Oct. 1, 2015
Night of the Living Dead Birds
In
many a pregame conversation I had with members of Wildcat Nation, the
enigmatic label: “trap game” was voiced frequently when describing the
Wildcats’ upcoming night game against a good but not necessarily great
Ball State Dead Birds. “Trap game” has connotations that run the
gamut of the college football pessimist, from the mildly cautious to
extremely apprehensive. But at its foundation, the moniker
denotes a game in which the potential for an upset at the hands of an
identified but capable underdog is substantial, regardless of whether
or not that threat is real or imagined, especially when that next match
follows immediately upon the heels of a tough, competitive contest
wrought with high emotions and even higher expectations towards
demonstrating much-improved levels of quality field play carried-over
from the previous weekend.
By that very definition, the 3-0 ‘Cats, who had taken the measure of an
undefeated team from an academic rival, the Dookie Blue Dumpsters, last
Saturday in a thrilling, passionate, hard fought road game in Durham,
NC, that was secured only in the grapple’s waning minutes, were ripe
for the picking by that respect-starved MAC team from Muncie,
Indiana. If the double-digit dog Dead Birds could steal a victory
over the mentally and emotionally hung-over ‘Cats, the game most
certainly would end-up being the crown jewel of Ball State’s 2015
season. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, the NU football program
possesses an abnormally exasperating penchant in recent fall campaigns
to lose at least one such walk-over tilt per season as a prohibitive
favorite.
And the Dead Birds nearly pulled-off the “W” rabbit-out-of-the-hat trick on the Elysian fields-like turf of Dyche’s Ditch.
One major item of note: at 2-1, Ball State is not your run-of-the-mill,
cannon fodder, Division 1A Tier-2 foe. To his credit, Dead Bird
HC, Pete Limbo, had recruited particularly well on the offensive side
of the LOS with serviceable, if not commendable skill position talent,
especially at QB in fearless True Frosh gunslinger Riley Neal and at
WR, specifically in Senior catch-everything-thrown-his-way Jordan
Williams, who most assuredly will collect Sunday paychecks for his
gridiron services in 2016. Thus far this fall, the Dead Reds
canned a putrid VMI squad in their season opener and bested their first
2015 MAC opponent, a woeful Eastern Michigan, last weekend, rallying
from a 17-point deficit with 28 unanswered points in H-2 for the
win. In its ‘tweener game, Ball State showed its offensive mettle
once again, scoring 23 points in a losing cause on the road against the
14th-ranked aTm Horticulturalists. In short, the offensive
cupboard of NU’s MAC opponent was not bare… No Sir, not by a long
shot.
However, the Dead Birds’ defensive talent larder is the antithesis of
its offense – they are virtually thread-bare and porous; and have shown
a marked tendency to give-up substantial points to their opposition in
all 3 games they played in 2015. Consequently, battling Ball
State’s deficient defense might prove to be the sorely needed booster
shot of corrective confidence that attending physician OC Mick McCall
planned to inject into his QB of choice, Clayton Thorson, in order to
remedy the newbie RS-Frosh’s near terminal malaise of poor playmaking
exhibited over his first three games as the ‘Cats’ starting
quarterback. I suspected that this “prescription” was one of
several prevalent field play performance “cures” concocted by Fitz and
his offensive brain trust. Most logical pre-game assessments of
the relative offensive scoring capacities of either team predicted that
whatever points the Ball State O might tally on the Dyche’s Ditch
scoreboard would be doubled-up by the “cured” and revitalized
Thorson-led ‘Cat O competing against the sieve-like Dead Bird D.
Prospects for an easy “W” looked very promising.
