Nov. 27, 2014
A November To Remember?
You saw it, I saw it; and anyone else who, however briefly, might have
switched their TV channel changer to the NU vs Perdue Broiler Chicken
game last Saturday saw it as well (and who among any casual B1G
football fan would have wasted more than a just a few minutes watching
this literal train wreck for the home team). The Wildcats
unwrapped, exposed then gobbled-up the softest, lowest caloric valued
Twinkie in the B1G conference on their trip into West Laughable,
Indiana for their 3rd conference “W” of this 2014 campaign. Truth
be told, this contest was more mercy killing than an actual victory
simply because the Broiler Chickens are that Gawd awful; lacking most
anything that resembles competitive ability in all 3 phases of the
game, even worse than the Pumpkinheads of Ill-Annoy, and that is saying
quite a mouthful. However, in retrospect, I must admit the game
was quite refreshing – to finally watch the ‘Cats dispatch a much
lesser opponent with pedestrian playmaking efficacy rather than playing
down to the level of this pizz-poor opponent and surviving yet another
character-building nail-biter that once more would test the mettle of
the much superior ‘Cats.
Prior to the ‘Cats’ grapple with the Noted Dames in Sow Bend last
weekend, Fitz had told his players to harken back to their halcyon high
school football days, and in particular, to the unbounded excitement,
the pressure to perform and the lessons learned surrounding those
critical win-or-go-home games during their individual teams’ state H.S.
championship playoff runs held in November. Fitz then told his
troops that the challenge they were about to face in their final three
B1G contests of the 2014 season was exactly the same – same excitement,
same pressure and same chance to learn and improve upon earlier
mistakes made – as had they experienced in their H.S. football careers
with this collegiate football moment’s brass ring prize being the
opportunity to secure that much sought-after 6th “W” that would make
the ‘Cats eligible for post-season bowl consideration. When I
first heard it, I thought that such a mental exercise was both
motivationally innovative and to-the-heart-of-the-matter honest – that
Fitz could call-upon each player’s recollection of what it took,
personally, to get the job done in their team’s drive to secure their
state’s ultimate pigskin prize: that highly-coveted H.S. football
championship trophy. Most assuredly, this tactic wasn’t
theatrics, not by a long shot. It was a message from the heart of
their HC to that special place within the individual heart of each
player that made him choose football as his athletic vocation of
choice. And that choice was going to be put to another ultimate
test of “win and advance” survival.
The ‘Cats responded in kind to Fitz’ thoughtful memory jogging with a
hard fought road game victory against a prohibitive double-digit
favorite Noted Dames team that is bound to become a distinctive part of
Northwestern football lore with the passing of years. But that
“W”, historically significant as it undoubtedly is, was merely the
opening act of a 3-act stage play to be acted-out by the 2014
Wildcats. Act 2 was Saturday’s throttling of an overmatched
Perdue Broiler Chicken team that many non-Pollyanna Wildcat fans
forewarned might give the ‘Cats fits if they let them hang around long
enough to give them fits. Thankfully, the ‘Cats took care of
their business with Perdue early enough in the contest to dispel most
of those doom and gloom prognostications. However, this easy “W’
was purchased at a soon-to-be-determined price tag: a profound,
season-ending injury to NU’s most depended-upon playmaker.
Now it’s up to the remaining Wildcat survivors to seal the deal
regarding this 3-act win-or-go-home stage play. If the ‘Cat can
rise to the challenge of besting their in-state arch-rival, the
Ill-Annoy Pumpkinheads, and deliver that 3rd and last “W” of this most
unlikely string of victories which would give them bowl eligibility in
2014, this month truly would be a November To Remember.
Stay tuned for more...
How the ‘Cats Deep Fried the Perdue Broiler Chickens
The IC Show
IMHO, there isn’t a single football player in the B1G today, or perhaps
only a select few in any other Power 5 conference within Division 1A
for that matter, who epitomizes the pigskin field play philosophy of
“playing behind your pads” more than Senior ‘Cat SS Ibrahim
Campbell. Frankly, there have been very rare occasions during his
Northwestern football career where Campbell‘s passion for the game,
commitment to excellence and relentless determination to make his
presence felt on the field hasn’t authenticated him to be anything less
than a man playing among boys.
