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The Waterboy
2009 Archive

January 9, 2010

A Final Word

Describe the Wildcat’s Outback Bowl as you will: a nail-biter, a heart-stopper, a gut-wrencher or a back alley dog fight, and you’d be spot on using any of these characterizations. As for myself, I’ve not been this emotionally invested in an individual Northwestern football game since the ‘Cats’ Rose Bowl grapple of 1996. This pivotal New Year’s Day contest, against a high-quality Auburn Tigger team (who had, a mere 5 weeks prior, shoved their 11-0 in-state blood rival, the Crimson Cried of Abalama, up against the wall of defeat only to fall short in the grapple’s final 1:24) was destined to be THE seminal game marking the NU football program’s return to competitive prominence both among NU’s conference brethren and at the national level. Like Fitz said, NU had not reached the bowl game victory mountaintop yet, but this particular tilt was the single best chance in the last 4 occasions to do so. And I, along with the entire Wildcat Nation, was stoked Big Time at this opportunity to finally exorcize the ghastly demons of 60 years of futility that unfortunately has become a common nation-wide perception regarding the prospects of the Northwestern Wildcats to deliver that long awaited bowl game “W”.

And when it was all over for the ‘Cats, after having run the most improbable of offensive plays in OT, I was completely drained. In spite of NU’s 7th consecutive failure to deliver that bowl victory, this contest exemplified exactly what the game of college football, and the ‘Cats' brand of football in particular, is all about: heart, soul and a die-hard attitude that doesn’t throw in the towel in the face of daunting odds. However, owing to the fact that I wore my emotions on my sleeve, it took me a full 3 days to even begin to collect my thoughts regarding the details of the type of game played out last Friday morning and another 3 days to compose this commentary into something approaching the readable. The ‘Cats were so close to delivering a full 60 minute game that Fitz continues to champion. Unfortunately, early turnovers and field play mistakes set the course for the ‘Cats down a very hazardous road.

How the Tiggers out-clawed the ‘Cats

C.T.F.B.
The above acronym is an familiar expletive shouted between baseball and softball players. It means: Catch The F***ing Ball, and is a vocal reaction regarding any glaring failure to execute the appropriate techniques required to complete a ball receiving play successfully. Much has been written and discussed among college football media pundits and fans alike regarding Mike Kafka’s 5 debilitating INTs in the Outback Bowl, especially his first 3, which unfortunately cast a noxious shadow of doubt over the remainder of his record-setting QB performance as NU’s primary offensive playmaker. Those 5 picks completely changed the complexion of the game, and admittedly, the QB field play decisions behind them are clearly owned by Mr. Kafka; however, the first 2 were the direct results of poor execution by his target receivers. For cripes sake fellas, C.T.F.B.!

On Pick No.1, NU RB Scott Concannon had run a crossing route into open space under Auburn’s 1st level coverage umbrella in the short middle zone of their secondary. With his other WR targets smothered by the well-executed 1-on-1 coverage techniques of the Auburn DBs, Kafka identified his open check-down receiving option in the crossing Concannon and delivered a short, sharp pass right on target to Scott’s facemask. Clearly on replays, Concannon was not prepared to receive the bean, but seemed to view the play’s progression in relative wide-eyed wonder. He takes an almost imperceptible, but unnecessary hop step as the ball gets to him, instead of attempting to complete the catch in stride, which throws his timing totally into the dumper. He barely gives himself enough time to get his hands up to his helmet in preparation for the grab, and when the ball arrives on top of him, it caroms off his hands, popping up some 4 feet above him where it falls softly into the grasp of the Auburn’s best DB, Walter McFadden, at the NU 31. Six plays and a mere 90 seconds into the gamer, the Tiggers score their 1st TD of the contest. UGH!

