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Pat Fitzgerald previews matchup with Minnesota in weekly presser
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Northwestern head coach Pat Fitzgerald and the Wildcats are coming off a loss against Michigan that was truly a tale of two halves.
The Michigan offense could find a way to finish drives in the first half, and it took until the second half for them to start finding the endzone consistently. A 75-yard touchdown run by Northwestern running back Evan Hull set the score at 10-7 Michigan heading into halftime, and there was reason for optimism in Evanston.
But the second half was all Michigan and the when the game ended the Wildcats fell to 3-4 overall with a 33-7 loss. Fitzgerald was quick to praise the Wolverines in his Monday afternoon press conference. He also talked about the Wildcats next opponent, as they welcome Minnesota to Ryan Field on Saturday, Oct. 30 for a 2:30 PM kickoff.
Here are some of Fitz’s comments.
"We played thirty minutes of competitive football, but we reverted back to bad habits in the third quarter, and that put us in a big hole against a good team." — Fitz
— Inside NU (@insidenu) October 25, 2021
"I don't care too much what's said externally. — Fitz, giving a quote that should be surprising to absolutely nobody.
— Inside NU (@insidenu) October 25, 2021
"This is probably the most experienced team in the Big Ten, I think they're offensive line has like 500 starts collectively between them." — Fitz on the challenge of playing Minnesota this week.
— Inside NU (@insidenu) October 25, 2021
"They'll play their starting group and then they'll go into multiple packages with six, seven or eight guys to create double teams and advantages." — Fitz on Minnesota's offensive line.
— Inside NU (@insidenu) October 25, 2021
"We've got some new names and new faces, and it's on us as coaches to get them to play up to their potential." — Fitz on his young team.
— Inside NU (@insidenu) October 25, 2021
"You can't go in and fill in for yourself. You just got to go in there and play your game. Put it together one practice at a time, and then go out there on Saturday and play as hard as you can." — Fitz on the receivers stepping in for Bryce Kirtz.
— Inside NU (@insidenu) October 25, 2021
"Watch the tape you see a handful of one man breakdowns. Michigan did a good job of stopping the run, fitting gaps. But we've got to be better at running the football. That's how we're built and it opens up everything else. We kind of played right into Michigan's hands." — Fitz
— Inside NU (@insidenu) October 25, 2021
Fitz said Minnesota's performance against Maryland last week was the most impressive one he had seen from them. Spoke very highly of their ability to run the ball.
— Inside NU (@insidenu) October 25, 2021
"A guy like Hunter [Johnson] who's not playing, he has great energy at practice and he's helping Ryan and other guys out, and he's bounced back really well." — Fitz
— Inside NU (@insidenu) October 25, 2021
Scott Schultz covers Michigan State Football, along with Breaking News for B1G Football & Basketball for Saturday Tradition. He also serves as an Automotive News Editor & Writer, and Softball Writer elsewhere on the web. Follow him on Twitter @SRSchultz.