By far, he represents Northwestern’s most likely candidate to be drafted by an NFL team in 2015.
Against the Broiler Chickens, Mr. Campbell, per usual, led by example
in showing his Wildcat teammates just what it takes to dominate one’s
opposition through intimidating in-your-face physical field play.
Ibrahim’s final stats – which included 8 tackles (6 solo & 2
assists), 2 PBU, a forced fumble and recovery, and his 3rd INT for the
2014 season – just don’t do him justice regarding the immeasurable
defensive contribution he provided in shutting-down the Perdue O last
weekend. He was simply everywhere and anywhere a Broiler
Chicken ball carrier toted the bean. When reviewing the
game via BTN replay in stop-go and repeat mode with my usual
discerning, critical eye towards details, I was in awe. Not once
did I see him out of position nor was he ever totally blocked and taken
completely out of the picture on any one down. It didn’t matter
what play was being executed by the Perdue O, run or pass; Campbell
sniffed out the POA and attacked the ball carrier with regular
intensity. His high quality field play was infectious to every
one of his defensive teammates, who recognized the Senior’s stalwart
energy and emulated it progressively as the game wore on. No
doubt this commendable wholesale effort from every Wildcat defensive
position was a very welcome sight to Fitz and Doc, especially in
retrospect to the defensive train wreck showing given by these same
players in the Iowa debacle three Saturdays prior. And it all was
instigated by NU’s firebrand defensive leader, Ibrahim Campbell.
Hair On Fire
Doc Hankwitz had his D loaded for bear when he turned them loose
against the Perdue offense, led by Broiler Chicken QB Austin Appleby
and its two-headed starting RB in the guise of Akeem Hunt and Raheem
Mostert. Over the course of their 2014 campaign, Perdue had shown
an uncanny characteristic to keep in relative close contact
scoring-wise with their opposition for whole portions of the game, only
to get overwhelmed eventually and lose by double digit deficits due to
just a few game-deciding field play gaffes by their primary
playmakers. The best, most poignant example of Perdue’s failure
to finish tendency can be observed in their game against Mich State, in
which the Broiler Chickens had crawled out from a 3 TD hole with 2
quick-strike TDs of their own, cutting Sparty’s lead to 7 precious
points in mid Q4. Then, with just under 3 minutes left on the
game clock, Appleby and Co. found themselves in possession of the bean
deep in their own territory, at their 5 yard line, fanaticizing on an
implausible chance to complete their comeback with a tying TD that
would send the game into OT. Unfortunately, the brainfart bug bit
Appleby squarely in his buttocks when he hand-delivered a pick-6 TD to
State’s secondary on the ensuing drive to deposit Perdue back down into
another insurmountable 14-point hole and dash their dreams of pounding
a debilitating dent in Sparty’s repeat B1G Division champion
armor.
This end-game pick-6 turnover example underscores Perdue’s ongoing
penchant to self-destruct under pressure from either side of the
LOS. Consequently, Doc constructed a defensive game plan to
exploit this turnover tendency by the Broiler Chicken O and
specifically commanded his troops to aggressively attack the ball with
extreme prejudice and go for the RB strip or jump the pass route
whenever the opportunity presented itself. And did the Wildcat D
personnel, to a man, ever respond to this go-for-the-jugular
directive.
From the game’s opening whistle, the ‘Cat defense was flying around
like their hair was on fire, if only because their in-game,
per-position reads provided by NU’s defensive brain trust were spot on,
eliminating any doubt regarding what play was being executed and
proffering to those defenders the extreme confidence to trust those
game-plan reads, which, in turn, allowed them to pin their collective
ears back and pursue the ball without hesitation. If
Appleby probed NU’s short boundary pass zones with a WR bubble screen
near a sideline, for example, the ‘Cat DE to that side shed his OL
blocker, abandoning his defensive contain responsibility, then flew to
the ball in inside-out run support while his outside CB and Safety
teammates sprinted hard upfield, avoided any wide receiver blockers on
the way and stuffed the ball’s downfield progress in front-side run
support. Witnessing these multiple defensive positions converge
on the bean in unison and with utter abandon then stone the ball
carrier for minimal yardage gains with relative consistency was a thing
of beauty.
