Oct. 25, 2013
The Un and Only
As in Un-focused, Un-motivated, Un-emotional, Un-inspired and Un-derachieving.
NU’s game against the Minnie Golden Rodents was supposed to represent a
respite weekend in the Wildcats’ 2013 season. You know, the game
slated against the weakest opponent the ‘Cats would face within the B1G
over the course of this fall’s conference campaign and one that would
afford Chicago’s Big Ten Team some time to lick the wounds absorbed
during their initial 2 games against conference Big Dogs from the
Leaders Division: duh Ohio State BuckNuts and the Wisky
Drunkards. In fact, with their HC, Jerry Kill, held in a Minnie
hospital for precautionary observation regarding his latest episode of
an anxiety-wrought cardio-pulmonary malaise, the Golden Rodents
logically could have been excused for taking a powder on this road game
against the once highly thought-of contenders for the Legends Division
championship. However, that memo declaring the Cats’ automatic
“W” apparently was never delivered to the Mighty Marmot locker
room.
I was just one of many astounded and befuddled viewers among the Purple
Populace who personally witnessed the 3rd consecutive dismantling of
what had been thought previously as one of the B1G’s most reliably
potent offenses by a fragile but fully functional Mighty Marmot team
that rose above the absence of their HC to pull out one of the most
unexpected, remarkable upsets of the 2013 B1G conference season to date.
Five days after this total dismantling, I’m still trying to get my
mental arms around this latest clunker from my beloved ‘Cats. And
I have not made much progress in doing so…
How the Mighty Marmots Mangled the ‘Cats
Lost In Space
For the life on me, I cannot fathom its actual causes, but ‘Cat QB,
Trevor Siemian, has taken several enormous steps backwards on his
capability to throw the football accurately to his target receiver
since the Wisky game. Currently, he looks like a wide-eyed,
awestruck true frosh facing Division 1A competition for the first
time. It’s obvious to anyone with any level of familiarity with
playing the game at the collegiate level that Mr. Siemian categorically
has lost all confidence in his ability to scan the opponent’s secondary
to identify an open receiver and deliver an accurate throw on time and
on target successfully. He constantly fails to recognize the
number and relative physical positioning of defender(s) covering his WR
targets. If an opponent’s pass rush gets into his grill, he gets
rattled – and if that rush is applied early and often, as was done in
the last 2 games, Trevor is lost in space. Taken as a whole,
Siemian’s diminished passing skills have become an extreme liability
for the ‘Cat O.
I cannot imagine how his QB coach, OC Mick McCall, avoids tearing his
hair out at the roots when viewing the continued downward spiral of the
passing acumen of his previously ultra-reliable QB. One obvious
item I have noticed is that McCall has simplified (read: dummied-down)
Siemian’s passing techniques heavily over NU’s last 2 opponents.
Like a true star-struck frosh, he now focuses in on his primary WR
target at the snap of the ball on any executed pass play, telegraphing
his primary receiver to an opponent’s DBs with little to no disguising
whatsoever. Last season, Siemian developed a very effective knack
of looking off his prime receiver and focusing in on a secondary
receiver to draw opposing pass coverage away from his primary target,
and that served him and his O’s passing attack very well. Over
the last 2 games, this look-off technique seemingly has evaporated into
thin air.
So what does the defensively challenged Golden Rodents do when facing a
confidence conflicted Siemian? They set their secondary in
vanilla man-to-man coverage then allow the pressure of executing a
positive play within whatever down & distance situation is at hand,
coupled with whatever pass rush pressure might be applied, get into
Siemian’s head and watch him implode. This is exactly what
happened on Trevor’s Pick-6 INT in Q3 when a slow, plodding Sam LB
followed the Purple QB’s obvious telegraph of his intended WR and
waited for Siemian to look beyond him and toss a soft, gimme throw into
his mitts. It wasn’t even as if this LB jumped the route of the
target receiver; he simply let the QB’s diminished coverage recognition
skill come to the fore and wait for Siemian to do the rest. This
was a huge mistake that not only exacerbated the growing conflict of
conscience for Siemian; it was THE deciding play and points of the
game.
More OL Troubles
I’ve never done this in my many years of proffering post-game
commentary regarding NU game-time football fortunes; but I must do so
in this case… Two starters on the Cats’ OL must be replaced ASAP
– in particular, the starting RG and LT (names withheld out of respect
for those individuals). Simply stated, their field play is not up
to starting OL standards for a B1G offense. They are lost and
together pose a major cause why NU’s ground attack has been neutralized
and why QB Trevor Siemian is running for his life 60-70% of all pass
plays called by OC Mick McCall. They are NOT getting the job
done, period. Immediate intervention by HC Fitz and OL coach Adam
Cushing is of paramount importance to regain control of this
devastating lack of effective field play across the starting OL before
the 2013 season and its chance at a 6th consecutive bowl game goes down
the toilet. If I sound like Chicken Little, then I am – and I am
that serious regarding this dire evaluation. I will not provide
written examples, it’s not necessary. However, suffice it to say,
any brief review of offensive video from NU’s last 2 football games,
even by the casual inexperienced fan, will underscore the continued
failures by the line to block opposing lineman on any particular
down, especially in pass protection blocking schemes. It has come
to that. I apologize at being so blunt and direct.
More Defensive Front 7 Troubles
Add to the mix, the tackling competency failures of the ‘Cats’
Defensive Front 7 and the recipe for continued diminished score or
point prevention by the NU D is solidifying. Without a doubt, the
Golden Rodent’s ground game is pedestrian at best, yet throughout last
Saturday’s contest against the ‘Cats, the Mighty Marmot rush attack
continually ran over, around and through the constant arm tackles and
flat-out throws-n-misses by NU’s defensive Front 7. It was an
embarrassment. And when the game was in the balance during the
last 2 offensive possessions of the Golden Rodents in Q4, NU could not
answer their opponent’s rushing attack. I don’t know what is
going on with Doc’s troops, but collectively they could not and did not
defend Minnie’s point of rush attack for 8 minutes of the game’s final
11, allowing the Mighty Marmot O to hold serve and make first down
after first down as the ‘Cats watched their chances at mounting any
kind of a furious comeback just wither on the vine.
The victory paradigm is now apparent for any and all future B1G
opponents scheduled to face the ‘Cats for the remainder of the 2013
campaign: Stuff the pigskin down the collective throats of NU’s
Defensive Front 7 on the ground and watch them gag then roll over and
play dead, allowing points on the scoreboard in the process.
Extended offensive possessions via a run-first O will not only burn
time off the game clock, it will also keep the ball out of the hands of
the ‘Cat O as well. Not a bad strategy against a bad rush D.
Conclusion
The 2013 ‘Cats are at a crossroads. They can either extract their
collective heads from their collective moons & begin to play
competitive B1G conference football by -
• Siemian has got to find himself and his confidence when delivering an accurate pass on time and on target.
• The ‘Cats’ RG & LT have got to get their individual blocking capabilities in hand or get benched.
• The ‘Cat Defensive Front 7 better learn how to
break down fronting the opposing ball carrier then drive into &
through his midsection to complete a solid tackle.
...or mail-in the rest of the season, losing the rest of the games of 2013.
The ‘Cats are playing that poorly. It is something I haven’t
witnessed in over 6 years with Fitz as ‘Cat HC, but it’s there in all
its stark and stinking reality. And it goes beyond flushing the
past.
Each player MUST recognize and resolve his individual field play
problems and failures via using correct techniques and work together
towards improvement in all phases of the game. It’s now or never.
The Waterboy
“Win with Grace, Lose with Dignity”
|
Oct. 18, 2013
Badger Blow Out
It’s taken 5 full days for me to collect my emotional composure after
having witnessed last Saturday’s Badger blitzkrieg that left the
Wildcats resembling repeatedly flattened road kill. This
unequivocal beat-down was not your run-of-the-mill dismantling of a
good football team. No, it was something much, much more.
