Big Ten Media Days; #persastrong; BC and EIU previews

The Big Ten Football season officially began on Thursday with the 2011 Big Ten Media Days in Chicago.  While the two days were certainly overshadowed by the upcoming Ohio State sanctions and the arrival of Nebraska; each team had the ability to present their best face to the world.  NU could not have been better represented than All Big-Ten QB Dan Persa; Humanitarian and three-year starter Al Netter; and the Big Ten leader in passes defended, Jordan Mabin.  And of course, Fitz.

Photo credit: bcinteruption.com

If you follow the EVR twitter feed, you received the summary of the Fitz press conference, but here are the highlights, with EVR commentary.

Opening Statement:  Excited about the experience coming back. Arguably the most experienced team we've had since I've been the head football coach, a group that's won as many football games as any other class in Northwestern football history. Looking forward to them reporting here in a couple days. Summer school wraps up and we'll get going next weekend.

Fitz was strangely simple with his opening remarks, apparently preferring to address the media questions.  This is a testament to his comfort and experience with the position.  EVR hopes that this translates to his on-the-sideline decision-making in 2011.

On non-Persa injuries: Based on the reports of our athletic training staff, we're as healthy as we've been. When you go through spring practice, you have 22-year-old young men on the field, there's a higher risk guys are going to get banged up. We take a pretty conservative approach in the offseason to where if we think a little bit of rest might be a better decision for the long term, we'll shut them down.

The Cats have been ravaged by injuries, especially on defense, at the beginning of 2009 and at the end of 2010.  Traumatic injuries such as Persa’s cannot be avoided, but those based on fatigue and lack of conditioning can be.

On his advice to Persa: Number one, I wanted to talk to him about being patient, dealing with the rollercoaster. The first aspect is dealing with the fact that you're hurt and you can no longer play, what you're passionate about it's taken away from you. We dealt with that. Then he had to deal with the surgery, the initial rehab process of being immobilized. Kind of the steps you have to take.

The fact that Fitz had to come back from a season ending injury in his junior year is going to help him to prepare Persa for the season.  Persa is going to have some setbacks in the next four weeks.  Fitz will be the voice in Dan’s head that keeps him moving forward.

On the O-Line: To have 137 starts coming back in our offensive line, four returning starters on papers, then you talk about (Neal) Deiters who started games, (Doug) Bartels who started games for us, then the young depth that we have, I'm excited about that group. I challenged Adam Cushing, our O-line coach, that's great to have that experience coming back, but six months from now we'll have the youngest line in the Big Ten. It's important for him to develop that next group so we're ready for the future. It's going to come fast and furious.

The benefit and the curse of the experienced offensive line.  On paper this group should be one of the best in the conference, but they need to be significantly better than 2010, or there will not be anything for the 2012 line to learn from.

On the non-conference schedule: We go on the road in the opener against a team at Boston College, 11 straight bowl games. There's no question in my 10 years as a head coach, this will be our most challenging opener. We've got to have a tremendous sense of urgency in camp, not only to improve and get to where we need to be, but to get to Boston College. A few weeks later we go back on the road to West Point to play the option, to play that kind of football team, the physicality, the effort level they play with, how well they're coached. The discipline they play with is going to be a challenge for us. A different set of circumstances from scheme.

Fitz realizes that this is the most important August of his young career.  Not only do the Cats face a challenging opponent, but the team has expectations unlike those that he has faced before.  A loss to BC on its face is not the end of the world; but combined with the rest of the schedule – a loss to BC makes a seven-win season very difficult.

On the running back position: I like the way they progressed through spring practice. Mike Trumpy enters fall camp as our starter. The way that he finished the season is encouraging to me. Mike has good size, good speed, understands the concepts we're trying to do. He's going to be pushed by Adonis (Smith). Then Jacob Schmidt comes back off injury.  As I look at the group as a whole, we have solid depth. We have to be more consistent there, number one, and start faster than we did a year ago. I would love to have a bell cow, no question about that. You go back to when we had Tyrell (Sutton), two-headed monster in Jason Wright, Noah Herron. Going back to my days with Darnell (Autry). I could go on and on with our great running back tradition.

Fitz is desparate to get back to Northwestern’s great running back tradition.  From 1995 to 2005 the Cats had ten 1000 yard rushers.  Last year, Trumpy had 530.  Getting production out of both Trumpy and Smith will be important and this potentially could resemble the Wright/Herron duo. 