This relentless universal pursuit to the ball by the ‘Cat defense
showed dividends early and often, as they forced turnovers in bunches
from the Broiler Chicken offensive playmakers, just like Doc had
predicted, especially in H-1. Doc’s D was dialed-in and went
bananas particularly in defending Perdue’s occasionally explosive
ground game, limiting PU’s first half rushing gains to a measly 42
yards off 18 attempts. The Broiler Chicken passing attack fared
little better in H-1, as Appleby completed 11 of 21 pass attempts
collecting a paltry 87 yards in the process, 61 of which were gained on
Perdue’s only possession of consequence of H-1, its last, which
resulted in PU’s only non-garbage time TD score of the
game. Meanwhile, the ‘Cat D did some ball-hawk collecting
of their own by snaring 3 recoveries off 3 forced fumbles, complimented
by an INT on Perdue’s opening offensive drive of the game. These
4 TOs afforded the ‘Cat O 4 extra possessions in H-1, 3 of which were
converted into 2 TDs and a FG, totaling 17 points. Together with
PR Tony Jones’ highlight reel punt return for a TD, those 17 points off
TOs and Mr. Jones’ 7-point PR contribution spotted the ‘Cats an easy
24-0 lead from which they never looked back, leaving the befuddled and
disheartened Broiler Chickens far behind, eating NU’s dust.
It’s about time.
Double Duty
Something surprisingly wonderful has emerged over the course of the
last 3 games for the Offensive Wildcats: a dynamic duo RB tandem.
Virtually everyone from media pundits, to television broadcasters, to
B1G coaching staffs and B1G fanbases alike have recognized the
impressive yardage production capabilities of NU’s true Frosh
Phenom RB, Justin Jackson. However, any true ‘Cat fan would
be highly remiss if he failed recognize the critically substantial
contribution of Senior RB Treyvon Greene to NU’s progressively
effective ground game. The rushing field play of each individual
RB compliments the other’s playmaking abilities; and this collaboration
was evident and highly effective in the Wildcats’ game against the
Boiler Chickens.
Essentially, Perdue’s defense had no answer to the problem posed by OC
Mick McCall’s Purple RB tandem. Reprising the results he had
generated against the Noted Dames when he rushed for 149 yards on 23
attempts, Jackson scorched the Broiler Chickens for similar rushing
totals: 147 yards on 23 rushing attempts, putting the Frosh over the
1000-yard mark and ranking him second in total rushing yards for a
Frosh in NU history behind Tyrell Sutton’s eye-popping freshmen rushing
record of 1474 yards gained in 2005. And to think: Justin has
this coming Saturday’s tilt against the rush prevention-challenged
Ill-Annoy defense against whom he will pad his already remarkable
rushing statistics. Just remain healthy Mr. Jackson.
Meanwhile, Treyvon Greene made his own rushing mark of sorts with a
commendable 66-yard day, highlighted by a nifty 44 yard scamper in Q1,
his second 40-plus explosion rush in as many games. Greene’s dash
to daylight down the left sidelines ended at the Perdue 25 and set-up
NU’s first score of the contest: a pitch-n-catch completion from
Siemian to his preferred receiver, SB Dan “The Man” Vitale, running a
sweet wheel route from the slot WR position into the Broiler Chicken
end zone. A balanced offensive attack is a very good thing
indeed. And if the ‘Cat OL do their part in maintaining an
effective spread attack zone blocking profile, the RB tandem of Jackson
and Greene will do their level best to deliver the scoring goods via
the ground. I expect nothing less.
