Nov. 5, 2009
Overwhelmed in 6:30 Minutes
Dyche’s Ditch was the site of some remarkable college football last
Saturday. Not only had the ‘Cats kept pace with the heavily
favored Inmates of State Penn, they were beating them at their own
game. Joe Pa’s football philosophy begins and ends in the
trenches where he emphasizes control of field play on either side of
the LOS - where the blocking capabilities of his OL allow his skill
players the freedom to operate with as reduced interference as
possible; and where his DL can exploit cracks and deficiencies in the
opposing OL’s blocking schemes. All other phases of the venerable
octogenarian’s game plan are built atop this basic foundation, and this
paradigm was wholly in evidence against the ‘Cats. However, the
‘Cats responded in the most unexpected fashion: they gave as much as
they got with respect to individual matchups across the line against
the No. 12-ranked Inmates. And it astonished everyone in
attendance. Everyone, that is, with the exception of Fitz’
troops.
HC Pat Fitzgerald’s football philosophy of “Flush It and Respond” was
the directive of the day, as NU’s O focused on beating the Inmate
defense at the point of attack and Doc’s D ignored State Penn’s
well-chronicled reputation for fielding the most efficient offense in
the Big 10/11 Conference and stood toe-to-toe with their opponents from
Happy Valley, exchanging body blows and haymakers to the head while
neutralizing the Inmates’ quick-strike scoring capabilities for a full
3 quarters. Fitz’ perspective that State Penn had played only one
full 60-minute game this season (against the I-Away HogEyes) not only
rang true, it was being played-out right before the ‘Cats, inspiring
them to keep the pressure on Joe Pa’s team and take the fight to them
from the opening whistle through the final gun.
Like many among the Purple Populace, I had harbored pre-game
predictions that the ‘Cats would follow their exhibited past penchant
for digging themselves into an early hole then fighting their way back
into contention. When ‘Cat QB, Mike Kafka, inexplicably
fumbled and lost the well-placed shotgun snap to the Inmate D on
his second play from scrimmage at NU’s 23 without anyone laying a hand
on him, I could only shake my head in disbelief. “Here we go
again.”
However, that reaction was premature. The ‘Cat D flushed all
potential negative effects of that gaffe by responding with a stout
defensive stand within the shadow of their own goalposts, forcing the
Inmates to settle for the FG instead of the anticipated
turnover-induced TD. When given the bean following NU’s
poor-as-usual kickoff return to their own 18, Kafka and Co. commenced
to put together an admirable 17-play, 65-yard dink-&-dunk laden
drive, aided mightily by a 12-man-on-the-field penalty transforming
NU’s 4th down punt into a giftie 1st down that extended the stalled
possession and culminated with a 34-yard FG to knot the game at 3
apiece. By the end of Q1, the ‘Cats were tied with Joe Pa’s
vaunted Big Blue Machine and had restricted the Inmates’ yardage
production juggernaut to a respectable 46 yards while Mick McCall’s
Dink-&-Dunk Show netted 89 of their own. Fitz and his ‘Cats
were motivated and competitive.
When State Penn’s next possession was rendered uneventful by a swarming
‘Cat D that limited All-Conference candidate QB, Daryl Clark, to 3
short completions and heralded RB, Evan “Blue Royster Cult,” to a
paultry 8 yards on 4 rushes, Kafka began to weave more magic. With ball
in hand on NU’s opening possession of Q2, he completed consecutive
dink-&-dunk passes of 13, 15, 13 and 16 yards, knocking the
thoroughly flummoxed Inmate defense back on their collective
heals. Kafka continued his one-man show, victimizing Joe Pa’s
reactive all-out DL pass rush, as he bolted through a seam in NU’s
efficient pocket protection, rushed around the short middle zone
coverage LBs into the open space beyond, faked a run-support DB
completely out of his jockstrap then dove to the PSU 7 for a 1st &
goal. On the next down, Mr. Mike executed a mesmerizing fake
handoff to NU’s Scott Concannon that drew every Inmate front 7 defender
to his RB, tucked the ball under arm and cut-back straight off the
backside of the over pursuing State Penn DE-OLB tandem unscathed into
the end zone for the go-ahead TD. The Wildcat fan base in Dyche’s
Ditch exploded.