On the linebacker corps: Two years ago I stood up here and was asked how I was going to replace our receiving corps. I said we had a no-name wide receiver corps. I'd like to put that to our no-name linebacker corps and I'm not going to mention any of their names. At the end of the day you have to go out and prove it, do it on the field. We got a lot of work to do.  We have a young group. Guys like Bryce McNaul and Ben Johnson have played a lot of football for us. It's time for that group of guys to step up. When they do, I'll start talking about them a little bit more.

Yeah, Fitz is just as worried about the linebackers as we are.

On the Wide Receivers: Jeremy Ebert is if not the top wide receiver, he's in that conversation in this conference. You can't forget about Drake Dunsmore. Drake has battled through a bunch of injuries. He's persevered. I know how excited he is. He was at dinner with our leadership council for kind of that last supper. I can see the look in his eye. Drake would be the weapon with the most experience.
I like the spring that Charles Brown had as a senior. He's been a special teams player for us, but I thought he had a tremendous spring. Then Demetrius Fields had a very solid spring also.  Lot of competition there. Pretty deep group. Add a pretty talented group of freshmen to it. We'll see how things progress in two-a-days. We play a lot of wide receivers. So we'll see how those guys progress.

And Fitz does not even mention Venric Mark, Tony Jones, or Rashad Lawrence.  This crew is stacked and Dan Persa is going to have a lot of targets.

Overall, Fitz said a lot without really saying much.  It is clear where he is confident and where he has concerns.  There was no discussion of the D-Line, the Secondary or Special Teams, all of which have significant players to replace; so it will be interesting to see where Fitz thinks these positions are going.  Additionally, Fitz added some detail in his Friday interview with Teddy Greenstein.  Fitz discussed how “scary-good” Persa could be; basically named Kain Colter the backup quarterback; and admitted that he did a terrible job in his first few years of coaching.

EVR was not able to find any good reports on discussions with Persa, Netter, or Mabin.  Most of these quotes will be saved for feature articles during the next month.  But Skip Myslenski offered the following report, which basically suggests that Big Ten Media Days, and especially the Cats, are as popular as ever.

Photo credit: laketheposts

Speaking of Dan Persa, NU unveiled a unique and brilliant marketing campaign over the weekend, which overtly seeks to develop Dan Persa as a Heisman candidate – but in reality is designed to increase awareness of the program and eventually increase attendance and bolster recruiting.  EVR thinks that the #persastrong campaign (note the use of the twitter hashtag, more on that in a second) will do as much to market the program than any of the prior efforts and is further evidence that the athletic department knows what it is doing.  The likelihood of Dan Persa even being invited to the Heisman ceremony is remote, let alone his winning.  But the fact is that it will force the media to talk about Northwestern football and that means people will watch. 

Photo Credit: larrybrownsports.com

Among the early aspects of the #persastrong campaign includes the twitter hashtag, which will allow users to create a database of Persa facts on the Twitter timeline (please note the @persastrong twitter account is a fake and is not an NU property); seven-ounce (as in his #7, and not Hunter Bates) dumb-bells sent to football writers; and billboards taken in Chicago and in Bristol, CT – home of the Worldwide Leader (not New York City, another stroke of brilliance).  See these stories to catch the Chicago media take on the campaign.  Akouris, Greenstein, Willhite, Myslenski.

Which leads EVR to its first position preview of the month, the quarterbacks.

Last year, EVR said the following about Dan Persa:

Persa may be the best runner of the dual-threat quarterbacks that NU has seen over the last 10 years. But for him to be effective, he is going to need to be able to throw. He seems to have an accurate arm, even where his arm strength is lacking. The big question is whether his timing and ability to read defenses will be up to par with what is expected in the NU offense.

Turns out EVR completely undersold Persa in every way.  He seems to have an accurate arm?  How about a Nation’s best 73.5 completion percentage – good for NU and Big Ten single-season records.  Ability to read defenses?  Four interceptions in 302 attempts – two of which were tipped.  Dan averaged 258 yards per game.  Dan does not fit in to what is expected of a QB in a Wildcat offense – he is redefining what is expected.

Persa biggest attribute, however, may be his leadership and his demeanor.  He never panicked, and always lead his offense well – even when it was struggling.  When he was not on the field (in the fourth quarter against Indiana, as well as the Illinois, Wisconsin and Texas Tech games), saying the offense sputtered is an understatement.  When the offense was not scoring, Dan at least kept the turnovers to a minimum and turned the field around for the defense.  Something his backups were unable to do.

The National media has taken notice of Dan’s accomplishments and bestowed upon him “watch list” status for the Walter Camp Award, Manning Award, Davey O’Brien Award, and NFF Campbell Trophy.  So needless to say, Cat fans will not be the only ones watching Persa this season.

