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“He’s having fun. At the end of the day, if you’re not having fun, then why are you doing it?” Goodwin said. “So I love to see that, especially out of a young player, because some guys come in and they’re … tight and just don’t want to make the wrong move. But he’s confident and he plays with confidence.”
“This is an extraordinary moment for Northwestern … ,” said President Morton Schapiro, in a statement. “Thousands of our alumni, parents, faculty, staff, students and friends came together to support the astonishing trajectory of Northwestern and increase our impact on the world, and I am truly humbled by their generosity.”
Over the following decades, many young Chicago football players have taken the two-hour trip east to join the Irish. A smaller, steady stream of Notre Dame players have made the opposite trek to play for the Chicago Bears. Some, like Chris Zorich, did both. Zorich, a defensive tackle on Notre Dame’s 1988 national championship team, was raised on Chicago’s South Side and spent five years with the Bears.
“If you look at us playing every day for six months, you can have a meeting that ends up being meaningless. They just tune you out,” La Russa said. “We have a meeting before every series, how you’re going to pitch, how you’re going to hit. If you have too many meetings, you’re not a very good club. … Our goal is to compete with the guys who are playing, and if there’s any drop-off, you say, ‘Let’s go get back on it.’
“Just getting reps with the offense instead of just working with the scout offense, it’s definitely going to have me more prepared and I’m excited,” Fields said. “I think (my teammates) have a lot of trust in me. Them having my back and having confidence in me that I’m going to go out there and execute, that’s kept me comfortable and kept me poised and confident.
Jacksonville Jaguars wide receiver Laviska Shenault Jr., right, can’t make a catch in front of Denver Broncos cornerback Bryce Callahan, left, and safety Justin Simmons, center, during the first half, Sept. 19, 2021, in Jacksonville, Fla. (Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP)
“Some spots where he’s given some free passes, which is uncharacteristic of him, here and there, making sure he stays on the attack,” Ross said. “He’s pitched pretty decent. Tonight hasn’t been his best, but other than that I thought he’s done a pretty nice job.”
Cole is most worried about making sure his family can go anyway. Cooper, the youngest brother who is a quarterback for the St. Viator freshman team and dresses for varsity, went to the home opener. His sister, Frankie, who goes to Iowa, and brother Casey, a baseball player at Notre Dame, stayed at school Sunday but likely will be at other games down the road.
I thought a running play in that situation would have been the best move. The defense, with the exception of the 42-yard touchdown reception by Ja’Marr Chase, had dominated throughout the game. As you pointed out, the Bears had a 10-point lead at the time. While running the ball would have given the offense a low-percentage chance of gaining the first down, it would have forced Bengals coach Zac Taylor to use his second timeout. Pat O’Donnell would have flipped the field for the Bears, and the Bengals probably would have started somewhere around their 35-yard line. That would have been a no-brainer to me. Nagy wanted to show confidence in Fields and give him a chance to run the four-minute offense. Naturally, he defended the play call after the game, which is what most coaches do. They make a decision and stand by it. I wonder, if he had it to do over again, if he would have handed the ball off to David Montgomery. As far as the comparison with the Pineiro situation, that’s a little bit apples to oranges. They were in a spot to win the game and felt they were in a good range for Pineiro. Would 2 or 3 more yards have made a difference? I don’t know.
“For us right now in the season, we are kind of limited with (time), so we just have to capitalize on our opportunities that we have to get extra throws,” Robinson said. “And try to make sure we cross all of our t’s and dot all of our i’s when it comes to the things we want to accomplish as far as certain ball-placement throws, where I need to be, where someone wants me to be, things like that.”