Oct. 25, 2010

By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor

• It was impossible, on Monday, to fully gauge the state of the 'Cats some 46 hours after their disappointing loss to undefeated Michigan State. But this much was clear. They were not despondent, they were not dragging their tails (either figuratively or literally) and they were looking ahead to their Saturday trip to Indiana with a certain relish. "Guys are confident. A little bit of a foul mood, but confident," said coach Pat Fitzgerald, who that morning had met with his team's Leadership Council. "Obviously we've got to find a way to make a few more plays and coach guys a little better. But we made some improvement off the bye week. I thought we played improved football Saturday in all three phases, but there's still room for improvement."

"We played a good game for 58 minutes Saturday and that gave us a lot of confidence," the defensive tackle Corbin Bryant would add minutes later. "We didn't come out with the result that we wanted. But seeing what we saw on film, we saw a lot of promise. With the bad taste that we have in our mouth from the weekend, we have to go down to Bloomington and take it out on them."

What did they see that left them with that attitude?

"Defensively, I thought we attacked the line of scrimmage really well. We stopped a top-10 rushing offense and held them to their lowest total all season. That's promising. But we also saw a lot of things where we can get better. We have to get off blocks better. There's a lot of things coverage wise we have to shore up. But things are looking promising."

"I thought for the most part we've improved all year in the kicking game," Fitzgerald himself said to the same question. "There have been some issues obviously. . .but you look at a lot of areas, our punt return has improved. . . Our kickoff returns have improved. Our punting's gone from one of the worst in the country to top-40. Our punt return defense is getting better. I thought we ran the ball better. I thought we stopped the run much better. I thought we had a lot of big plays on offense. I thought we had some impact plays on defense. We're inching closer and closer to playing 60 minutes. Obviously we didn't do that. But we're closer. If you were to tell me that we're going to have the ball in our hands with a chance to win the game with two minutes left, I'd say, 'Good. Let's go.' Unfortunately, we didn't accomplish it. The credit goes to our opponent."

• The need to play 60 minutes, and the 'Cats inability to do that, were repetitive themes on Monday, just as they have been from season's start. Bryant, for one example, said this when asked about the Spartans' second-half rally. "They just made some plays. This is Big Ten football. Everybody's good. We can't just lay down and go out and expect to be able to beat a team. We have to play for 60 minutes."

Why has it been difficult for this team to do that?

"I wouldn't say it's been difficult," said Bryant. "I would just say we have to go out there and execute our responsibilities. We get in different situations where like, say, we're in the two-minute situation and we let a team dink and dunk us down the field and then they make a big play at the end. We just have to work on being more aggressive in those situations."

"All these Big Ten games are 60 minute games. You have to play at the highest intensity, you have to stay focused the entire time," said the offensive lineman Keegan Grant. "If you have a momentary dip, one play or one series, that makes all the difference in the world. We have to eliminate those dips and if they happen, we've got to get back into the game, cheer teammates on and get everything going again."

• A glimpse of the future, which may arrive Saturday or somewhere further down the road, was provided last weekend by freshman running back Adonis Smith, who showed flashes that intrigued while gaining 44 yards on just 10 carries. "I'm getting to feel as if it's my offense," he would say later, flashing here that bit of bravado so many of the special ones possess.

"I'd rather have that than the opposite," Fitzgerald said Monday when asked about Smith's confidence. "He's improving. He's getting better. He's got a long, long way to go. I think that whole group (at running back) is working their tails off to help our football team win. I know some of the guys aren't happy with their roles. I'd be disappointed if they were, but they're helping the team. Steph's (Stephen Simmons) out there in the kicking game, Arby's (Arby Fields) out there in the kicking game, Jacob's (Jacob Schmidt) played in the kicking game, Michael (Trumpy) was out there earlier this year. So they're all helping the team."

Might we see more of Smith against the Hoosiers?

Said Fitzgerald: "There'll be practices this week."

• Smith and Trumpy combined for 94 yards on 20 carries against the Spartans, which is reason enough for hope on a 'Cat team that has spent the season in search of a running game. "That's been a point of emphasis the past couple weeks for the offensive line, to get a good running game going," Grant said when asked the reason for this improved performance. "Going into this game we took it as an opportunity to really show everyone we can actually get a ground game going. The focus was to get the defensive line running and get after 'em."

And what did he think of Smith's play?

"I thought he ran pretty well. I'm really excited he got to get the ball. As a whole, all our running backs were hitting the hole hard, our offensive line was making some big gaps for them. We were just clicking Saturday."

"It was really encouraging to see those two guys run the ball the way they did," added quarterback Dan Persa. "I feel the offensive line's been doing a great job for awhile now and we're finally starting to capitalize on that."

• Issues and answers, handled quickly:

• The eight sacks Persa suffered against the Spartans: "I would say we allowed three sacks," said Fitzgerald. "The first play of the game was a sack. It was a sprint out play and Dan lost one yard. So if you were to go back with a critical eye, closing in on half (of them) were scramble sacks. Could Danny have thrown it away? Maybe. There were just three where we lost one and one battles. So I think the number is a little misleading when I look at the sack total."

• The defensive backs who allowed the Spartan completions on numerous second-and-longs and third-and-longs: "A little bit of breakdown in trust in some guys, trust in their technique," said Fitzgerald. "Get out way too fast in some circumstances and give them way too much time and distance. A good group of receivers. But we've just got to trust ourselves and trust our technique and the things that we do. We've got to have better under coverage. There were some circumstances where we needed to get better reroutes so we take some steam off some of the receivers. Those are some of the things we can improve on."

• Deciding between the speedier freshmen Venric Mark or the more experienced Hunter Bates for punt returns: "This thing on my neck, if it's twinging, I'm going with Venric, if not," said Fitzgerald. "I don't know. Both guys are dynamic. I like them both. Hunter got a little dinged up. That's why we made the change early."

• On the high passes he threw after the Spartans took a one-point lead with two minutes remaining: "That was just my fault, putting a little too much on them," said Persa. "They switched to man-to-man toward the end of the game and I was leading them too much."

• On the team's recurring penalty problems: "It goes back to those lulls (when) you lose mental focus for just an instant," said Grant. "As a whole it's been trying to get really aggressive, trying to get after defenses, and play with a passion. Sometimes you get a personal foul here and there."

• On the Saturday absence of superback Drake Dunsmore, who didn't have a pass thrown his way: "It was just one of those things," said Persa. "I don't think it was anything we did or they did. It just worked out that way. Looking at the tape, I'm trying to think if there were opportunities for him to get the ball. I can't really think of too many."

• And finally, of course, on the fake punt that swung all the momentum toward the Spartans: "The coaching point there, and obviously I didn't do a good enough job accentuating it, is you cover your guy until the ball's kicked," said Fitzgerald. "We didn't do a good job coaching it. We didn't do a good job executing it. Like I said after the game, hats off. Kudos to them. Nice job."

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