Obviously, the injury has the potential to derail this train.  But with hopes of an improved running game and an even more experienced offensive line and receiving corps, Persa’s arm should be much better utilized than his legs in 2011.  NU’s offense should survive without his long runs -- especially if he can still evade the rush to create more time or run for four yards on third and three.  No doubt that the team will live and die by Dan Persa.

Behind Dan is sort of a mixed bag.  Kain Colter has risen to the backup spot – to the surprise of few.  It was clear in the bowl game the Kain was simply more comfortable with the offense; and his mobility in the pocket allowed him to make plays and continue drives.  Nothing great happened in the three games Colter played in – but along with the emergence of Venric Mark as a potential superstar, the play of Kain was one of the bright spots.  Much like Persa in 2009 and Kafka in 2008 – Colter has shown the ability to step in at a time of injury – NU just hopes he will not be needed

Evan Watkins received all of the pre-game media attention before the Illinois game, and he simply was unable to deliver.  In five game appearances (including Illinois State and Indiana) Evan threw five interceptions to just two touchdowns.  He clearly has a strong arm and runs well for his size.  But his decision-making and play-making abilities are lacking right now.  He has a lot of time to improve and may well compete with Colter for the starting spot during their last two years.  But for now, he will be the number three guy.

Trevor Siemian is a redshirt freshman who impressed a lot of people in the Northwestern Spring game.  He is more of the prototype NU spread-offense type quarterback.  He is also quite a runner.  If Zack Oliver develops into the future starter at NU, Siemian may be converted to WR someday.  Oliver is clearly a big get for the NU offense.  A big prototype QB, who has run the spread offense in high school.  NU is not recruiting a QB right now – so Oliver is the guy.

Photo credit: bluedevilnation.com

Boston College – September 3, 2011 – Chestnut Hill, MA.  Boston College comes off a roller coaster season which saw both a five-game win streak and a five-game losing streak.  After starting 2-5 with losses in a brutal run of Virginia Tech, Notre Dame, NC State, Florida State, and Maryland, BC won their final five games to advance to a Bowl Game where they lost to Nevada.  BC did see great improvements over the course of the year, as even the final two losses of the streak were five and three points respectively.

BC’s offense struggled mightily in 2010.  The Eagles were held to under 20 points in 8 games and under 23 points in 11 games.  The offense brings its biggest weapon with Montel Harris, who has 3600 yards in his three years at BC, including 1243 in 2010.  He is going to need to carry the load as BC’s sophomore QB Chase Rettig is going to need to figure things out pretty quickly.  Last year in part-time action he threw nine picks to only 6 touchdowns.  This will be a good offense to gauge NU’s defense for 2011.  NU should dominate – if BC puts up points, Cat fans know they are in trouble.

BC does have strength at defense, lead by All-Everything LB Luke Kuechly, who may be the best overall player in the ACC.  The D starts six seniors and four juniors, making it one of the more experienced defenses that NU will face all year.  DB Donnie Fletcher should also make some noise for the Eagles D, as he returns from a five interception season.

This game will be critical for both teams.  Both have at least six other “losable” games on their schedules – so the win in Chestnut Hill will be an important step for Bowl eligibility.  BC will be looking for a hot start as they finish the season with the following seven game stretch - @Clemson, @Virginia Tech, @ Maryland, Florida State, NC State, @Notre Dame, @Miami.  Brutal.

Eastern Illinios – September 10, 2011, Ryan Field.  As usual, there is not much information on the FCS schools.  Basically, if this is a close game, NU has problems.  Here’s what I could find out from their athletic department website:

·         Six Players were named to Phil Steele’s preseason All-Ohio Valley Conference team

·         The head coach, Bob Spoo has been there for 23 years

·         The Panthers last appeared in the FCS playoffs in 2009

·         Last season they finished 2-9; and they are returning 15 starters

·         The Panthers run a spread offense and a basic 4-3 defense

·         Prior to the NU game, EIU will play its 100^th game against Illinois State

Recruiting 201

Before our last segment on recruiting, a few news and notes items.

Fitz will address the Big Ten Media at noon CST (1:00 EST) today.  It will be streamed live on the BTN website.

Also, Skip has a chance to sit down with Dan Persa on the eve of Media Day, where Dan will be one of three speakers on behalf of the Cats.  Dan spoke about his recovery in this piece.  One of the bast things to take from it is his attitude.  Hopefully he can translate that to on the field performance comparable to his 2010 season.

In the second segment on recruiting, today, EVR will look at the 2011 incoming Wildcat class, with a focus on when we can expect to see our new players on the field.  We will also examine the status of the developing 2012 class.

