Fitz, Cats have no choice but to move forward
In many ways, it’s tougher to suffer a gut-wrenching loss for a fan that it is for head coach Pat Fitzgerald.
Take Northwestern’s demoralizing 39-34 loss to Akron last Saturday. Wildcat fans have nothing to do but stew for the next two weeks about blowing a 21-3 halftime lead to lose to a 21-point underdog team from the Mid-America Conference (NU has a bye next Saturday before taking on Michigan on Sept. 29).
They categorize the loss among other terrible losses over the years, a list that seems to be too long already and lengthens every year. Is it worse than the Wildcats’ loss to Illinois State in 2016? How about Army in 2011? The historic come-from-behind loss to Michigan State in 2006?
They dissect the team’s problems and argue about what coaching changes need to be made on message boards. They replay painful plays over and over, whether on their DVRs or in their tortured heads.
What is it like for Fitzgerald, then? What have things been like at the Walter Athletics Center in Evanston over these last two days? Tormented? Angry? Funereal?
None of the above. In fact, Fitzgerald hasn’t even been in Evanston these last couple days. He’s moved on – literally.
“I’m on the road recruiting, brother. That’ll tell you how it’s been around the complex,” he replied when asked about the mood in Evanston since Saturday’s setback during the Big Ten coaches’ teleconference. “We’re moving forward.
“(We) can’t beat ourselves. And we put the game away on Sunday, showed the guys exactly what the issues (are) that we have, where we need to go and what we need to do to fix it. And the guys came in with the right attitudes and that’s where we’ll go starting tomorrow, when we get back on the field.”
Fitzgerald can’t wallow in his misery or think about what he should’ve, would’ve or could’ve done differently last Saturday. He’s got a job to do: recruiting the next group of Wildcats to keep his program moving in the right direction.
That’s the idea behind the “flush it” mentality that has become the program’s mantra under its 13th-year head man. The team has 24 hours to dwell on a loss or celebrate a victory. Then, after Sunday’s film session, they wash their hands of it and move onto the next game. It’s similar to how, in a game, a referee’s whistle means the team moves onto the next play.
But Fitzgerald did go on to offer what doomed his Wildcats against a Zips team that was picked to finish fourth in the MAC East this season. In a word, it was turnovers.
Quarterback Clayton Thorson threw two pick-6s and fumbled a ball in his own red zone that was recovered by Akron for a touchdown in that circus of a second half that may have been Northwestern’s worst 30 minutes of football since Fitzgerald took charge. Even though the Wildcats defense allowed Akron QB Kato Nelson over the last two quarters to connect on passes of 40, 56, 25 and 24 yards – the last two for touchdowns – they still probably would have won the game if it weren’t for those three gift-wrapped scores.
“When you give the other team 19 points and don’t allow your team to defend turnovers, it makes it really hard to win against anybody,” said Fitzgerald. “But we’ve got to be smarter with the ball and give ourselves a chance to win every game if we do that. If we do what we did Saturday, it’s going to be hard to be successful and really hard to be consistent. And that’s the name of the game.
“Over my time, we’ve been pretty good at that, pretty solid, and I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to get back to the consistent level of ball we’ve been able to have.”
Another thing that Fitzgerald’s teams have been “pretty good at” is bouncing back from depressing losses. Take their last couple early-season defeats to non-Power Five teams – which, oddly, both also happened in even-numbered years.
In 2014, the Wildcats got beat by Northern Illinois 23-15 to fall to 0-2, with both losses coming at home. After a bye week in which Fitzgerald ratcheted up the physicality of practices, they won their next three in a row, including beating No. 16 Wisconsin. But the rollercoaster continued as Northwestern lost the next four, won the next two and lost the finale to finish 5-7 and miss out on a bowl bid.
In 2016, the Wildcats followed up a season-opening loss to Western Michigan with a stunning defeat at the hands of FCS Illinois State. The ugly 9-7 loss was undoubtedly the lowest point of Fitzgerald’s tenure. Yet they rebounded to win four of their next five games. Of their three losses the rest of the season, two were to Top 10 teams, and they went on to upset Pittsburgh in the Pinstripe Bowl to finish 7-5.
So, all may not be lost for these Wildcats, especially with a 1-0 record in the Big Ten. And even if it is, Fitzgerald doesn’t have too much time to think about it.