However in reality, Ball State assumed their self-designated role as
spoilers to NU’s current undefeated status very seriously indeed and
was primed to stick a poison-tipped shiv between the ribs of the
17-point favorite, media darling ‘Cats whenever, wherever the
opportunity presented itself. In fact, the visitors broke
customary entrance protocol when the Dead Birds waited until the ‘Cats
took the field first, with Fitz leading the charge of his purple-clad
troops. Only after waiting for the host team to finish their jog
onto Ryan Field and for the accompanying enthusiastic cheering from
their Purple fan base in the stands to die down, did the visiting team
from Munchkin, IN run onto the gridiron of Dyche’s Ditch. To many
Wildcat fans in attendance, this breach of entrance sequence etiquette
meant little, if nothing at all. Nevertheless, when the Dead
Birds entered the field of battle last among the two combatants, to
observant traditionalists and former football players witnessing this
subtle unfolding drama, it represented a veiled snub – a thumb of their
noses at and a poke in the eye to the host ‘Cats.
So… A venom-filled gauntlet had been thrown at the feet of Fitz
and the ‘Cats. Then the referee blew his whistle sounding the
commencement of hostilities…
How the ‘Cats Survived
Their Night of the Living Dead Birds
Feed the Beast
Heading into this contest, the Wildcats’ fielded what on paper was the
nation’s No. 1-ranked statistical defense among all 129 member football
teams which comprise the NCAA’s Division 1A (a.k.a.: the “FBS”).
It’s a sad but poignantly true fact that this high defensive rank was
nothing more than a gratuitous platitude because, in their previous 3
matches, the ‘Cats either competed against a wholly inept offense
(read: Eastern Illinois) or faced an offense which underperformed
remarkably below their noted potential or reputation (read: the
21st-ranked Stanford and the ACC Coastal Division Championship
contender Dookies). In fact, when the Stanford EverGreens and
Dookie Blue Dumpsters had regrouped their offensive player personnel in
the week following their respective individual loss to NU, then
reviewed game films and applied the necessary strategic corrections to
reverse their devastating poor field play tendencies, both team
offenses went out and absolutely destroyed the defenses of the next
ranked opponent they confronted. For Stanford, that would be the
6th-ranked USC Trojan Condoms; and for the Dookies, it was the
20th-ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Stains. Fortunately for NU, DC
Doc Hankwitz and his motivated Purple defenders had caught the
high-powered offenses for each of those two quality foes with their
proverbial right wrist hog-tied to their left ankle resulting in an
ultimate bad yardage production afternoon.
In contrast, the Dead Bird O, much to their credit, wasn’t the
accommodating stumbly-bumbly opposition that the ‘Cats opposed in those
first 3 games, but had prepared themselves to take-on the Wildcat D’s
best and play the part of ravenous flesh-eating zombies, reminiscent of
the undead from the classic horror flick: Night of the Living Dead,
with a focused determination to pursue and devour any opposing NU
defensive player with a vengeance. Essentially, the trench
warfare between the Dead Bird OL and the ‘Cat D, especially their
defensive front 7, transitioned into a tooth and nail dogfight from
which only the fittest or luckiest survived unscathed.
The Wildcat secondary took the most critical body blows.
CB/Safety Kyle Queiro suffered what appeared to be a broken forearm
when trying to tackle Dead Bird QB Riley Neal running a QB keeper off
the read option into open space in Q1 and could be lost for the
season. SS Godwin Igwebuike absorbed a major ding, was removed
from the field and remained parked on the bench for the remainder of
the game. During his Monday presser, Fitz mentioned that Godwin’s
availability was day-to-day. On the offensive side of the LOS,
hapless veteran OT Geoff Mogus sustained a bone jarring
helmet-to-helmet shot in Q1 that could keep this integral cog in NU’s
OL wheel out of the ‘Cat lineup for several weeks. During a Q1
kick-off return, Sophomore SB/Special Teams Specialist Garrett
Dickerson got his ankle rolled-up from behind and was assisted off the
field. On the last down of Q1, DT C.J. Robbins sustained a shot
to his left shoulder/arm and walked to the NU sidelines. From the
accounts above, it’s an easy task to draw a visceral image of the
hard-hitting, take-no-prisoner war of attrition unfolding on Ryan
Field.