It was nothing less than a public evisceration - one that was as
complete psychologically as it was physically. By Q4, the ‘Cats
appeared to have donned their Halloween costumes 3 weeks early and
reprised their collective roles as doddering, brain-dead zombies from
the classic horror film, Night of the Living Dead, while being
serenaded to the bucolic strains of Roll Out the Barrels by the Wisky
Marching Band. The whole ghastly scene reminded me of the very
poor, time-worn joke usually reserved for the Ohio State – Michigan
rivalry…
Q: How do you make a batch of Wildcat cookies?
A: Put them in a bowl and beat them for 3 hours
However, in retrospect, this horrifying outcome was not totally
unexpected. Quite the contrary, I for one, had cautioned many
euphoric NU fan following the competitive loss to the BuckNuts the
weekend before that the ‘Cats did not match-up well on any level with
the Wisky Drunkards. And last Saturday’s shellacking proved that
cautionary comment very prophetic. The Wildcats were thoroughly
throttled in all 3 phases of field play: offense, defense and special
teams - the greatest wholesale neutering of the ‘Cats that I have seen
since, well, since the last time the Wildcats played Wisky on their
MadTown home turf. Nobody, and I mean absolutely nobody, among
those football players wearing a Purple jersey distinguished themselves
as a competitive difference maker in this forgettable game.
Therefore, in keeping with the theme of forgetting this monumental
Wildcat clunker, I will do my part to keep further bashing of the
pigskin ‘Cats to a minimum in the game commentary below. After
all, there is little to be gained by beating a dead ‘Cat.
How Wisky Spayed the ‘Cats
Ankle Bites
When NU’s No. 1A QB, Kain Colter, went down early in Q1 with what was
reported to be yet another episode in his continuing saga of a
reoccurring ankle sprain, things began to unravel offensively for the
‘Cats. When highly-prized RB Venric Mark absorbed a similar
debilitating ankle ding, yardage production capabilities for the ‘Cats
went downhill but fast. As a fan, I truly have no clue regarding
the severity of these persistent injuries to NU’s two most prolific
offensive weapons, but it has become painfully (note: obvious pun
intended) clear that there is much more to these “lower extremity”
situations than what has been made known to the public at large,
especially when one considers their mutual impact on NU’s 2013gridiron
campaign going forward.
With both Colter and Mark riding pine from mid-Q1 on, most of the
diverse attack options for OC McCall’s O become compromised and
limited. Against the Wisky Drunkards, the elimination of these
two crucial weapons for the remainder of the game spelled disaster for
NU simply because it amplified the talent gap between the ‘Cat O’s
attack options and Wisky’s D.
With Colter & Mark’s availability now in doubt, NU’s remaining 2013
foes, beginning with the Minnie Mighty Marmots next weekend, will be
licking their chops to study game videos and replicate similarly
effective lock-down defensive strategies as has been conceived and
exercised by the BuckNuts and Badgers towards bottling-up what was once
considered one of the more potent offenses in the B1G conference and
rendering it impotent and irrelevant.
A Bad Case of Dropsie
I don’t know what was worse regarding the ‘Cat O once Colter & Mark were sent packing for the day -
• The complete lack of accuracy and/or timing by NU’s
still-standing QB, Trevor Siemian, when throwing a pass of any kind
or
• That seemingly irreversible infectious disease
contracted at the game’s opening whistle by every member of the Wildcat
receiving corps, called dropsie
IMHO, the worse of the two options above was the dropsie disease.
NU’s final combined passing stats of 17 completions for 39 attempts
truly don’t do justice to the debilitating effects of this
disease. Of the ‘Cats’ 22 incompletions, at least a dozen were
thrown accurately to their target WR, yet were inexplicably dropped
outright. Of the remaining 10 incompletions, Siemian’s seemingly
unshakable passing acumen, even in the face of unrelenting pass rush
pressure, took the Evanston Express to the Loop and left him lacking
and lost. The Wisky D just fed off the lack of any viable passing
offense from the Wildcats and summarily ate NU’s offensive lunch then
threw the wadded-up empty paper bag back into their visitors’
collective face.
All of which led to…
3-n-Ouch
Of NU’s 15 offensive possessions over the course of the contest, 8 were
of the 3-n-out variety. That computes to an offensive futility
coefficient of over 50%, augmented by a 2 for 17 3rd down conversion
statistic. Sauce for NU’s fetid, stinking goose egg that was this
game.
Ouch!
More Holes than the Dutch Boy’s Dyke
I’ll reiterate once more what I stated over the week prior to last
Saturday’s debacle on the gridiron of Camp Randall – the ‘Cats just
don’t match-up well with Wisky’s personnel, on either side of the
LOS. Simply stated, the ‘Cats have too many holes at critical
position points to maintain their competitive edge against an elite
team like the Drunkards for an entire 60 minutes. Not many teams
populating the NCAA’s Division 1A can or will, for that matter.
Most glaring of these mismatches/holes can be attributed within NU’s OL
and DL. Owning primarily to injuries to key personnel populating
their DL, those holes within the ‘Cats’ Defensive Front 7 were expanded
and awaited exploitation in last weekend’s game. And Wisky’s OC
wasted little time in taking total advantage of the depleted rush
defense profile for the Wildcats.
Those various holes within NU’s OL & DL and their causes are too
numerous and complex to expand-upon, so further detailed commentary is
moot. Suffice it to say that the pervasive field play issues of
NU’s linemen, exposed during the OOC games with Western Michigan and
Maine, currently are compounded in the face of higher quality B1G
competition and require immediate address by Fitz and his coaching
staff. Mind you, NU’s last 2 opponents are among the very best of
the conference, if not the country; however, when the rubber hits the
road, those problems remain regardless of the opponent. The fixes
are not quick ones, but can be implemented.
Mostly, it’s a matter of the level of motivation resident within that
organ located between the breastbone and backbone of each Wildcat
player.
‘Nuff said.
Conclusion
OK, OK… so the ‘Cats threw-in a clunker in an uber-hostile road game
facing the Wisky Drunkards. Hopefully it’s ‘Cats’ last clunker of
the 2013 season; so I’ll exercise some pragmatism and give ‘em a
mulligan.
This coming weekend it’s more home cookin’ within the friendly confines
of Dyche’s Ditch against the Minnie Golden Rodents, a B1G team
struggling with their own field play inconsistencies across many
positions. Time for the Wildcats to find their groove once more
and get back to their competitive winning ways.
The Waterboy
“Win with Grace, Lose with Dignity”
|
Oct. 11, 2013
Very Good But Not Great - Yet
Last Saturday’s prime time, marquee matchup between two of the best
teams in the B1G delivered what many of these made-for-masses
collegiate football games do not: it lived-up to its pregame
hype. What conclusions may be drawn from this expected gigantic
grapple between the #16-ranked ‘Cats and #3-ranked BuckNuts, the most
obvious one: the 2013 Wildcats are a very good team, but remain less
than great. For 3.5 quarters, the ‘Cats confronted the challenge
and stood toe-to-toe, exchanging haymakers and body shots with a foe
who, according to many media pundits, were regarded arguably as the
best in the conference, but in the end, missed the opportunity to beat
them simply because they did not seal the deal in the game’s final 9
minutes and change. This last sentence contains a subtle,
significant point in its message. Notice that it did not state
that the ‘Cats could not seal the deal. And therein lies the difference.
The titanic effort displayed by the Wildcats through those initial 51
minutes indisputably showed that this team deserves mention among the
B1G’s elite in 2013. The Fitz-led ‘Cats took the Big Bad BuckNuts
to the wall. The Purple & Black-clad warriors not only
required but demanded those numerous highly-touted 4 and 5-star guests
dressed in Scarlet & Gray to dig down deep and roll-out their
entire arsenal to match the fight and resolve of their hosts.
Just one more stop by the Wildcat D, followed by one more offensive
outburst by the Purple O that would have burned precious time off the
game clock, and the brass ring would have been within reach. By
game’s end, both combatants were battered, bruised and thoroughly
exhausted, each having given the full measure of their collective
gridiron talent and left it all on the field with their gas tank
emptied. It truly was great theater and I, for one, could not be
prouder of my ‘Cats regarding what I witnessed on the green grass of
Dyche’s Ditch. Were NU’s opponent any other top tier team from
the B1G that evening, including the Wisky Drunkards, the Nebraska
BugEaters or the Dazed & Blue Horde from Annie’s Treehouse, the
Wildcats would have captured the flag with “W” emblazoned on it.
