically. But a lot of credit goes to the whole defense, especially the guys upfront. They're allowing the back seven to play more free. You can see that on Saturdays. Making plays is easier when guys up there are playing as hard as they are."
And what about his coach labeling him a garbage man?
"Just doing my job out there," he said after taking a heartbeat to digest that information. "But, again, credit to the guys up front who made everything possible. The fumble recovery doesn't happen without a forced fumble. Sacks don't happen without four or five guys rushing along with me. So credit to those guys. And I guess I'm OK being a garbage man the rest of my career if that means accolades."
BEING THERE: The Will linebacker, senior Brett Hall, did not practice through all of last week. But by Thursday his injury showed signs of healing and so Friday Fitzgerald asked how he was feeling. "I'm starting," Walsh told him.
"OK. I guess you're starting," Fitzgerald said.
"He was not going to be denied playing on Senior Day and I thought he played another outstanding game," he noted on Monday
"Adrenaline kicks in on game day and you just get ready to go regardless of how you're feeling," Walsh himself soon said. "But for me, it's not really Senior Day that got me going. We're playing— Minnesota was a big game. In the Big Ten every game's very important. So I just wanted to go out there and help my team out. That's it."
SQUEEZE IT: The 'Cats not only shut out the Gophs, who had dropped 54 on Nebraska a week earlier. The also limited them to 139 rushing yards after they had pounded out 409 against the Huskers. There is no sexy reasons for this kind of defensive success, Fitzgerald has iterated often this season. A lot of it, he added Monday, has to do with its tackling, which has been solid.
"We tackle every day," Fitzgerald said when asked about that. "There are certain things we talk about every day as a defense, and one's tackling. Another is creating turnovers. But the tackling circuit that we go through daily in practice, and then our guys are expected to thud the ball carrier on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The ball's not to run through our defense.
"I just think you have to teach the skill of tackling every day. That doesn't mean there has to be contact every day. But you have to teach it. We teach it every day in the off-season with the footwork drills that we do. It's an attitude first. But more importantly fundamentally (it's) taking the right angles, having the right body position, putting your eyes and putting your upper body in the right position, then wrapping and running your feet on contact. That's the one thing I think we've done a really good job on this year. We've been really good in our lower body tackling. We've been really aggressive. And when we've missed, and you're going to miss when you're really aggressive, we've had great population to the ball."
AND FINALLY, FITZGERALD, on his feelings after watching the tape of that Gopher win:
"I came away even more impressed by the way our guys played. We dominated both sides of the line of scrimmage as well as we have in a long time."
NUsports.com Special Contributor
UPON FURTHER REVIEW. . . .
NOT ALONE: Last Saturday, after his team rousted Minnesota in wind, rain and everything but fire, Pat Fitzgerald copped to being a weather geek. Turns out he's not the only 'Cat with this affliction. The same is true of his offensive linemen, who understood what was to come the Monday before that game with the Gophs.
"We knew then, 'We're going to run the ball this week,'" guard Tommy Doles recalled on this Monday. "Offensive lineman, you hear power inside zone, that's what you want. The Big Ten, it's a ground game and the guys we've got behind us, I've said it before, we know if we do our job, they're going to make somebody miss. It's fun watching the tape and seeing what Jeremy (Larkin) and Justin (Jackson) do to guys.
"Then we just love embracing the elements. It's like when you first fell in love with football. It was one of those games for me, fifth, sixth grade, rain's pouring down, we all jump in the puddle after the win. Then you walk out there, no sleeves, linemen don't wear sleeves, Coach (Alex) Spanos (of the conditioning staff) doesn't wear sleeves, you just have that mentality, 'We're here to work and we'll handle whatever comes our way.'"
Larkin, the redshirt first year who spells Jackson, was sitting next to Doles, and smiling and nodding as he listened to the lineman's rap. So did he agree with it.
"Yes, definitely," he said. "When you see a forecast with a lot of rain and wind, you know it's going to be put in the running backs' hands. Whenever we get the chance to get the ball, we really take that to heart. This is our chance to make a play, to contribute."
THE CONTRIBUTION: The Gophs arrived at Ryan Field allowing an average of just 150.2 rushing yards per-game. But Saturday the 'Cats gashed their defense for 277, the third time in their six-game winning streak that they have run for 200-plus.
"Offensively, we've played much better up front the last two months than we did in the first month," Fitzgerald noted Monday at his regular, weekly presser. "That group has really, really improved this year."