From the opening whistle, Ball State’s OL took the fight flush into the
grill of the ‘Cat DL and beat them to the punch at the point of attack
with surprising regularity, especially in H-1. Final Dead Bird
offensive statistics accumulated for the game tell the tale: 181 total
yards on 34 rushes (a 5.3 yards-gained average); 18 total 1st downs (8
via the rush, 7 via the pass & 2 on penalties); and although
first-time starter QB Riley Neal completed only 14 passes, the
dual-threat QB still threw for 178 total yards, rushed for an
additional 74 yards primarily off the QB read option, and scored 2 TDs,
each off explosion play pass completions. Most significant of
all, the ‘Cat D recorded only 3 TFLs and no QB sacks or hurries over
the game’s entirety. That’s right… Zero, Zip, Zilch
noteworthy shots laid on Ball State’s newly-installed primary ball
handler. Although the Dead Bird O, with a newbie QB Neal at its
helm switching between running the read option and throwing pin-point
darts to his talented WRs, like Jordan Williams, necessarily may not be
the second coming of the BuckNut offense led by QB Cardale Jones and
Co., the unit certainly gave the vaunted ‘Cat defense all they could
handle for whole portions of the game. The visitor’s offensive
field play successes in H-1 exposed many shortcomings in the process,
like continually catching NU’s LB corps out of position or slow to
react against Dead Bird read option rushes, or better still,
neutralizing the normally high-powered Purple Pass Rush with
well-conceived roll-out pass plays and zone pass blocking
schemes.
So much for the Wildcats’ media-hyped “No. 1 Division 1A defense in the land” nonsense.
However, contrary to the above negatives, all wasn’t black crepe and
morbid failures for the Purple D. Doc’s defense did awake, in
fact, from their first half-long stupor and began to assert itself just
in the nick of time to coordinate some tactical stoppages laid on the
Ball State offense in H-2 with newbie QB Clayton Thorson’s personal
performance resurrection from the dead in Q3 and beyond (e.g.:
respecting the damn bean and holding onto it with added due
diligence). One notable positive: the Purple D’s demonstrated an
ever increasing ability to stone Ball State’s QB read option with more
thorough consistency as the game progressed, despite giving-up ground
game explosion plays of 22-yards to Mr. Neal, 21-yards to RB Darian
Green and another 34-yard jaunt to RB James Gilbert just before Neal
and Green’s miss-handled pigskin handoff that resulted in that timely
TO fumble recovery by the ‘Cats at their 4-yard line. Another
positive: the Wildcat D was able to limit the Dead Bird O to just 5 (of
their 18 total) 1st downs in H-2, one of which was a giftie to the
visitors off a holding penalty by the ‘Cat defense. A third
crucial positive: NU’s defensive secondary did a relatively decent job
of containing the aerial circus bloodletting by Ball State’s gunslinger
QB Riley Neal despite the injuries to key secondary personnel.
Both Dead Bird TD pass completions were explosion plays – a 22-yader in
Q2 and a 29-yarder in Q3 – in which the ‘Cat cover DB exercised
textbook pass coverage technique and positioned himself right on top of
the target WR for a potential PBU; then the receiver simply
out-stretched (on TD #1) and out-jumped (on TD #2) the NU defender to
make an outstanding grab of the bean around/over the defensive back’s
outstretched hands, respectively. On either completion, you
simply have to tip your hat to the Ball State WR for his superior pass
catching execution.
Bottom line: the high quality playmaking beast that is the Wildcat
defensive 2-deep personnel exercised Doc’s game plan and kept plugging
away, feeding off each other’s successes while shrugging-off their
failures and progressively improving their overall field play
effectiveness as the game wore on (a common characteristic of superior
college defenses), even when the contest’s competitive intensity meter
red-lined. A few misinformed fans grumbled about MLB Anthony
Walker’s limited impact on NU’s defensive efficacy, but that was due
primarily to his responsibility assignments which directed him away
from the eventual path of the ball carrier. Sometimes a defensive
scheme will take the best defenders out from the offensive play’s flow;
and it happened early and often to Mr. Walker and other valued Wildcat
defenders. Not to worry. Doc has enough talent depth at
every defensive position to collapse-on and halt the advance of the
ball, regardless of mounting injuries.
