Northwestern University Athletics
Postgame Quotes vs. Duke (Sept. 8, 2018)
Northwestern vs. Duke
Ryan Field
September 8, 2018, 2017
Postgame Quotes
Northwestern
Dan and Susan Jones Family Head Football Coach Pat Fitzgerald
Opening Statement
“Coach Cutcliffe’s team made the plays, especially in the second quarter, that it needed to make. They did a great job of managing the clock down the stretch. We had ample opportunities on offense as we crossed the field and were not able to get scores on the board. Credit them, they played an outstanding game. We have a lot of work to do. It starts up front and we have to get those things fixed and corrected very quickly. From a defensive standpoint and our response in the second half, I thought they went out and responded very well. A lot of work to do and very disappointed, but a lot of season ahead of us. I know the character of the group in that locker room and I expect that they will respond. And that’s what I talked to them about after the game, said that I expect them to respond and do the things that winners do. And that’s come back to work on Monday, get ready to get coached, get ready to get these things fixed, and get ready to get back at it next Saturday.”
On the interceptions and Duke’s defensive backs…
“I thought we had some chances on some 50-50 balls that we lost. We made a couple of those catches down the stretch. We knew there were going to be some contested plays and obviously we did not make enough to win. The interceptions – our defense responded on the one drive and did a terrific job of getting the stop. On the second one we obviously gave up the points because of bad eyes. It was not anything schematic, just guys who had their eyes in the wrong spot and we have to coach them better, that’s the bottom line. Those things are kind of basic, A-B-C, teaching things that we go over and we have too much of that. I have to look at the tape before I make any passing judgment.”
On the offense not finishing drives…
“I think they were pretty darn good on defense. I really do and I felt that when they have been healthy that they have been pretty good the last couple of years. That would be number one, give credit where credit is due. Self-inflicted wounds, it looked like to me, it looked like we had some one-man breakdowns. Be that from us making a call that we would like have to back, an execution of a schematic or a fundamental that we would like to have back, those are all things we have to look at and fix.”
On Cam Green’s ejection and stepping up…
“I did not see the hit. It is the rule and the next guy has to step up. That was the theme of our offense today. The next guy needed to step up and I do not think that happened, from my perspective. It looked like we had guys that needed to step up on the O-line, because of injury; quarterback, because of where we are right now; superback, we had another guy go down, Trey Pugh goes down now we have a first year in. So it is where the game went and we have to have guys step up, we have to coach better, we have to get the next guys ready to play.”
On the injury status at both tackles…
“I cannot give you that right now. Blake [Hance] tried to finish the game, obviously tough guy, it just did not quite happen for him. I applaud his toughness, but we will take a look at the tape. Typically when a young guy goes in, the first thing they do is revert back to their habits from practice. If you created great habits, you usually go out and keep it real simple, like make the big things small. Revert back to bad habits and things start to go wrong, they go fast and that’s what it looked like to me. Guys come off the boundary with eyes wide and things are going faster than they can play and that’s what it looked like. That’s not an excuse, that’s where we have to fix things, coaching-wise. It’s hard to get five O-linemen ready, let alone nine. We have a lot of work to do based on what happened in the game.”
On alternating QBs mid-possession…
“I wish I had control over that, I’m just told whether or not 18 [Clayton Thorson] is in or 18 is out. That’s what I’m told from the medical team and when he’s in he plays, and when he’s out, he’s out. We have done that in the past with a two-quarterback system that we were able do some different things – this is a different situation for us, obviously.”
On his impression of the wide receivers so far and depth…
“We’ve made some pretty darn big plays. Both games, we made some big plays. We have to protect and give them that little nanosecond longer to get open. When we’re throwing the ball at times, the timing and the rhythm is off. Offensive football, when the timing and rhythm is off, is just really ugly. It is like bad backyard football playing with your buddies, and you have no timing and rhythm and that’s what it looks like at times. It all starts up front, and I’m not pinning the blame on the O-line, but it looks like we had guys that just did not perform very well today. It is interesting because a week ago that group played outstanding. So we have a little Jekyll and Hyde going on right now, and the next group of guys – you cannot control when your number gets called. You hear me say this a lot. You cannot control when your number gets called, you just can control whether or not you are prepared. It looked like, to me, today, some guys got caught up in “Oh no, I’m the guy now.” I have been that person and I know how it feels, and as a young player, that’s normal, not abnormal. You wish that would happen on a Tuesday or a Wednesday, not on a Saturday. That’s the reality and that’s where we are at. That’s my job and our staff’s job to get those guys ready.
[Camera Screeching noise] That’s okay. That’s about how we played, so no worries. Very appropriate.
We have a good football team and we just did not play very well today. That’s the bottom line. We just have to keep grinding and keep working and I appreciate our fans coming out. We have to give them some things to cheer about. We did not do that today offensively.”
On going for it on fourth-and-goal…
“We were somewhat inept, weren’t we, offensively? We were four yards away, let’s go score a touchdown. We were down two scores, we kick a field goal, we’re still down two scores. Let’s go be aggressive, and sometimes it works and you obviously feel excited about that, and other times it does not work. The defense went out and got the stop and we got the ball right back at the 50. When you look at the numbers and play the stats and analytics in that situation, I will probably look back and say maybe that was a field goal opportunity there. It was one of those 50-50 situations. We had not been moving the ball well, defense had been playing well, let’s go be aggressive. We get the touchdown, here we go, we get momentum. If not, they are kicking into the wind, we still probably have the short field. Which we got, and we went three-and-out the next series. So it was the next series to me that was the problem.
