By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
A not-uncertain quietude enveloped them as their busses began the long journey home, and this was no surprise. They had just lost to Michigan by 38 and now, ahead of them, loomed undefeated Iowa, the leader in their West Division of the Big Ten. So, remembers the defensive end Dean Lowry, "It was very silent. I think a lot of guys just focused on the mistakes they made that day, and a lot of guys watched film (of the game). A lot of it is flushing it, but also knowing what we have to improve on to get ready for the next game. But there was definitely a lot of reflection."
The Adam Sandler movie The Waterboy was available for their viewing and, says Lowry, "That lightened our moods a little bit." Still, within an hour, most of them were asleep. "Then," recalls the safety Traveon Henry, "when you wake back up it's real mellow, real quiet."
"It was long. Long, tough," the running back Justin Jackson will later say of that ride. "I slept most of the time. But it was obviously tough. Anytime you lose and have to get on a five-hour bus ride, it sucks. But our team morale, we weren't shaken by it. Obviously we didn't play like we wanted to. But we know all of our goals are still in front of us. The leadership of the team brought everyone together and said, 'We have to learn from this, but flush it and move on. We've got Iowa next week and that's a huge game.'"
"It wasn't very much fun," the quarterback Clayton Thorson finally says of that journey the 'Cats took last Saturday night. "Riding back five hours after a loss like that, you never want to have that feeling. I think we realize that. We never want to have that feeling again."
Back in 2012, just as they did this fall, the 'Cats opened their season with five straight wins before falling (to Penn State). Yet that did not derail them. They instead responded, winning the next week at Minnesota and closing out that campaign with a victory over Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl.
They started their next season just as impressively, running off four straight wins and rising to No. 16 in the national rankings. But then, under the lights at Ryan Field, they fell to Ohio State, and here they were derailed. The next week they would lose at Wisconsin by 29, and now they would not win again until they topped Illinois by three in the final game of their year.
"It was mainly response," Traveon Henry will say when asked the difference between those teams. "The biggest thing in 2013 is we didn't really respond well. We didn't get back to who we were. We didn't get back to the fundamentals. We stopped doing what we did when we were winning. We let go of a few of our standards and allowed a couple things to just go by the wayside. Nobody stepped up and stopped what was going on."
Do they, as team leaders, draw on that experience to make sure it doesn't happen again?
"Yeah," says Dean Lowry. "Like Trav said, one of the foundations of our program is responding. In the Big Ten, you're going to have ups-and-downs. But the great teams find ways to come back strong and find those opportunities each week to keep winning. It's about responding to adversity."
"In 2012," says Henry, "guys really took that loss to heart, and I see very similar things about this team. Everyone took it to heart and everyone sees that we're better than that."
"When you take those losses to heart, it's because of how much you care. And how much we want to be successful," superback Dan Vitale will later say. He, like Lowry and Henry, was a freshman in 2012. He, again like Lowry and Henry, is now one of these 'Cats senior leaders, and here he continues, "That's our main thing right now. Everybody's 100 percent bought into it. So we took that loss to heart because we care. That's the most-important thing.
"I don't know if we had that the last two years. A lot of that's our maturity. It's fun to see. It makes it a lot easier to come out to practice after a tough loss like last week, knowing we're going to go all out at practice and have a good time, but work hard while we're at it."
Last Monday, at his weekly presser, Pat Fitzgerald said he liked his team's attitude that morning, but that he would know more about its state-of-mind after its Tuesday practice. You guys seemed a little chippy out there, Lowry and Henry were told after that practice.
"The defense today got very aggressive," said Lowry. "The guys, we take losing to heart. It's not OK to lose here. We expect perfection and to compete for championships. So we know this game is big for us, and Iowa has always been a very physical game. It's always been a fourth-quarter game except for last year. This is a huge game for us, and I think guys really practiced like that."
"Our fires were definitely lit today," Henry added with a mischievous grin. "We decided it was time to start picking it up."
"We've responded," Fitzgerald would say a day later, after their Wednesday practice. "Now we've got to take what we've done this week into the game. We haven't had a problem preparing to this point. We've got to execute better, and we've got to start the game faster. But the guys have responded well."
