Oct. 16, 2014
Blinded By The (Spot)Light
The result of last Saturday’s game against the Minnie Mighty Marmots
was as predictable as it was regrettable. Throughout his tenure
as HC of the Northwestern Wildcat football, every Fitz team who has
earned the chance to solidify their ascension into the rarified realm
of a conference championship challenger has failed to do so in the
red-letter game that, if won, would have delivered such sought-after
prominence. It occurred last season when the 4-0 Wildcats met da
BuckNuts in their mutually anticipated, made-for-media-extravaganza
grapple at the friendly confines of Dyche’s Ditch in which NU simply
fell flat on its face, quite literally, after exhibiting titillating
hints of competitive equality to that perennial frontrunner from C-Bus,
Ohio. But alas, NU could not and did not sustain the required
high level of unwavering focus and quality field play to get the job
done over the entire 60 minutes of that toe-to-toe, winner-take-all
game without failing, in some way, shape or form, on those one or two
crucial plays which would have secured the game’s final outcome and
would have elevated the Wildcats’ status to the short list of
conference contenders. Unfortunately, last weekend’s NU vs Golden
Rodent game was more of the same where the ‘Cats, blinded by the
unforgiving spotlight of curious yet subdued media attention, were
exposed as B1G pretenders. And I lay this latest example of the
Wildcats’ failure to live up to the hype of their expected competitive
potential squarely on the shoulders of HC Fitz and his OC, Mick
McCall.
How the ‘Cats Got Handled by the Golden Rodents
At Some Point: “Next Man Up”
It’s an indisputable fact that has become common knowledge among every
Wildcat opponent in 2014 that ‘Cat QB Trevor Siemian has sustained
long-standing ankle injury and eventually will succumb to its
debilitating discomfort at some point during a football game. The
effects of his ongoing injury most definitely will not be evident in Q1
because Siemian’s warrior mentality and an ankle tape job that
resembles a soft cast allow him to fight through its initial sting,
allowing Mick McCall’s primary ball handler to exercise his QB craft
with relative high precision, accuracy and decision-making throughout
the contest’s initial 15 minutes. However, as a game progresses
into Q2 and beyond, TS’s damnable pain bodies will rear their ugly head
once more, rendering the fifth-year QB’s usually reliable profile of
skillful generalship and efficient playmaking into nothing less than a
series of game-altering liabilities. And in his quest to proffer
Siemian an assist in mitigating his persistent pain, McCall’s overall
play calling becomes frustratingly less aggressive and exceedingly more
predictable, a cascading set of situational circumstances not lost to
the coaching staffs of NU’s opposition as well. It’s all a recipe
for continued field play failure, especially when facing NU’s more
challenging foes, and was in full evidence in TCF stadium last
weekend.
As was witnessed in NU’s last 3 games, Siemian responded to the opening
whistle for Q1 with his usual passing accuracy; but OC McCall’s initial
game plan was conceived specifically to establish NU’s ground game
early – a plan that delivered varied results. Running their
up-tempo attack, Siemian and Co. gained 2 quick 1st downs in their
opening drive, shoving the Mighty Marmot D back on their heels and
reeling from this initial onslaught. However, after an odd-ball
illegal formation penalty forced the ‘Cats into a 3rd-and-1down at
their own 31 yard line, McCall summarily squandered any advantage he
had captured via his initial rushing attack successes when Siemian,
facing a very dubious defensive set from the Golden Gopher DL that left
no defender lined-up (1) on the center’s nose or (2) in either A-gap to
the immediate left and right of the center - despite putting 10 in the
box, evenly divided into 2 groups of 5 defenders split wide right and
left at the LOS from the nose of each OG out to the TE, did not audible
to a simple QB sneak in which Siemian could have ridden the back of his
center into the 2nd level of Minnie’s defensive front that surely would
have gained a minimum 3 yards and secured the sought-after 1st down to
extended the ‘Cats’ opening possession. Instead, Siemian,
executing his OC’s called play, hands the bean off to RB Justin
Jackson, attempting to slice into and through the right guard-tackle
gap (the B-gap) straight into the teeth of 4 Gopher defenders
positioned wide, directly opposite 3 ‘Cat blockers away from center,
specifically set to stone-wall that right side B-gap, who was summarily
crushed for no gain. Watching this whole passion play unfold on
the TV screen, I went ballistic.