How did it grade out on Saturday?
"I don't really care about grades. I'm not one of those head coaches, 'You have to have this grade to have a good game,'" Fitzgerald said. "Every coach grades it differently. I'm more concerned about point-of-attack grades and that was one of our better days with that group. Again, that group has improved. They've taken it upon themselves to work really hard. It's been fun to watch. I'm really happy for them."
"Upfront we've seen improvement because we've had this attitude that we're going to finish every play, that we're going to do our job and do it to the best of our ability," Doles explained minutes later. "With that we've been able to raise our standard every week knowing that— we improved a little bit in the Maryland game, but that's not good enough. What's the next step that we have to take? So continuous improvement, and not getting bored with that. We've been having a lot of fun doing it."
THE GARBAGE MAN: The Sam linebacker Nate Hall shined on Saturday with a team-high seven tackles, two-and-a-half sacks, a pick and a fumble recovery. That performance was enough to earn him both the Big Ten's Defensive Player of the Week award and the needle from his head coach.
"Kind of a garbage man," Fitzgerald, Irish eyes twinkling, would say when asked about Hall. "Two of the three sacks, it was scheme. He was unblocked. Congratulations. Thanks, Hank (Mike Hankwitz, the defensive coordinator). That worked out really well. Interception, it was a garbage pick. It was a tipped ball, it fell into his hands. That's all right. I played with a great player named Barry Gardner who was a garbage man too. All kinds of plays that were nothing but, 'Hey. Congratulations. Look what just fell into your lap.' Nah. He (Hall) played great. He played really physical. He was really active. He's having a great year."
"I'm just out there having more fun. I'm having more fun than I've ever had playing this game," Hall himself would later say when asked to explain his stellar play. "I improved in the off-season, improving my technique and getting stronger physically. But a lot of credit goes to the whole defense, especially the guys upfront. They're allowing the back seven to play more free. You can see that on Saturdays. Making plays is easier when guys up there are playing as hard as they are."
And what about his coach labeling him a garbage man?
"Just doing my job out there," he said after taking a heartbeat to digest that information. "But, again, credit to the guys up front who made everything possible. The fumble recovery doesn't happen without a forced fumble. Sacks don't happen without four or five guys rushing along with me. So credit to those guys. And I guess I'm OK being a garbage man the rest of my career if that means accolades."
BEING THERE: The Will linebacker, senior Brett Hall, did not practice through all of last week. But by Thursday his injury showed signs of healing and so Friday Fitzgerald asked how he was feeling. "I'm starting," Walsh told him.
"OK. I guess you're starting," Fitzgerald said.
"He was not going to be denied playing on Senior Day and I thought he played another outstanding game," he noted on Monday
"Adrenaline kicks in on game day and you just get ready to go regardless of how you're feeling," Walsh himself soon said. "But for me, it's not really Senior Day that got me going. We're playing— Minnesota was a big game. In the Big Ten every game's very important. So I just wanted to go out there and help my team out. That's it."
SQUEEZE IT: The 'Cats not only shut out the Gophs, who had dropped 54 on Nebraska a week earlier. The also limited them to 139 rushing yards after they had pounded out 409 against the Huskers. There is no sexy reasons for this kind of defensive success, Fitzgerald has iterated often this season. A lot of it, he added Monday, has to do with its tackling, which has been solid.
"We tackle every day," Fitzgerald said when asked about that. "There are certain things we talk about every day as a defense, and one's tackling. Another is creating turnovers. But the tackling circuit that we go through daily in practice, and then our guys are expected to thud the ball carrier on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The ball's not to run through our defense.
"I just think you have to teach the skill of tackling every day. That doesn't mean there has to be contact every day. But you have to teach it. We teach it every day in the off-season with the footwork drills that we do. It's an attitude first. But more importantly fundamentally (it's) taking the right angles, having the right body position, putting your eyes and putting your upper body in the right position, then wrapping and running your feet on contact. That's the one thing I think we've done a really good job on this year. We've been really good in our lower body tackling. We've been really aggressive. And when we've missed, and you're going to miss when you're really aggressive, we've had great population to the ball."
AND FINALLY, FITZGERALD, on his feelings after watching the tape of that Gopher win:
"I came away even more impressed by the way our guys played. We dominated both sides of the line of scrimmage as well as we have in a long time."
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