And through it all, despite reaching-for and not quite snatching that
brass ring, the ‘Cats might have grasped something just as elusive and
valued. R-E-S-P-E-C-T.
This is no lightweight achievement. Competitive respect among its
Division 1A peers, especially within the ranks of the B1G, has been the
No. 1 prize towards which HC Pat Fitzgerald and his coaching staff have
driven the NU football program these last 8 years, forging improvement
across every position on either side of the LOS in the crucible of
integrity, hard work, dedication and flushing both the successes and
failures of the past. Mind you, this lofty goal remains a work in
progress. Fitz has stated categorically that his team is far from
a finished product, as the many critical but correctable mistakes made
during this nationally broadcast contest underscore. However,
this one game has shown that our ‘Cats are poised to do something
remarkable… compete with the Big Dogs of the B1G for the conference
championship.
How the BuckNuts Bested the ‘Cats
Purple French Pastry
When constructing a game plan to compete with the No. 3 team in the
country, the single most critical offensive objective is to eliminate
turnovers. In a contest of this magnitude, against a perennial
powerhouse opponent like the BuckNuts who possess as many offensive
weapons as they do, any turnover is amplified. It can become a
game changing mistake that not only gives your opposition an additional
possession, on most occasions it will give him field position that
provides a short field scoring opportunity. Bottom line:
eliminating the turnover is paramount for victory.
Unfortunately for the ‘Cats, they had two, both of which, combined, cost them the game.
The first was the BuckNuts’ devastating blocked punt in NU’s end zone
in Q1. Statistically, a blocked punt is not a turnover, since the
intent of the play is a change of possession to your opponent
anyways. However, when it comes right down to it, this blocked
punt consequently was a turnover that was recovered in the ‘Cat endzone
for the BuckNuts’ first TD of the game. The concept behind the
blocked punt was simple and its execution was flawless. The OSU
punt return squad overloaded the left side of the LOS with 5 punt
rushers fronting NU’s 3 OL backed by two 2nd-level blockers. At
the snap, the 5 BuckNut rushers crashed hard and engaged the 3 OL, with
4 breaking free and clear beyond this 1st-level group at the LOS.
Those 4 clear rushers swarmed the 2nd-level blockers and smothered NU’s
3-step punter, Brandon Williams, in one motion. Bang. Punt
blocked, with ball laying on the endzone turf that was summarily
scooped-up, essentially converting a turnover TD.
In retrospect, what was most galling about this play was that the
BuckNuts’ intent to go for the punt block was not disguised whatsoever
and was readily identifiable as the OSU punt return team lined-up at
the LOS. For the love of Willie, just recognize the defensive
formation in front of you and either call a blocking audible or, better
still, call a time-out to collect yourself and reset a punt block
scheme to counter the obvious frenetic rush off the edge. Neither
was done. Consequently, the albatross of blame for this
monumental gaffe gets hung around the neck of the Special Teams coach -
HC Fitz. This punt block and recovery by the BuckNuts was totally
avoidable. And its TD proved to be the game deciding points at
the final gun.
The second turnover was Siemian’s INT in Q4. A square-out route
from WR target Rashad Lawrence to the wide side of the field was read
perfectly by BuckNut CB, Doran Grant, who collected his feet and jumped
Siemian’s frozen rope throw for an easy pick at NU’s 23. With
short field in front of them and RB Carlos Hyde running roughshod over
the ‘Cat defensive front 6, it took the BuckNut O only 4 plays and a
mere 57 seconds to convert this turnover into a 2nd completely
avoidable TD. The ‘Cats could not afford to give the BuckNuts
such a gift-wrapped freebie short field scoring opportunity.
Eliminate this turnover and it’s a whole different game.
McCall’s Substitution Miscue
Q4 was nothing less than an exhibition of offensive fireworks by both the ‘Cats and the BuckNuts.
After stoning OSU’s O on their 1st possession in Q4, a 39 yard BuckNut
punt gave NU possession on their own 13 with Siemian at the helm of the
Wildcat O nursing a 23-20 lead. Three plays later, Siemian
telegraphs his throw and gets picked-off by BuckNut CB Grant.
Facing this short field scoring opportunity, OSU QB Braxton Miller
showcases his elusive running skills, dodging NU tacklers in the
BuckNut backfield or slipping-around NU’s right outside corner contain
for substantial yardage on 4 consecutive plays. RB Carlos Hyde
caps-off this possession with his own 7-yard burst around NU’s right
corner contain to TD pay dirt recapturing a 27-23 lead.
Undaunted by the previous INT gaffe from his passing QB, ‘Cat OC Mick
McCall decided to keep Siemian behind the wheel of the Purple O on the
ensuing offensive series after kickoff. Siemian rewards his OC’s
confidence by flushing his passing blunder and completing this next 3
throws – including a nifty pitch-n-catch to WR Rashad Lawrence running
a 10-yard crossing pattern who turns downfield, lights his
afterburners and picks-up 67 yards, followed 3 downs afterwards
by a heady 12-yard completion to WR Cameron Dickerson in the OSU
endzone for the go-ahead, response TD, giving the ‘Cats a 30-27 lead
with 9 minutes & change left on the clock.
On the subsequent BuckNut series after kickoff, OSU QB Miller weaves
more of his athletic, elusive magic once again, dodging Purple DEs or
OLBs crashing down his throat off the defensive edge or slipping-around
NU’s corner contain, to complete 4 straight passes culminating in a 2nd
go-ahead TD in as many consecutive possessions, giving the BuckNuts a
34-30 lead with 5:22 to go.
The game has now turned into an aerial circus shootout.
IMHO, this is the point where Mick McCall made his biggest coaching
mistake of this game and greater still, of the 2013 season.
Instead of continuing to employ his passing QB option, Trevor Siemian,
in this do-or-die possession, he hands the reins of the ‘Cat O over to
his rush-first QB, Kain Colter. At this critical juncture of the
game, with precious time winding down, it was mandatory that NU’s O
retain its explosive pass-first attack profile with Siemian as
gunslinger QB augmented by Kain Colter as his primary receiving option
running pass routes into open space in the BuckNut secondary.
Instead, McCall sets Colter as QB in shotgun formation in the NU
backfield on this end-game offensive series, essentially letting the
BuckNut secondary off the hook because the Wildcats’ quick-strike
passing attack spearhead was left riding pine on the home
sideline.
Mick McCall knows better.
6 In The Box
When developing his defensive game plan, DC Doc Hankwitz had to choose
between one of two counter-offensive strategies – either defend the
BuckNuts’ mobile QB or stone the bruising BuckNut ground game.
Doc’s decision was set his troops to limit the yardage gain
capabilities of Braxton Miller, the prolific BuckNut mobile QB option
first. To do so, he employed a 6-man defensive front – 4 DL at
the LOS with 2 LBs set in the 2nd-level – affording NU’s secondary an
extra DB, essentially setting their base defensive formation with a
nickel pass coverage package.
Review of the game video shows that Doc used this 6-in-the-box
defensive front set throughout the game and, in fact, it was effective
in limiting both the explosion pass play and the big yardage gain
rush. Over the course of the contest, the BuckNut O had only 1
play that gained 20-plus yards - a pass play in Q4. This is quite
a feat; even Wisky’s strong D could not boast this kind of explosion
play limitation against the BuckNuts in their game last weekend.