I possess no details and can only speculate on the reasons why NU’s
original offensive game plan had not given Siemian the freedom to
audible out from a play designed to push the pill into a well-defended
point-of-attack (POA) and call a modest QB sneak that would have
required TS to plant his injured right foot and drive into the
wide-open, undefended space fronting his center and both guards for
positive yardage. Unfortunately for the Wildcat O, this exact
scenario occurred on another 3 short distance downs later in the game
in which the same uncovered double A-gap set from the Marmot D, handing
the ‘Cats a gift-wrapped opportunity to run a QB sneak audible with
strong potential to gain 1st down yards, was ignored; and instead,
McCall’s called play was executed for little to no yards.
Something is acutely wrong with this picture. IMHO, it’s more
than apparent that the discomfort to plant and drive off that injured
ankle would have been asking too much of TS – even on the ‘Cats’ first
offensive series.
And if this truly was the case, then what ever happened to Fitz’
well-chronicled “Next Man Up” philosophy? Apparently an exception
to this “Next Man Up” mantra exists, especially in regards to the
Wildcat quarterback. I admire the grit and determination shown by
NU’s starting QB; but if the young man is such damaged goods where a
gimme QB sneak is shunned, then common sense dictates exercising a best
“Next Man Up” substitute, if only for this single down. I
honestly believe that Zack Oliver, a quality drop-back style passing
QB, or dual threat QB, Matt Alviti, would have performed just fine in
this situation. However, that’s all wishful thinking.
Bottom line: the injured Siemian was either incapable of executing or
directed away from executing the needful play (a QB sneak) in an
appropriate down-and-distance situation (3rd-and-1, facing an uncovered
center) and on several other critical downs where confidence in his
running abilities, especially anything approaching jocular
“escapability” to avoid the Minnie pass rush on passing downs, were
required to complete the play successfully. And in a closely contested
game such as this, in which its final score might turn on the success
or failure of a crucial play or two, handcuffing your primary
playmaker, the QB, into steadfastly running scripted play calls without
the option to reset the play to better attack the given defensive
formation, was a game-changer.
That, my friends, is plain poor game planning.
Pizz-Poor
Say what you will when critiquing the Golden Rodent’s offensive brain
trust, but what they do best is identify and exploit those players in
an opposition’s D who they judge just aren’t cutting it technique-wise
and will keep exploiting them until those targeted defensive personnel
either rise to the challenge and use proper technique to stop those
Mighty Marmot attacks in their direction or get replaced. And
believe me, the Minnie OC had his play calling crosshairs fixed on a
several NU defenders who proved to be particularly vulnerable and went
after them with impunity, to great effect.
The 1st NU defender whose field play was found lacking by the Minnie
offensive coaching staff was uncovered during the Mighty Marmot’s 1st
possession of the game - an individual whom I’ve called-out personally
in prior game commentaries for piss-poor read recognition and even
worse tackling techniques: ‘Cats starting MLB, C. Ellis. His
tentative reaction to offensive flow and mistakes in identifying the
point of attack (POA) always put him in follow-position, playing
catch-up behind the rusher, rather than setting himself to defend the
POA head-on. And against Minnie’s O, it not only yielded
substantive positive yardage gains on the ground but points as
well. When Ellis fails to get to the POA, he ALWAYS resorts to
throwing himself at the RB’s legs with his arms extended rather than
playing behind his pads and pile-driving them into that RB’s
midsection. When used against a ball carrier like Rodent RB David
Cobb who possesses superior rushing skills and runs within a power
rushing scheme that Minnie brings to the gridiron, such a power back
will just bust-through those weak-sister arm tackles and head unimpeded
downfield. In Minnie’s first offensive series, Cobb ripped
through Ellis arm tackles for gains of 10 and 9 yards before a QB Mitch
Leidner incompletion forced a change of possession. And Mr.
Ellis’ afternoon got much uglier from there.
On Minnie’s 2nd possession, Ellis’ read-and-react deficiencies had been
exposed and Minnie OC directed his rush attack to target the Purple
starting MLB and drill him a 2nd orifice. On a 3rd-and-8 at NU’s
34, Rodent QB Leidner takes the snap in shotgun formation, waits for
Ellis to clear the defensive middle zone then tucks and sprints into
the open space vacated by Ellis – for 22 uncontested yards to the NU 12
yard line, setting-up the Mighty Marmots’ first TD score 3 plays
later. A 3rd & long and an Ellis miss-read on a QB keeper
opened the door to a Rodent TD? This isn’t an isolated
incident. Similar poor field play examples from this Wildcat MLB
abound, recorded in game videos for any interested party to review and
draw their own conclusions. Does any ‘Cat coach recognize this
glaring defensive liability other than the Rodent offensive brain
trust? Fitz? Doc? Anybody? Absolutely
unreal.