Truly, Joe Pa and his Big Bad D had no effective answer to Kafka’s
brilliant “Tim Tebow in Purple” exhibition and were searching
desperately for the cure, any cure, until the solution to the ‘Cat QB’s
heroics quite literally dropped into their laps when Kafka collapsed in
a heap after successfully giving a juke to an Inmate LB on another QB
scramble during NU’s next possession. After a valiant attempt to
stay in NU’s offensive mix on the next down (a 7-yard pass completion,
incidentally), Kafka admitted that something was seriously wrong with
himself physically then limped to the Northwestern sidelines where he
remained for the rest of the game, a casualty of what was reported
later as an unspecified “leg injury.”
Unfortunately for the ‘Cats, Kafka’s sudden departure held devastating consequences...
How State penn Blew-Up the‘Cats
Discovery: NU Weakness No. 1
It’s not as if the Inmate O was neutralized completely by Doc’s D in
h-1; after all, Joe Pa’s Clark & “Blue Royster Cult”-led attack
moved the ball up and down the field with a modicum of success.
However, State Penn’s offensive brain trust still hadn’t arrived at the
definitive answer to the perplexing riddle concerning the best way to
attack Doc’s frenetic, swarming defense. Then they turned their
vertical passing game loose against the 2nd and 3rd string personnel
peppering NU’s depleted secondary. Whoomp, there it is!!!
On the drive following the possession in which Kafka’s his mysteriously
blown tire forced him to go “walk about” on NU’s sideline midway
through Q2, Inmate QB Clark began to carve-up the ‘Cats’ pass coverage
schemes with the precision of a neurosurgeon’s scalpel, safely shielded
from any and all potential pass rush pressure by the exceedingly
dominant pocket protection from his OL, affording Clark a full 8
seconds of unhurried freedom to complete his scan progressions.
Consecutive pass completions of 17, 14, 6, 14 and 13 yards, sandwiched
around a 12 yard QB scramble and an NU pass interference penalty,
placed the ball at the ‘Cats’ 2. Next play, Clark scrambles for
the TD untouched up the gut of NU’s DL for a TD that tied the game at
10 all. Basically the jig was up; and the Big 10/11’s most efficient
passing attack salivated heavily once the huge chink in the armor of
Doc’s smoke & mirror pass coverage personnel was exposed and ripe
for exploitation.
Discovery: NU Weakness No. 2
When first seen, I marveled at the imposing size of the individual
behemoths populating State Penn’s DL. Upon witnessing this unit’s
collective eye-blink quick rush across the LOS at the snap of the ball
and how they pushed NU’s OL a full 4 yards into the ‘Cat backfield, I
realized their well-publicized reputation for being among the best in
all of Division 1A was deserved. I was equally impressed that
NU’s OL held their own against them for a nearly a full half; and even
more when Kafka took advantage of the Inmates’ aggressive attack style
of field play whenever the flow of the play dictated, frequently
abandoning his comfortable dink-&-dunk pass scheme and opting to
sprint downfield, ball under arm, through cracks in State Penn’s
headlong upfield rush, quickly gobbling-up yards in the process.
The drive that resulted in the ‘Cats’ first TD was a sobering reality
check to Joe Pa and his defense - NU’s offensive game plan can and will
take whatever the D gives, and its primary ball handler possesses the
skills and presence of mind to identify and appropriately attack what
is given.
All that changed when Kafka removed himself and handed the generalship
of NU’s O to his backup, Dan Persa. One significant item must be
understood: Dan Persa, for a fact, fields the QB skillset necessary to
execute OC McCall’s game plan successfully. However, to come-in
cold and generate consistent offensive yardage in the face of the
frenzied speed and quickness of State Penn’s jacked-up defensive front
7 at that juncture of the game was daunting. Recognizing that his
defensive team’s nemesis was riding pine, Joe Pa directed his DL to
ratchet-up the level of their rush across the LOS, gain separation from
the ‘Cat OL and get into the grill of the newly inserted Mr. Persa on
every down. I believe Uncle Joe realized that Persa’s focus would
be fixed totally on executing the play called by McCall, not on
adjusting to changing real-time play conditions and fluid weaknesses in
the defense on a particular down and distance. He banked on a
differential drop-off in field play between Kafka and Persa - and he
was spot on.