However, in taking one attack option away, this 6-in-the-box defensive
set made the ‘Cat D vulnerable when countering the BuckNut
ground-n-pound rushing attack and its primary weapon, the 245lb bowling
ball named RB Carlos Hyde. The biggest problem for NU’s Defensive Front
6 was that the DTs simply could not match-up physically with the
BuckNuts’ OG-OC-OG road-grating trio and were summarily man-handled and
beaten like red-haired stepchildren from the opening whistle to the
final gun. In general, this Scarlet & Gray OL trio
double-teamed the DT nearest the point of attack while the opposite OG
position blocked the remaining DT. Once momentum of the
point-of-attack DT was neutralized, the free OC or OG peeled-off and
rumbled into the ‘Cat 2nd-level looking to careen into the nearest LB,
mainly the Sam backer. The result, Hyde blasted for total 168
yards on 25 rushing attempts for a 6.8 yard average – one of his the
best rushing games of his collegiate career. And there was little
Doc or his defensive personnel could do about it.
As his Front 6 personnel got worn-down in H-2, Doc often opted to crash
the strong-side DE or OLB to the inside of the BuckNut OL to force an
extra body into the mix and possibly disrupt the bulldozer flow of the
BuckNut interior rushing attack. All this did was open the corner
contain of the defensive edge outside that crashing DE or OLB for
exploitation – which QB Miller or RB Hyde did early and often.
It was a pick you poison defensive strategy and it nearly worked. But only nearly.
Conclusion
So now, the 2013 ‘Cats know what it’s like to lock horns with BCS
Championship-caliber football team. To their credit, the Wildcats
did not back down and fought their hearts out, holding their own
valiantly against what many would claim was a superior team for the
game’s first 50 minutes. However, with the remorseless pounding
laid upon Doc’s Defensive Front 6 coupled with McCall’s QB substitution
brain-fart, the ‘Cats needed direct intervention from that fickle
persona, Lady Luck. Unfortunately for Fitz and his ‘Cats, Lady
Luck was left waiting in the wings by several glaringly bad calls by
the refs, which I will not expand-upon in this commentary.
Suffice it to say, the ‘Cats did make a strong statement to a national
prime-time viewing audience that this is a football program is very
good and stands on the brink of bigger and better things. NU just
needs to find the way to finish the job against their Big Dog
competition. To do so, the Purple ’Cats need to get more of those
elite players on the field via their experience, their strength and
conditioning program and their recruiting program. It will
happen; stay tuned.
This coming Saturday, the ‘Cats face the 2nd half of their mid-season
Big Dog Tandem Challenge in a road game against the Wisky Drunkards,
who perennially field one of the preeminent rushing attacks in all of
Division 1A. There are much better places to salve your wounds
than Camp Randall, especially those deep body shots absorbed by NU’s
Defensive Front personnel from the BuckNut ground game.
Time to flush whatever lasting effects may have been delivered to the
‘Cats during the BuckNut clash and meet their next booze-addled foe
head on with another exhibition of hard-nosed field play. The
gauntlet has been thrown. Time for the ‘Cat D to pick it up.
The Waterboy
“Win with Grace, Lose with Dignity”
|
Sept. 19, 2013
Night of the Living Dead
I truly can’t say which team’s offense was more performance challenged
last Saturday evening, the Western Michigan Bronco Billies or the
sleepwalking Wildcats. Through the contest’s opening 20 minutes,
the ‘Cats, a prohibitive 31 point favorite, appeared more absorbed with
wiping sandman dust from their eyes and cobwebs from their heads than
executing Mick McCall’s game plan on their first 4 possessions of the
game. Even after the Bronco Billies scored the game’s initial
points via a FG late in Q1, the overall response of the somnolent
Purple O was as if they had heard the buzzer go off from their bedside
alarm clock only to hit the snooze button, roll-over and fall back into
their collective slumber for another 5 minutes reprieve before forced
to answer the next wake-up call and face their foe from
Kalamazoo. The Bronco Billies, doing their best to play the part
of the overwhelmed underdog, turned the bean over on downs to the ‘Cats
in their own territory on their first 3 possessions of the game, giving
the host team starting positions at the WMU 45, 27 and 45,
respectively. Those 3 possessions alone provided the ‘Cat O
gift-wrapped short field scoring opportunities which, if any 2 had been
converted into scoreboard points, would have buried the Bronco Billies
deep in a 2 score deficit hole and summarily rung the death knell for
the visiting team early in Q1.
Instead, the ‘Cat offense squandered each of these significant field position breaks:
• Possession No. 1 - Colter throws a head-scratching INT on 1st down
• Possession No. 2 - the Purple OL gives-up a TFL, 2 penalties and a sack on 4 consecutive downs
• Possession No.3 - with Siemian at QB, NU’s offense
sputters & stalls after an unremarkable 4 down drive.
Even NU’s very own Mr. Reliable, K Jeff Budzien, was bitten by the poor
performance bug in possession No. 3, uncharacteristically hooking a
pedestrian 42-yard FG attempt wide left and recording his first missed
FG of the 2013 campaign.
Finally, on WMU’s first possession in Q2, ‘Cat captain and starting SS
Ibrahim Campbell generated a much-needed spark that lit the competitive
fires of his offensive counterparts by converting an athletic INT that
gave the ‘Cats possession at their own 43. From that point
forward, the Wildcat O hunkered down to the task at hand and went to
work in earnest against the Western Michigan D.
Mind you, most every college football team will throw-in a clunker
sometime during a single season; and last Saturday, more than half the
B1G teams elected to exercise that seasonal mulligan. Fortunately
for the ‘Cats, their opposition in their field play
version of “Night of the Living Dead” was a totally overmatched Western
Michigan squad who, on the previous weekend, had been dragged to the
shed and thoroughly thrashed by FCS powerhouse (heavy sarcasm here),
Nichols State, in their season home opener. Extrapolating from
that effort, the true threat of a meltdown by NU, leading to an
incomprehensible loss to the Bronco Billies, was minimal at best.
The most notable positive that NU netted from this titanic taffy pull,
aside from capturing the expected “W”, was that no significant injuries
were inflicted upon any of the ‘Cats’ primary playmakers over its
course. However, that dubious detail did little to mitigate the
more important point that the Wildcat starters blew a golden
opportunity to provide their 2nd and 3rd teamers valuable PT to refine
their individual football skills against FBS competition in real game
situations. Bottom line: wake-up challenges notwithstanding, Fitz
and his 17th ranked Wildcats did the needful against the Bronco Billies
and delivered a comfortable 3 TD victory while keeping projections of
an unblemished record intact as they work their way through the
non-conference portion of their 2013 schedule.
Hopefully, Fitz and his coaching staff have voiced the imperative to
their troops to maintain restraint against any premature rumination
regarding their much anticipated showdown with Da BuckNuts in 3 weeks’
time. Contemplation of this type is difficult to confine,
especially when one considers the youth and inexperience of many of the
players populating the 2013 2-deep depth chart, each of whom are
champing at the bit to make a personal impact in that upcoming contest
of undefeated teams. From this fan’s perspective, such consuming
thoughts could have been a substantial contributor in the failure of
this team’s thoroughbreds to break cleanly from this game’s starting
gate.
How the ‘Cats Corralled the Broncos
Getting It Right
Of all Wildcat squads who were left snoozing at their post position
within the game’s starting gate, the most noticeable was NU’s OL.
Those initial 20 minutes found this crucial component of the ‘Cat
offense slightly hesitant when either getting off the LOS at the snap
of the ball or engaging/locking-onto to their blocking target(s).
It was merely a moment’s hesitation, but it was enough to make all the
difference in the world, limiting the yardage production capacity of
NU’s O, especially in attempts to gain that critical first down to
sustain an individual scoring drive. I can only speculate on its
causes – perhaps confusion in recognizing the defensive formation
facing them; or perhaps confusion regarding an audible that had
individual linemen scrolling through their mental playbook and
tentative when identifying or calling-out their correct blocking
assignments for the particular play being called. Whatever the
cause, breakdowns in blocking execution were evident across the
LOS. Only after Campbell’s INT did the Wildcat OL extract their
collective heads from their moons and regain focus on getting all
things blocking right.
