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The Skip Report: Wisconsin Upon Further Review
9/30/2019 2:22:00 PM | Football
By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
Upon further review. . . .
UPDATES: Hunter Johnson exited last Saturday's loss to Wisconsin with a leg injury early in the fourth quarter. "I'll issue the injury report Thursday," Pat Fitzgerald said at his Monday presser when asked if the quarterback would be available this Saturday when the 'Cats visit Nebraska. "But he ran around a little bit today, so that was very encouraging."
The news was quite the opposite when it came to wideout Bennett Skowronek, who was injured against Michigan State and sat out against the Badgers. He had surgery on his own leg injury and, said Fitzgerald, "Is going to be out at least a month, and we'll progress from there."
Finally there's the running back Isaiah Bowser, who was expected to build on the strong second half he had last year as a freshman. He was injured in this season's opener against Stanford; sat against UNLV; and has netted just 49 yards on 19 carries (2.58 ypc) the last two weeks in cameos against the Spartans and the Badgers. "I'm really proud of him," Fitzgerald said of the sophomore. "He's been relentless in his rehab and working hard every single day to get healthier and healthier. A lesser-minded guy, a less-tough guy—he's so tough—probably doesn't play. He probably doesn't play. But Isaiah's doing everything he can and we're just taking it day by day. It's not going the way the script said. He had such a great off-season, he worked relentlessly to get himself ready for the year and then you go in the opener and things don't go the way you want them to go. The way he's responded shows a lot about his maturity."
STILL SEARCHING: Johnson concluded his day in Madison 10-of-21 for a mere 59 yards and, under blitz pressure, fumbled into the end zone where the Badgers recovered for an easy touchdown. Aidan Smith, who replaced him, threw a pick-six on his first series and, for the game, the 'Cats offense averaged just 2.4 yards per rushing attempt and just 3.1 yards on its 82 plays. Still, later, wide out Riley Lees would express confidence in his unit, saying, "We just have to get a little mojo going, a little confidence."
"Well, yeah. Absolutely. When you're not scoring touchdowns and you're turning the ball over for touchdowns, that would zap my juice," Fitzgerald said Monday when asked if that unit did indeed lack confidence. "It's like when I play golf. I've got a I-don't-give-a-rip attitude. So I'm the most-confident guy in the world because I don't give a rip. Yeah. It's chicken or egg. It's confidence or execution. It's the same thing. I think we've got some guys who are very confident on offense. I really do. I also think they're pretty pissed off to be honest with you. I think they're getting frustrated with the play of our offense, and they're taking it to heart.
"They're taking pride in the way we prepare and they're holding their teammates accountable to bring them along. Some guys, the excuse of being young is over. You're a month into the season. There obviously needs to be a higher level of consistency and execution, then confidence comes. The guys know they can make plays. We've made plays."
He has talked during that month of guys needing to just cut loose and play. But is Johnson, the highly-publicized transfer from Clemson, trying to be too perfect, which is keeping him from just cutting it loose?
"I don't know if he's trying to be too perfect. I think he's trying to find a way to win, and I think he's trying to do too much," Fitzgerald said. "I don't sense that he's trying to be perfect. In football, I don't think that's a realistic thing. But I think he's just trying— man, he cares. He's working really hard and it's going to get better. Same thing with Aidan. I was really proud of the way Aidan responded. I thought he responded pretty well in the fourth quarter (when he guided the 'Cats to a pair of touchdowns)."
Another thought. Johnson was so successful in high school, so highly recruited out of high school, is it possible he thinks he can complete every throw and so is forcing some things?
"I didn't see him force the ball into any bad windows. I didn't see him make any bad decisions, per se. The 'I've got the arm strength, hear me roar' type of thing that you see some quarterbacks do, I didn't see that," Fitzgerald said. "In the ebb and flow of the game as a staff we've got to do a really good job of putting us in position to execute plays and then adjust based on what we're seeing. I thought we adjusted a little bit too slow to a couple of things (at Wisconsin)— we should have got to this and this a little bit quicker and that's on us (the coaches). But once we got some things corrected. . .we had a couple communication issues and, like I said, young guys, you're not young anymore. Those mistakes can't happen. And we had some veterans make some mistakes at costly times. So. Disappointing. But at the same time guys' attitudes today were really good. They know we have a good football team. We've just got to stick together and work to get better."
THE VIEW FROM THE PIT: Here is what senior center Jared Thomas, a team captain, said when asked about Lees' comment on mojo and confidence: "I think what he's referring to is we see all the great things we can do in practice. It's just got to translate to the playing field on Saturday. Ultimately that comes with execution, having confidence in what you're doing. As Coach Fitz encouraged us all at the team meeting earlier, we've got to work harder at every group, especially offensively. I want to credit our defense. They played their (guts out). They really did. We've got to help them out and once again that starts with me with communication and the protection. We've got to take execution from practice to the game field. That's it with that."
