By Skip Myslenski
NUsports.com Special Contributor
THE FRANCHISE: Last Saturday, against Indiana, middle linebacker Anthony Walker once more resembled a heat-seeking missile. He had not been that earlier this season. But here he was a marauder, a disrupter, a destroyer, and when his afternoon ended he had 11 tackles, 10 of them of the solo variety. He, at last, had resembled the ruinous force he was a season ago and here is the reason that took so long. He has, just recently, gotten fully into game shape.
The issue stemmed from the tweaked knee he suffered in Kenosha, an injury that did not keep him from games, but did cost him a ton of practice time. "At the beginning of the season," he explains, "it wasn't that it was hurting. It was that I'd missed those reps in camp and I didn't have that comfortability out there, those reps that get you prepared mentally and physically. Just trying to hop out there on game week is not my style. But that was the only thing I could do and it took me a little bit to get my rhythm back. But from the beginning my guys were able to help me out there. The season hasn't gone the way we expected. But right now we're on a roll and as long as we're winning, we're fine. Right now we're playing good football."
When did he finally get into game shape?
"I'd say like Nebraska, the Iowa game. It takes awhile. I've been in this system, I've been in this program awhile, and I know how important practice is. Practice makes perfect and, if you don't practice, you're really not getting any better. You can take the mental reps and all that. But the physical reps, actually being out there with your guys, is different. For me that was big, just to get back in that rhythm. I think I'm finally getting there."
Does he fully trust his knee now?
"When it first happened, I'd never had a knee injury before. So when it first happened, I was a little shook. I can't say I wasn't. But when the trainers said I was ready to go, I didn't question them. Once I could run on it, I was ready to go. No excuses after that. I feel good now."
THE MISTAKE: The 'Cat defense held the Hoosiers to a pair of field goals and a late, meaningless touchdown, and later Pat Fitzgerald praised the play of both Walker and safety Godwin Igwebuike. But then he added, "I think they've been trying to do a little bit too much. It looked like today for the most part they just did their job."
"I would say that," Walker agreed when his coach's observation was shared with him. "I think we were both trying to make plays, we were both trying to lead the defense. We knew that, with a lot of guys out, with a lot of our closest friends out, we felt we had to make plays for the defense instead of just trusting the system. Once we got back to doing that, once we got everyone playing on the same accord, I think we were able to play fine. Just the little details of everybody being on the same page, myself included, we're starting to get that down pat, and we're both leading the defense now."
"There definitely were times when we were trying to do too much," Igwebuike later echoed. "Trying to do a little extra got us out of our own alignments, got us out of our own places. A lot of that comes down to doing a better job of making sure our groups were prepared, which feeds into that trust, trusting everyone will be in the right spot. Realizing and understanding that, yeah, we're expected to make plays. But the field is filled with playmakers and, obviously, we've never not trusted them. But still thinking we had to do more when that wasn't the case. We realized that. We made the mistakes. But got it fixed. Continue to fix it. Continue to raise up the level of performance of everyone around us, including ourselves. That's paying off."
THE FIX: "We worked incredibly hard in the off season to get stronger, faster and such," said Igwebuike. "But playing together on the field was new for all of us. There were a lot of new faces. As you know, in the secondary, two of the four starters went down, and even the ones who replaced them were dropping here and there. We had new guys coming in, a lot of guys coming in and out. It was different. it was something you have to adjust to. We didn't have the same consistent lineup that we did last year. So it was something new to all of us and really made us have to come together and understand that everyone has to prepare like they're going to start because you never know who's going to be in and who's going to be out. It brought us together as a family, and we're putting more time into knowing each other's job, knowing that they know their job, knowing that I know my job, trusting that they know that I'll do what I'm supposed to do and they'll be where they're supposed to be. it's definitely been a process and it's continuing on even now because we still have new faces coming in and out. But we're working on it and we're becoming more and more confident not only in ourselves, but in each other."
"It's not easy to replace a Deonte Gibson, a Dean Lowry, a Traveon Henry, who was probably our most vocal leader last year," said Walker. "A Nick VanHoose (who graduated). A Matt Harris (who was injured in Week Two and has since retired from football). A Keith Watkins (who was injured in training camp). We're playing with a lot of young guys and to get everybody playing on that one accord, that's not easy. Having everyone trust the system and trust the guy next to him has taken a little bit more time than we thought it would after losing Matt and Keith. But I think we're finally getting our groove back. I think defensively we took a great step in a positive direction Saturday toward playing a complete game. We were able to stop the run pretty well, and we were able to play solid in the passing game as well. We're just taking it one game at a time, and I think we're getting better each week."