Another defensive unit that underperformed was NU’s zone pass coverage
along the middle to deep sideline or boundary zones. NU’s
standard deep pass coverage packages, especially along the sidelines,
are primarily zone-oriented and frequently shared between the CB and
Safety to that side. As a WR’s deep route proceeds into and
through the middle boundary/sideline zone then advances into the deep
boundary zone, the short zone cover DB will hand-off the cover
responsibility of that WR to the deep cover DB. It is a very
delicate, highly orchestrated dance that takes TONS of practice,
coordination and trust between both cover DBs to get it right and do so
with consistency. Those DBs who show high proficiency in
executing this coverage hand-off motion usually have more than ample
opportunity to exhibit their zone coverage skillset at the professional
level. At the collegiate level, it’s often good enough that the
middle-to-deep zone hand-off successfully occurs 75% of the time.
Of those remaining 25% plays where the coverage hand-off is slow or
missed, it’s all a question of timing between the deep DBs reaction to
the deep pass and the hang-time of that pass. Since a QB’s toss
to his WR running a deep boundary route usually will fly in the air a
full 3-4 seconds, it gives the swifter collegiate DBs – those with 4.5
speed or better – enough time to cover the ground to that target WR and
arrive at the same moment that the thrown bean gets to its
receiver. That’s how it is designed to work, in theory. In
its practical, real-time application, it’s a completely different story
– with deep coverage execution success varying from one deep pass play
to another. Against the Rodents, the ‘Cats’ deep boundary
coverage hand-off was inconsistent at best, making Minnie QB Mitch
Leidner and his less-than average passing skillset look like the second
coming of Joe Montana.
The worst of NU’s boundary zone coverage gaffes came on a 52 yard
completion from Leidner to his super-back/TE in Q2 that was the
explosion pass that set-up Minnie’s 2nd TD. The Rodents O
lined-up in shotgun formation with a WR split 7 yards wide of the ROT
on the LOS and a SB/TE in a left-side wing off the heels of the
LTE. Before the snap the wing SB/TE went in motion into a slot
position inside the right-side WR. At the snap, the Minnie WR ran
a deep post vacating the boundary zones and trying to draw coverage
interest from ‘Cat CB VanHoose positioned heads-up to the WR and
possibly ‘Cat FS Henry; while the SB/TE ran a sloppy, rounded
out-and-up route towards the right boundary. ‘Cat SS, Gordon
Igwebuike, who was responsible for the short boundary zone, sprinted up
to cover the out route of the Minnie SB/TE, but then overshot the SB/TE
as he turned into his up route down the right sideline. The ‘Cat
SS was now 2 yards behind, chasing the SB/TE. CB VanHoose
continued to track the Minnie WR into the deep middle zone, and in
doing so, failed to recognize the SB/TE’s out-and-up route and didn’t
break-off his double cover to lend cover support to the deep sideline
zone where the SB/TE was running clear of his now-trailing short cover
zone SS teammate. Leidner made an easy pitch-n-catch toss over
Igwebuike’s reach right into the mitts of his open SB/TE, who shook-off
a desperation facemask grab by the beaten SS’ and rumbled down to the
NU 10.
A missed coverage hand-off = a 52-yard completion, Minnie’s longest of the 2014 season. Ouch!!!
Incidentally, Minnie ran the EXACT same “WR-vacate and SB/TE
out-and-up” pass play on their 1st possession of H-2 and the ‘Cat
secondary executed their deep sideline zone coverage hand-off to
perfection. Result: CB VanHoose gets an INT. Just execute
the proper pass cover hand-off technique - first time, every time
fellas!
Last but certainly not least of NU’s pass coverage woes was the
consistent problems of ‘Cat CBs to defend the deep sideline pass from
Minnie QB Leidner when in man-to-man coverage. Golden Rodent WRs
converted pass receptions of 19-yards (called-back for ineligible man
downfield), 20-yards and 24-yards simply because the ‘Cat CBs, in
particular Matt Harris, gave them a 12 yard cushion, allowing his cover
receivers consistently clear, uncontested space to pull-up from their
initial go patterns into a sideline curl route in NU’s deep sideline
zone beneath the CB. IMHO, the ‘Cat CBs were was given explicit
instructions by DB coach Jerry Brown not to allow any Minnie WR to get
behind them for a home-run pass completion when in man-to-man coverage
– ever. So NU’s CBs did as instructed and gave-up 3 explosion
passes as a consequence; the last two contributing mightily in the
Marmot possession spanning Q3 - Q4 that culminated in a FG to extend
Minnie’s lead to 7.
