Nov. 19, 2015
Survive and Advance
The NCAA basketball tournament’s well-known, often quoted key phrase
above apparently has transitioned into a Zen-inspired mantra for the
2015 Northwestern football team. Whether in pre or post-game
pressers, in locker room or sideline interviews and especially in his
weekly Comcast Sports Net game review TV broadcast, Fitz consistently
expresses his strategic imperative for his coaches and players to
eschew focusing beyond the forthcoming game or the team’s relative
ranking in any of the media-contrived beauty pageant polls and
instead concentrate on going 1-and-0 against your current
opponent that coming Saturday. It’s an exceedingly effective
mental control and relaxation mechanism if only because it
compartmentalizes a player’s complete attention to disregard the
maelstrom of distracting attention and adulation, innocent as it might
be, from family, friends, media and hangers-on swirling about you and
your teammates and to keep your crosshairs centered squarely on the
immediate task at hand – in essence, on the W.I.N.: What’s Important
Now.
The 2015 Wildcats are following their HC’s foundational strategy to the
letter over their previous three games – against the UNL BugEaters, the
Inmates of State Penn and last Saturday against the Purdue Broiler
Chickens. This prophetic W.I.N. script hasn’t changed one iota,
because when the current contest gets to its final waning minutes and
its outcome hangs in the balance, the Purple defense invariably
channels its collective inner Brian Peters “Lumberjack” (attack the
ball carrier with heavy lumber and extreme prejudice) to stone the
opponent’s O dead in its tracks then forces them to hand the ball over
to the Purple offense on downs; after which the near dormant Clayton
Thorson-led O awakens in time to matriculate the pill downfield and
score the game-clinching points mere minutes (or seconds) before the
game clock reads 0:00. Whenever it has happened, it definitely
has all the characteristic drama and intrigue of an over-the-top Disney
production Cinderella glass slipper-like moment as the clock strikes
midnight, but it has worked. Although plainly unbelievable and
incomprehensible in its execution, the fact that it has worked is an
indisputable fact on the face of it. Despite the gut-wrenching,
heart-palpitating, mind blowing angst, anger and frustration running
rampant among Wildcat Nation at the time, the Cardiac ‘Cats make it
work.
Survive and Advance… Indeed!
How the ‘Cats Plucked the Broiler Chickens
Answering The Bell
In his post-game media Q&A/interview, ‘Cat HC, Pat Fitzgerald
mentioned an analogy that I thought was more than slightly apropos when
describing how this season’s Wildcats depend so heavily on their
defense. He stated (paraphrasing) when the offense or special
teams gives-up a game-threatening turnover (i.e.: created adversity)
and the fire bell rings, it’s the defense’s job to become firemen: to
put-on the first responder equipment, answer the bell and put-out the
fire. I’ve got to hand it to Fitz, although he ventures into
“coach speak” or sentimental semantic at times (like I do – mea culpa)
when answering questions from the media, on this particular occasion,
his aim was true and his explanation spot on in defining what one of
his defense’s primary purposes is: to douse the raging firestorms that
other units unfortunately ignite. In last Saturday’s grapple
against a very competitive, highly-motivated Purdue Broiler Chicken
crew, the Wildcat defense was more than ready and willing to meet the
challenge of extinguishing those flames, Doc Hankwitz’ squad was simply
masterful, as they delivered fire-hose big plays whenever it was most
needed against a prideful B1G team that has been playing its best
football of the season despite its dismal 2-win record.
Fitz’ second most-quotable axiom advocates the critical importance of
how a football team and its players respond to adversity.
Fortunately, the Wildcat defense responded in champion playmaking
fashion when they answered the bonfires ignited by three turnovers, a
fumble and two INTs, proffered to the Broiler Chickens by NU’s
offense.