Regarding correct pass reception techniques... First critical item, every receiver running a pass pattern on a given play should expect the ball to be delivered to him - every time. In fact, every receiver should demand the ball be thrown to him on every pass play. Unfortunately, Concannon appeared downright surprised to be the targeted recipient of Kafka’s short toss and lost his focus. Second critical item, when the ball is thrown in your direction, it’s yours and your alone... go get it! Not only was Concannon surprised by the ball by its delivery, he was soft in going after it with conviction, and let the ball play him. And last but not least, when it arrives, s-q-u-e-e-z-e the damn ball!!! An experienced WR would do so; regrettably, Scott did not.

On Pick No. 2, Kafka methodically had executed Mick McCall’s diverse dink-n-dunk offense, driving his O 70 yards in 17 plays down to the Auburn 6 and was poised to convert the game-tying TD. On the very next play, the spread WR pair positioned to the left of the offensive formation runs a clear-out/square-out tandem pass pattern into the Auburn end zone. NU’s most prolific receiver, Zeke Markshausen, ran the square-out leg of the pattern with his expected speed and precision, while his cover DB, Mr. McFadden, was glued to Markshausen’s hip, fronting and a half-step behind his cover receiver. Kafka rifles the pill away from the WR-DB pair sprinting towards the sideline to a miniscule target the size of a basketball at the fingertips of Markshausen’s outstretched hands. The precisely thrown ball squarely hits its intended target, the receiver’s hands, but Zeke misjudges the pace of Kafka’s dart, doesn’t go after the ball aggressively with that “it’s mine” effort and fails to close his mitts on the bean as it arrives. Instead, Zeke’s paws kill the flight of the ball dead at the point of contact and it hovers momentarily in midair. Once again, McFadden’s unveils pro-level DB skills, as he focuses on the suspended bean, snatches it cleanly, recovers from the momentum hurtling his body to the sideline by firmly planting both feet to the turf while turning his shoulders upfield, then ignites his afterburners towards the opposite end zone - all in one fluid motion. By far, it was the most impressive display of pass coverage technique that this viewer had witnessed throughout the 2009-2010 bowl season. After McFadden converted his 103-yard Pick-6 TD, the ‘Cats’ perspective of the unfolding game was relegated once again to an all-too-familiar vantage point: - from the bottom of a self-induced 14-point hole. Zeke, you know the drill... C.T.F.B.!!!

Kafka’s Gaffes
In spite of the conciliatory sentiments written above, I’m not dismissing Mike Kafka’s culpability for his 5 INTs... no sir! The essential characteristic in Kafka’s field play over the course of this game was that once he got burned by McFadden’s totally unexpected Pick-6, he started to press the issue of ball possession and yardage production via McCall’s controlled dink-n-dunk passing paradigm; and to his credit, he was very effective in executing it. Twice he and his O mounted heroic comebacks to overcome 14-point deficits; however, critical deficiencies in ‘Cat DC Doc Hankwitz’ game plan regarding what appeared to be designed stunts at the LOS by key defensive front 7 personnel allowed the balanced attack schemes of the Auburn offense to erase both comeback efforts and rebuild leads that, if not for many truly boneheaded penalties (12 for 139 yards) by the undisciplined Auburn players, should have closed the book on Outback Bowl scoreboard midway through Q4.

But Kafka’s all-out press of the dink-n-dunk playbook also led him to force the ball to WR targets which were blanketed by the skilled Auburn DBs who, themselves, were up to the challenge to complete the PBU or worse, the gimme pick. Kafka’s mindset to press the pass to a well-covered target led to the most errant throw of the game, Kafka’s 3rd INT in the Auburn end zone just prior to the close of Q2. If the play progression of the game is viewed with a fair amount of pragmatism, one can understand the cause of that mindset. At the 2:04 mark of Q1, Kafka and the ‘Cat O answered McFadden’s acrobatic 103-yard pick-6 with a sweet 39-yard Kafka-to-Brewer TD connection to reduce NU’s deficit to 7. When Auburn completed a 46-yard TD bomb of their own on their 2nd possession of Q2 that restored their 14-point advantage, Kafka obviously felt pressured to make a positive impact, especially since this latest TD strike by the enemy was sandwiched between 2 missed long-range FG attempts by Demos. Despite these setbacks, Kafka collected himself and his O to mount a textbook drive on the ‘Cats’ final possession of H-1, completing 5 of 6 passes to push the ball downfield from the NU 6 to the Auburn 4, setting-up a 1st & goal with 47 ticks left before halftime. On the ‘Cats’ 2nd play from scrimmage, Kafka rolled to his right, saw no open WR target immediately fronting him and, with the clock ticking down, inexplicably abandoned his technically sound pass techniques that gave the ‘Cat O this short scoring position in the first place and threw the bean across his body to a well-covered Jeremy Ebert running a crossing route in the middle short zone of the Auburn end zone. Auburn’s cover DB, T’Sharvon Bell, makes a diving stab for the poorly thrown pass and collects the ball as he rolls to the end zone turf for a timely pick and a shutdown of NU’s scoring threat.