THE SECRET: The 'Cat defense was indeed superb, surrendering just 10 points and once again smothering the Badger running back Jonathan Taylor. "It's not any different scheme that we run," d end Joe Gaziano said when asked his unit's formula. "You've just got to be willing to step up to a 330-pound man and attack him in his face and say we're not going to let you run it down our throat. There's not much else to it."
TOPICS DU JOUR: Fitzgerald, but of course, was queried Monday about his use of analytics and his decision to go for two when the 'Cats closed to 24-9 and again when it closed to 24-15. (Both attempts failed.) An edited transcript of one exchange on these topics:
Wisconsin has the best defense in the country, the interlocutor noted.
"So do you want to go to overtime with them?" Fitzgerald asked.
Ahh, the interlocutor hesitated.
"There you go," Fitzgerald jumped in, and then he explained. "It's really game specific. What we do, obviously we have a comprehensive game plan especially determining how we're going to use analytics every single week. There's major factors that go into it. How are we playing? How are they playing?. . . Momentum. The list goes on and on and on. So it's a factor in our decision making. But you look at the point when I made that (first) decision— our starting quarterback in that game was out. We're playing the eighth-ranked team on the road and I'm going to win the game in regulation. How do you get there? You're down 15. You make it down 13, you score two more times, extra point, extra point, 'Cats win, go home. . . . Or you can kick extra point, kick extra point and it's all or nothing at the end. The analytics and the numbers point to you go for it early. You go for it early so through the course of the game you know exactly what you need to do. The key thing though is make the two-point conversion and I'm a genius. Don't make it and we lose. Now. At the end of the day, it wasn't the mitigating factor in the outcome of the game."
But Wisconsin is yielding the fewest yards-per-play in the nation, the interlocutor noted here.
"You need to then go and try to maximize every possession from a point standpoint," Fitzgerald said, explaining why he would challenge such a stout defense. "Every possession you need to maximize the points. That's what we were trying to do. Maximize the points. If I get it down to 13 and we score again, extra point, now we have a chance to go win the game in regulation. That's the mindset behind it. . . . We talked about it pregame. We're not going up there to tie. It may be different next week. Last year against Nebraska (at home) we got to the end of the game, we score (with 12 seconds remaining) and we kick the extra point (to tie) because we felt like in overtime we had the chance to go score some points. . . . So there's a lot of factors that go into it. Will it be different next game? Maybe."
AND FINALLY, Thomas, showing the smarts of a senior captain, when asked his thoughts on the topics du jour:
"After we score touchdowns, I look to Coach Fitz and see if he puts up the number one or the number two. If he puts up the number two, then we go for two. If he puts up the number one, I run off the field. The rest I leave to him and our analytics guy."
NUsports.com Special Contributor
Upon further review. . . .
UPDATES: Hunter Johnson exited last Saturday's loss to Wisconsin with a leg injury early in the fourth quarter. "I'll issue the injury report Thursday," Pat Fitzgerald said at his Monday presser when asked if the quarterback would be available this Saturday when the 'Cats visit Nebraska. "But he ran around a little bit today, so that was very encouraging."
The news was quite the opposite when it came to wideout Bennett Skowronek, who was injured against Michigan State and sat out against the Badgers. He had surgery on his own leg injury and, said Fitzgerald, "Is going to be out at least a month, and we'll progress from there."
Finally there's the running back Isaiah Bowser, who was expected to build on the strong second half he had last year as a freshman. He was injured in this season's opener against Stanford; sat against UNLV; and has netted just 49 yards on 19 carries (2.58 ypc) the last two weeks in cameos against the Spartans and the Badgers. "I'm really proud of him," Fitzgerald said of the sophomore. "He's been relentless in his rehab and working hard every single day to get healthier and healthier. A lesser-minded guy, a less-tough guy—he's so tough—probably doesn't play. He probably doesn't play. But Isaiah's doing everything he can and we're just taking it day by day. It's not going the way the script said. He had such a great off-season, he worked relentlessly to get himself ready for the year and then you go in the opener and things don't go the way you want them to go. The way he's responded shows a lot about his maturity."
STILL SEARCHING: Johnson concluded his day in Madison 10-of-21 for a mere 59 yards and, under blitz pressure, fumbled into the end zone where the Badgers recovered for an easy touchdown. Aidan Smith, who replaced him, threw a pick-six on his first series and, for the game, the 'Cats offense averaged just 2.4 yards per rushing attempt and just 3.1 yards on its 82 plays. Still, later, wide out Riley Lees would express confidence in his unit, saying, "We just have to get a little mojo going, a little confidence."
"Well, yeah. Absolutely. When you're not scoring touchdowns and you're turning the ball over for touchdowns, that would zap my juice," Fitzgerald said Monday when asked if that unit did indeed lack confidence. "It's like when I play golf. I've got a I-don't-give-a-rip attitude. So I'm the most-confident guy in the world because I don't give a rip. Yeah. It's chicken or egg. It's confidence or execution. It's the same thing. I think we've got some guys who are very confident on offense. I really do. I also think they're pretty pissed off to be honest with you. I think they're getting frustrated with the play of our offense, and they're taking it to heart.