After JJ was separated from the bean in Q2 at the ‘Cats 38 yard line,
it certainly seemed like PU’s offense was poised to convert the TO into
points, perhaps even score a game-tying TD; after all, they had
demonstrated an imperfect ability to move the ball downfield with
limited success over the first 24 minutes of the tilt. However,
the ‘Cat defense seized control of the tense situation by bottling-up
the Broiler Chicken O for 15 scant yards on 6 downs, highlighted by
3consecutive zero-gain passes, the last being an 4th-n-7 incompletion
from NU’s 23.
The two INTs occurred on back-to-back ‘Cat possessions – the first at
the 4:12 mark of Q3 and the second on NU’s drive spanning Q3 into Q4 –
and were slightly less anxiety-filled than the fumble but still
consequential. The details are delved-into in Winning Key #3
below. However, the response by the ‘Cat D to either of these TOs
was the same: They brick-walled the Broiler Chicken offense with
sequential 3-n-out series. In fact, each of PU’s last 4
possessions of H-2, which included these 2 post-TO drives, were held in
check with a 3-n-out stoning by Doc’s troops.
A Wildcat fan couldn’t ask for a better defensive performance to close-out a game.
Pinned
‘Cat P, Hunter Niswander appears to be coming into his own in the
biggest of ways in the final half of the 2015 campaign. His
situational punting acumen the previous weekend against State Penn was
absolutely essential to the host ‘Cats’ bid to capture the ”W” flag
late in Q4, especially when his back-spinning boot was downed at the
Inmate 6 yard line with 3:16 remaining on the game clock. From
there, the ‘Cat D went to work, stoning the Inmates from collecting a
game-clinching 1st down, and turning the ball over to their offensive
teammates on downs for one last-ditch drive to move the LOS downfield
into an advantageous position to convert a game-winning FG – all of
which occurred with 9 seconds before the final gun sounded.
Niswander’s epic punting exhibition during the State Penn contest,
while the score showed that it still was anybody’s ball game, was mere
prologue to his invaluable kicking contributions one week later in NU’s
slim victory against the Broiler Chickens.
In last Saturday’s contest, Mr. Niswander averaged 42.8 yards for each
of his 5 punts, with 2 travelling 50-plus yards and 3 of those 5 boots
downed inside the Broiler Chicken 20 yard line, proffering the
visitor’s offense the disheartening perspective of long green looming
ahead of them as they commenced their subsequent drives after a change
of possession on downs. Of particular significance was
Hunter’s beautiful foot-bomb that soared 52 yards downfield while the
‘Cat punt coverage unit surrounded and rudely downed the Purdue PR at
the PU 5 yard line, pinning the Broiler Chickens deep in their own
territory with 11:43 left in Q4 and the game tied at 14 points
apiece. It was the Soph punter’s finest example of winning
the game within the game of field position with the final outcome yet
to be determined, since… frankly… Hunter’s late-Q4 punting heroics
against State Penn the prior Saturday. And similar to the State
Penn game, this timely deep-kill boot provided the necessary wake-up
call that the sleep-walking Wildcats required to reinvigorate and
re-commit themselves to the task of reaching-for and grabbing the brass
ring of victory in their following possession. Pinned-down
in the shadow of their own goalposts, the Broiler Chicken offense was
stymied by the ‘Cat D with another 3-n-out series that offered the ‘Cat
O starting field position from their 42 yard line following the
subsequent PU punt. The host Wildcats wasted little time in
kick-starting this possession and shredding the visiting team for a
game-clinching TD that sealed the deal.
All set-up by Mr. Niswander’s refined field position punting prowess.
Switcheroo
It was no great mystery that Purdue HC Darrel Hazell and his DC John
Shoop recognized NU’s quality ground game and consequently concocted a
defensive game plan geared specifically to neutralize it as best they
could. The prime objective behind their strategy was to coerce
the ‘Cat O into becoming one dimensional and heavily dependent on its
less-than-stellar passing attack led by newbie QB Clayton Thorson or
his limited experienced backup Senior Zack Oliver. By stacking 8
or more defenders in the box coupled with formations which set their
Safeties a mere 7 yards off the LOS at the snap in rush support, the
Broiler Chicken defensive brain trust dared ‘Cat OC Mick McCall to
turn-to his vertical passing game – a yardage production option that
the OC had shown an obvious reticence to employ throughout much of
2015. In the final analysis, the strategy was guardedly
successful – at least to the point of compelling the Wildcats’ scoring
capabilities to rely prominently upon the newbie QB’s questionable
skillset to scan an opponent’s secondary, identify the open receiver
then deliver the bean on target and in stride with consistent
regularity.