First, however, a follow up on yesterday’s post.  One of our readers (known last year as Tim the Skeptic) pointed out that there is a theory among the Rivals message board posters that there is nationwide “star inflation” across the nation.  Meaning that across the board there are more four star and three star players rated – and more players rated overall, which makes for more two stars.  Now, EVR neither has the time nor the data to analyze this, nor how it compares to NU.  But what EVR does know is that as recently as 2008, NU was consistently getting more 2-stars than 3 stars.  While in the 2010, 2011 and so far in the 2012 class, NU has six 2-star players TOTAL.  So even if there is star inflation, it would have to be an abnormally high level in order to out-pace NU’s recruiting improvements over the last three cycles.

Christian Jones, WR – Spring, TX – 6’3” 199 lbs. – 3 stars / 5.7 Rivals Rating:  Jones is probably the most likely player to see the field in 2011.  It is generally easier for WRs to get acclimated to an offense – and as we all know, NU uses a lot of receivers.  But aside from that, Jones is a big dude and a big talent and is the headliner of the 2011 class.  Christian also had offers from Arkansas, Stanford and Texas Tech (and Harvard).  Compare to: Kim Thompson – Thompson was a little smaller but had the same 40 time.  Thompson was more of a role player at NU.  Jones should be able to use his size to be a difference maker in the Wildcat offense.

Cameron Dickerson, WR – Oradell, NJ – 6’3” 195 – 3* / 5.5: Dickerson is basically the same build at Jones, and is actually a touch faster.  While he does not have blazing speed, his size allows him to play faster than he really is, as can be seen by this clip.  There is such a log jam at receiver that Dickerson will probably have to redshirt in 2011.  Although, Cameron did play some DB in high school, so we may see him on some special teams.  Cameron also received offers from Indiana and Vanderbilt (and Harvard).  Compare to: Rashad Lawrence – Lawrence saw some good time as a true freshman in 2010, standing just one inch shorter than Dickerson.

Xavier Youngblood-Ary, WR – Altamonte Springs, FL – 6’3” 180 – 3* / 5.5: XYA rounds out a trio of very tall WRs.  Together they are three of the five of the tallest freshman WRs NU has seen in 2002.  While this clip shows Xavier against some pretty bad pass defenses (seriously, the team must have had one pass play called “throw deep to Xavier”) the catches on the latter half of the video shows his field awareness and athleticism.  Xavier will probably play third chair in the trio – and is least likely to play in 2011, but should develop into a key player because… Compare to: Ross Lane – Ross was an inch taller and a tick slower than Xavier, but learned to use his tall from to be a great receiver in the NU offense.

Jordan Perkins, RB – Lodi, CA – 5’11” 177 – 3* / 5.6: Jordan was a key focus of the NU recruiting effort; and was the #39 ranked RB in the country by Rivals.  Perkins is a little tall for his weight (or a little light for his height), but he carries his awkward frame really well, as you can see in this clip.  He looks to have great field vision and breakaway speed.  Xavier will likely begin the year as a redshirt, but could easily see some action in case of an injury – especially with the departure of Arby Fields.  Compare to: Adonis Smith – Adonis was a great compliment to Mike Trumpy in 2010, carrying only 8 more pounds than Jordan at the same height.  All the more reason for Jordan to redshirt so he is not continually blocked by Smith.

Zack Oliver, QB – Baton Rouge, LA – 6’4” 220 – 3* / 5.6:  When it is all said and done, Zack has the potential to be the star of this class, though he will have to wait his turn.  Assuming he redshirts, he could be groomed to be the starter beginning in 2014, after Kain Colter graduates.  Zack will not be likely to run as much as we are used to from an NU quarterback, but his frame makes him more of a prototype QB than the Cats have seen in a long time.  But as can be seen by this clip he ran a shotgun / spread-style offense in high school – so he should be ready to adapt to the Wildcat offense. Compare to: NU doesn’t really have a comparable player from a size standpoint.  Evan Watkins is much bigger; Mike Kafka is a little smaller.  Zack is somewhere in between – and hopefully he resembles Kafka.

Jarrell Williams, DB – Oak Lawn, IL – 5’10” 165 – 3* /5.6: Jarrell was obviously the all everything player at his high school, as can be seen by his highlight clip.  While most of the highlights are in his role on offense, you can see his speed and his strength.  He can also make nice plays on the ball.  Make sure to check out the hit he makes at 1:55!  Fitz has suggested that he is blowing up the defense, so all of the positions are up for grabs.  Jarrell is probably the most likely defensive player to see time, especially in a dime set.  Jarrell selected NU over offers from Boston College and Minnesota.  Compare to: Marquice Cole – Jarrell and Marquice have the exact same height and weight.  Cole was an unrated “zero-star” recruit – and now he on the New York Jets roster.  Not bad.

