Really spent time in his post-game presser touting Cushing and the OL. Talked about how people were "taking shots" at them and looking for changes earlier in the year. Well deserved for their improvement.
Fitz on OL
- Thread starter NJCat
- Start date
Why can't they play better in the beginning of the year? Don't think our OL has been stellar at all this year. Illinois is not a decent measuring stick. Wisconsin is.
Because they had their LT playing Guard? Because the back-up Center was playing LT?
Gotta admit the OL play did improve over the course of the season. So Cushing gets maybe a B-. We need a coach who does an A grade job. If Fitz is content with runner-up finishes as his high water mark, then don't make a change. If you want to win championships then make the hard decisions and get a coach who can help win championships and develop NFL linemen.
There will be no involuntary coaching changes for the 2018 season. Count on it.
I'm not sure about that. I can't see Pat telling an assistant, "Damn it! Forget the game film! Get me that summary of the Northwestern Rivals forum!"
Oh, it wouldn't be like that but I GUARANTEE he's got a flunky monitoring the boards.
And for sure he reads the papers, and reacted to Teddy's article calling for an OL coaching change. Heck, he specifically mentioned Teddy's excellent article on Lanny's family yesterday. In the age of social media, coaches know what is being said even if it is second, third or fourth hand......
Then my respect for Fitz has gone down a notch. Flunkies should be making coffee and giving foot rubs.
Give us some credit. High quality flunkies can and do multitask.
The OL play early in the season was unacceptable. They were dominated by a mediocre Duke team, as well as by Wisconsin and Penn State. Fitz also said yesterday that he wants to be playing in Indy, and IMO the poor OL play is why that's not happening this year. It's been a point of concern for several years now, and that's why fans and Teddy are "taking shots" at the group's performance and position coach.
I deeply hope that the situation is stabilized and that the position is a strength on the team next season. That's how we beat the big boys and get to Indy.
C'mon Fitz, it is time to take the next step. Don't be that reactive manager. Set objective evaluation "metrics" and success criteria for your staff, like any other experience manager would. Then, as you're having success as a program, up the standards you define as "success" for the individuals on your staff. Im not recommending unrealistic targets, but elevating targets as the program develops and improves overall. Other position groups are identifying and developing NFL talent within the program.
Anyone that thinks Cushing should continue to serve as OL is an apologists and not interested in seeing NU as a champion FB team.
Right! They are not interested in a champion football team. Only you are. You're the only one. The lone survivor. A man among boys. You're out there on an island, a rock unto yourself. We are all doomed, I tell you, DOOMED! What will we do? What will we do?
Well, actually on this particular topic, I'm right there on that island with Bob.
So we dominated a DL that was manned by freshmen who are 30-40 lbs less than they will be in 3 years. Great. If Fitz wants to use that as a basis for justifying keeping his brah on the job, then all the power to him. No one's going to question him after winning 9 games this year, unfortunately (hence InsideNU's article on the dilemma of NU winning for the rest of the year after PSU). But, we ain't going to Indy anytime soon until we get GREAT OL play. Like Wisconsin's. Not piss poor unacceptable play as we have had regularly over the years, or even the improved but still generously average line play that we've seen over the last few weeks against the dregs of the conference. Why is it that we can't aspire to have the best OL in the B1G? We us to have OL that had multiple All B1G honorees. Almost regularly, it seems.
We also dominated a Minny D-line that is far better than Illinois. And, if a great offensive line was a recipe for sure-fire success, one would have suspect that Nebby would have had a better season, considering their OLine was one of the top rated (if not THE top rated) coming into the BIG this season.
If Wisconsin is your measuring stick, that is some standard, since 99% of O-Lines in football this year would struggle against Wisky's D.
26 on the last drive of the game against the 3rd stringers, but I agree that 108 vs. Wisky was mighty impressive for them. Was the lolIllini's best game of the year, but it was really never close and I suspect that Wisky was looking past them...
I absolutely knew he would crow about it. 'SEE!! I told you that loyalty pays!"
Next time we can run the ball against a decent defense, let me know. I guess I don't care at the moment, because they are winning, albeit against weaker teams.
Forty yards rushing against Purdue. 90 v MSU. Manhandled in our three losses. Really hope our bowl opponent has a pedestrian defense
We are a nine win team, arguably 3rd best in conference. Twenty Five (v Wisconsin)yards isn't struggling, it is getting humiliated
If our goal is to win the division, then Wisconsin MUST be the measuring stick.
This. 8 sacks and 25 yard of rushing makes it very difficult to win.
Here is the kicker... If those numbers are 2 sacks and 125 yards rushing, then (all other things being equal) we are probably heading to the Championship Game next week. That is how close we are and how focused the problem is on the O-Line playing at a competitive level for the entire season.
Looks like you reversed the stat totals, but your point is still valid in those cases.
Some of these defenses were beyond decent, though, they were among the best in the country (Wisky was #1 in the nation , MSU was #5 and Penn State #17). If you want a comparable vs. a solid, but not elite, rush defense, we ran against Iowa (36th in the nation) for more than their seasonal average allowed (so, in contrast to your post, we did run well against a "decent defense") and we ran for less against Purdue (31st in the nation) than their seasonal average allowed.
The one average rush defense (Minny #72) we completely torched (they were in the 50s, I believe, before we faced them), and the three terrible rush Ds we faced (Maryland, Illinois and Nebby) we completely torched.
In sum we performed below average against three elite rush defenses, had mixed results against two very good rush Ds, torched an average rush D, and torched 3 poor rush Ds. Not a spectacular performance, but not terrible, either.
So unless our opponent in the Bowl has a top-20 rush D (not terribly likely, since the only one who was a likely candidate, Washington, likely played their way our of a bowl with us yesterday). we will probably be OK. And, even if we do end up against against it re: rushing, we already won two of those games (Purdue and MSU) where we ran for less than their season average allowed, so all hope would not be lost.
I love your support for the program but you strike me as a guy who is satisfied. Can I ask how long you have been a fan. For some that have been long time fans complaining about current results may sound like whining. The reality is that the program's leader says our goal is Big ten championships and I don't view that is idle talk. That is what I want as well and I think we are really close. Wisconsin has to be our measuring stick since they are the guys that are in the way of achieving our goal.
Good post. I was curious about who were the top rushing defenses. Much to my surprise, NU is 9th in the country in yards per game. Not too shabby.
http://www.ncaa.com/stats/football/fbs/current/team/24
This, year, Wisky allowed 80 yards rushing (80 yards!) per game, #1 in the nation. NO ONE is or was going to beat them by relying on any semblance a rushing attack against them; you have to find another way to beat them. And we made many errors in that game that had little to do with the offensive line that cost as well
We had 8 sacks and 25 yards rushing. To find another way to beat them requires one or the other to improve. Wisconsin is always going to have good line play. That is a key part of their identity. We need to be able to go toe-to-toe with them or win by fluke. I do not think that anyone here wants to need flukes to win. We have grown and improved to a team that was a little better line play away from beating Wisconsin on an up year of theirs. So, if we can get better, then we start being the team to beat in the division. That has to be the goal.
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