As predicted by PU’s defensive brain trust, Thorson’s performance when
facing the inviting secondary sets of the Broiler Chickens was
enigmatic and spotty. Emulating Ill-Annoy’s rush-first offensive
game plan from the previous Saturday (which gained over 380 yards), the
Wildcat O went straight to their ground-n-pound rushing attack to open
the game, shredding Purdue’s stacked-box formations and culminating
with an easy TD off a 32-yard scamper by ‘Cat “heavy back” Warren
Long. Then the wheels fell-off NU’s offensive bus. The
Purple O didn’t move the ball at all on the ground or through the air
over its next 3 drives, as Thorson’s passing couldn’t hit an elephant
in the azz with an ironing board. NU’s string of forgettable
possessions was broken only after Safety Traveon Henry intercepted
Broiler Chicken QB David Blough at the PU 41; whereupon the ‘Cat
offense exclusively exercised its rushing attack to score its second TD
of the game; after which the yardage production of the host Wildcats
tanked once more for the remainder of H-1.
In H-2, Thorson’s passing was on-again, off-again – as the newbie QB
overthrew or badly threw behind open receiving targets
constantly. Watching his O sputter feebly on its opening
possession of H-2, sandwiched by 2 consecutive Broiler Chicken drives:
the first tying the game at 14 and the next ending on a missed 42-yard
FG, had ‘Cat OC Mick McCall reaching for the QB eject lever. On
NU’s next possession, when Thorson rolled to his right and tossed a
piss-poor pass that was tipped and picked by a PU CB, McCall had enough
and pulled that eject lever, replacing his bumbling, stumbling newbie
QB with Oliver, if only to light a flame under his flagging offense and
give it a chance at redemption with a new primary ball handler behind
at the helm.
However, Oliver fared little better. On his first drive, Zack
connected on his first 2 passes, gaining 13 yards on a square-out and
another 37 yards off an underthrown vertical toss respectively, that
repositioned the LOS at the Purdue 29. After NU’s next 1st-down
play set stalled for a -1 net, the Senior sub QB faced a 3rd-n-11 at
the start of Q4; then promptly threw his own piss-poor vertical pass to
a well-covered WR that was deftly picked-off by a Broiler Chicken DB to
quell the home team’s go-ahead scoring threat. McCall let
Oliver’s brainfart slide and gave him another possession to redeem
himself. Two incompletions and a sack ended Zack’s afternoon as
sub.
NU’s offensive brain trust was confronted with a confounding dilemma:
Stay the course with the ineffectual Oliver or reverse their earlier
executive decision to bench Thorson and hand the offensive reins back
to their mystifying newbie QB, allowing him one last-ditch opportunity
to capture the “W” flag in this tight game that was getting tighter by
the minute. Fitz and McCall chose the latter, Thorson, and it
reaped immediate reward, as the emotionally recharged Thorson
methodically marched the Purple offense 58 yards over 13 plays to score
the game-clinching TD while burning 5:22 off the clock in the
process. At that juncture, the end-result of the contest was a
fait accompli; while Clayton Thorson returned once more to the good
graces of his HC and OC as their go-to QB of choice.
