Nov. 1, 2018
The B1G ONE
When the Northwestern University football Wildcats beat the favored
Wisky Drunkards last Saturday, quite literally, there was unrestrained
jubilation in the streets surrounding Dyche’s Ditch by scores of
Wildcat Nation Faithful simply because this monumental victory and the
way in which was achieved was as much unexpected as it was
improbable. After all, Wisky is the 2-time consecutive defending
B1G West Division Champion (& Champion in 3 of the last 4 seasons)
and nothing but nothing gave any indication that the 2018 season
wouldn’t become the Drunkards 3rd straight Championship in as many fall
campaigns. After all, leading up to this last weekend’s grapple
with the ‘Cats, the Wisky O’s rushing attack had assumed its “standard”
ground-n-pound efficacy, with featured Soph RB and Heisman Trophy
candidate, Jonathan Taylor, having amassed 100+ yards rushing in 7
consecutive gridiron contests, including the 25-point blowout loss to
Meat Chicken two weekends ago (one hellova feat in defeat, by the way);
while Junior QB, Alex Hornibrook, continued to demonstrate a returning
veteran’s poise and command to pilot the Drunkard aerial attack with
sufficient levels of outstanding accuracy and reliable consistency to
shred an opposing secondary into unreadable strips of paper, often
before the end of H-1.
However in the week prior to this upcoming titanic donnybrook, subtle
cracks began to appear in the seemingly impenetrable, iron-clad
façade of B1G West’s No. 1 Heavyweight Contender. First
& foremost, Hornibrook was declared PUP (Physically Unavailable to
Play) against the ‘Cats due to having been placed on a medical
concussion protocol after absorbing a shot to his noggin’ in Wisky’s
evisceration of the Ill-Annoy Fighting Lovies the previous
weekend. Good news for Fitz’ Wildcats.
Secondly, Hornibrook’s named replacement, little-used Soph QB Jack
Coan, whose career collegiate gridiron experience consisted garbage
time appearances in 6 games in 2017 and within which he completed all 5
passes he attempted over that PT, and who remained a relative newbie to
the QB position so far in 2018 and, in the weekdays leading up to last
Saturday’s hallmark game, “was getting more work in prep for the ‘Cats”
which would be his first career start, ever, as QB for the
Drunkards. More good news for Fitz’ Wildcats.
Thirdly, the Wisky secondary had been bitten hard by the injury bug
(that sidelined 3 starting DBs), forcing the Drunkard DC to fill his
active 2-deep roster with walking wounded and lightly experienced
replacements. The timing of this situation couldn’t have been much
better for the Wildcat O as this vulnerable, patchwork quilt secondary
was scheduled to face a resurrected ‘Cat QB Clayton Thorson & his
steadily improving WR corps that had scored valuable end-game points at
the most crucial and opportune times, especially in Q4, over the
Wildcats’ last 3 B1G contests – scores which were major contributors
that secured individual victories and set NU’s current conference
record at 4-1. Even more good news for Fitz’ Wildcats.
And lastly, but certainly not least, was Soph RB Jonathan Taylor’s
propensity to fumble the bean when taking an appropriately delivered
heavy hit, which had been a reoccurring item of note to this juncture
in Wisky’s 2018 season. Consequently, it was specifically
emphasized in game week practices that ‘Cat DC Doc Hankwitz’ defensive
front 7 focus on attacking Mr. Taylor with extreme prejudice and
attempt to strip the pill from the RB’s grip when tacking him because,
quite frankly, he tends to lose the feeling in his hands when he
absorbs that slobber-knocker shot and subsequently doesn’t hold onto
the ball – a very common affliction for an underclassman ball carrier
when facing ultra-aggressive Division 1A defensive personnel, like the
one NU possesses. The best news yet for Doc’s heat-seeking
missile LB & DB corps.
Bottom line: In a rare celestial circumstance, the competitive
advantage planets aligned in Northwestern’s favor since they had the
fortune to face the Wisky Drunkards in a home game at Dyche’s Ditch
when the visiting B1G team from MadTown, WI, was at a significant weak
point in their 2018 season.