Capitalizing on the momentum provided by that INT, the ‘Cats’
Colter/Siemian-led O scored 3 TDs and a FG on 4 consecutive
possessions, each having zero negative yardage downs, to give NU a
24-10 lead heading into halftime. That offensive momentum
continued on NU’s 1st possession of H-2, as the Purple O took
possession at their 13 yard line and drove 87 yards behind the quality
blocking of its OL for their 4th TD of the contest that increased their
lead to 21 points. From that juncture until the final gun, the
‘Cats’ lead never dipped below that 3 TD differential. All this
scoring was due particularly to NU’s OL who efficiently controlled
WMU’s defensive front 7 and the LOS from Q2 through the remainder of
the game. A commendable field play turn-around, indeed.
Running Wild(cats)
The ‘Cats continued their effective rushing attack for the 3rd straight
game within this fall’s campaign against the Bronco Billes, as Junior
RB Treyvon Green, substituting for injured starting RB Venric Mark once
again, contributed impressively to NU’s ground game, rushing for 158
total yards on 20 attempts – averaging just under 8 yards per carry –
while scoring 2 TDs. These substantive rushing stats are commonly
what is expected from a proto-typical Wisconsin starting RB, not a
3rd-string sub RB trotted-out from NU’s thoroughbred racing
stable. But Mr. Green has made the most of his PT thus far in
2013, showing his personal growth in becoming a reliably productive
rushing force to be reckoned-with while underscoring the deepening
depth at the RB position that Fitz and OC Mick McCall have recruited
and mentored over the last several seasons. When Mr. Mark finally
does return from the PUP (physically unable to play) list in the near
future, there could be an interchangeable 2-headed RB monster that
lines-up behind NU’s interchangeable two-headed QB monster.
Not lost in the euphoria surrounding Treyvon’s continued success at the
starting RB position was QB Kain Colter’s recovery from a concussion
sustained on NU’s 1st offensive series of the 2013 season opener
against Cal and his return to near 2012 mid-season rushing form against
Western Michigan. Colter collected 106 yards net off 15 carries
and scored a TD of his own. Add RB Mark Trumpy’s 46 yards and TD
rushing into the mix, and NU’s ground game became the predominant,
go-to mode of attack against Western Michigan’s D.
Suh-Weet!!!
Improving D
The most suspect tendency for NU’s D over the last decade or more has
been their penchant for giving-up the explosion or home run play of
20-plus yards. This tendency is nothing new for the ‘Cat D and,
unfortunately, has been and continues to be a frustratingly constant
threat through the first 2 games in 2013. In last Saturday’s
48-27 win against Sorry Excuse, the explosion play reared its ugly head
once again over Doc Hankwitz’ D as his squad gave-up 4 explosion passes
to the Orange Nerf Ball O, each of which were key positive yardage
downs in their 3 TD scoring drives. With a doubt, improvement in
limiting this momentum-changing tendency was a priority for the ‘Cat D
throughout WMU game week practices. Although a modicum of
progress towards that 20-yard play limitation goal was achieved, the
Bronco yardage production-challenged O still managed to pop 2 explosion
passes of 75 and 25 yards respectively on the ‘Cat D, each resulting in
a wholly avoidable TD.
Yet despite these glaring single-play defensive gaffes, Doc’s D did
have a relatively good game, allowing only 245 total yards, adjusted
for the 100 yards from the 2 explosion plays, and only 17 first
downs. Beyond their 3 scoring drives, WMU booked net yardage
totals of 6, 4, 19, 3, 23, 26, 27, 50, 9 and 33 yards across their 10
remaining offensive possessions. All things considered, these
non-scoring drive yardage totals underscored the fact that the ‘Cat D
kept the Bronco Billie O relatively wrapped-up for whole portions of
the game. Certainly not a lockdown effort, but effective enough
to get the job done against a lesser opponent.
Conclusion
In retrospect, there is not much more that requires additional
commentary. Yes, the ‘Cats were late to answer the opening bell
in Q1, but recovered their composure and concentration to take the
fight to the WMU Bronco Billies over much of the next 3 quarters with
enough regularity that little doubt remained regarding the eventual
end-game outcome. And quite honestly, 31-point favorites be
damned. Fitz is not the type of HC to dog pile an overwhelmed
opponent for more than 4 TDs; and he certainly demonstrated that
gracious characteristic in this victory. Claiming and hoisting
the “W” flag without serious injury to key personnel was the primary
goal of the game and it was delivered.
So now, the ‘Cats close the book on WMU and move on to face their only
FCS-level opponent for the 2013 campaign, the University of Maine Black
Barts, this coming weekend. Make no mistake, Maine does possess
viable collegiate football talent on either side of the LOS, more than
what is possessed by WMU, but still not enough, at least on paper, to
mount a substantial challenge to the improving Wildcats.
Time to get the starting Purple O & D to do their jobs and gain
control of the field play early in the contest, then proffer as much
real game PT to their back-up personnel as is possible under the
circumstances – which should be a great deal.
The Waterboy
“Win with Grace, Lose with Dignity”
p.s. – I will not be attending the NU vs U of Maine game due to
important personal commitments (have been invited by bro to attend the
40 anniversary of the Noted Dames’ ’73 National Championship) so
expectation of generating commentary on the Maine game will be
slight.
|
Sept. 11, 2012
”They were Who We Thought They Were”:
Sorry Excuse
The Cats’ second foe, the Sorry Excuse Orange Nerf Balls, shared a
crucial characteristic with NU’s first opponent, The Cal Golden Bores:
both football programs were replacing an established coaching regime
with a new one for the 2013 season. Consequently, Sorry Excuse,
like Cal, would field a team that generally would be a challenge to
prepare for if only due to the great unknown factor that a new HC and
his fresh pigskin philosophy could or would bring to the competitive
table. Unfortunately, that’s about where the similarities between
Sorry Excuse and Cal end because unlike Cal, whose cupboard was loaded
with high quality, ready-for-immediate-use football talent,
particularly at the skill positions, incoming Orange Nerf Ball HC,
Scott Schafer, inherited a talent larder that essentially was
comparatively bare.
In week #1, the Nerf Balls struggled mightily against a weak State Penn
team, particularly in regards to their O. Out of some morbid
curiosity to see if the 5+1 season sanctions imposed against the
Inmates really amounted to much in year 2 of their handcuffing by the
NCAA, I viewed the game for over 20 minutes, mostly in H-1. What
I witnessed was universal ineptitude on both sides of the LOS from a
Sorry-Excuse team that went well beyond first game jitters or their
failures to execute what might have been a relatively novel game plan
from their newly installed coaching staff. Most notable, the
field play of the Orange Nerf Ball O was downright putrid.
Blocking by their OL was spotty at best and the passing game from new
QB, Drew Allen, was woefully inconsistent as he looked totally out of
synch with his receiving corps for whole stretches of the game.
Defensively, Sorry-Excuse fared little better. Although State
Penn’s highly touted “2012 top QB recruit in the nation” QB, Chistian
Hackenberg, struggled at times in his college debut, throwing 3 INTs,
he still showed flashes of poise and quality passing skills when
carving-up the suspect Orange Nerf Ball secondary for 278 total yards,
which included explosion TD passes of 51 and 54 yards. And yet,
Sorry-Excuse remained competitive with the Inmates, simply because both
teams bumbled and stumbled their way through an unspectacular,
mistake-laden H-1 on either side of the LOS. Upon viewing this
forgettable bug tussle my final evaluation: Sorry Excuse was a weak
sister and primed for a spanking from the ‘Cats.
In the week leading up to last Saturday’s grapple, the betting line for
the NU-Sorry Excuse game from gaming prognosticators out of Sin City
ballooned to +17.5, a point spread that, frankly, I felt was low.
And after having observed the product that the new Sorry Excuse
coaching staff trotted-out to meet the Inmates of State Penn the
previous Saturday, I truly believed that a point spread of 30 points
was much more appropriate and confidently relayed this opinion to many
fellow tailgaters in the West parking lot with whom I reveled before
the 5 PM kickoff. In the end, this prediction was not far
off.