Building The Beast
As counterpoint to complement its sporadic , unreliable passing attack,
Fitz and McCall have turned, by design, to the Wildcats’ ground game as
their number one yardage production option for this fall’s gridiron
campaign. This overt choice truly is nothing new. The
Wildcat offensive brain trust, since Fitz has become HC 10 seasons ago,
has worked diligently to construct and emulate Wisky’s Barry Alvarez
yardage generation rushing model, which is built on a rock solid
foundation of ultra-high quality offensive linemen, operating in
unison, to provide a phalanx of powerful, road grader-like blockers
fronting its defense-penetrating spearhead of quick, bruising RBs who
rush over, around and through those consistent blocks delivered by that
unstoppable OL. In essence, it’s Wisky’s way of building the
perfect rushing attack beast; and NU’s talent pool of OL and RB players
has become increasingly deeper and more talented with each passing
season, in NU’s ongoing effort to mimic the Wisky paradigm of
intelligent raw power mixed with elusive speed . And 2015 is no
exception to the trend.
Last Saturday, NU’s 2015 version of this rushing attack model might
have played right into the hands of the PU coaching staff’s strategy to
load the box with defensive numbers to stone the Wildcat ground game in
its tracks, but it didn’t simply because the combination of the Purple
OL’s superior personnel and the ‘Cat RB tandem of feature back Justin
Jackson and his stablemate, “heavy back” Warren Long, was too
overwhelming to be halted throughout the full 60 minutes of the
contest. Mind you, the Wildcat OL-RB beast wasn’t quite perfect
against the Broiler Chickens; but it was effective and efficient enough
to deliver the goods with the final outcome still hanging in the
balance during NU’s last scoring drive that commenced at the 9:59 mark
of Q4 and finished with the game-clinching TD score 4 minutes and
change later.
Now, the Wildcats are about to lock horns with the Big, Bad Wisky
Badgers. This Saturday’s epic grapple with the Drunkards of
MadTown will be the ultimate measuring stick for DC Doc Hankwitz’ Bad
Cats and OC Mick McCall’s Big Uglies – an honest, unbiased benchmark of
where they currently stand within the B1G’s football power
rankings. NU’s sports information department better ready their
video cameras to record the hard-hitting action of this tilt for their
next video of “The Hunt.” I can’t wait.
Time to button those chinstraps high and tight, fellas.
Conclusion
8-and-2, my friends. Repeat after me: 8-and-2. Lemme hear ya say it one mo’ time: Eight-And-Two!
Yeah Baby!!!
True, the ‘Cats are not winning their pigskin tilts in angst-free,
low-heartburn fashion. In fact, some analysts might be more
candidly straightforward to use the backhanded complimentary catch
phrase: “Winning Ugly,” when labeling NU’s single digit margins of
victory over the last 3 Saturdays. In response to this trio of
“eked-out” wins, many members of Wildcat Nation have begun to bemoan
the repetitive, commonplace playmaking problems unveiled by OC Mick
McCall’s starting QB of choice, Clayton Thorson, as the principal cause
for the ultimate effect of the Wildcats’ subpar, under-performing
offense. While a modicum of truth may exist in this point of
view, it’s important for the observer to remember not only this newbie
QB’s youth, but his still extant inexperience. IMHO, having
started 10 games at the Division 1A level, Thorson is no longer a RS
Frosh QB, but is essentially well in his second season – the first
season being NU’s out-of conference slate of opponents; with the second
being the B1G. And it’s there – when dealing with the mental and
physical rigors/challenges of competing against bigger, stronger,
faster B1G foes week-in and week-out – that whatever chinks might exist
in Mr. Thorson’s playmaking armor, they will be exposed and exploited
with regularity – even by “lesser” B1G opposition like the Purdue
Broiler Chickens. And that’s exactly what has been
happening. Newbie QB Clayton Thorson remains a “work in progress”
as he acclimates himself to the daunting role and responsibilities of
being his team’s primary ball handler; and consequently he makes silly,
boneheaded Frosh mistakes, even in his 10th game.