Audentis Fortuna Iuvat
This famous Latin proverb is attributed to the Roman playwright,
Publius Terentius, from his 2nd century BC play, Phormio; and quoted
most notably in The Aeneid by Virgil. Translated from Latin to
English, it means: “Fortune Favors the Bold” (or “the Brave”; also “the
Prepared” or “the Well-Armed”). And when defending the point
production prowess of the Riley Neal-led Dead Bird O, the ‘Cat D, on
occasion, was in dire need of the Roman Goddess Fortune’s favor in the
biggest way, especially in H-1.
In Q1, the ‘Cats dodged a Ball State bullet when the Dead Birds’ True
Frosh K, Morgan Hagee, pushed his 43-yard FG attempt wide right.
The ‘Cats dodged another shot to the solar plexus when Mr. Hagee missed
his next FG attempt, a 40-yarder in Q2, that he pushed wide right once
more. Newbie K Hagee’s personal place kicking nightmare continued
when his PAT attempt late in Q3 was blocked cleanly by ‘Cat DE Dean
Lowry. Then, in a possession spanning Q1 to Q2, the Dead Bird O
displayed their yardage production acumen as they gobbled-up 67 yards
in 6 plays, setting the LOS at the NU 6 yard line and poised to deliver
a go-ahead TD. On the very next play from scrimmage, the first of
Q2, Ball State QB Riley Neal collided with his RB James Gilbert while
attempting a routine read option handoff. The bean dropped to the
turf and was summarily scooped-up by ‘Cat SS Traveon Henry at the NU 4
to thwart the Dead Bird’s golden scoring opportunity to take the
lead. This hot-n-flaky French pastry proved to be THE most
significant turnover of the game for either side.
The sum total of missed or bungled scoring opportunities by the Ball
State O over the course of the contest amounted to 14 precious points,
which, if converted, shoulda , woulda, coulda made all the difference
in the world in the game’s final scoreboard tally. Indeed,
Miss Fortune smiled sweetly on the ‘Cats last Saturday.
P&C-T-F-B
This acronym is a play on the well-known baseball-softball acronym,
H&C-T-F-B, meaning: “Hit and Catch-The-Effing-Ball.” A quick
substitute of the baseball “H” with a football “P” – for “Pass” – then
the gist of the acronym’s message becomes clear. When Ball
State’s D consistently stuffed OC Mick McCall’s designed early down
rushing plays for little to no yardage gains, I began to openly grouse
to anyone within earshot that it was becoming imperative that the
‘Cats’ offensive game plan adjust from its original run-first model to
a pass-first paradigm, if only to get better yardage production on 1st
down.
It wasn’t that the Dead Bird D was loading the box with defensive
numbers; it was more the case where one or two individual ‘Cat OL per
play appeared to be sleep-walking and plainly whiffed on their assigned
blocking targets, while newbie QB Thorson experienced his typical
somnolent, on-again/off-again break out from the passing attack
starting gate. Exacerbating Thorson’s early passing woes were
more out-n-out drops even when the bean was thrown accurately in stride
and on target to its intended receiver. A controlled
pitch-n-catch pass between Thorson and his focus-challenged receiving
corps on 1st down could provide the necessary mutual dynamic to settle
the RS Frosh into a more effective throwing rhythm and to allow his
receiving targets to synchronize themselves with their QB for the rest
of downs in an offensive series. Or so it would seem.
