I'd really like to know what the heck happened on defense in the 2nd half

[EvanstonCat]

We shut them down. Durant had 102 yards in the 1st half. 0 in the 2nd.

Night and Day.

Just like Marty and HJ.

Gives hope that if a switch was flipped on D (e.g. reins handed over to McGarigle) or if Fitz just said, "listen, everybody, this NFL scheme ain't working for us, let's go back to Hank's plays from last year" and with a new QB, whether a healthy Marty or a Ryan Hilinski, we might be able to turn this thing around. I'll ignore the beat up OL for a moment, just out of convenience, but we have all of our goals still ahead of us.

Win the West. Still in control of our destiny.
Win the B1G. Still possible.
Win the Bowl Game. Still possible.

There is still hope.

And Fitz promised "this won't ever happen again." You promised Fitz. You effing promised.

 

[NU Houston]

We shut them down. Durant had 102 yards in the 1st half. 0 in the 2nd.

Night and Day.

Just like Marty and HJ.

Gives hope that if a switch was flipped on D (e.g. reins handed over to McGarigle) or if Fitz just said, "listen, everybody, this NFL scheme ain't working for us, let's go back to Hank's plays from last year" and with a new QB, whether a healthy Marty or a Ryan Hilinski, we might be able to turn this thing around. I'll ignore the beat up OL for a moment, just out of convenience, but we have all of our goals still ahead of us.

Win the West. Still in control of our destiny.
Win the B1G. Still possible.
Win the Bowl Game. Still possible.

There is still hope.

And Fitz promised "this won't ever happen again." You promised Fitz. You effing promised.

Fitz said in the presser that they made zero adjustments at the half. Players just started making plays. It's as simple as that (at least in his telling).

 

[EvanstonCat]

Fitz said in the presser that they made zero adjustments at the half. Players just started making plays. It's as simple as that (at least in his telling).

Yeah, but what really happened?

 

[Catnap22]

Yeah, but what really happened?

Got to think the change at QB really stabilized thing and got momentum back in the Cats direction.

It’s hard to play defense when the offense is going 3 and out or turning it over on every possession. Fitz lost this game in August when he named the wrong QB the starter.

 

[EvanstonCat]

Got to think the change at QB really stabilized thing and got momentum back in the Cats direction.

It’s hard to play defense when the offense is going 3 and out or turning it over on every possession. Fitz lost this game in August when he named the wrong QB the starter.

Maybe that was part of it.

But, I don't buy it. If that was the problem, then how come before we played a snap of offense, we give up a TD on the first play of the season to MSU? How come when we started scoring against MSU, our D didn't stiffen up like it did in the 2nd half of Duke? Even in the Duke game, the D was well rested on the first series, and first play BAM a 50 yard pass. C'mon HJ and the O had a horrible 1st half, maybe the worst in the history of NU football, but Mike Hankwitz's D largely held up over the years of carrying McCall's mediocre and unproductive offenses.

 

[NU Houston]

Yeah, but what really happened?

Why don't you reach out to Fitz on Twitter or by email and ask him. Let us know what he says.

 

[EvanstonCat]

Why don't you reach out to Fitz on Twitter or by email and ask him. Let us know what he says.

Because he'd just repeat what he said in the presser, at best.

But, I want to know what really happened.

 

[techtim72]

I don't think this is an explanation, but I think the players knew before the start of the season that HJ didn't have the makeup to be a successful QB. Not a warrior. Not something a defensive player respects. In Bergin's interview yesterday his response suggested that. Prior to the start of the season there were a couple of instances where it was stated that Marty's strength was his leadership talent. Code for who they respected.

 

[Catnap22]

Maybe that was part of it.

But, I don't buy it. If that was the problem, then how come before we played a snap of offense, we give up a TD on the first play of the season to MSU? How come when we started scoring against MSU, our D didn't stiffen up like it did in the 2nd half of Duke? Even in the Duke game, the D was well rested on the first series, and first play BAM a 50 yard pass. C'mon HJ and the O had a horrible 1st half, maybe the worst in the history of NU football, but Mike Hankwitz's D largely held up over the years of carrying McCall's mediocre and unproductive offenses.