“Fortis Fortuna Adiuvat” (translation: “The Goddess ‘Fortune’ gives her favor/blessing to the bold”)…
Indeed, this was the Wildcats’ time to Be Bold in the most
consequential game of their 2018 campaign against their bitter rivals
from behind the Cheddar Curtain!
How the ‘Cats Manhandled the Wisky Drunkards
Bottled-Up
As stated above, Wisky’s featured RB, Super Soph Jonathan Taylor, had
been running roughshod over, around and through their opponents’
defenses in every game the MadTown Drunkards have played in 2018, even
in their losses to BYU and Meat-Chicken. Rushing the bean
constantly behind the superior blocking talent of Wisky’s road
grater-like OL, who average 6’4’’ and 310 lbs, will do that. As a
unit, the Badger linemen are bigger and more imposing than those
humongous human beings who populate the Dazed & Blue Horde’s OL –
and that’s saying A LOT. And before this game’s opening whistle
even sounded, the prevailing expectation among collegiate football
media analysts and pundits was that Bucky’s ground-n-pound rushing
juggernaut would steamroll the “Mildcats” into roadkill
“sailcats.” Therefore, my competitive instincts were pre-set to
dead-red high because Wisky’s best unit would be matched-up
head-to-head with NU’s best unit.
For most of the game, I viewed the individual matchups between Doc’s
defensive linemen and those Badger players lining-up opposite them
across the LOS via my binoculars, and the physical comparisons were
mind boggling. Not only did each Wisky OL tower over his ‘Cat DL
counterpart, they seemed to be at least a full foot wider and 30 pounds
heavier than the ‘Cats linemen as well. Simply stated, there was
just no comparison. However, the great equalizer for the Wildcat
DL when facing these behemoth Big Red OL was their definitively more
effective field play techniques – meaning Doc’s DL personnel, to a man,
had a much faster reaction off the snap of the ball and employed more
effective individual quickness, speed and hand fighting techniques to
neutralize and/or get around the blocks of these enormous Drunkard
linemen. Again, that’s saying A LOT.
And to the credit of every defensive lineman in Doc’s rotation (all 8
of them), essentially one or more Purple DL was/were having a better
competitive time of it, field play wise, on literally every down
throughout whole portions of the game despite this relative physical
size differential. Proof of this was twofold.
First, Doc’s defensive front 7 bottled-up and limited Wisky’s rushing
attack, especially against Super Soph RB Jonathan Taylor, who garnered
a pedestrian 46 total yards on 11 carries – which was Mr. Taylor’s
worst single-game yardage output of his 2018 season to date. The
interesting issue regarding this factoid is that the Wisky offensive
brain trust apparently had made a pre-game executive decision to
distribute the rushing duties to three other RBs besides Taylor:
Seniors RB Taiwan Deal (8 total yards on 4 carries) & Alec Ingold
(12 total yards on 4 carries) and Soph Garrett Groshek (88 total yards
on 7 carries), from the Drunkard’s first possession right on through to
the game’s final gun. This dubious distribution decision was as
equally baffling as it was ineffective simply because the Wildcat
defense was equal-opportunity rush-stopping machine in its own right
over the entire 60 minutes of this fracas, rendering this decision a
moot point. In any case, this summary stoning of the Badger’s
prolific rushing attack by Doc’s D was one hellova Herculean
achievement.
Second, individual Wisky linemen, most notably the Badger’s ROT (No. 79
in your game program), resorted to incessant false start movement in
which he would lift his hand off the turf from his 3-point stance
and/or begin to take a definitive half step a fraction of a second
prior to the snap of the ball allowing him to “catch-up” with the
quicker reacting, faster moving Purple DE who constantly blew this
ROT’s doors in. A quick review of the game video via
BTN2Go-dot-com website’s cable broadcast replay clearly shows this
player’s undeniable false start motion AND it doesn’t lie. Making
matters worse, these constant false starts never drew a single penalty
flag from the line judge – not a one! Although many Wisky
Drunkard apologists might dismiss this motion as a “borderline
infraction,” this ROT’s pre-snap movement occurred early & often,
especially in H-2, because his primary blocking assignment, the Wildcat
DE lined-up across the LOS from him, “beat him to the punch” on, at
least, 50% of the downs played regardless of whether the offensive play
was a rush or a pass. These frequent false start movements by the
Badger ROT were a measure of last resort to counter getting out-quicked
and out-hustled for most of the game. It was a thing of beauty
and of frustration all at the same time.