Conclusion
OK, so the ‘Cats did the needful and dutifully devoured a Twinkie with
their 24-point drubbing of an under-manned Perdue Broiler Chicken
team. Big Whoop-Dee-Doo.
Now, quite literally, the stage is set for the 3rd act of the Wildcats’
improbable 3-act “drive to survive” passion play. For the first
time in more than a dozen seasons of playing their mutual rivalry game,
this weekend’s game means as much to the Ill-Whine-I as it does for the
‘Cats: bowl eligibility. Similar to the ‘Cats’ pigskin record in
2014, Ill-Annoy sports its own 5-6 overall record, albeit a record in
which the Ill-Whine-I dropped 5 games of a 6-game stretch and whose
5-win total was bolstered considerably by a cupcake-laden
out-of-conference slate that included such fear-inducing foes as the
Youngstown State Penguins, the Western Kentucky Red Blobs and the Texas
State Bobble-Heads. I’m sure Fitz would have been shaking in his
booties at the prospect of his ‘Cats facing these daunting OOC
opponents. C’mon, man… Texas State? Get real… No?
Then again, HC Tim Beckman, The Erudite, and his pumpkin-headed
Ill-Whine-I did capture a quality win in defeating B1G Western Division
Pretenders: a burnt-out Minnie Mighty Marmot team on the road at TCF
Stadium, one week after the Marmots totally blew their competitive wad
in a good ol’ Wild West shoot-out for an exhausting 39-38 “W” against
none other than… The Perdue Broiler Chickens.
So the Broiler Chickens were then; and the Ill-Whine-I are now for the Wildcats.
The biggest problem for the ‘Cats when opposing the wholly putrid
Pumpkinheads from Shampoo-Banana will be the absence of Fitz and Mick
McCall’s love-child QB, Trevor Siemian, whose collegiate career
abruptly ended when TS sustained a inexplicable season-ending ACL
injury on a simple1-yard QB sneak attempt to gain a 1st down in Q1 of
this very game against Perdue. Hard to imagine, after all the
substantial ink and heartburn spent towards 1) explaining Siemian’s
debilitating season-long right ankle injury that severely hampered
every aspect of his game right up to and through NU’s road victory
against the Noted Dames and 2) justifying his continued use as the
starting QB of choice in OC Mick McCall’s game plans for every football
contest thus far in the 2014 campaign, that TS’ final departure from
his starting QB role was dictated by a bizarre twist of fate (pun
intended) off a purely pedestrian play like a QB sneak. The mind
boggles at the thought.
Moving on, Siemian’s No. 1 backup QB, Zack Oliver, answers the “Next
Man Up” call for the starting QB position within OC McCall’s offensive
against despised rival Ill-Annoy. For most of the 2014
season, I had clamored vociferously for a QB substitute, any QB
substitute quite frankly, to replace the immobile, traffic cone-like
Trevor Siemian and his obvious acutely sprained ankle with a more
mobile primary ball handler who currently resided, dormant and
untested, within Mick McCall’s QB stable. Despite a resounding
H.S. reputation as a deserving 4-star QB recruit, the number of real
game downs played by Oliver in 2014 can be counted on the digits
between both pairs of hands and feet. However, when facing the
defense-deficient Broiler Chickens last Saturday, he did have a modicum
of success, running the QB side of the spread option for 23 yards on 6
rushes and while completing 5 of 11 pass attempts for 85 yards.
Not necessarily awe-inspiring numbers, to be sure, but positive totals
all the same.