How close is this year's D to last year's, which catalyzed the 'Cats to 10 wins?
"I think we're a lot closer than everybody thinks," Anthony Walker finally said "We're starting to believe in it. Everybody's starting to trust it. The safeties are playing on the same page, Kyle (Queiro) and Godwin. Even the young corners, I think they're stepping up really big. Linebackers are playing well. I think we can still take that extra step as a linebacker corps, myself included. But for the most part I think we're playing pretty well. And the defensive line's playing dominant. They're leading us right now stopping the run. Without those big guys up front we can't do anything at linebacker or in the secondary. So they're definitely doing their thing."
QUICKLY NOTED: Asked about Walker's play, fellow linebacker Jaylen Prater said: "This week especially he played great. Got back to doing what he does best, which is reading the play, diagnosing it, and just playing fast, playing aggressive, playing relentless.". . . On Saturday the 'Cats are at No. 6 Ohio State, which was upset last week by Penn State. In his 15 year head coaching career, the Buckeyes' Urban Meyer has lost consecutive games just four times. In addition, the Buckeyes have beaten the 'Cats in their last five meetings and in 29 of their last 30. . . The most-heralded Buck is quarterback J.T. Barrett, who in his career has been responsible for a school-record 90 touchdowns (62 passing, 38 rushing). On the season he is averaging 273.1 yards of total offense per game.
AND FINALLY, FITZGERALD on the Buckeye defense, which has scored four touchdowns and given up just eight: "I wish I could say they have 11 NFL players. There's not. It's like everybody that goes on the field is a potential NFL player. If I were to mention all the starters, then I'd be doing an injustice to the backups. I'm not saying that to be patronizing. That's what jumps out to me off the tape. There's no dip. When the twos roll into the D line, there's no dip. They're not twos. They're 1Bs."
NUsports.com Special Contributor
THE FRANCHISE: Last Saturday, against Indiana, middle linebacker Anthony Walker once more resembled a heat-seeking missile. He had not been that earlier this season. But here he was a marauder, a disrupter, a destroyer, and when his afternoon ended he had 11 tackles, 10 of them of the solo variety. He, at last, had resembled the ruinous force he was a season ago and here is the reason that took so long. He has, just recently, gotten fully into game shape.
The issue stemmed from the tweaked knee he suffered in Kenosha, an injury that did not keep him from games, but did cost him a ton of practice time. "At the beginning of the season," he explains, "it wasn't that it was hurting. It was that I'd missed those reps in camp and I didn't have that comfortability out there, those reps that get you prepared mentally and physically. Just trying to hop out there on game week is not my style. But that was the only thing I could do and it took me a little bit to get my rhythm back. But from the beginning my guys were able to help me out there. The season hasn't gone the way we expected. But right now we're on a roll and as long as we're winning, we're fine. Right now we're playing good football."
When did he finally get into game shape?
"I'd say like Nebraska, the Iowa game. It takes awhile. I've been in this system, I've been in this program awhile, and I know how important practice is. Practice makes perfect and, if you don't practice, you're really not getting any better. You can take the mental reps and all that. But the physical reps, actually being out there with your guys, is different. For me that was big, just to get back in that rhythm. I think I'm finally getting there."
Does he fully trust his knee now?
"When it first happened, I'd never had a knee injury before. So when it first happened, I was a little shook. I can't say I wasn't. But when the trainers said I was ready to go, I didn't question them. Once I could run on it, I was ready to go. No excuses after that. I feel good now."
THE MISTAKE: The 'Cat defense held the Hoosiers to a pair of field goals and a late, meaningless touchdown, and later Pat Fitzgerald praised the play of both Walker and safety Godwin Igwebuike. But then he added, "I think they've been trying to do a little bit too much. It looked like today for the most part they just did their job."
