Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/727077
By: Skip Myslenski (NUsports.com) 7 THE SKIP REPORT "We've got to be more consistent, especially down the stretch," Thorson himself later echoed. "There were a few key plays where I didn't play as well as I should have. Those last two possessions, if I make a throw here, a throw there, maybe Illinois State doesn't get the ball back. That's on me. We've got to get more consistent." ON THEIR FIRST FOURTH-QUARTER POSSESSION last Saturday, the 'Cats smartly marched 55 yards in a dozen plays for the touchdown that gave it a 7-6 lead over the Redbirds. But on their next two possessions, their final possessions of the afternoon, Thorson went 0-for-3, Auston Anderson netted just four yards on three carries and their offense had a pair of three- and-outs. That was the stretch Thorson referred to. THAT IS ALSO ONE EXAMPLE of what ails the offense. Here is another: Thirty of its 72 plays went off in Redbird territory and, said Fitzgerald, "We had 16 or 17 self-inflicted wounds across the 50. That's holding calls. That's mental mistakes. That's drops. That's not putting the ball in the right spot as a quarterback. There were two calls that I didn't like play-wise because we didn't execute either one even though we executed them all week in practice. We go out in the game on Saturday, we don't execute those two throws. You get half your plays over the 50 inconsistent, it's really hard to get a rhythm, it's really hard to score touchdowns that way. We've got to get that fixed and we need to get it fixed in a hurry." QUICKLY NOTED: Justin Jackson sat out last Saturday's fourth quarter and so, Fitzgerald recalled Monday, "When we were doing walk-through today, I told him the first question I'm going to get (at his noon presser) is about Justin Jackson. He smiled and laughed. And I said, 'Are you going to play?' He said, 'Yeah, I'm going to play.'" But Jackson himself demurred a bit minutes after his coach related that anecdote, saying here, "I'll be doing everything I can to be playing on Saturday." Cornerback Matthew Harris, injured against the Redbirds, has been ruled out of the Duke game. Scheduled to take his place is redshirt freshman Trae Williams "We're going to influx competition. We're not just going to stand pat." - Pat Fitzgerald -