"They're taking pride in the way we prepare and they're holding their teammates accountable to bring them along. Some guys, the excuse of being young is over. You're a month into the season. There obviously needs to be a higher level of consistency and execution, then confidence comes. The guys know they can make plays. We've made plays."
He has talked during that month of guys needing to just cut loose and play. But is Johnson, the highly-publicized transfer from Clemson, trying to be too perfect, which is keeping him from just cutting it loose?
"I don't know if he's trying to be too perfect. I think he's trying to find a way to win, and I think he's trying to do too much," Fitzgerald said. "I don't sense that he's trying to be perfect. In football, I don't think that's a realistic thing. But I think he's just trying— man, he cares. He's working really hard and it's going to get better. Same thing with Aidan. I was really proud of the way Aidan responded. I thought he responded pretty well in the fourth quarter (when he guided the 'Cats to a pair of touchdowns)."
Another thought. Johnson was so successful in high school, so highly recruited out of high school, is it possible he thinks he can complete every throw and so is forcing some things?
"I didn't see him force the ball into any bad windows. I didn't see him make any bad decisions, per se. The 'I've got the arm strength, hear me roar' type of thing that you see some quarterbacks do, I didn't see that," Fitzgerald said. "In the ebb and flow of the game as a staff we've got to do a really good job of putting us in position to execute plays and then adjust based on what we're seeing. I thought we adjusted a little bit too slow to a couple of things (at Wisconsin)— we should have got to this and this a little bit quicker and that's on us (the coaches). But once we got some things corrected. . .we had a couple communication issues and, like I said, young guys, you're not young anymore. Those mistakes can't happen. And we had some veterans make some mistakes at costly times. So. Disappointing. But at the same time guys' attitudes today were really good. They know we have a good football team. We've just got to stick together and work to get better."
THE VIEW FROM THE PIT: Here is what senior center Jared Thomas, a team captain, said when asked about Lees' comment on mojo and confidence: "I think what he's referring to is we see all the great things we can do in practice. It's just got to translate to the playing field on Saturday. Ultimately that comes with execution, having confidence in what you're doing. As Coach Fitz encouraged us all at the team meeting earlier, we've got to work harder at every group, especially offensively. I want to credit our defense. They played their (guts out). They really did. We've got to help them out and once again that starts with me with communication and the protection. We've got to take execution from practice to the game field. That's it with that."
THE SECRET: The 'Cat defense was indeed superb, surrendering just 10 points and once again smothering the Badger running back Jonathan Taylor. "It's not any different scheme that we run," d end Joe Gaziano said when asked his unit's formula. "You've just got to be willing to step up to a 330-pound man and attack him in his face and say we're not going to let you run it down our throat. There's not much else to it."
TOPICS DU JOUR: Fitzgerald, but of course, was queried Monday about his use of analytics and his decision to go for two when the 'Cats closed to 24-9 and again when it closed to 24-15. (Both attempts failed.) An edited transcript of one exchange on these topics:
Wisconsin has the best defense in the country, the interlocutor noted.
"So do you want to go to overtime with them?" Fitzgerald asked.
Ahh, the interlocutor hesitated.
"There you go," Fitzgerald jumped in, and then he explained. "It's really game specific. What we do, obviously we have a comprehensive game plan especially determining how we're going to use analytics every single week. There's major factors that go into it. How are we playing? How are they playing?. . . Momentum. The list goes on and on and on. So it's a factor in our decision making. But you look at the point when I made that (first) decision— our starting quarterback in that game was out. We're playing the eighth-ranked team on the road and I'm going to win the game in regulation. How do you get there? You're down 15. You make it down 13, you score two more times, extra point, extra point, 'Cats win, go home. . . . Or you can kick extra point, kick extra point and it's all or nothing at the end. The analytics and the numbers point to you go for it early. You go for it early so through the course of the game you know exactly what you need to do. The key thing though is make the two-point conversion and I'm a genius. Don't make it and we lose. Now. At the end of the day, it wasn't the mitigating factor in the outcome of the game."
But Wisconsin is yielding the fewest yards-per-play in the nation, the interlocutor noted here.
"You need to then go and try to maximize every possession from a point standpoint," Fitzgerald said, explaining why he would challenge such a stout defense. "Every possession you need to maximize the points. That's what we were trying to do. Maximize the points. If I get it down to 13 and we score again, extra point, now we have a chance to go win the game in regulation. That's the mindset behind it. . . . We talked about it pregame. We're not going up there to tie. It may be different next week. Last year against Nebraska (at home) we got to the end of the game, we score (with 12 seconds remaining) and we kick the extra point (to tie) because we felt like in overtime we had the chance to go score some points. . . . So there's a lot of factors that go into it. Will it be different next game? Maybe."
AND FINALLY, Thomas, showing the smarts of a senior captain, when asked his thoughts on the topics du jour:
"After we score touchdowns, I look to Coach Fitz and see if he puts up the number one or the number two. If he puts up the number two, then we go for two. If he puts up the number one, I run off the field. The rest I leave to him and our analytics guy."
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