Although, to his credit, Persa unflinchingly grabbed the reins of the
‘Cat O and drove them within FG range twice on NU’s last 2 possessions
of H-1, converting one that gave the ‘Cats a 3 point lead at halftime,
State Penn’s halftime defensive adjustments at controlling the LOS and
NU’s OL via their DL’s “pin-your-ears-back” bull rush - geared
specifically to wear down ‘Cat OL personnel and harass Persa - became
progressively more dominant as the game wore on, most notably in Q3,
and statistics bear witness to that fact. In Q3, the ‘Cat O got
schooled by the Inmate front 7 and managed a gain mere 2 yards total
and a single 1st down via a penalty; while in Q4, Persa sparingly
caught up to the speed and tendencies of Joe Pa’s all-out upfield rush
and drove NU’s offense into scoring position twice, after having gained
123 yards, but failed to score points and turned the ball back over to
State Penn - once on downs and once off a fumble by Persa that was
recovered by the Inmates on the PSU 6.
Bottom line, in 2 parts:
1. State Penn’s DL wore down NU’s OL, to the tune of
6 sacks (for -31 yards), 9 TFLs (for -39 yards), and numerous QB
hurries, both statistically recognized and unrecognized
2. Although Persa wasn’t horrible as the ‘Cats’
primary ball handler, he just wasn’t as productive at moving the ball
into scoring position and converting on the opportunity as was Mr.
Kafka.
Too Many Craptastic Returns
It’s no great secret that NU’s special teams play is anything but
special. But the fact remains, the ‘Cats have been continually
hard-pressed to execute a kickoff return or a kickoff cover without a
serious breakdown.
Exhibit A: NU’s failure to execute on kickoffs (either length of kick or failure to cover/make tackle) -
● Demos kick 55 yards to PSU 15, returned 19 yards to the PSU 34
● Demos kick 44 yards to PSU 26, returned 12 yards to the PSU 38
● Demos kick 65 yards to PSU 5, returned 36 yards to the PSU 41
Recognized kickoff coverage successes:
● Demos kick 64 yards to PSU 6, returned 16 yards to the PSU 22
Exhibit B: NU’s failure to return kickoffs (aka: little or no
blocking, coupled with no speed or ability to find or gain a hole in
opponent’s kickoff coverage) -
● Simmons return 18 yards to the NU 21
● Simmons return 16 yards to the NU 18
● Matthews return -2 yards to the NU 6 (muffed catch)
● Matthews return 11 yards to the NU 14 (muffed catch)
Recognized kickoff return successes:
● Simmons return 44 yards to the NU 41
● Simmons return 22 yards to the NU 25
● Simmons return 21 yards to the NU 26
I don’t condone regurgitating stats to collaborate an observation, but
this deficiency is, and has been, screaming to everyone within earshot
at the top of its lungs. Anyone see a pattern here - like a
difference in an opponent’s ability to return a kickoff 15-20 more net
yards compared to NU’s results when executing a return? Or more
precisely, the failure of NU’s kickoff specialist to boot the ball
beyond the opposition’s 5 yard line consistently, coupled with the
kickoff coverage personnel’s soft attack against the return? And
what about NU’s kickoff returns which consistently fail to push the
ball to or past NU’s own 20 yard line? Does Fitz have any kickoff
returner who can track the kicked ball into his hands on the fly,
recognize the blocking pattern in front of him, find an open seam then
sprint full bore to and thru it more frequently than his current stable
of return specialists? Apparently not, or at least, not
much.
This situation has reached critical mass and is totally
unacceptable. As a whole, NU’s kickoff gaffes had a GREAT
negative effect on NU’s game.