I’m just trying to [slams table mimicking defibrillator] jumpstart the thing here. You guys saw the same game I did. Sometimes I have to make a decision that maybe, not necessarily, makes sense from a standpoint of conventional wisdom. When you are not, conventional-wisdom, playing well, you have to get the paddles out and shock the system. That was what we were trying to get done there. I thought Mick [McCall] made some good calls, but when the quarterback firms his foot up and he now has to move, you tip your hat and give amazing credit to Duke. They played very well and we did not.”
On halftime adjustments from Greg Newsome II and making plays…
“Yeah, a young pup giving up a post. His eyes are stuck on two, which probably means they were back in the backfield. He knew exactly what happened, and gave up leverage, it’s a Cover 4 beater. Run a ten yard hitch to occupy the safety, throw the post over the top. As I told him when he came over, welcome to college football. This happens to a lot of guys, you have to learn quick and have a short memory. And he did. He almost had a pick that could have changed momentum around. He is going to learn and he’s going to be better because of it. He’s the guy that’s won the job at this point, and I have great confidence in him. I thought his compete level went up after that play, which is the hallmark of a really special football player, especially out there on the edge.
We can’t have [mistakes] happen in a two score game – the rest of the game defensively, like last week, when we were playing so well. We went like 60 something plays on defense this week [without allowing a score]. You sit there and pop the tape on, there’s a difference on about three or four plays. That’s what so awesome about football, those three or four plays make all the difference in the world. And we lost those today. We lost them on defense, we lost them obviously, offensively. I thought Riley [Lees], again, same thing, let’s go be aggressive buddy. Be smart, but be aggressive, let’s go try to make a play. He was trying like you-know-what there in the second half and just was a shoestring tackle away from probably an explosive punt return. I applaud his courage and his toughness. [Punt Returning] is not for the faint of heart. I appreciate him.”
Quarterback Clayton Thorson
On the offense…
“I think Flynn Nagel had an awesome game. He had 133 yards. I think the difference in the first half were those two interceptions. We have got to be better with that. Our defense is very talented, but we have to step up and score some points.”
On the interception…
“Wasn’t a good throw by me.”
On getting sacked/hit with the injury…
“I felt good. I did not feel anything different. I felt pretty normal. I don’t really think about it.”
On difficulty getting into rhythm with two quarterbacks…
“I don’t think [the two quarterbacks] is any reason for it. We have to move the chains a little bit, but I do not think me coming in and out had anything to do with it”.
On finding out whether or not he’s in..
“I just listen to the trainers.”
On Jeremy Larkin…
“He’s doing a great job. We’ve got to get him the ball more. We’ve got to make some holes for him and cut off their pass rush so we can hand it off to him. He had 121 yards [rushing] and 55 yards receiving, so he’s playing great.”
Wide Receiver Flynn Nagel
On what worked for him today...
“For me personally, I think I was doing a good job moving eyes and creating separation on man-to-man coverage trying to open up the quarterback and the offense.”
On the big picture…
“We just got to be better and finish strong. We started fast and we just got to finish. That’s the big picture and that’s the answer.”
On if the first touchdown would be the only one...
“I thought we did a great job the first drive, obviously, and I thought we were going to put 50 on them and keep going down and scoring. It did not happen.”
On the lack of rhythm on offense with rotating quarterbacks…
“I don’t think it’s because of that. I think both of them are doing a great job. Clayton is doing a great job. TJ is doing a great job. We had loads of practice with both of them, so I don’t think that’s the issue. I think we just got to go in, see what the issue is, be coachable and then fix it.”
Defensive End Joe Gaziano
On struggles versus Duke…
“I think last year we went down with a different mentality than coming into this game. Defensively, we did not execute. I think last year we came out a little flat and did not have the energy we needed to. This year it was not a matter of energy, it was more of an execution standpoint. We were not playing into our gaps. We were not flying out to the ball like we needed to.”
On the defense in the second half…
“We stepped up. That’s what we planned on in the second half and that’s what we executed.”
On sack on Duke QB Daniel Jones…
“I fell on him pretty hard, and I’m a heavy guy so I cannot imagine it felt good. I did not see exactly what happened, and I hope he’s doing alright. You hate to see a player go down like that, and I hope he has a speedy recovery.”
On halftime adjustments…
“We focused more on tweaking what we already had. Going into the game I thought we had a pretty solid gameplan. We had the right play calls, we had everything lined up, we just weren’t executing.”
On playing well defensively despite the loss…
“There’s a lot to improve on in every game. A lot of our mistakes came in the first half, so we had to make those adjustments and make sure we clean up those mistakes we made. In every game there’s good plays. I thought we made a lot of good plays and stopped a lot of drives in the second half, so that’s important for us. We have to execute again, but also learn from our mistakes.”
On lack of media attention…
“I can’t really focus on what outside people are thinking about me. I just go out there and hopefully make plays for our team and get a win for us. That’s not really on my mind. It may be something I work hard for but at the end of the day I’m just trying to be the best ballplayer and help the team win games.”