I know it’s all “shoulda, woulda, coulda” speculation, but if only Kafka had just maintained his poise during this tense situation to understand that he didn’t need to force the TD throw on that 2nd down pass attempt. With a throw-away, he would have given himself, at best, a 3rd down pass attempt at a TD conversion or, at worst, left his team in position to deliver a fallback FG attempt on 4th down to end the first half on a positive note. Instead, Kafka acted upon his “go for broke” mindset - all of which generated zero points after the ‘Cat O had scratched and clawed their way to place themselves into a viable scoring position. That very same mindset was to be reflected by his HC with similar results later in OT.

The End Game
Beyond the 5 picks, the single most decisive factor in NU’s loss to the Auburn Tiggers was the field play at DE by the ‘Cat defense. The much-less-than-expected performance of these critical players was as much a surprise as it was an enigma. And after a week’s rumination on its cause, I cannot come up with much. As for its effect, it was very substantial to the game’s outcome, because for whatever reasons were behind its origin, the Auburn offensive brain trust recognized the real-time action by these players and pointedly attacked their defensive area with vigor.

Exhibit A: NU’s most veteran DE, Corey Wootton, inexplicably disappeared for whole defensive series, standing on the ‘Cat sidelines, hands on hips and watching the ongoing action. I haven’t a clue why Corey was kept on the sidelines so much and so often, even when considering Doc’s standard 6-8 man rotation among his DL specifically geared towards “keeping his DL fresh,” except in Wootten’s case, IMHO, it was excessive. I can only speculate (no doubt, with a high probability for error) that the Wildcat coaching staff had made a collective decision to reduce his PT with the intent to keep him healthy for the upcoming NFL draft this spring. Whatever the reason for these extended absences, when he was on the field, Wootton was wholly ineffective at either getting into the face of the Auburn QB or compressing the Auburn backfield to limit the motion offense of their RBs and flankers. To me it looked like he just couldn’t get into the defensive flow of the game, and he subsequently disappeared. One thing I will say is that Auburn’s ground game point-of-attack schemes seldom directed its premier rushing option, RB Ben Tate, against Wootten’s side of the LOS with any regularity, but concentrated on attacking the opposite defensive edge and its resident DE, Vince Browne.