Does he see parallels between this team that took the Michigan loss personally and that 2012 team that also took losses personally?
"I definitely think they (the current edition) took it personally," he said. "But I have a hard time comparing teams just because I have the full (picture of) what 2012 did. But there are a lot of upperclassmen on this team who were on that team, and they understand one game doesn't maker a season, win or lose. You obviously expect to win every game and if you prepare the right way, you're ready. But if you don't play the right way, you don't have a chance. That was Saturday. I think they've done a great job leading, and hopefully they'll do it through the weekend."
Back in 2012 the 'Cats often talked about riding the Fun Train, and here their engineers were guys like defensive linemen Tyler Scott and Brian Arnfelt and Quentin Williams. Now their leaders are guys like Dean Lowry and Traveon Henry and Dan Vitale, who are imbued with a perspective that started taking shape that year when they were callow freshmen. "Our team has a phenomenal attitude," Vitale will say, applying that perspective. "Even after this last loss we put together two really good practices Tuesday and today. So I think just the attitude and our ability to respond to adversity is how it was back in 2012. . . . If we can go 1-0 this week, beat Iowa, we're right back on track. All of our goals are still in front of us. We can still win the conference and go play in a great bowl game. That was the biggest message (he delivered). There's no stepping back. We've got to step forward onto the next thing."
"The only approach after you lose is to work harder and to come back and have that attitude, that daily approach that you're going to outwork your opponent," Lowry will add. "You can't let that loss get you down. You've got to come back harder and be excited to work. That positive energy is contagious on this team."
"We understand we're guaranteed only a limited amount of games," Henry will then conclude, "and once something like this (the Michigan loss) happens, you have to really invest even more because each game is that much more special."
The 'Cats took a hammer blow last week in Ann Arbor, but in its wake an old Russian proverb should be remembered. This proverb proclaims, "The same hammer that breaks the glass forges the steel."
"Hopefully we'll come back like steel," Traveon Henry says when hearing that. "That's where our mindset is right now. That's the mindset of the team. I think we'll definitely build from this. Grow. Become stronger."
NUsports.com Special Contributor
A not-uncertain quietude enveloped them as their busses began the long journey home, and this was no surprise. They had just lost to Michigan by 38 and now, ahead of them, loomed undefeated Iowa, the leader in their West Division of the Big Ten. So, remembers the defensive end Dean Lowry, "It was very silent. I think a lot of guys just focused on the mistakes they made that day, and a lot of guys watched film (of the game). A lot of it is flushing it, but also knowing what we have to improve on to get ready for the next game. But there was definitely a lot of reflection."
The Adam Sandler movie The Waterboy was available for their viewing and, says Lowry, "That lightened our moods a little bit." Still, within an hour, most of them were asleep. "Then," recalls the safety Traveon Henry, "when you wake back up it's real mellow, real quiet."
"It was long. Long, tough," the running back Justin Jackson will later say of that ride. "I slept most of the time. But it was obviously tough. Anytime you lose and have to get on a five-hour bus ride, it sucks. But our team morale, we weren't shaken by it. Obviously we didn't play like we wanted to. But we know all of our goals are still in front of us. The leadership of the team brought everyone together and said, 'We have to learn from this, but flush it and move on. We've got Iowa next week and that's a huge game.'"
"It wasn't very much fun," the quarterback Clayton Thorson finally says of that journey the 'Cats took last Saturday night. "Riding back five hours after a loss like that, you never want to have that feeling. I think we realize that. We never want to have that feeling again."
Back in 2012, just as they did this fall, the 'Cats opened their season with five straight wins before falling (to Penn State). Yet that did not derail them. They instead responded, winning the next week at Minnesota and closing out that campaign with a victory over Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl.
They started their next season just as impressively, running off four straight wins and rising to No. 16 in the national rankings. But then, under the lights at Ryan Field, they fell to Ohio State, and here they were derailed. The next week they would lose at Wisconsin by 29, and now they would not win again until they topped Illinois by three in the final game of their year.
