It’s safe to say that things have not gone as planned for Northwestern through the first two weeks of the season.
The Wildcats have been outplayed in six of their first eight quarters of the season and just endured an embarrassing 41-17 thrashing at the hands of underdog Duke in which they were badly outplayed in all three phases.
This is not what was expected for a veteran team picked my many to be a contender in the Big Ten West. The fact that players and coaches spent a good chunk of the offseason focused on not repeating the slow start they experienced last season just adds to the overall disappointment.
But at least Pat Fitzgerald knows exactly where the blame lies for the team’s lackluster play. It’s the man in charge.
“Anytime you get your fanny whipped, you’ve got to look at yourself in the mirror first. I’m a big fan of the poem, ‘The Man in the Glass,’” said Fitzgerald. “It starts and ends with me, and then you look to create solutions. I think we presented those to the guys this morning.”
He continued, “We’ve got to do a better job as coaches. We’ve got a find a way to get those guys to play more fundamentally sound and consistent. And they will.”
The need to coach better was a consistent theme for Fitzgerald. The 12th-year head man may have set an unofficial record for mea culpas by mentioning getting outcoached or having to coach better 11 times in a 15-minute session with the media on Monday. He made falling on his sword an art form.
“I’m gonna be outcoached. It happens,” he explained. “How many games have I lost? Too many. Period. You gotta do a better job, that’s how you stop that from happening. You coach the guys relentlessly.”
Of course, that’s what a smart coach does in a press conference – especially when four of his players are seated in the back row of the media room, listening. When things go well, you credit your players; when things go poorly, you take the burden on your shoulders.
And Fitzgerald made it clear that his Wildcats are not as far away from success as they’ve often looked this season.
He pointed to a key sequence at the beginning of the third quarter against Duke. After trailing 21-10 at halftime, Northwestern’s defense forced a rare three-and-out on Duke’s first possession to give the Wildcats the ball in good field position, at their own 47. It was a golden opportunity for Northwestern to seize momentum and get back in the ball game.
But after a first down, quarterback Clayton Thorson’s pass was interecepted by Mark Gilbert at the Duke 32 when redshirt freshman wide receiver Ramaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman – whom Fitzgerald didn’t name – failed to run a route correctly and come back for the ball. The Blue Devils took over possession and tacked on a field goal and Northwestern’s hole got deeper.
“There were ample opportunities for us to win that game on Saturday,” he said. “It got away from us a little bit at the end because our defense ran out of gas. Again credit Duke for that. At the end of the day, there are areas out there for us to make. We’ve got to go make them happen. All three phases.
“What’s the mood? Let’s get better. Let’s improve. Let’s get back out on the practice field and get things going.”
Safety Kyle Queiro followed his coach’s lead when asked about the team’s attitude after its underwhelming 1-1 start. He looks upon it as a chance to show what this steam is made of.
“From my point of view, we’re in a state of heightened urgency,” said the fifth-year senior. “I think many teams that are put in this situation could potentially be in a state of panic, but we just have to do what we do, just do it better and harder.
“This is going to be a testament to the kind of football team that we are, with this opportunity to respond. I think being able to respond is one of the best indicators of the maturity level of a team. So I think you’re going to have your answer pretty soon.”
