Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

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Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

Northwestern University and Evanston's Only Daily News Source Since 1881

The Daily Northwestern

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Football: Late errors cost NU two straight wins

Making poor decisions with the ball. Taking eyes out of progressions. Not hitting the right gap. Not burning feet on tackles. Not finishing blocks.

Those were the mistakes Northwestern coach Pat Fitzgerald could pinpoint after watching his team’s film in a harrowing fourth-quarter collapse against Iowa on Saturday.

The course this week for the Wildcats is simple: how to fix those mistakes. It began Monday with recognition of what went wrong.

“We usually have this prowess of winning games in the fourth quarter and putting teams away,” senior offensive guard Adam Crum said. “We haven’t done it the last couple of weeks. We have to get guys to realize that there was a reason why we had a lead going into the fourth quarter.”

The positive plays were there for NU to discover that reason. A rare I-formation play-action fake on offense that led to a first quarter touchdown. A convergence by two defensive ends that left the opposing quarterback sandwiched, forcing an early fourth quarter fumble.

Fitzgerald believes these are the plays his team should focus on instead of the final quarter flops he saw for 15 minutes on Saturday.

“You’d like to think that instead of worrying as much about the fourth quarter, you’d worry about being consistent, playing the game in its entirety the same way,” Fitzgerald said. “When you look at championship level teams, they are the same way each game – not up too high for the opener, not too low for week five.”

The consistency Fitzgerald is looking for stands at the top of the Cats’ own conference. The Ohio State Buckeyes have won a Big Ten record 20 straight conference games. The Michigan Wolverines, in the face of a potential 0-3 start, responded with eight straight wins.

But within his own team, Fitzgerald’s realization of inconsistent play this season became all too clear this past weekend. With 16 net yards of offense in the fourth quarter in the past two games against Purdue and Iowa, even NU’s staple of fourth quarter magic was no longer there.

After leaving Detroit with a 5-3 record two weeks ago, Fitzgerald’s response to NU’s 26-14 victory over Eastern Michigan made little reference to finishing blocks or sealing gaps.

His focus was on the outcome.

“When you’re fighting and scratching and clawing to win football games, it doesn’t matter how you win,” he said then. “It matters that you win.”

Since that statement, the Cats have seen themselves carry leads into the final quarter of two straight games, only to watch them evaporate.

Those outcomes prompted Fitzgerald to change his outlook, where attention on winning has not necessarily been the best thing for his team.

“I think we’re pressing,” he said. “You worry more about winning than doing what winners do, and competing. … Sometimes winning can be a distraction. Winning is a byproduct of what you get when you do things well.”

But his players remained focused on a win against Indiana this coming Saturday.

In a season marred by an ankle injury, running back Tyrell Sutton has climbed back to his starting spot, and more importantly, his level of production. Despite being limited to two carries in the fourth quarter collapses, he has rushed for 188 yards on 35 carries since his return to the starting spot.

For Sutton, it’s all about the win.

“We just have to come out with the mentality to win,” he said. “Whether we run the ball 40 times a game or throw it 50 times, the stat that matters is getting the win.”

Reach Chris Gentilviso at [email protected].

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Football: Late errors cost NU two straight wins