How the ‘Cats Squeezed the Orange
Early & Often
The two-headed QB Godzilla in Kain Colter and Trevor Siemian,
meticulously crafted by OC Mick McCall starting in the 2012 pre-season
and continuing into game 2 of the 2013 campaign, was unveiled before an
expectant throng of over 38,000 Wildcat fans; and Godzilla put on quite
a show. This dynamic duo lead a prolific Purple offensive
juggernaut that scored on 6 of its 7 H-1 possessions, completing a
combined 22 of 24 pass attempts for 3 TDs to 3 different receivers,
augmented by a nifty 16-yard scamper for a 4th TD by Mr. Colter.
K Jeff Budzien booted 2 FGs into the scoring mix as well, giving the
‘Cats a commanding 34-7 lead at the halftime break. By far, H-1
was the most dominating display of firepower by a Wildcat O that I
personally have witnessed since the arrival of McCall onto the Evanston
campus. His grooming of Colter & Siemian into a powerfully
effective, seamlessly interchangeable quarterback tandem has been and
remains a monumental achievement. It both defies and debunks
long-standing conventional wisdom among football traditionalists that a
collegiate offense ship cannot be piloted by 2 “starting” QBs at the
same time without self-imploding and rendering that ship rudderless and
adrift at sea. Truth be told, the porous Sorry Excuse D did its
part, as expected, and all its deficiencies which I had observed from
their 1st game remained unchanged when facing the ‘Cat O.
The Nerf Ball defenders appeared wholly disconnected and incapable of
challenging the precision onslaught laid on them by the Colter &
Siemian-led offense, as this game’s final outcome was all but decided
by the end of H-1. I was amazed that the Sorry Excuse team who
took NU to the wall in 2012 requiring last minute aerial heroics from
Siemian to salvage the “W” had degraded to this inept state in a year’s
time.
Coming into Their Own
Many ‘Cat fans who witnessed preseason practices at Kamp Kenosha
reported that the Wildcat WRs were a greatly improved squad and melding
into a force to be reckoned-with for the 2013 season. Although some of
those reporting sources are prone to hyperbole in their evaluations, to
this point, they were spot on. The overall improvement by the
entire ‘Cat receiving corps in speed, route discipline, ability to gain
separation from their coverage DB, commitment/focus to complete the
catch despite knowing full well that they will be on the receiving end
of a hard hit and run blocking was evident throughout last Saturday’s
contest. Coupled with the surgical efficiency of McCall’s
2-headed QB monster, the ‘Cat passing attack was beauty in motion,
rivaling what is rolled-out with regularity by the Dazed & Blue
Horde from Annie’s Treehouse. The Colter-Siemian QB duo
distributed the bean across 10 receivers, behind quality pass
protection provided by Purple OL who, in general, proffered their QB
enough time to go through his WR target progressions. Even
judiciously-used U$C transfer WR Kyle Prater got into the act with 3
grabs of his own. It’s difficult not to notice the quality field
play potential of this collective squad gelling into a formidable
weapon as each promising player seems to be coming into his own.
They will only get better as the season progresses; and I, as well as
everyone in Wildcat Nation, am pumped to watch their progression into
the next level. And in all honesty, they will need to do so,
especially over the next 4 weeks before the ‘Cats are scheduled to face
the big, bad, #2-ranked BuckNuts in their mutual B1G conference
home-opener.
Livin’ Just Enough
Much post-game commentary has been written or voiced regarding
frustration with the frequent failure of many NU defense players to
gain separation from blocks which led directly to missed tackles and
long yardage gains by a previously dominated Sorry Excuse O, especially
in H-2. Although some of this concern is well founded, one must
take a step back to get a better perspective and understanding of what
was happening regarding Doc Hankwitz’ D.
First and foremost, the ‘Cat D took the fight straight to the Sorry
Excuse O from the opening whistle and controlled field play throughout
H-1. If not for a couple of glaring breakdowns from NU’s
defensive secondary on the Nerf Ball’s only scoring drive in Q2, the
Cats would have served a bagel to the Orange offense heading into their
locker room after the 1st half of play.
Second, from the start of H-2 to the end of the game, Doc set the ‘Cat
D primarily in prevent mode to keep the ball in front of the secondary
and limit Orange scoring situations – similar to the strategy of using
7-8 man secondary formations against Cal. This switch from NU’s
initial aggressive attack mode to a much more vanilla
bend-&-not-break posture, coupled with more read and react
technique breakdowns, especially from the ‘Cats LB corps, allowed Sorry
Excuse O to gain more confidence and momentum regarding their offensive
game plan.
Third, in Q4, Doc began to substitute freely with 2nd and 3rd team
personnel giving them their first exposure to actual game speed
conditions and the requisite presence of mind needed to remain
competitive against a focused opposing O. Subsequently, although
there were occasional downs of quality defensive play, they were too
few and far between. To their credit, the Sorry Excuse O’s
playmakers showed grit & determination of their own, and
capitalized on additional poor tackling techniques at the point of
attack, driving to 2 TDs during what was essentially end-game/garbage
time.
The bottom line consequences of these H-2 defensive lapses: for the
most part, they were contained and inconsequential. The ‘Cat D
did just enough to keep the scoreboard differential within a
comfortable 20 point margin with little threat of losing control as was
exhibited in H-2 of the 2012 game. The silver lining in this dark
cloud: all 3 Sorry Excuse H-2 TD possessions exposed areas where
crucial deficiencies in the ‘Cats’ defensive techniques, especially
regarding a position player’s read recognition & reaction and his
correct set-up & attack of an opposing ball carrier in open space,
could be identified and corrected. The PT garnered by these 2nd
& 3rd teamers in H-2 was an important step in their ongoing
football IQ growth, giving those non-starters their first taste of
real-time combat. With that first exposure, the expected field
play improvement between game #1 and game #2 for these players will be
substantial. Rest assured, Fitz, Doc and NU’s defensive position
coaches will make it happen.
Pick-4 Party
Newbie Sorry Excuse QB, Drew Allen, underscored the work-in-progress
status of his passing skillset when he threw 4 INTs over the course of
his afternoon playing in Dyche’s Ditch. Each pick was converted
when Allen forced a pass into the ‘Cats’ double and triple coverage
blanketing his target receiver. The most inexplicable INT
occurred on what seemed to be 8-yard sideline curl pattern to the short
sideline zone by a Nerf Ball WR. ‘Cat DE Dean Lowry peeled-off
from his initial position outside the TE at the LOS in what appeared to
be a zone blitz-like stunt then settled into pass coverage within that
short sideline zone. Allen, failing to recognize the Purple-clad
DE fronting his intended receiver, simply delivered a soft toss
straight into the waiting mitts of Mr. Lowry, upon which he tucked the
bean under his arm and rumbled up field before being tackled at the
Sorry Excuse 40 yard line.
Seizing upon these extra possessions provided by their D teammates, the
‘Cat O converted 3 of these 4 tasty French Pastry turnovers into 2 TDs
and a FG. Thank you, Mr. Allen. May I have
another?
Conclusion
So, game #2 of the 2013 season is in the record books; with the ‘Cats
having captured the flag with the “W” emblazoned on it. It proved
to be a many-faceted contest - one where many good parts (some very
good) stood in stark contrast with a couple suspect ones. That’s
fine and to be expected at this point. There is a learning curve
for all involved in this Purple pigskin passion play. Individual
players will realize their relative field play strengths and weaknesses
and will do the needful working towards continued improvement; while
NU’s coaching staff will identify areas of dependable field play while
they pinpoint areas that need further refinement and adjustment.
To this point, Fitz was brutally honest to the media during his
post-game interview when he stated that the ‘Cats are far from a
finished product.
Meanwhile, it’s not bad thing that the national media and pundits have
recognized NU’s worth in comparison with other collegiate football
programs after Week #2, ranking the ‘Cats among the top 20 Division 1A
teams. The coaching staff and players deserve it.
The next two games will be played in Dyche’s Ditch - the first against
the MAC’s Western Mich Bronco Billies and the second against the U of
Maine Black Barts. Both represent what should be the weakest
opposition on NU’s 2013 campaign schedule. No doubt, Fitz will
use both home games as learning tools to prepare players populating the
‘Cats’ 2 deep roster and beyond for the challenges and rigors of B1G
conference play. I’m confidently predicting a 4-0 OOC record for
the ‘Cats by the time Da BuckNuts darken the doorstep of Hannibal’s
Lair at the corner of Ashland and Central Streets 2 weeks beyond these
next 2 beatable opponents.