Exhibit B: As the rushing game plan of Auburn’s quality ground game unfolded, it became apparent that Auburn’s offensive brain trust geared a large percentage of it on attacking the corner contain opposite Wootten and its resident DE, Vince Browne. And from my perspective, Vince Browne was taken out of the defensive picture by DC Doc Hankwitz’s original game plan, which directed Browne to crash hard early and often into and through the area immediately to his inside that was occupied by Auburn’s OT. Again, to this viewer, it looked like Doc was trying to collapse this side of the LOS to neutralize the FB/RB dive portion of the Auburn option attack, while depending upon the inside-out rush support from his ILBs and outside-in support by the OLB and the DB to maintain the corner contain to that side. Problem was... it just didn’t work for most of the game as the Auburn option just shredded the non-DE defenders at that defensive edge over the entire game. On Auburn’s 1st scoring drive (following Concannon’s tipped-pass INT), RB Tate took advantage of the Browne inside crash, and followed the effective blocks made against the remaining defenders at this corner contain, ripping off an easy 24-yard sprint to the NU 1 and setting up an easy TD on the following down. With this designed deficiency in Doc’s game plan exposed, the Auburn OC went to work and quickly exploited its easy blocking targets and the wide lane that was opened for Tate and other ball carriers to shoot through. With the score tied at 21 early in Q4, Tate shot through this gap untouched for Auburn’s 4th TD, re-establishing the Tigger lead 28-21. Tate repeated this run on Auburn’s next possession to extend their lead 35-21, after which he was so exuberant how easy this scoring run was that he lost his head and spiked the ball over the crossbar. This incurred a 15 yard penalty, stepped off on ensuing kickoff return, giving NU starting field position at their 42, and greatly aiding NU’s immediate response to this daunting deficit by Kafka and Co., who answered with a TD drive of their own on that possession.

Still, I don’t know what convinced Doc that the corner crash by DE Browne was going to reap positive results. It never did and was a major contributing element in NU’s defensive woes to stop the diverse Auburn rushing attack.

The “Date Rule”
There are several unwritten rules of thumb that most every football coach follows as standard approaches to specific game time scenarios. Most have historical president based on significant decisive consequences which can be directly attributed to either abiding by them, or conversely, by ignoring them. As a former player, I’m very familiar with these nuggets of football wisdom and Fitz and his brain trust know them just as well or better. One of these rules is “Never take points off the board” - as in the case where a penalty against an opponent’s D would give your O another first down AFTER your special teams had just put points on the scoreboard, such as the 3 points from a converted FG attempt. Two seasons ago Fitz went against this particular rule and received a severe lesson when he chose to remove the 3 points generated by a converted FG in H-1. That occasion was one of several early learning experiences for Fitz as newly installed HC for the ‘Cats, and since that game, he has never failed to follow the conventional wisdom of this particular ‘tried and true’ rule of thumb.

In the Outback Bowl, Fitz made a choice to operate counter towards another traditional football rule of thumb: “You dance with the one who brought you” (or the one that you brought to the dance). This rule has a corollary: “Don’t take the game out of the hands of your playmakers.” In a desperate attempt to virtually steal the “W” at NU’s possession in the first overtime period, Fitz called for a familiar trickeration play that he learned from his mentor, Randy Walker, and had executed with success against the Drunkards of Wiscy a couple seasons ago. RW gave this play the tag: “Fastball,” but others, like myself, affectionately call it... the “Fumble-Rooski.” Fitz’ decision to call it essentially was a knee-jerk reaction to the failure of his Kafka-led O to pass the ball into the Auburn end zone for the go-ahead TD on 3 consecutive downs during NU’s frenetic final possession in OT-1 - a wholly unexpected, last-ditch offensive series that literally was handed to the ‘Cats following a roughing the kicker penalty called on Auburn’s undisciplined special team defending a game-tying FG attempt by the ‘Cats’ FG kicker, Stefan Demos, who was flattened by a hard shot to his feet from diving corner-crash DB. Demos crumpled to the turf in obvious pain, having received a serious ankle injury and an assist to NU’s sidelines, and most definitely became an unavailable option for what additional plays remained to be called for and executed in the new-life offensive series that was gift-wrapped and given to the ‘Cats by the Auburn special team D.

However, instead of capitalizing on this freebie offensive possession, NU’s WR corps was summarily smothered by the effective coverage schemes of the Tigger secondary, forcing Kafka to scramble on each of the ensuing 3 downs for whatever yardage could be gained within the shadow of Auburn’s goal posts. Forced into a last-gasp, game-deciding play call on 4th down at the Auburn 5, Fitz and OC McCall abandoned their standard playbook, took the ball out of the hands of their primary offensive playmakers and turned to the Fumble-Rooski. I know that many within the Wildcat Nation steadfastly support this monumental decision by Fitz to “go for broke” and capture the elusive “W” with a subterfuge play that, if successful, would have been earmarked as the highlight reel play of this entire bowl season, but I’m not one of them. No, I still adhere to conventional wisdom that when a game is on the line, “you don’t take the ball out of the hands of your primary playmakers” and “you dance with the one who brought you.” I understand completely that many NU supporters whole-heartedly would disagree with this opinion and tell me that I’m confusing my head with my behind (as if there might a true difference between the two), but the desperate circumstances surrounding that play was the root for both poor player alignment and even worse execution of the required misdirection motion necessary for the Fumble-Rooski to work.

