Northwestern University Athletics
The Skip Report: UMass Recap
11/17/2019 4:52:00 PM | Football
By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
*ON THE SIXTEENTH DAY of November the 'Cats sang the fight song in their locker room for the first time since September 14. "The mood was great," the defensive end Joe Gaziano would recall. "Guys were dancing around. We were having fun. Music's going. The agony of defeat and the thrill of victory, you feel that every week. We were happy to be on the other side."
"I can't tell you how good it feels. I can't tell you what the morale is like in the locker room right now," the linebacker Chris Bergin said. "Regardless of our record, you never get tired of victory. We missed this feeling dearly."
*THIS WAS AN EXPECTED WIN over Massachusetts, whose record fell to 1-10, and the 'Cats 39-point margin of victory was certainly impressive. Still, inexplicably, incredibly, unimaginably, this game's first quarter belonged to the Minutemen. They held the 'Cats to a three-and-out following the opening kickoff and then pieced together a 10-play, 38-yard drive to a field goal that put them up three at 10:44. Now, on each of the next two 'Cat possessions, they picked Aidan Smith, and after the second they again drove, this time to second-and-seven at the 11.
But here Gaziano stuffed running back Bilal Ally for a lost of one and then, on the final play of this quarter, D tackle Jake Saunders stopped Cam Roberson for another loss of one. So, on the first play of the second, the Minutemen lined up for a 30-yard field goal attempt.
*AFTER HIS TEAM'S WIN Pat Fitzgerald at one point said, "We've got to play better on offense to start the game. We were— we were— we were, um, not very good. Not very good at all."
Later, again talking of his offense, he emphasized, "We can't turn the ball over on offense. That's the bottom line. We can't turn it over. We're doing things losers do on offense, and the number one thing losers do on offense is turn the ball over. You cannot do that and win consistently. That's why we're at where we're at as an offense. We have put our defense in bad situations all year. We have turned the ball over all year. Our respect fort the football has been awful, absolutely awful. We can't turn the ball over the way we're turning it over right now and expect to beat Big Ten teams."
So, he was eventually asked, did he consider yanking Smith after that three-and-out, pick, pick start?
"Yeah. There were thoughts of what were we going to do about that position. Obviously it's not been up to the standard we expect it to be. That's disappointing. So we'll take a look at how we're going to go this week. But we've got to take care of the football. Period. End of discussion. When we don't do that we put our football team collectively into a very difficult situation, and that's what we did to start the game today."
*MINUTEMAN PLACE KICKER COOPER GARCIA drove his foot into the ball and, a heartbeat later, it hit Gaziano's outstretched hand and bounced into those of Bergin.
"We had a push up the middle," Gaziano later explained. "So it was me and two D tackles side-by-side, as close as we could get, penetrating right where the kick point was. The two tackles got great push. It's basically three-on-two at that point. We were able to get good penetration, then I got my hand up and was able to knock it down. It took a weird bounce and luckily Chris was ready and he's got the jets. So it was off to the races after that."
"The ball bounced into my hands and I just turned the corner and go," said Bergin, describing the 85-yard touchdown run he now unfurled. "Then Cam (Ruiz, the corner) and JR (Pace, the safety) did a great job escorting me to the end zone without much problem. So thanks to the D line and thanks to Cam and JR."
*THANKS TO THAT PLAY the 'Cats grabbed off both the lead and some momentum, and it was only appropriate this flip was catalyzed by the Massachusetts' native Gaziano.
"A little bit of sentiment playing UMass," he later explained. "They were my first offer when I was in high school. So it was kind of cool, coming full circle."
*UMASS did manage a field goal in response to Bergin's touchdown, but after that the 'Cat defense flexed and pitched a shutout for the remainder of this game. "We kind of cleaned it (the defense's play) up as the game went along," Fitzgerald later said, explaining the about face. "Then I think we were able to suffocate what they were trying to do."
*FINALLY, with its team up one and nearly 19 minutes gone in the game, the 'Cat offense stirred. Smith, with another chance, completed a pair of passes to Riley Lees and then rushed for 19 and three before finding Lees again for a first at the UMass 20. Three plays later the first year running back Evan Hull went in from six yards out, and now the 'Cats were up and order was restored to the universe.
"The O line took over as the game went along," Fitzgerald would say, explaining how that happened.
"We set a goal to run the ball for over 300 yards. (They ended with a net of 334.) We wanted to control the line of scrimmage. We thought we could do that. They're depleted up front."
*THE O LINE'S BENEFICIARY was Hull, who earlier in the week said this when asked what he sees when he views the men in front of him.
"A bunch of monsters," he said with an appreciative laugh. "They love to get it done. They love to get it done."
He had entered this game with a mere eight carries for a net of 15 yards. But here those lovable monsters did their job so well he ended his day with 24 carries for a net of 220 and four rushing touchdowns.
"All of them. All of them," he said with a chuckle when asked which of his four scores was his favorite. "This is still pretty new for me. Just being out there today and having the success that I did, and the O line bringing it all together, the universe bringing it together to make it all happen, the whole day is my favorite."
Was he tired after toting such a heavy load?
"I'm sure the offensive line is more tired than me right now," he said. "They made my job a lot easier than it should be. Big props to them. Big shout out to them. I love those guys. They really got after it today. I'm just grateful they had my back out there. We had a good time. We had a good time."
*SO, YES, A SHOUT OUT to the starters on that line: Center Jared Thomas; and guards Nik Urban and Sam Gerak; and tackles Rashawn Slater and Ethan Wiederkehr.
*THAT O LINE and the run game it catalyzed were so dominant Smith threw just 13 times, completing seven. Every one of those completions went to Riley Lees.
*HULL, OF COURSE, WAS THE CENTER PIECE of the second half, which unfolded as expected. But a cosmic moment occurred on its opening kickoff, when Chris and Joe Bergin combined to bring down UMass return man Isaiah Rodgers.
"We've had a few of those in our career together," Chris Bergin later said. "But it felt good. On kickoff, it's just body's flying. It's unbelievable. So when I was on the ground, I saw someone else on top of the guy. It was Joe. He looked me in the eye. We were both smiling."
It was, at last, that kind of day for the "Cats.