I won’t take the easy route and hand Thorson and the ‘Cat offense a
kitchen pass at this point because the 2015 season, as opposed to any
one game, is in crunch time. It’s make or break time; Show or go
time; Fight or flight time. To his credit, Thorson has piloted
the Wildcats’ O to a commendable bowl eligible record, something that
NU had missed the last 2 seasons with an experienced playmaking upper
classman QB at the Pökelboot’s helm. To this writer, that
achievement alone speaks volumes. However, there’s many more
accomplishments that this team does, in fact, aspire to attain, which
is characteristic of every highly reputed football team this late in
the season.
The first is to reach and REMAIN in the B1G’s top tier; to be
considered among the conference elite. IMHO, the ‘Cats are a
borderline team – not quite an elite squad but definitely a recognized
member of the conference's football power programs. To
consistently be considered among the best and retain that heady
designation, NU can’t lay an rotten egg whenever they compete against
foes in the upper echelon of the B1G. We card carrying members of
the Purple Populace know all too well those tendencies towards
frustrating field play failure when our Wildcats face those elite-level
squads; and so does the national media and college football fanbase at
large. Consequently, the ‘Cats always have something crucial to
prove each time they trot onto the gridiron across the field of play
from any B1G team – including the likes of Purdue and Indiana (and now
Rutgers and Maryland). That’s the very reason why 8-and-2 overall
and 4-and-2 in the B1G is so significant RIGHT NOW.
The second aspiration is to improve, to continually be upwardly mobile
regarding your skillset and your impact on yourself, on your individual
game and finally on your teammates. High quality field play is
very contagious, especially among high quality athletes, regardless of
the sport. The need to call-upon and escalate one’s field play to
compete at the high level of your elite opponent is a dominant
chromosomal pair within an elite athlete’s DNA. That’s why and
how the 2015 ‘Cats have shown the ability to stand toe-to-toe in the
center of the ring with the BugEaters, the State Penn Inmates and the
Broiler Chickens, face enormous adversity and pressure to perform and
didn’t flinch, fold their tents or slink back to their corner chair;
but instead, dug deep and tapped into those elite contender chromosomes
in their DNA that allowed each player to fight his personal good fight;
to strive and succeed; to survive and advance. Each of those 3
games could have gone south in one maddening flash; leaving the ‘Cats
with an empty kit bag. However, they didn’t succumb in the
pressure-packed championship rounds, but thrived in the midst of the
good fight; bloodied, to be sure, gloves held chin high at the ready to
deliver that necessary game-clinching haymaker right cross and
singularly resolute to put their opponent down and out-for-the-count on
the canvas. It’s the fundamental difference between being “Just
NU” and “That NU.”
Fitz is so very correct. Focus on W.I.N. – What’s Important Now –
then win the immediate battle. Go 1-and-0 each weekend, and the
season will take care of itself. In 2015, it has thus far.
It’s now up to Fitz’ Purple thoroughbreds to travel to the
alcohol-addled den of iniquity that is the Wisky Drunkards’ Camp
Randall Stadium, sweep around the far turn and head into their stretch
run to cross the finish line in championship form. Easier said
than done; but doable all the same.
The Waterboy
“Win with Grace, Lose with Dignity”
He’s a Lumberjack
This week’s Lumberjack Trophy is awarded to Soph MLB Anthony Walker.
This is the second time in the 2015 season that Mr. Walker has been
selected as the recipient of the Lumberjack Trophy, and the Sophomore’s
outstanding linebacking performance throughout last Saturday’s Broiler
Chicken game was testament to his why he was chosen. Simply
stated, Anthony’s defensive presence was evident all over the field of
play as he collected 14 total tackles, 10 solo and 4 assists, while
delivering a couple TFL stops against Broiler Chicken ball
carriers. Several of those tackles were instrumental in retaining
field position on critical Purdue possessions that kept the visiting
team from West Laughable, IN deep in their own territory, setting the
table for eventual scoring drives by the Wildcat offense.
Congratulations Anthony. Your consistent leadership and
commitment to excellence inspires everyone who wears the Purple helmet
with the White Block “N” stenciled on its side and underscores your
qualifications 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.