Football is a game of momentum. The offense needed to do it’s job against a terrible Duke defense to stop the bleeding and get Northwestern back in the game. Instead they put gas on the fire by giving Duke the ball back quickly often with short fields.

Collectively it was one of the worst halfs of football I have seen from this program in sometime.

 

[corbi296]

I don't think this is an explanation, but I think the players knew before the start of the season that HJ didn't have the makeup to be a successful QB. Not a warrior. Not something a defensive player respects. In Bergin's interview yesterday his response suggested that. Prior to the start of the season there were a couple of instances where it was stated that Marty's strength was his leadership talent. Code for who they respected.

I thought Bergin's interview yesterday was revealing. I got the same impression you did. I can tell you that throughout the summer of 2019, the feedback I was getting from people who were watching the team practice is that the players were rallying and responding to TJ Green, not HJ.

 

[NUcats92]

Look I like Hunter think he’s a great guy off the field but something about him just makes me think he’s super shy and doesn’t have that grit that every quarterback has to have on a team , I was rooting very hard for him I wanted him to be successful but you could even tell in interviews from months ago Marty seemed more jacked up While Hunter seemed very vanilla in what he was saying like there’s no confidence there for him that’s the most telling thing I’ve seen.

 

[EvanstonCat]

I don't think this is an explanation, but I think the players knew before the start of the season that HJ didn't have the makeup to be a successful QB. Not a warrior. Not something a defensive player respects. In Bergin's interview yesterday his response suggested that. Prior to the start of the season there were a couple of instances where it was stated that Marty's strength was his leadership talent. Code for who they respected.

Not arguing that you're wrong (and the results on the field suggest that you're not), but if that's the case, then why was HJ elected captain? And why wasn't Marty? Doesn't really add up.

 

[Catnap22]

I don't think this is an explanation, but I think the players knew before the start of the season that HJ didn't have the makeup to be a successful QB. Not a warrior. Not something a defensive player respects. In Bergin's interview yesterday his response suggested that. Prior to the start of the season there were a couple of instances where it was stated that Marty's strength was his leadership talent. Code for who they respected.

HJ plays like anguy

Look I like Hunter think he’s a great guy off the field but something about him just makes me think he’s super shy and doesn’t have that grit that every quarterback has to have on a team , I was rooting very hard for him I wanted him to be successful but you could even tell in interviews from months ago Marty seemed more jacked up While Hunter seemed very vanilla in what he was saying like there’s no confidence there for him that’s the most telling thing I’ve seen.

That really doesn’t mean anything. Have you heard Eli Manning talk?

 

[zeek55]

Not arguing that you're wrong (and the results on the field suggest that you're not), but if that's the case, then why was HJ elected captain? And why wasn't Marty? Doesn't really add up.

Because the players will default to the guy that the coaches are inclined to pick (i.e. the guy getting 1st team reps).

You're never going to see the guy getting 2nd team reps get the captain nod; would just be bizarro-world to have that happen.

But obviously, it seems as if the players already realized that in terms of real leadership qualities that would matter on gameday, Marty was the one who had it.

And as a lot of us suspect, it seems that Johnson just has troubles translating his performance in practice to gameday.

 

[corbi296]

Because the players will default to the guy that the coaches are inclined to pick (i.e. the guy getting 1st team reps).

You're never going to see the guy getting 2nd team reps get the captain nod; would just be bizarro-world to have that happen.

But obviously, it seems as if the players already realized that in terms of real leadership qualities that would matter on gameday, Marty was the one who had it.

And as a lot of us suspect, it seems that Johnson just has troubles translating his performance in practice to gameday.

Fitz and Bergin both seemed to suggest in their post game comments that Marty had A LOT of support from teammates to become a Team Captain.

 

[NUcats92]

HJ plays like anguy


That really doesn’t mean anything. Have you heard Eli Manning talk?

Actually it does body language tells a lot,It’s like he knows he has a short leash And that probably is in the back of his head he’s always had the mental issues and he’s not good at pressure situation that’s just how I view it.