Leidner was thrilled to make those final 2 giftie pass
completions. How thrilled were you,
Jerry?
Not-So-Special Teams
Simply stated, the Wildcat special teams sucked eggs last Saturday, especially on kick-offs.
The Mighty Marmots’ first TD drive of the game followed a putrid 32
yard Gradone punt that gave the Minnie O starting field position on its
own 37.
On NU’s kick-off receive to start H-2, a short Rodent kick-off got
snagged by an wedge-blocker, who cut-off the return team’s designated
KR, Miles Schuler, who had sprinted-up from the ‘Cat goal line and
positioned himself immediately adjacent to the blocker to make
the reception. I don’t know if Schuler made any kind of “I
got it” call, but the wedge-blocker hip-checked Schuler out of his way,
made the grab, then fell forward for a modest 3-yard return that should
have been left to the much more versatile and swift Schuler allowing
him to do what he does best – return kick-offs. Poor
communication coupled with lack of discipline regarding return role
responsibilities among the KO receive personnel. That one’s on
you, Fitz.
On the ensuing kick-off following Minnie’s FG in Q4, the ‘Cat kick-off
receive team had another brain fart. For reasons only known to
Fitz, the ‘Cat HC benched his starting KR Schuler and handed the duty
to newbie Solomon Vault, playing in his first game following an injury
hiatus, who attempted to make a near-sideline reception of the kick-off
at the NU 3, only to bobble the bean out of bounds for no return.
WTF, Fitz! Why replace the experienced Schuler who had done a
commendable job as No. 1 KR through all 5 games in 2014 with the
newly-returned-from-injury Vault? That move made absolutely no
sense; and the ‘Cats looked foolish in the process.
And now the game-clinching kick-off brain fart to beat all brain farts.
The only thing I must say is that the 2014 Wildcat kick cover teams –
be it a kick-off or a punt – have shown a frustratingly consistent
characteristic to lose coverage lane integrity in every game that they
have played-in this season. This means when the kick coverage
team personnel breaks from the LOS (on kick-offs, that is the 35 yard
line), it’s absolutely imperative that they maintain their coverage
lanes – like a wall of bodies perpendicular to the sidelines and spread
evenly across the field in 5-yard intervals, as they sprint upfield to
tackle the opposition’s KR or PR. Once that wall gets to within 8
yards fronting the return man, the coverage personnel leave their lanes
and converge en masse to the ball with extreme prejudice and not
before. If an individual coverage player gets knocked down or
pushed horizontally outside his lane, he must gather himself, get back
to his feet and return to his lane position as quickly as
possible. In this way, there are little to no gaps or running
lanes for the return man to sprint into and through to open space
beyond the coverage wall. In post-game interviews following every
game in 2014, Fitz has voiced his frustration regarding a chronic lack
of discipline from his kick cover teams personnel to maintain correct
coverage lane integrity; and on Minnie’s KO return that followed NU’s
game-tying TD in mid-Q4, it showed itself once more in
spades.
That Wildcat kick-off drifted to the left third of the field and at
least 7 players from the ‘Cat KO coverage team collapsed too early to
front that left 3rd area and stone the Minnie KR. 3 of those 7
cover players sprinting hard upfield in the midfield lanes, the wedge
busters – the toughest hombres on the squad, were blocked effectively
into a bunch towards the center of the field creating a 10 yard lane to
their immediate right. The Rodent KR, Jalen Myrick, a true Frosh
and former high school sprint champion form Georgia, received the kick
2 yards deep in his end zone, sprinted downfield, saw the lane open to
his left then ignited his afterburners and darted into and through it
to paydirt. Another overt example of lack of discipline by the
Wildcat special teams players.
The final special teams gaffe for the ‘Cats was a gnarly 11-yard punt
shank off the foot of Wildcat K Gradone after NU’s offensive series,
following Minnie’s TD KO return, stalled at the ‘Cat 39. The
shanked punt proved inconsequential with the exception that it allowed
the Mighty Marmots to burn 2 minutes and change off the game clock in
the Rodent possession that followed – time dearly needed by the ‘Cat O
in their bid to mount a comeback drive in the game’s waning
minutes.