Now Oliver receives the tap on the shoulder announcing his ascendancy
to the starting QB role for the Wildcats. I am confident that
Zack will perform adequately if not very well in his collegiate
starting QB debut against the Ill-Annoy Pumkinheads – just as he had
done when extemporaneously called-upon to carry the quarterbacking
torch as NU’s primary offensive ball handler against Perdue. I
fully trust that McCall will tutor Oliver with an intensive crash
course this week on the finer points of running the spread option more
effectively than he did facing the Broiler Chicken D and in going
through his receiver progressions more smoothly and efficiently on
passing plays, especially those progressions for McCall’s red zone pass
series and his vertical pass series. When passing against the
Perdue secondary, Oliver showed that he has the skillset to throw the
crisp, on-target, in-stride long ball. What I don’t want to see
is a dummied-down passing attack that is heavily restricted to McCall’s
dink-n-dunk series alone, but contains a complete set of vertical
downfield pass options to stretch the Ill-Whine-I secondary that would
open-up a bevy of alternative rushing and passing options. If
not, even a buffoon like Ill-Whine-I HC Beckman will pack the box to
stone NU’s rushing tandem and then jam the ‘Cats’ WRs at the LOS to
confuse Oliver with tight blanket coverage schemes that would make him
hesitant to throw into that coverage and set himself up to be
victimized by the Ill-Annoy pass rush.
The Waterboy
“Win with Grace, Lose with Dignity”
He’s a Lumberjack
This week’s Lumberjack Trophy is awarded to Senior ‘Cat SS Ibrahim Campbell.
This award commemorates not one, but two killer run support plays by
Mr. Campbell which underscored why he remains the indisputable heart
and soul leader of DC Doc Hankwitz’ defensive squad in 2014.
Campbell’s 1st display of raw power mixed with grit and intimate
knowledge of how to bring heavy lumber to bear on a targeted ball
carrier came on Perdue’s first offensive play from scrimmage after
substitute QB Matt Alviti was stripped of the bean off a spread option
run at the 9-minute mark of Q2. On a toss sprint play attacking
NU’s defensive edge to the wide side of the field, Broiler Chicken RB,
Akeem Hunt, made his cut downfield behind the block of his pulling
guard who engaged the ‘Cats’ strong-side CB who assumed corner contain
responsibility. From his initial SS position within NU’s cover-2
set, Ibrahim had an unobstructed view of the play’s proceedings as Hunt
snagged the lateral from Appleby, sprinted to top of the 8 hole (wide
of NU’s DE and inside the engaged OG-CB duo) at the LOS and made his
turn towards the open lane to the inside of his OG’s block. Mr.
Campbell sprinted hard upfield into that 8-hole lane, trained his cross
hairs on Mr.Hunt and met him with equivalent portions of heavy lumber
mixed with bad intent. Campbell careened full bore into Hunt’s
grill at the LOS, de-cleating the Perdue RB, and depositing him rudely
into the turf 2 full yards upfield from the point where he initially
kissed the ball carrier. Witnessing Ibrahim’s impressive
slobber-knocker shot that stoned Hunt in his tracks made the hairs on
the back of my neck stand on end.
Campbell’s 2nd qualifying bomb came with a minute left before the first
half intermission against another rush by Perdue RB Akeem Hunt, who
made a cutback run away from the original point-of-attack (POA) at the
left A-gap and into the open space on the backside of the LOS, just
right of the fully engaged OL-DL line. Ibrahim, positioned once
again in his typical cover-2 spot, recognized the dive rush by reading
the inside release motion of the Perdue Superback, initially positioned
as a wing-slot back just outside the wide-side Broiler Chicken OT, as
he initiated a down block on the ‘Cat DE to his inside.
Interpreting an inside handoff for a dive into the LOS from his SB
motion read, Campbell charged hard upfield in run support to NU’s
wide-side/left defensive edge. Without a doubt, Mr. Hunt never
saw the Campbell Express Train heading straight towards him as he made
his backside cut downfield. Ibrahim met Hunt at the LOS once
again with heavy lumber in hand and swung it hard square into the RB’s
facemask, snapping the ball carrier’s head straight back and turning
his legs unto a pliable bunch of rubber bands. Hunt crumpled to
the turf in a heap of limp meat in the sure grip of Campbell. I’m
sure Mr. Hunt’s eventful evening following the game was filled with a
throbbing headache and some fuzzy, vague recollection of his
up-front-and-personal encounter with the Campbell Express.
Congratulations, Ibrahim. You deserve every bit of the recognition that comes with this presentation.
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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.