Talk about Doc’s troops being well coached and well prepared to
play! IMHO, the Wildcat defensive coaching staff is the absolute
best that serves under HC Pat Fitzgerald… Period.
Post-TO Scoring
Closely interrelated to NU’s virtual shutdown of Wisky’s ground-n-pound
rushing attack was the forced fumble capabilities demonstrated
throughout last Saturday’s grapple by Doc Hankwitz’ defensive
personnel. As stated above, Mr. Taylor’s noted reputation for
losing the handle on the pigskin when he absorbed a significant hard
hit was a well-known chink in the Drunkard’s offensive armor and the
Wildcat defensive coaching staff made it a priority for the ‘Cat D to
pry the bean from the Soph RB’s grip whenever, wherever he toted the
pill. And that directive reaped huge scoreboard dividends in the
upset-minded ‘Cats’ bid to wrestle the “W” flag away from the pre-game
favorite Badgers.
Mr. Taylor’s first fumble was completely unforced, occurring when the
Soph RB failed to secure the handoff from his QB, Jack Coan, and the
bean dropped to the Dyche’s Ditch turf then rolled 5 yards towards the
LOS whereupon Wildcat CB Trae Williams scooped it up in hand for the
recovery at the Drunkard’s 15 yard line. Thorson & Co.
required 7 downs, including a pass interference penalty that extended
the offensive series an additional 4 downs, to convert the fumble into
a go-ahead TD that reset the score to 14-7 in favor of the ‘Cats.
Taylor’s second fumble happened at the 5:33 mark of Q3, after the Soph
RB rumbled 5 yards to the Drunkard 42, whereupon ‘Cat LB Paddy Fischer
hooked his paw around the pill being held in the crook of Mr. Taylor’s
arm just as he was falling to the Dyche’s Ditch turf and yanked on it
for all he was worth. To the surprise of all, the bean popped out
from Taylor’s grip before he hit the grass and as Paddy picked it up,
he was stripped of it as well, sending the pigskin 10 feet into the air
and, fortunately, it landed right into the open mitts of ‘Cat CB Montre
Hartage for the recovery. When the ensuing Wildcat possession
stalled at Wisky’s 8 yard line, ‘Cat PK Charlie Kuhbander booted a
chip-shot FG extending NU’s lead to 24-10 just before the end of Q3.
Wisky’s third & final fumble materialized during the Drunkard first
possession of Q4 after ‘Cat P Jake Collins booted a 46 yard
rugby-styled punt while a member of the Drunkard punt return team
committed the ultimate boneheaded penalty of a hold/tackle against a
Wildcat punt blocker at the LOS before the ball was even kicked.
This holding call not only negated a nifty 25 yard punt return, but, by
NCAA rules, dictated that the required 10 yard walk-off be assessed
from the point where the Badger PR specialist first received the punted
bean. That fortunate set of circumstances repositioned the
ensuing LOS within the shadow of the Wisky goal posts at their own 8
yard line and forced the Drunkards to deal with a 2 TD scoreboard
deficit while facing 92 yards of long green to the Wildcat goal
line. Indeed, The Goddess ‘Fortuna’ was still smiling on the
underdog Wildcats. On the first down of this possession, Wisky QB
Coan received the snap from under center then took 2 steps with ball in
hand toward his RB standing directly behind him. As Coan extended
the ball to his RB to complete the handoff exchange, the newbie QB
inexplicably lost the handle on the bean and it landed on the turf then
rolled 3 yards behind the Wisky goal line. A now panic-stricken
Coan picked-up the loose pigskin off the end zone turf, turned back
downfield and took-off towards the original LOS with the ball in both
his hands but out away from his midsection and most certainly not
secured under his arm for this improvised run. As Coan tries to
run past ‘Cat DT Fred Wyatt hand-fighting the Wisky OC, Fred reaches
out and bats the unsecured ball from the loose grasp of Coan. The
batted ball flies downfield to the Wisky 13 where a wicked mad scramble
for the loose ball commences between diving ‘Cat defenders and Drunkard
OL. Senior Wildcat LB Nate Hall (my personal favorite player on
NU’s defensive roster) put an exclamation point on his return to active
duty within the ‘Cats’ starting defensive lineup by aggressively
pouncing on this loose pill and turning the ball over to Thorson &
Co. for a possession at the Wisky 13 (Waytago Nate!!!). The
‘Cat O promptly capitalized on this gift-wrapped opportunity by
converting this fumble recovery into a valuable short field TD 4 downs
later – a scoreboard tally that essentially represented the
game-clinching points for Northwestern.
