Northwestern University Athletics
The Skip Report: Revolving Running Backs
10/26/2018 12:04:00 PM | Football
By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
On The Run. . . .
*THE TUESDAY practice ends, and greetings are exchanged, and now running backs coach Lou Ayeni is asked if he knows who he'll have available come Saturday when Northwestern hosts Wisconsin. He laughs. He laughs out loud and then says, "It's been a crazy year, hasn't it? I've been fortunate. I've coached a lot of good players, been in a lot of situations. But I've never had the injuries that we've had this year. You've just got to be creative a little bit. We've been using the all-hands-on-deck approach and come Thursday and Friday, see who's left. Then figure out what they do best and put them in those situations."
*THIS UNCERTAINTY has some very real ramifications.
"We always talk about player, formations, plays," explains Ayeni. "That starts with the players. So when you don't know who the players are, especially at that position where you want to get the run game going, it gets a little difficult. With a senior quarterback (Clayton Thorson), you want to make sure he's protected and that he's got options in the pass game with the running back. It gets a little interesting. It gets a little tough at times. But we work though it. And the guys, when we figure out who's playing— that's another thing. You don't know who's playing so you don't know how to divide the reps up in practice. But the guys who have gotten in there have done a good job. So we just continue to fight on and at the end of the week figure out who we've got and go from there."
*LAST SATURDAY at Rutgers they did not have the senior Solomon Vault or junior John Moten IV or sophomore Jesse Brown, which left them to depend on senior walk-on Chad Hanaoka and first years Drake Anderson and Isaiah Bowser.
"Like everybody, you put guys in the best situation to succeed," Pat Fitzgerald would say this week, discussing how that trio was employed. "We were trying to get all three involved, then kind of see who took things over as the game went along. The middle part of the game I thought Chad played very, very well, and we were sprinkling in the young guys. Then Isaiah started playing a little bit better as the game went along. I thought he played really well behind his pads in the second half and showed some physicality. That was encouraging to see. And I thought Drake made some pretty good runs too. They're just going to have to continue to get better."
*EVEN AS FIRST YEARS they know how to run. This is something each has done his entire life. But what they haven't done, what they weren't asked to do as high school studs, are those fundamentals Ayeni referenced earlier: protect the passer and catch passes out of the backfield.
"Sleepless nights. Sleepless nights," he says when asked about that, and here he laughs again. "It's been interesting. That's why you work fundamentals and technique the best you can. You can't predict what plays are going to be called or what situations they're going to be in. You can only hope you prepare them for whatever they see and they can rely on their fundamentals and technique to help them through. It goes fast for those young guys. It went fast last week. I had to calm them down. Luckily we had the senior, Chad, to come in and help us do that. Then as they got into the flow of the game they started letting their natural abilities show."
"They're both incredible players with incredible ability," Hanaoka himself will say of the freshmen. "I really got to see them grow up this past Saturday and get their feet wet out on the field. Now moving forward I think they have some confidence. I'm excited to see where they take it next."
"Hopefully, now, they do have their confidence and understand what Big Ten football is all about," Ayeni finally says when Hanaoka's comment is read to him. "As a football team we've got a chance to play meaningful games in late October and November. They've got to be a big part of it."
*HANAOKA, of course, has been a big part of the 'Cats' last two wins, stepping up admirably after injuries felled the senior Solomon Vault and the junior John Moten IV and the sophomore Jesse Brown. (Their status for Saturday is not known as we write.)
"He's going to be a doctor, he's going to be saving lives. Right now he's saving my life by just being the guy I can rely on and trust," Ayeni says of him. "Not only is he a good person. Everybody's going to tell his story, talk about how great a kid he is, how great a student he is. But he's a really good football player. When he's out there he performs. When he goes out there he does his job."
*AT SEASON'S START, when it came to Anderson and Bowser, Fitzgerald planned to play with the new rule that allows first years to appear in up to four games and still retain a fifth year of eligibility. And now after Jeremy Larkin's retirement and that spate of injuries?
"It's game to game," he says. "I wish I had a crystal ball to see where it was going to go in the future. But we've got to do what we've got to do to win right now. That's the bottom line. You have a plan, then you've got to adjust the plan. We'll see how things play out."
*QUICKLY NOTED: Another position that's still uncertain is left guard, which has been manned recently by the senior J.B. Butler or the sophomore Nik Urban or the redshirt first year Sam Gerak. "We're trying to find solutions at every position and that's one of the positions that we just haven't been able to find someone to consistently take it over," Fitzgerald explained this week. "Until we get that accomplished, we'll have three guys competing.". . . The Badgers (5-2, 3-1), in contrast, feature one of the nation's best offensive lines. From left to right it goes 6-foot-6, 323; 6-foot-6, 310; 6-foot-3, 319; 6-foot-6, 315; and 6-foot-7, 315. "They're dudes. They're outstanding," Fitzgerald said of it. . . . The prime beneficiary of their work is Jonathan Taylor, who not only averages a national best 158.4 yards-per-game. He has also ripped off 28 runs of 10-plus yards and rolled up 100-plus in all seven of the Badger games. . . . Taylor is spelled by Taiwan Deal, who averages 6.8 yards-per-carry, and Garrett Groshek, who averages 6.4. This is why Fitzgerald would say, "They've got a three-headed monster back there. They're really, really good.". . . NU defensive end Joe Gaziano agrees whole-heartedly with his coach. "It's going to be a great test for us," he said. "Wisconsin loves to run the ball. They have a very potent running attack. They have very talented running backs and a big O line they love to run behind. They love to bring in heavy sets too with different tight ends that are bigger guys and run the ball and test your strength. For us it's a big challenge. It's put your cleats in the ground and be ready to get off as a defensive lineman. It's a big test for our defensive front, for sure.". . . But here's the kicker. "It's one of those games that I enjoy and look forward to every year," he concludes. "This is the kind of game where defensive linemen shine."
*AND FINALLY: After the Rutgers game 'Cat coaches named Hanaoka the offensive player-of-the-week, linebacker Chris Bergin the defensive player of the week and defensive back Joe Bergin the special teams player of the week. Each is a walk-on. "There's always great stories like that across the country," Fitzgerald said of this anomaly, "where guys were maybe a little bit this, a little bit that coming out of high school and maybe the scholarship door wasn't open for them coming in. But the opportunity door was open."
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