Andrew Smith, LB – Cincinnati, OH – 6’2” 200 – 3* /5.5: For a school that has consistently put linebackers in the NFL, it is hard to believe that Smith is only the third LB commitment in the last two classes.  This means that a lot will be expected of him as the years go by.  Not so much this year.  Smith also played safety in high school, which is a testament to his agility.  He also lined up as a DE on occasion, which is something that the Cats did with Quentin Davie on occasion last season.  This clip shows that Smith is an absolute ball hawk.  He chose NU over Stanford, Minnesota, and his hometown of Cincinnati.  Compare to: Nick Roach – Nick was an inch shorter and a little bigger but is the best comparable as a somewhat undersized LB. 

Deonte Gibson, DE – Lakewood, OH – 6’3” 225 – 3* /5.6: Deonte’s highlight film shows that he has great quickness and speed.  He will need to work on his strength if he wants to be effective against Big Ten defenses.  But he should be a solid pass rusher and a stopper against an outside running game.  Gibson had one of the most impressive list of courters, receiving offers from Pittsburgh, Stanford, West Virginia, and Cincinnati.  Compare to: Kevin Watt – Kevin is an inch taller, but should be a great mentor for Deonte.

Other 2011 incoming Players:

Treyvon Green, RB – Rowlett, TX

Mark Szott, TE – Aurora, IL
Shane Mertz, OL – Hazlet, NJ
Jack Konopka, OL – Palatine, IL
Geoff Mogus, OL – Lakewood, OH
Matt Frazier, OL – Kankakee, IL
Nick VanHoose, DB – Urbana, OH
Max Capman, DE – Ponte Vedra, FL
CJ Robbins, DE – LaSalle, IL

Please do not think that these players are not going to be integral parts of the Wildcat program.  EVR simply does not know enough about them to make an individual write up.

As for the 2012 class, as this blog mentioned yesterday, it is currently ranked 49^th in the nation and already has 13 recruits.  Here is the list so far.

Name	Pos	Ht/Wt	Stars	RR
Adam DePietro	OL	6-5/270	3	5.6
Chris Fitzpatrick	OL	6-1/235	NR	NR
Joseph Jones	DB	6-1/200	2	5.4
Malin Jones	RB	6-2/190	3	5.7
Dean Lowry	DE	6-5/225	3	5.7
Connor Mahoney	DT	6-4/270	2	5.4
Mike McHugh	WR	6-2/185	3	5.5
Eric Olson	OL	6-6/265	3	5.6
Ian Park	OL	6-4/295	3	5.5
Kenton Playko	OL	6-5/270	3	5.5
Jack Schwaba	TE	6-5/240	3	5.5
Dan Vitale	ATH	6-2/205	2	5.4
Dwight White	DB	5-11/175	3	5.5

Of particular interest is Malin Jones, who committed last October, from Naperville Joliet Catholic.  Malin is a big strong running back, who could give the Cats a running game unlike what NU has seen in a while.  He has also been making news on his Rivals page, where he recently reconfirmed his commitment to NU, amazed with his powerlifting numbers, and even joined the recruiting efforts by focusing on recruiting other prospects.  Watch out for this kid!

Speaking of other prospects, NU has extended offers to the following upcoming seniors, who are getting closer to making a decision.  EVR will be watching this list closely, along with adding to the list as other NU offers narrow their decisions.

Name	Pos	Ht/Wt	Stars	RR	NU choice
Ifeadi Odenigbo	DE	6-4/210	4	5.9	Top-5
Seth Jacobs	LB	6-2/205	4	5.8	Top-14
Greg Kuhar	DT	6-3/265	3	5.6	Top-9
Jehu Chesson	WR	6-3/182	3	5.6	Top-14
Nana Kyeremeh	DB	5-10/159	3	5.5	Top-15
Martel Summers	DB	6-1/186	NR	NR	Top-6

Odenigbo is a potential program changer.  NU is competing against Cal, Notre Dame, OSU and Stanford for his commitment.  According to his Rivals page, Ifeadi was “blown away” by his visit to NU.

Over the weekend, EVR will begin previewing the 2011 season with a recap of Fitz's comments at Big Ten Media day, a look at Dan Persa and the quarterbacks, and a preview of the first two games.

Go Cats!