So 17 of the Wildcats’ 31 total points scored had been set-up via
fumble recoveries by Doc’s defense. This single statistic was THE
difference maker that secured NU’s victory over the Wisky
Drunkards. The fact that Doc’s D held the Big Bad Badger rushing
juggernaut offense to 7 total points in H-2 didn’t hurt either.
Take a Seat
When Wisky RB Jonathon Taylor’s 2nd fumble led to the ‘Cats’ FG in late
Q3, inflating the home team’s lead to a 2 TD margin (at 24-10), it
became apparent that Badger HC Paul Cryst had endured enough of Mr.
Taylor’s pigskin handling foibles and this last TO coerced him to make
the tactical decision to bench his underclassman RB for the remainder
of the contest. After all, the Soph RB’s 2 hot-n-flaky turnovers
proffered the ‘Cat O two extra stress-free possessions that they
converted into 10 easily scored, short field points – all within the
context of a competitive game in which scoring points had become an
ever more elusive end-product for the Drunkard offense to
deliver. In Taylor’s stead, Cryst called the number of Soph RB
Garrett Groshek as his new RB of choice, especially since Groshek owned
the added playmaking skillset of a reliable go-to out-of-the-backfield
receiving target – skills that Taylor, obviously, didn’t possess.
Cryst’s RB replacement ended-up being a timely one, especially when the
‘Cats scored their last TD of the game off Badger QB Jack Coan’s
brainfart fumble that increased NU’s lead to 31-10 in early Q4
(described above). Facing this daunting 3TD deficit, Wisky’s
offensive strategy immediately shifted to a pass-first attack mode for
the final 12 minutes of the game – a shift that rendered Mr. Taylor a
“more replaceable” chess piece option in the Drunkard’s end-game
plans. Consequently, when Taylor was directed to ride pine at
this juncture, Wisky’s No. 1 heavy-duty rushing weapon was removed from
the game – a move that greatly eased the workload of the Wildcat
defense. When I noticed this benching, I breathed a huge sigh of
relief. IMHO, this tactical decision to sit Taylor was the
equivalent of the Badger offensive brain trust waving a white flag of
surrender.
Take a seat, son. Groshek’s got this covered.
“King Koopa”
Since the emergence last Saturday of RB Isaiah Bowser in the Wildcats’
bug tussle against The Rutting Scarlet Blights, where he broke the
century mark for rushing yards gained (133), there has been a “running”
movement among internet bloggers and members of Wildcat Nation to hang
an appropriately “catchy” moniker on the True Frosh. Most have
been lame attempts at humor while others wished to establish a
pseudonym that might proffer the rising star RB a public relations
boost whenever his name might be mentioned in collegiate football media
& news reporting circles. IMHO, the best of the bunch was a
reference to the cartoon turtle/antagonist character from the Nintendo
gaming franchise “Mario Bros.” or “Super Mario” known as “Bowser” or the more correct appellation, “King Koopa.” And when it comes right down to it, this cartoon character’s name actually fits. The King Koopa/Bowser
character is a creature who routinely blasts through obstacles in his
path and/or bowls other characters over if they to get in his way while
he runs headlong hither and yon within various Nintendo game scenarios
to accomplish some malevolent objective or task (like kidnapping the
lovely & enticing young lady character “Peach”). Since “Bowser” is the actual surname of the True Frosh’, I’ll simply call Mr. Bowser: “King Koopa.”