First of all, Auburn’s coaching staff, sniffing out the possibility for such trickeration, kept their entire cadre of starting defensive personnel on the field, aligned in a standard defensive set, facing the NU offensive “formation” on 4th down. Second, NU’s OL, to a man, were standing up straight and tall at the LOS, while the fake FG personnel, the holder and back-up FG kicker, just milled around without truly setting themselves into an actual FG attempt position right up to the moment when the ball was snapped. In essence, the NU players on the field had not aligned themselves into anything mimicking a true FG formation to draw the attention of the Auburn D toward defending or rushing the FG attempt, so there wasn’t any setup for the motion of the Fumble-Rooski whatsoever. To the offensive personnel’s credit, everyone held themselves in place for a full second before the snap of the ball, avoiding the false start penalty, even as the flanker to the formation’s right side started off the play by running a wing-option motion backwards into the NU backfield. However, the purposeless upright stance taken by the entire NU OL at the LOS, coupled with the nonchalant alignment of the fake FG players and the meaningless flanker motion didn’t draw the attention of the Auburn defense towards anything. When the snapped/fumbled ball was picked up behind/beneath OC Ben Burkett and passed to Markshausen, the play’s initial misdirection needed for its successful execution had already been compromised. The OL’s student body right blocking scheme was blown up by the Auburn defensive secondary, who shot across the LOS to defend their left defensive edge. Unfortunately, Markshausen failed to recognize an open seam just inside the defensive corner contain that would have given him an untouched path to the goal line; but instead he drove the ball to the designed point of attack which was to the outside of the right defensive edge. In doing so, the Auburn LBs and DBs to that attack side used the sideline as an additional defender and knocked Markshausen out of bounds at the AU 2. Game over. Lights out in the pool hall, Fitz.

I’m not going to Monday morning QB critique this whole series of events surrounding this one play, but I truly feel that the ‘Cats stood a much better chance to push the bean the full 5 yards needed to get into the Auburn end zone by exercising their standard red zone, goal line playbook. But to Fitz’s credit in post-game interviews, he shouldered complete responsibility for the “every day and twice on Sunday” play call decision and its failure will remain as another entry in his scrapbook of HC career learning experiences. And although I disagree strongly with his “go for broke” mindset, I’ll still support the Purple Team with my last breath.

Conclusion
Even now, a week later, I’m exasperated with recalling the field play, the possibilities and results of NU’s Outback Bowl. Simply stated, the Auburn Tiggers were ripe for the picking and although the ‘Cats never gave in where other teams could have easily capitulated, the bottom line of this herculean effort by the Wildcats remains: it was 2 yards short of bringing home the “W.” I apologize if my obvious emotional investment resonates too strongly within this commentary. Sorry to say, I can’t help being so. The mountaintop remains to be climbed, and Fitz and Our Wildcats are sure to get there, but alas, not in this 2009-2010 football season.

Congratulations to the Auburn Tigers for their valiant effort and a very enjoyable, competitive game - among the very best of this 34 game bowl season.

One item to note... Through all the pre-game hype and post-game enthusiasm, the Auburn Tiggers, their coaching staff, their athletic administration and their ardently supportive fans were the perfect opponent - respectful in pregame dialog and very gracious in victory. I hope that Northwestern’s AD, Jim Phillips, will make every effort to schedule this quality football program as a regular season opponent in the near future.

The Waterboy
“Win with Grace and Lose with Dignity”