Finally, at the start of H-2, OC Mick McCall abandoned what I correctly
construed was his run-first offensive plan for a pass-first substitute
in earnest, and the switch paid immediate yardage production dividends,
even if that first pass went incomplete. In the ‘Cats’ opening
offensive series of the second half, 3 consecutive pass completions by
Thorson, complimented by good positive yardage rushes by JJ, had the
Dead Bird D stumbling back on their heels and reeling from the
Wildcats’ up-tempo onslaught. Thorson and Co.’s newly discovered
confident body language spoke volumes. Then… Bang! After
carrying-out a play-action fake to hold Ball State’s secondary for a
split second in run support , Clayton spied Dan “The Man” Vitale wide
open downfield, having sprinted past the dead Birds’ right Cover-2
safety, and delivered an easy pitch-n-catch toss to his SB for a
21-yard quick-strike TD that recaptured the lead for good. And
that was just the beginning.
After the Wildcat D stoned the Dead Bird O into a 3-n-out series; the
‘Cat offense got the bean back on downs and continued where they
left off on their previous possession, calling pass plays with
complimentary rushes for good yardage gains once again. Starting
from the NU 20 yard line, Thorson and Co. methodically marched 80 yards
in 9 plays in less than 3 minutes. The series was capped-off with
a beautiful 25-yard pitch-n-catch TD completion to WR Auston Carr, who
ran a simple “Go” route down the left boundary into open space in the
left deep third zone behind Ball State’s left Cover-2 safety.
This nifty TD drive gave the Wildcats a comfy 11-point lead over the
Dead Birds mid-way through Q3. After this possession, NU never
looked back.
Can you say C-T-F-B? I knew that you could!
Superman - Reprised
In his weekly Monday presser, Fitz admitted that he might have
overextended the playing time of his 1st string RB, Justin Jackson
after handing him bean 35 times last Saturday in the heat and humidity
of Durham, NC, against the host Dookie Blue Dumpsters. The
Wildcat HC stated that this dependency on the True Sophomore’s
indefatigable durability was a questionable coaching call, vowing not
to repeat it but to distribute the rushing workload strategically
across Jackson’s RB stablemates in the Ball State game.
Notwithstanding the honorable intentions of this prudent plan, Fitz and
OC Mick McCall went against the sage advice of their better angels and
called JJ’s number 33 times against the Dead Bird D. The elusive
Purple RB ignored his fatigue and answered the call of his HC and OC
with Superman-like strength and effort, gaining 184 net yards, despite
having to deal with a radar MLB who tracked JJ’s every move in the NU
backfield and did his worst to meet-n-greet Justin at the point of
attack whenever he received a handoff and turned towards the LOS.
However, shouldering such a heavy load did have its consequences.
When Jackson broke into the Ball State defensive 2nd level with a free
and clear path to paydirt in Q3, the RB ignited his afterburners as
best he could and advanced the ball 62 yards to the Dead Bird 13, where
the totally gassed ball carrier was caught from behind by a very swift
Ball State DB who punch-stripped the pigskin from Justin’s grasp and
sent it flying out of bounds. When the ‘Cat possession stalled at
the Ball State 4, Fitz settled for a gimme FG, which K Jack Mitchell
easily converted into 3 invaluable points, stretching the ‘Cats’ lead
to 24-10.
Hey now… Superman can only leap so many buildings in a single bound in one evening, No?
Conclusion
So the ‘Cats did the expected and dispatched an offensively competitive
but defensively challenged football team from the MAC. Make no
mistake, the Ball State Dead Birds can and will make some noise in
their conference division if or when they ever resolve the field play
deficiencies of their defense. And with HC Pete Lembo leading the
way to the MAC pigskin promised land, I’m certain it will be sooner
than later.
As for what this “W” ultimately means to the Wildcats in the long
run… I, for one, am satisfied with the following two significant
items:
● Newbie RS Frosh QB Clayton Thorson finally got out
of his quarterbacking funk and showed signs of what he is capable-of
when he relaxes and allows the game come to him. In doing so, the
seemingly ultra-fast-paced field play swirling about him will begin to
slow-down due to his increased game-time experience and he will
exercise his subsequent improved confidence to trust himself to perform
more consistently at the very level that convinced Fitz and McCall that
he was NU’s best QB option to garner victory.