"It was mainly response," Traveon Henry will say when asked the difference between those teams. "The biggest thing in 2013 is we didn't really respond well. We didn't get back to who we were. We didn't get back to the fundamentals. We stopped doing what we did when we were winning. We let go of a few of our standards and allowed a couple things to just go by the wayside. Nobody stepped up and stopped what was going on."
Do they, as team leaders, draw on that experience to make sure it doesn't happen again?
"Yeah," says Dean Lowry. "Like Trav said, one of the foundations of our program is responding. In the Big Ten, you're going to have ups-and-downs. But the great teams find ways to come back strong and find those opportunities each week to keep winning. It's about responding to adversity."
"In 2012," says Henry, "guys really took that loss to heart, and I see very similar things about this team. Everyone took it to heart and everyone sees that we're better than that."
"When you take those losses to heart, it's because of how much you care. And how much we want to be successful," superback Dan Vitale will later say. He, like Lowry and Henry, was a freshman in 2012. He, again like Lowry and Henry, is now one of these 'Cats senior leaders, and here he continues, "That's our main thing right now. Everybody's 100 percent bought into it. So we took that loss to heart because we care. That's the most-important thing.
"I don't know if we had that the last two years. A lot of that's our maturity. It's fun to see. It makes it a lot easier to come out to practice after a tough loss like last week, knowing we're going to go all out at practice and have a good time, but work hard while we're at it."
Last Monday, at his weekly presser, Pat Fitzgerald said he liked his team's attitude that morning, but that he would know more about its state-of-mind after its Tuesday practice. You guys seemed a little chippy out there, Lowry and Henry were told after that practice.
"The defense today got very aggressive," said Lowry. "The guys, we take losing to heart. It's not OK to lose here. We expect perfection and to compete for championships. So we know this game is big for us, and Iowa has always been a very physical game. It's always been a fourth-quarter game except for last year. This is a huge game for us, and I think guys really practiced like that."
"Our fires were definitely lit today," Henry added with a mischievous grin. "We decided it was time to start picking it up."
"We've responded," Fitzgerald would say a day later, after their Wednesday practice. "Now we've got to take what we've done this week into the game. We haven't had a problem preparing to this point. We've got to execute better, and we've got to start the game faster. But the guys have responded well."
Does he see parallels between this team that took the Michigan loss personally and that 2012 team that also took losses personally?
"I definitely think they (the current edition) took it personally," he said. "But I have a hard time comparing teams just because I have the full (picture of) what 2012 did. But there are a lot of upperclassmen on this team who were on that team, and they understand one game doesn't maker a season, win or lose. You obviously expect to win every game and if you prepare the right way, you're ready. But if you don't play the right way, you don't have a chance. That was Saturday. I think they've done a great job leading, and hopefully they'll do it through the weekend."
Back in 2012 the 'Cats often talked about riding the Fun Train, and here their engineers were guys like defensive linemen Tyler Scott and Brian Arnfelt and Quentin Williams. Now their leaders are guys like Dean Lowry and Traveon Henry and Dan Vitale, who are imbued with a perspective that started taking shape that year when they were callow freshmen. "Our team has a phenomenal attitude," Vitale will say, applying that perspective. "Even after this last loss we put together two really good practices Tuesday and today. So I think just the attitude and our ability to respond to adversity is how it was back in 2012. . . . If we can go 1-0 this week, beat Iowa, we're right back on track. All of our goals are still in front of us. We can still win the conference and go play in a great bowl game. That was the biggest message (he delivered). There's no stepping back. We've got to step forward onto the next thing."
"The only approach after you lose is to work harder and to come back and have that attitude, that daily approach that you're going to outwork your opponent," Lowry will add. "You can't let that loss get you down. You've got to come back harder and be excited to work. That positive energy is contagious on this team."
"We understand we're guaranteed only a limited amount of games," Henry will then conclude, "and once something like this (the Michigan loss) happens, you have to really invest even more because each game is that much more special."
The 'Cats took a hammer blow last week in Ann Arbor, but in its wake an old Russian proverb should be remembered. This proverb proclaims, "The same hammer that breaks the glass forges the steel."
"Hopefully we'll come back like steel," Traveon Henry says when hearing that. "That's where our mindset is right now. That's the mindset of the team. I think we'll definitely build from this. Grow. Become stronger."