The Waterboy
“Win with Grace, Lose with Dignity”
|
Sept. 4, 2012
Facing the Unknown: the Cal “Bear Raid” O
Prior to the Cats’ 2013 season opener last Saturday against the Cal
Golden Bores, there had been much speculation among college football
fans and analysts alike regarding the overall offensive scheme to be
introduced by Cal’s newly-hired coaching regime. Most fully
expected HC Sonny Dykes, regarded in many circles as an offensive
innovator, to transfer the same super up-tempo offense that he employed
with great success at his former employer, Louisiana Tech, into the Cal
O. Dykes did not disappoint.
The gist of this super up-tempo strategy is, on every offensive down,
to relay the offensive formation & play to the QB, then the QB
calls that target set & play to his O, then calls for the snap --
all within approximately 15 seconds after the ball had been placed at
the LOS by the officiating crew. Truth be told, many college
football teams, including NU, use a similar quick-paced offensive
paradigm, especially when facing what might be considered a superior
opposing D. It is known by many monikers – in past seasons, NU
has called their version “jet” (although I’ve heard from
unsubstantiated sources that it has been renamed “fastball” for the
2013 season). Dykes, exercising some imaginative word-play, now
calls it his Cal “Bear Raid” offense. Regardless of name, this
up-tempo style of offense is designed specifically to drastically limit
or neutralize defensive substitutions between downs while totally
gassing those defensive personnel who must remain on the field play
after play after play.
Whereas most “standard-paced” college football offenses will run 65-75
plays over the course of a single game, Dykes’ up-tempo Bear Raid O
seeks another level, looking to run 100 or more; and that 30% increase
in offensive plays can be devastating to an unprepared D. While
Fitz and his DC, Doc Hankwitz, were fully aware of Dykes’ intent to
impose his frenetic-paced offensive game plan against the ‘Cats, NU’s
defensive brain trust was hard pressed to counter it in
real time. However, Dykes’ attempt to up the up-tempo ante was
not without its drawbacks.
First and foremost, Dykes’ super up-tempo requires an experienced O to
execute it, especially on the part of the QB and his OL. In particular,
the QB must be on top of his personal field play and the game plan at
hand. If there is hesitation or failure to receive the play from the
sidelines correctly, then relay that formation & play to the rest
of his OL and skill players within that 15 second timeframe, then the
whole thing breaks down quickly. If the QB is dinged and/or does
not have the wherewithal to maintain personal mental focus on what is
being relayed to him, the 3-&-out offensive series is
commonplace. Dykes’ super up-tempo requires a highly skilled QB
to pilot it, and fortunately for the new Cal HC, he has just such a
primary ball handler in true frosh Jared Goff. And despite being
appointed the starting QB in his first-ever collegiate football game,
the fresh-faced 18 year old possesses veteran passing skills and
demonstrated a laudable ability to go through his receiver progressions
against an opposing secondary with the best of them.
Second, the OL must be prepared to execute their blocks on the current
play and once the play is over, get off the ground (or disengage from
their current blocking assignment), sprint to the new LOS, be ready and
able to hear and process the next play call from the QB, then
read/react to the defensive formation before them by their opposing
front 7 defenders and make the appropriate blocking calls – again, all
in 15 seconds. This is nothing less than a daunting
assignment. If any O lineman misses the play call, incorrectly
identifies his blocking target or just plain blows his blocking
assignment due to fatigue or confusion, the play goes nowhere, or worse
will result in a TFL or sack.
Last (but not least), the super up-tempo can cramp your own D as much
as the opponent’s D. 3-&-out offensive possessions from an
up-tempo O means that team’s D has little time to catch its breath on
the sidelines or, more importantly, to huddle together with defensive
coaches, review what they are facing from an opposing O and strategize
on effective counter measures. That brief sideline timeframe,
even if limited to 3-4 minutes, is extremely valuable. An
experienced D can and will have such evaluations and discussions among
themselves in a shorter timeframe, but with any 3-& out possession
from a super up-tempo O, that timeframe is cut in half or more.
And with a relatively inexperienced OL, such as Cal’s, the 3-&-out
possession, unfortunately, is not a rare event, and consequently that
team’s D will be just as gassed as their opposition’s defense.
Once again, NU has experienced this exact negative characteristic in
past seasons, and subsequently, judiciously modified the use of their
“jet” up-tempo offense to targeted tactical possessions or critical
points on the game.
So the home field stage was set in Cal’s Memorial Stadium. New
Cal HC Sonny Dykes had instilled his super up-tempo O, led by a true
frosh QB, employing a mostly inexperienced OL and heavily dependent on
all that “world-class” (Cal fan base opinions, here) speed from the
Golden Bore RBs and WRs with enough confidence to face the big, bad,
highly-improved Wildcat D and turn them into panting, washed-out
whipped puppies. But then again, was Dykes prepared to confront
the game plan of 8-year HC Pat Fitz and his prepared
troops?
Can you say: “Live by the up-tempo and die by the up-tempo.”
How the ‘Cats Trapped the Cal Golden Bores
NU’s 2-Headed Monster
A time-worn college football proverb states: “If you have 2 starting
QBs, you really have none.” In most circumstances that maxim
rings true, but in the case of the QB strategy designed by NU’s OC Mick
McCall prior to the 2012 campaign and carried-over into 2013, that
offensive rule of thumb disintegrates. To his great credit,
McCall has invested the considerable time, energy and patience to
develop and nurture such a 2-headed quarterbacking duo in Senior Kain
Colter and Junior Trevor Siemian. Together, this very dependable,
equally effective and seamlessly interchangeable QB tandem has become
the Dolomite cornerstone of the formidable castle known as the Wildcat
O. And this dynamic QB duo was the most crucial component in NU’s
victory against Cal.
On NU’s first possession, Colter was absolutely rocked by 2 hard hits,
one involving a totally inadvertent knee to the helmet that put the
senior on queer street and wobbling on rubber legs as he was ushered to
the ‘Cat bench. No worry… in comes McCall’s 1B QB, Mr. Siemian,
and the Wildcat O didn’t miss a beat. Undaunted by the departure
of his QB mate on the previous play, Siemian went to work immediately
and delivered an 11 yard frozen-rope completion to WR Christian Jones,
that was followed on the next down by a 33 yard scamper by ‘Cat RB
Treyvon Green, substituting for injured starting RB Venric Mark, for a
game-tying TD. Truly, Cal HC Dykes did not foresee this freight
train plowing headlong into and through his defense, especially after
having dispatched his opponent’s starting QB. Final passing stats
- 276 total yards and a TD on 18 completions in 29 attempts -
underscore just how in-control and effective Siemian was, even when
coming into the fray cold off the bench to take the reins of NU’s
O. The only blemishes on QB 1B’s commendable performance were 2
picks, both of which were of zero consequence to the final
score.
NU 1A QB Kain Colter down & out… No Problem-o.
In Control
A major pre-season concern for Fitz and his OC was what could be
expected from their newly formed, to-be-game-tested starting OL that
included 3 fresh faces: OGs Geoff Mogus and Ian Park with Paul
Jorgensen at RT. IMHO, as a unit, they acquitted themselves quite
admirably. With a few exceptions (read: 6 combined Sacks-TFLs for
the Cal defensive front 7, most of which were off blown blocks), the
‘Cat OL controlled the LOS for whole stretches of the game – especially
at what might be considered critical junctures of the game.
However, commendable effort notwithstanding, huge room for improvement
remains among this starting unit. Consider the 1st & goal
situation in Q3 with the ‘Cats poised to take a commanding 14-point
lead on Cal’s 2 yard line. Blown blocks on 2 consecutive rushes
for no gain, followed by a QB pressure off a blown pass block that
forced Siemian to chuck a poor pass to his covered target receiver, SB
Dan Vitale. Substituting a sure-fire 7 points (as expected by
everyone in Wildcat Nation) for the 3 points off Budzien’s subsequent
FG did nothing more than to pass Big Mo to a very fired-up Cal O.