Conclusion
“Mistakes, followed by more mistakes, followed by yet another monumental special teams field play gaffe”
- a storyline that described the Wildcats’ afternoon against the Mighty
Marmots to a “T”. This game featured two evenly matched
combatants whose universal make-up and mettle were going to be tested
early and often as they fought hard for the B1G “Best of the West”
championship belt. And it didn’t disappoint.
Mind you, the Golden Rodents were not necessarily the better team; they
simply were the more disciplined team who took advantage of the many
mistakes made by their Purple opponents in all 3 phases of the
game. Minnie HC Jerry Kill did a commendable job in preparing his
troops to capture this classic “W”; but in retrospect, I still feel
that this contentious contest was controlled more by the ‘Cats, who
just failed once again to “seal the deal” late in the game. I
honestly cannot comprehend the underlying near-pathological causes upon
which the ‘Cats collectively lose their composure and commitment to
excellence whenever the spotlight of collegiate football media and fan
attention gets trained on them. This stage fright-like, brain
freeze reaction to that spotlight is more symptomatic of a young
football team. However, the 2014 Wildcats are not a young team,
in spite of the many underclassmen who have been called-upon by Fitz’
to do their best in his “Next Man Up” philosophy that has been
exercised liberally over the course of the 2014 campaign. No,
this latest gridiron shortfall is more due to loss of focus by the
individual player. A coach can train his players regarding the
correct techniques and proper mindset needed to successfully execute
those techniques while in the heat of the battle; however it’s up to
the singular football athlete to ignore the glare of that spotlight and
basically make plays as he was mentored to deliver.
This game happened to contain more game-deciding field play failures on
the part on the athletes dressed in Purple and White than the failures
of the athletes dressed in Gold and Maroon. And that’s the very
reason that Fitz, a HC who wears his emotions on his sleeve, continues
to reveal his heartfelt angst and frustration when commenting during
post-game interviews on what just had occurred with his team.
Wildcat Nation is equally as frustrated.
Now on to face the frontrunners for the B1G Western Division
championship: the Nebraska BugEaters, a team who got punched squarely
in the puss by the Green Meanies of Sparta two weekends hence.
Once again, the ‘Cats face another power ground game that features yet
another highly prolific yardage producing RB in the BugEaters’ Ameer
Abdullah. And once again, the ‘Cats face their 4th consecutive
B1G opponent who has had a chance to lick their wounds during their bye
week prior to this coming Saturday’s homecoming contest in Dyche’s
Ditch.
I don’t know what was behind the dubious decisions which forced one
team, the Wildcats, to face 4 consecutive conference foes after each
had been scheduled their annual bye on the previous week. That
whole situation is nothing less than totally unfair to the ‘Cats; and
Northwestern AD Jim Phillips would be extremely justified in calling
those jack-hole B1G talking heads on the carpet to explain their
motivation in establishing this schedule.
Talk about dog-piling on the ‘Cats…
The Waterboy
“Win with Grace, Lose with Dignity”
He’s a Lumberjack
This week’s Lumberjack Trophy is awarded to ‘Cat CB, Nick VanHoose.
VanHoose had an up and down afternoon last Saturday against the Mighty
Marmots. True, he was burned on a couple of deep pass routes from
Minnie WRs, yet on another deep pass route defense involving the deep
pass coverage hand-off, as was detailed above, he successfully executed
the perfect hand-off technique between the SS and CB and came-away with
his 2nd INT of the season.
However, what stood out for Mr. VanHoose was his superior technique
exhibited during close run-after-catch support on Minnie pass
completions into the flats or short sideline zone. On at least 3
separate plays, Rodent QB Leidner tossed a soft floater pass to a RB or
a TE running a route into the short sideline zone; and VanHoose,
recognizing that short probe pass, charged upfield to meet the receiver
with bad intent and lowered the boom just as the receiver completed the
reception. On each occasion, VanHoose maintained classic hitter’s
position: head up, wide-base, weight forward on the balls of his feet;
made contact with his pads into the chest of the receiver then lifted
that WR off his feet, drove him backwards a full 4-plus yards and
finished the tackle by turning the WR into the turf. Classic
one-on-one, open-field tackling at its very best.
Congratulations, sir.
|
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.