● The Dead Bird O took the Wildcat D to the wall for
an entire half, forcing Doc Hankwitz’ defense to dig deep in order to
compose themselves and retain their collective competitive edge to
limit the yardage production and scoring capabilities of a good,
effective offense.
Regardless of their many successes or failures, both real and imaginary
which were unveiled over the course of their 4-game OOC campaign, the
2015 Wildcats remain a raw, unfinished work-in-progress; while their
noted accomplishments represent exciting prelude to their positive near
future potential as they prepare to face B1G competition.
It’s not a bad thing, either.
HC Jerry Kill and his Minnie Mighty Marmots invade the Friendly
Confines of Dyche’s Ditch next Saturday. This will be a true test
for all three phases of the Wildcat team: offense, defense and special
teams and will determine just how strong and resilient each unit
actually is. Despite the many injuries sustained in the OOC, the
2-deep talent depth across all offensive and defensive positions
remains for Fitz and his coaching staff to deploy and utilize in the
most productive, efficient strategic ways they can devise. Mr.
Kill has always challenged Fitz and his staff to bring-out the very
best in their collective coaching skillset. Saturday’s tilt will
be more of the same.
I have confidence that the ‘Cats will capture the “W’ flag from the
Golden Rodents in close, low-scoring affair.
The Waterboy
“Win with Grace, Lose with Dignity”
He’s a Lumberjack
This week’s Lumberjack Trophy is awarded to Sophomore RB Justin Jackson.
After having completed the OOC portion of the 2015 Northwestern
Football season, it would be a veritable travesty of justice to award
this trophy to any other Wildcat player under the tutelage of ‘Cat HC
Pat Fitzgerald. In these first 4 games, JJ is building the brick
and mortar foundation to what someday might be chronicled as one of the
most memorable gridiron careers in the annuls of NU football.
Although diminutive in stature and weight (5’11”; 190 lbs), no one
player has stood taller or enthusiastically assumed a heavier load of
ownership and accountability to perform at the highest levels of
football athleticism than Mr. Jackson. I have waxed poetic when
referencing the monikers of various personalities from myth or legend
in attempts to accurately describe this Tiny Titan’s contribution to
the NU football program: Herculean, Ironman, Superman. This young
player is only in his second season as the Wildcat’s primary ball
carrier, yet he embodies the team’s collective work ethic: a selfless
willingness to sacrifice himself for team goals coupled with an
indomitable determination to succeed and an unobtrusive sense of
humility as he stands on the precipice of great personal athletic
achievement.
Fitz has described his 1st sting RB as a throwback in the mold of a Jim Brown, Walter Payton or Barry Sanders,
who focuses his attention and positions his body to deliver the blow to
potential tacklers rather than absorb the big hit whenever he totes the
bean. In present day football parlance: Jackson “plays behind his
pads.” I’ll add the phrase “Brings heavy lumber” – the very
essence of the Gridiron Lumberjack – to that assessment. Justin’s
last two games are testimony to his mental awareness and skill in
execution to advance the pigskin downfield when carried in his
hands. Two Saturdays ago against the Dookies, the Sophomore
netted 120 yards rushing on 35 attempts while adding 16 more via 2 pass
receptions. When facing Ball State last weekend, JJ collected 184
yards on 33 carries with an additional 20 on 2 pass completions.
Now recall per game rushing attempt numbers of a Brown, Payton or
Sanders, and picture becomes clearer. In bygone Wildcat football
years, 58 carries for a 2nd-year RB would have been considered a
season’s worth. But that sum represents the last two in Jackson’s
total over the 2015 OOC campaign: 118 rushes for 540 yards gained –
counts which hark back to OOC totals on record for Darnell Autry,
Damian Anderson or Tyrell Sutton. That’s very lofty company, to
be sure.
Congratulations Justin. You are an IronCat, the tough-as-nails
linchpin in the Wildcats’ aspirations to capture and wear the 2015 B1G
Western Division Championship crown, and deserve to be called a Purple
Lumberjack.
|
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.