On Cal’s next 2 possessions, the Goff aerial circus was in full force
as the frosh QB parlayed a well-thrown 52 yard TD bomb on possession #1
(lasting 54 seconds) with a fumble recovery on the ensuing kick-off
return, possession #2, which Goff & Co. converted into another
quick strike TD (lasting 41 seconds) to recapture the lead. With
the complete blocking breakdown on their 1st & goal series at the
Cal 2, NU exchanged a 3 point FG and a10 point lead with 2 consecutive
eye-blink TDs that gave Cal a 4 point lead in less than 2 minutes with
10 minutes left in Q3. I’m certain that McCall and his OL coach,
Adam Cushing, assembled their OL personnel and read them the riot act
after witnessing these debilitating 1st game brain farts in the shadow
of the Cal goal line. As a whole, these avoidable gaffes could
have been a game changer/decider. However, to their credit, the
‘Cat OL flushed these failures and refocused themselves to do the
needful, collectively pulling their heads out from their moons and
getting after the Cal D in earnest, who were beginning to show their
own signs of hands-on-hips and tongue-hanging-out exhaustion – a
consequence to Dykes’ super up-tempo offense game plan as explained
above.
Lay Down Sally
I’m sorry to report to a disgruntled Cal HC Sonny Dykes and the rabid,
vocal fan base of Golden Bore Nation, there has been a well-known,
established defensive tactic for slowing-down a high-octane up-tempo
offense similar to the one that Cal currently fields – and it’s been in
use since NU unveiled the novel spread offense to the Big 10 conference
and college football world at large in the 2000 season.
Euphemistically it would best be called: “The Lay Down.”
It’s not a tactic whereby the defensive coaching staff instructs their
D personnel to fake an injury to disrupt the momentum of an up-tempo
offense – not at all. However, it is one where, if at any time, any
defender (and I mean A-N-Y player) gets cramps or feels the need for
substitution due to being dinged or totally gassed and categorically
knows that he cannot call for his replacement AND drag his behind off
the field within that 15 second inter-down timeframe, then he should simply
lay-down on the turf and wait for attention from the team’s training
and medical staff. This tactic is NOTHING NEW, people; and
COMPLETELY LEGAL and WITHIN THE CURRENT RULES OF THE GAME. Teams
have used it for years. Unfortunately for offenses who employ a
super up-tempo game plan, when an opposing D uses the lay down to
curtail ongoing momentum, they get indignant and call foul every time,
blathering on-and-on regarding how this tactic does not adhere to the
competitive spirit of the game of football. And I apologize for
playing locker room lawyer on this point, but this tactic is, again,
Completely Legal. Sonny Dykes knows this fact and knows he was
forced to swallow its consequences. In reaction, Dykes didn’t
miss an opportunity to show his extreme displeasure and agitation at
facing this legal defensive tactic throughout H-2 – whether his
audience was the officiating crew to whom he ka-vitched incessantly;
broadcast cameras intent on capturing his constant his eye rolling,
pouting and other negative body language as he paced up & down the
Cal sidelines; Fitz whom he confronted at the post-game handshake or
a fawning media where he cried foul for much of the post-game
interviews.
To Dykes’ posturing and the hand-wringing and vociferous outcry of an indignant Cal fan base, all I can say is:
“GET OVER IT.”
It’s part of the game. If you don’t like it, then petition for a change in the rules, Sonny.
Pick-6 Party
Now for the happy part of this commentary on NU’s season opener against
the Cal Golden Bores. When it was all said and done, the ‘Cat D
did its job as designed by Doc and his defensive brain trust. The
obvious game plan was predicated on controlling the prolific, high
quality passing attack reputation that HC Dykes was sure to transfer to
the Cal O when he was hired away from LA Tech. The fact that
Dykes anointed true frosh Goff as his starting QB in his team’s 2013
season opener meant one thing: Goff deserved the selection and
possesses the necessary tools to deliver the goods in his HC’s Bear
Raid offense. And Goff, the Cal OL, WR and RBs delivered on their
potential to the best of their collective abilities. And in the
final analysis, this game evolved into what it was projected to be: a
dog fight.
However, two major items which the Cal offense failed to control were:
First, the Wildcat defensive front 7 versus the Cal rushing
attack. Although most of NU’s defensive sets employed throughout
the game, especially in H-2, was anchored by a 3-man DL backed by a
7-man nickel with a roverback or an 8-man defensive secondary whose
primary objective was to defend Dykes’ quality Bear Raid passing game,
the ‘Cat run support D was, in fact, surprisingly
effective. In total, Cal only converted 6 first downs on 35
rushing attempts, averaging 2.7 yards per rush. Add to the mix
that their final run yardage total of 93 yards included a 32 yard
explosion scamper from starting Cal RB Bigelow in their first offensive
series, then that adjusted average heads south significantly. The
guiding principal behind the ‘Cat D game plan was to limit individual
explosion plays (of 20 yards or more); to keep the ball in front of the
7 or 8-man secondary and await Cal’s passing attack, reading and
reacting to the routes of their speedy WRs as much as possible.
Whenever the Cal rush attack showed, those same 7 or 8 DB personnel
would sell-out en masse towards the LOS in support of open rush lanes
or seams made by Cal’s OL. The fact that the top Wildcat 7
tacklers for the game were DBs and LBs underscores Doc’s strategic game
plan regarding rush support against Cal. In addition, this
defense strategy depended a great deal on self-inflicted wounds that
one would expect from a true frosh QB protected by an OL comprised of
many first-time starters of their own (like NU has). And to that
end, Cal was accommodating.
Second, Flaky French Pasty (a.k.a. turnovers ) freshly baked by Goff
and his aerial circus in their passing game. Officially NU
collected 3 INTs and should have converted on a 4th, if only the NU
secondary had just composed themselves, slowed down and made the
controlled snatch of an errant pass that caromed off 3 ‘Cat DBs before
hitting the turf just out of the grasp of the intended Cal WR.
And of those 3 INTs, the kill-shot defensive plays were the 2 pick-6
INT returns converted by Sam OLB, Collin Ellis – both off passes which
were tipped by their WR targets – which were the winning point spread
for the game. The fact that, on those 2 plays, Ellis kept his
composure, made the controlled pick off the tip, gathered himself then
sprinted to the Cal goal line as fast as his legs could carry him, were
decisive game changers. Thank you for the dessert, Sonny.
Can you spare an extra napkin to remove the powdered sugar from my
lips, or are you using it to dab the tears from your eyes?
‘Nuff said.
Conclusion
Most certainly, it wasn’t a thing of beauty, but Fitz, his coaching
staff, the ‘Cat players and Wildcat Nation will wrap this one up and
take it back to Evanston, gladly. This game’s “W” could have just
as easily been captured by the Cal Golden Bores. The fact that
the ‘Cats faced what was the great unknown regarding a newly introduced
pass dominated Bear Raid offense with its heretofore unknown QB talent
throwing to a bevy of speedy, high quality WRs, in the enemy’s camp, in
a late-night game under the lights, in front of a “loaded for Bear”
rabid fan base, then overcame a plethora of their own field play gaffes
and outright brain farts and came out on top, is testament to a team
possessing universal selfless resolve. If ‘Cat HC Fitz is
anything, he is the consummate motivator who instills a will to execute
W.I.N, a “trust in the guy next to you” confidence and an “I am
accountable for results” attitude into each and every student-athlete
he and his coaching staff mentors.
I’m basking in the afterglow of this one; especially since,
traditionally, the greatest improvement made by a college football team
in any season usually occurs between game #1 and game #2.
Now, on to face the Sorry-Excuse Orange Nerf-balls, and make quick work of them.
The Waterboy
“Win with Grace, Lose with Dignity”
|
The Waterboy is a former football player
and a Northwestern
alumnus. Aside from these facts, he has no affiliation with
Northwestern University. The commentary he posts here is his
own, and does not necessarily reflect the views of HailToPurple.com.