"I would say that," Walker agreed when his coach's observation was shared with him. "I think we were both trying to make plays, we were both trying to lead the defense. We knew that, with a lot of guys out, with a lot of our closest friends out, we felt we had to make plays for the defense instead of just trusting the system. Once we got back to doing that, once we got everyone playing on the same accord, I think we were able to play fine. Just the little details of everybody being on the same page, myself included, we're starting to get that down pat, and we're both leading the defense now."
"There definitely were times when we were trying to do too much," Igwebuike later echoed. "Trying to do a little extra got us out of our own alignments, got us out of our own places. A lot of that comes down to doing a better job of making sure our groups were prepared, which feeds into that trust, trusting everyone will be in the right spot. Realizing and understanding that, yeah, we're expected to make plays. But the field is filled with playmakers and, obviously, we've never not trusted them. But still thinking we had to do more when that wasn't the case. We realized that. We made the mistakes. But got it fixed. Continue to fix it. Continue to raise up the level of performance of everyone around us, including ourselves. That's paying off."
THE FIX: "We worked incredibly hard in the off season to get stronger, faster and such," said Igwebuike. "But playing together on the field was new for all of us. There were a lot of new faces. As you know, in the secondary, two of the four starters went down, and even the ones who replaced them were dropping here and there. We had new guys coming in, a lot of guys coming in and out. It was different. it was something you have to adjust to. We didn't have the same consistent lineup that we did last year. So it was something new to all of us and really made us have to come together and understand that everyone has to prepare like they're going to start because you never know who's going to be in and who's going to be out. It brought us together as a family, and we're putting more time into knowing each other's job, knowing that they know their job, knowing that I know my job, trusting that they know that I'll do what I'm supposed to do and they'll be where they're supposed to be. it's definitely been a process and it's continuing on even now because we still have new faces coming in and out. But we're working on it and we're becoming more and more confident not only in ourselves, but in each other."
"It's not easy to replace a Deonte Gibson, a Dean Lowry, a Traveon Henry, who was probably our most vocal leader last year," said Walker. "A Nick VanHoose (who graduated). A Matt Harris (who was injured in Week Two and has since retired from football). A Keith Watkins (who was injured in training camp). We're playing with a lot of young guys and to get everybody playing on that one accord, that's not easy. Having everyone trust the system and trust the guy next to him has taken a little bit more time than we thought it would after losing Matt and Keith. But I think we're finally getting our groove back. I think defensively we took a great step in a positive direction Saturday toward playing a complete game. We were able to stop the run pretty well, and we were able to play solid in the passing game as well. We're just taking it one game at a time, and I think we're getting better each week."
How close is this year's D to last year's, which catalyzed the 'Cats to 10 wins?
"I think we're a lot closer than everybody thinks," Anthony Walker finally said "We're starting to believe in it. Everybody's starting to trust it. The safeties are playing on the same page, Kyle (Queiro) and Godwin. Even the young corners, I think they're stepping up really big. Linebackers are playing well. I think we can still take that extra step as a linebacker corps, myself included. But for the most part I think we're playing pretty well. And the defensive line's playing dominant. They're leading us right now stopping the run. Without those big guys up front we can't do anything at linebacker or in the secondary. So they're definitely doing their thing."
QUICKLY NOTED: Asked about Walker's play, fellow linebacker Jaylen Prater said: "This week especially he played great. Got back to doing what he does best, which is reading the play, diagnosing it, and just playing fast, playing aggressive, playing relentless.". . . On Saturday the 'Cats are at No. 6 Ohio State, which was upset last week by Penn State. In his 15 year head coaching career, the Buckeyes' Urban Meyer has lost consecutive games just four times. In addition, the Buckeyes have beaten the 'Cats in their last five meetings and in 29 of their last 30. . . The most-heralded Buck is quarterback J.T. Barrett, who in his career has been responsible for a school-record 90 touchdowns (62 passing, 38 rushing). On the season he is averaging 273.1 yards of total offense per game.
AND FINALLY, FITZGERALD on the Buckeye defense, which has scored four touchdowns and given up just eight: "I wish I could say they have 11 NFL players. There's not. It's like everybody that goes on the field is a potential NFL player. If I were to mention all the starters, then I'd be doing an injustice to the backups. I'm not saying that to be patronizing. That's what jumps out to me off the tape. There's no dip. When the twos roll into the D line, there's no dip. They're not twos. They're 1Bs."