Ka-BOOM
Like excrement, explosion plays happen. Only issue I have with
this maxim is that they seemingly happen to the ‘Cats more than one
might deem “normal” - especially since Fitz publically preaches his
attention to detail to eliminate or, at best, limit the number of
them. Against Joe Pa’s Inmates, the initial 6:13 of H-2 was THE
critical minutes in which breakdowns across-the-board by Doc’s
defensive players, both in offensive flow/play recognition and defense
techniques, allowed the State Penn O to blow the game wide open via the
explosion play. 3 explosion plays, each executed on the heels of
three sequential 3-&-out possessions by the ‘Cat offense,
underscored the fact that NU’s D, in each case, was gassed and their
vulnerability to defend the home run swing was easily identified and
promptly acted-upon by the Inmate’s offensive brain trust lurking in
the coaches box above Dyche’s Ditch.
The first occurred in the midst of State Penn’s grind-it-out drive that
spanned Q3 and Q4, set-up after Inmate RB “Blue Royster Cult” pounded
NU’s DL with 3 consecutive rushes behind his Big Ugly OL for 20 yards
to the NU 30. Continuing the Inmates’ balanced attack game plan,
QB Clark tossed the bean to favorite WR, Derek Moye, for an easy
pitch-n-catch into an open seam in outer third zone at NU’s 10 that was
downed at the 5, for a quick 25-yard explosion play, reprising the
exact pass route and completion converted in the Inmate’s opening
possession, game-tying TD at the start of Q3. Afterwards, Joe Pa
called for 2 power dives to score the go-ahead TD and 7-point
lead. All in a scant 3:30.
After NU’s O was forced into a second 3-&-out by the Inmates’
all-out bull rush DL, Clark challenged NU’s deep coverage capability on
the first play of his next possession, by rolling to his right then
throwing over-the-top for an explosive 53-yard toss to a wide-open Mr.
Moye for TD No.2, extending the Inmate lead to 14. The ‘Cat
offense got more of the same bull rush treatment from the State Penn D
on their 3rd consecutive possession as they had on the previous two,
that forced yet another 3-&-out and punt. The Inmate O
smelled blood in the water and executed a beautiful dive by “Blue
Royster Cult” up the gut and into a 5-yard wide hole in the left A gap;
where NU’s DTs got position blocked to the outside, Sam LB Davie got
pancaked by the LOT and Mike LB, Nate Williams got blasted down and out
by the ROG, creating an enormous 15-yard wide open lane that extended
69 yards to the goal line. 10 seconds later, the PSU lead was 21 and
Joe Pa and his Inmate team collectively breathed a deep sigh of
relief. Game Over.
Conclusion
Fitz’ ‘Cats most definitely were up to the challenge of competing with
the Big Bad Inmates for 3 quarters, but this game degraded into a war
of attrition that the Wildcats just couldn’t sustain.
Defensively, the 2nd and 3rd stringers in NU’s secondary, subbing
gamely for injured first teamers, just couldn’t hold the line for the
full 60 minutes to prevent State Penn’s explosion plays. I‘m so
very proud of all of them, but like Fitz, I’m not making excuses. The
State Penn O is the most prolifically productive offense in the Big
10/11, let alone all of Division 1A; and they needed all their weapons
to come to bear to subdue Doc’s defense. Conversely, the ‘Cat
offense was executing their controlled game plan to perfection, then
it’s keystone weapon got dinged and was relegated to the role of
cheerleader on the NU sidelines. Although his replacement was
game, he just couldn’t generate the yards and control the game clock as
well as this No. 1 ball handler.
Joe Pa recognized Mike Kafka’s considerable contribution to the ‘Cats’
competitive effort, as have several media pundits from various
corners. But game’s final tally reflected much of what had been
predicted. Damn...
Now it time to flush it and respond. Even if the ‘Cats had
prevailed, Fitz’ prime directive remains the same. The HogEyes
loom next and the obnoxious rubes and hayseeds planning to attend the
tilt in Kinnick are already spewing copious amounts of venom and
vitriol at NU and the Wildcat Nation in response to their failure to
capture the expected “W” against the Purple ‘Cats over the last 2
seasons. Time to recoup your strength fellas, and come-out
swinging like you did against Joe Pa’s
Inmates.
The Waterboy
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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.
