By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor

A not-uncertain mentality is needed to play the defensive line. "It's kind of like a warrior mentality," says the d tackle Alex Miller. "You know every play, no matter what, you're going to hit somebody. There are other positions on the field where you might not hit somebody on this play. There might not be anything coming at you. But every play you line up, you know there's a guy lined up across from you, he's looking at you, you know and he knows you're going to hit each other, and it's basically whoever hits harder and has better technique is going to win that matchup."

"Attack," Trevor Kent, another d tackle, says when asked to define that mentality. "You can't take a play off. You've just got to attack, attack. It may not be glorified. You may not be making a play. You may just be taking on double teams. But you have to keep attacking."

"You've got to be unselfish and understand you're job is to control the line of scrimmage," is the way the 'Cats d line coach Marty Long finally describes it. "We stop the run first, we force them to pass. To stop the run first, you've got to be unselfish because you're getting single and double teamed and allowing linebackers to run and make plays. When they make plays, you've got to get satisfaction out of that."

Tim McGarigle, who coaches the 'Cat linebackers, once said of the d linemen, "They eat up blocks. They're block eaters." Now that is not what is exactly called an enticing job description, and then there was the apparent oxymoron he tossed out at the same time. The d line, he said here, does "An unbelievable job of taking pride not in making tackles, but in stopping the run."

"Right. Right," Long says when asked about that last statement. "If the running back is stingy and wants to come in our gap, that's when we shed and make the tackle. So they're (his d linemen) are going to have some tackles. But they're not going to have as many as the linebackers."

"It's the front seven," says defensive end Samdup Miller when asked how the run is stopped while not making a tackle.

"The linebackers," picks up Kent, "are just as much a part of it as we are. So if we do our job, which is taking the blocks, then they can fill the gap and make the play. That's like a small victory. I know if I take a double (team), they may take me to the ground, but if I stop 'em and (will linebacker) Blake (Gallagher) flies over the top and makes a TFL (tackle for loss), I get a small victory from that. I love to see that. You know you did your job well."

Do the d linemen join the 'Cat with that unselfish attitude, or must it be taught?

"Some come with it. Some, you have to teach it to them," says Long. "A lot of them come, in high school they're bigger and stronger than the smaller kids and are just allowed to run to the ball. You've got to get that out of them. We play gap-to-gap defense. We're a single gap defense. So everyone up front has a gap. So we're punching, attacking, driving our feet, keeping our feet balanced, and we're canceling our gap, making sure the ball doesn't run (through our gap). If it runs in our gap, then we make the play."

"I think it's something you learn," agrees Samdup Miller. "A lot of guys in high school, they just try to make plays and stuff, get in the backfield. So it is a change. We have to get hands on. We have to stay on double teams. We can't just rip off."

"It's learned. It comes with the scheme," concludes Kent, making in unanimous. "I was watching (Ram defensive tackle) Aaron Donald and every play he was making a play swimming (by the o lineman trying to block him). That's not the way we play. We're playing, Take the blocks on. You just have to know and understand that that's your job to help the team win. What's important is winning. You can have five sacks and if you don't win, it's not worth it."

Alex Miller and d end Joe Gaziano do lead the 'Cats in sacks with two-and-a-half each. But, to the point of this discussion, their four leading tacklers are linebacker Chris Bergin, safety Travis Whillock and linebackers Paddy Fisher and Gallagher. Still, again to the point, linebacker coach McGarigle once noted, "There's no such thing as a great linebacker without a great d line."

"The reason my name is on the stadium twice is an unbelievable defensive line. It wasn't because of me," Fitzgerald himself said a season ago. "There's nobody that has more appreciation for defensive linemen than me."

"Those guys did a great job of keeping me free," he said this week when asked about that assertion. "I'll be forever indebted to them. They were incredibly unselfish. It's one of those situations where you get the credit and you didn't do the work. I was unblocked. I'm glad I made the tackles."

All of which brings us to Saturday, that day the 'Cats visit No. 8 Wisconsin and will be asked to tackle the splendiferous Jonathan Taylor. Last week, in its bludgeoning of Michigan, the 5-foot-11, 219-pound junior went for 203 yards on 23 carries (8.8 ypc) and the Badgers, as a team, rushed for 359 yards and all five of their touchdowns on 57 carries (6.3 ypc). "We didn't do anything different today. We came out and kicked them in the mouth" is how their their 6-foot-3, 321-pound center Tyler Biadasz described the play of his line, which around him goes 6-foot-5, 312; 6-foot-6, 328; 6-foot-4, 327; and 6-foot-5, 310.

"I don't think you're going to stop him. If I had a Heisman vote, he's getting my vote. He's playing outstanding, absolutely outstanding football," Fitzgerald will say of Taylor.

"What Wisconsin does a really good job of is formation variations and scheme variations to attack your front seven to make sure they outnumber you at the point of attack," he will say of the Badger approach as a whole. "You've just got to fundamentally execute. You've got to control your gap. Their line's outstanding. So you've just got to keep battling fundamentally. That's ultimately what it is. It's just battling over and over and over again."

"They're physical, probably the most-physical team we've played so far," says Alex Miller. "That means we have to match their physicality, or have more physicality. Basically that's it."

"But you can't get out of your gap too quick. Stay in your gap," says Trevor Kent. "Someone like Taylor, if he sees you get out of your gap, he'll take advantage of it like that. He'll break it and he'll go 70 yards."

"Especially on the outside, we have to hold the edge," says Samdup Miller. "If we try to come inside and try to make a play, he'll bounce it out. Obviously that's not good. That's a guaranteed first down or touchdown."

"Taylor's extremely good just because he can make you think he's going one way and he's going back the other way," Marty Long agrees, here describing the crucible that will confront his d line come Saturday. "If a player has his gap and he thinks he's going the other way and comes out of his gap, he (Taylor) can find that gap. That's how good he is. And not only does he have speed, he's a bigger back too. So they (his d linemen) have got to go gap to gap, be patient, be physical and do their job, and not get bored with doing their job."

But their instinct is to attack.

"Yes."

And now you're telling them to be patient.

"Attack, and then be patient through your gap."

That's asking a lot.

"It's hard. It's hard. And you can't get bored doing it."

Can't imagine getting bored while getting blocked on every play by 650 pounds of big uglies.

"They are the biggest offensive line we will play, and they are really, really good."

And on top of that Fitz says they try to outnumber you at the point of attack.

"The thing you have to do is you've got to cancel your gap, and if they bring a guy to the front side by pulling a guard or pulling a tackle, your linebackers have to be able to get there. That's how you even it out."

Then Marty Long hesitates, and here he offers a small smile, and now—unexpectedly—he finally says, "It's fun. It's fun. And it's the type of game our guys like to play."

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The Skip Report: A Warrior Mentality

••••••

Players Mentioned

Chris Bergin

Paddy Fisher

Joe Gaziano

Trevor Kent

Alex Miller

Samdup Miller

Travis Whillock

Northwestern University Athletics

Northwestern University Athletics

The Skip Report: A Warrior Mentality

••••••

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