Well. King Koopa accomplished what many thought was impossible
to achieve against the heretofore ultra-stout Wisky rushing defense,
that being, gaining over 100 total yards rushing (118). In fact,
this is the first time in many, many moons that any Northwestern RB not
named Justin Jackson The Ball Carrier (or “JJTBC”) had gained over 100
yards rushing – in consecutive games. But here is King Koopa… realizing that elusive ball carrying feat in only his second stint as OC Mick McCall’s starting RB.
Over the 2018 season, Fitz and McCall never truly abandoned their
priority paradigm of a “balanced offense” that is characterized by
consistent yardage production via equal parts rushing and
passing. But now they’ve got it - and not a moment too soon –
because noone can ever predict with much certainty whether “Good
Clayton” (the prolifically accurate passing QB) or “Bad Clayton” (the
frustrating QB who will underthrow or miss wide open receiving targets
with regularity, or worse still, will toss the bean into the empty
hands of a member of an opponent’s secondary) will appear in any one
game… or in any one quarter for that matter. And in the ‘Cats’
game against the Wisky Drunkards, both “Good Clayton” and “Bad Clayton”
made significant impact on the proceedings occurring on the green grass
of Dyche’s Ditch.
Nevertheless, despite which QB personality, “Good Clayton” or “Bad
Clayton,” showed his ugly mug during any one offensive possession, the
positive counterbalancing element in McCall’s offensive formula was RB
Isaiah “King Koopa” Bowser, who consistently ate-up rushing
yardage and time off the scoreboard clock in near equal amounts – a
combination that became a red letter factor in NU’s valiant effort to
capture the “W” flag as the final gun sounded.
Conclusion
Similar to the previous weekend’s enigmatic game against a much weaker
Rutting Scarlet Blights team, last Saturday’s wholly surprising
performance wasn’t anything near what I expected from the ‘Cats when
battling the Big Bad Wisky Badgers. It’s been a good 4 days since
Fitz and his troops delivered this satisfying victory and I’m still
giddy and smiling at its recall or whenever I’ve viewed its cable
broadcast replay on the BTN2Go website (which I’ve done at least 4
times, thus far, from opening whistle to rolling credits).
Needless to say, the B1G is buzzing as the Northwestern Football
Wildcats hold a tenuous grip on 1st place in the B1G Conference’s West
Division – a full game ahead of all 5 other West Division teams.
Just that very thought fuels my imagination at the prospects of
actually EARNING the honor of representing the West Division in the B1G
Conference Championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis this
coming December 1st. Fitz has talked of it, from the start of
Kamp Kenosha throughout the entire current season, as a team goal;
while individual position coaches and players speak to it in hushed
tones during post-game interviews. It’s like everyone in the NU
football family recognizes that damn 1000 lbs gorilla standing
menacingly in the corner of the room, but no one is willing to bring
their audience’s attention to it, lest its visage is proven to be
ethereal, rather than physical; and, at its mention, it will evaporate
into thin air.
But I’ll Be Bold and declare proudly and sternly that The Goal, THE B1G
ONE, is standing right before my beloved Purple Team. I haven’t
harbored these deep feelings of unbounded anticipation and exhilaration
since I resided in a home a mere 500 feet west of Nicholet Hall in the
“now almost mythical” 1995 and19 96 seasons; when, late in the evening,
I would walk to the players parking lot to greet and cheer the Purple
Team as they got off the bus returning from their latest road
game.
There’s still A LOT left to do in order to transmute that B1G
Championship pipe dream to granite hard reality. But this
victory against Wisky last weekend has paved the ‘Cats’ path to the
doorstep of Lucas Oil Stadium.
Now the 2018 Wildcats must stay the course; ignore all the platitudes,
glad-handers, fan adulation & media scrutiny; and maintain their
focus on the daunting but doable task at hand. True, this squad
is closer than prior squads have ever been in the past 17
seasons… As close as those historic 1995, 1996 & 2000
campaigns had been at this juncture within their individual journeys to
THE B1G ONE.
Be Bold. ”Fortis Fortuna Adiuvat,” indeed!
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.
