I don't care if Dan Persa throws for 3000 yards and runs for 1000 yards. He's not winning the Heisman Trophy unless Northwestern wins a lot of football games. And by a lot of football games, I mean they have to at the bare minimum win the Legends Division of the Big Ten, but most likely they have to win the whole damn conference. In the BCS era, only Tim Tebow and Ricky Williams have won the Heisman Trophy when his team did not reach a BCS bowl. (And one could argue they both received help...although from very different "higher" powers.) Those two guys both played for powerful programs who needed no introduction to the national media. Dan Persa does not play for a powerful program and is known in the national media for being "underrated."
10-2 is probably the bare minimum NU can go if Persa wants to have a serious Heisman chance. He could be Superman (or Super Dan), but he still needs help.
Dan Persa needs Bryce McNaul to step his game up. For all the amazing things Dan Persa can do, he can't play defense. (Well, unless you're the Vanderbilt PA announcer who got Hunter Bates (also #7) and Dan Persa confused last year. Then again, Hunter Bates can't play defense either, but I digress. Why are you making fun of him you jerk? He broke his leg!) The NU marketing department's Heisman Campaign with billboards and everything is impressive. But no amount of marketing can tackle people either.
Only the man who shares Pat Fitzgerald's old number of 51 can do that. If you're thinking it's unfair to call out McNaul you're right, it is unfair. First of all, the defensive line (save Vince Browne) is the weakest unit on either side of the ball. The secondary has a couple of question marks but should be very good. I see those two units on defense as "sure things" even if one is in a negative context. So that leads me to the linebackers. Having watched David Nwabusi and Ben Johnson over the years, I'm pretty sure what we can expect from them as well. Nwabusi struggled when he was younger (remember the Syracuse game in 2009?) but played pretty well when he was in last season. Nwabusi will certainly be no worse and should be an improvement over Nate Williams who would go entire games without doing anything of value at times. Meanwhile Johnson will have his fair share of mental mistakes but will make up for it with his athletic ability. (Quentin Davie is not that big of a loss, he had a rather terrible season last year unfortunately.)
This brings us to McNaul. Last season he was in the middle of every play. He hustled, he got dirty, he was the ultimate "Fitz player" in that he played the game with intelligence and courage. McNaul was always in the right place at the right time.
He just couldn't freaking tackle anyone. There's a reason why he finished last among the starting linebackers in tackles despite always being where he was supposed to on every play. I spent numerous games spotting for NU broadcaster Dave Eanet up in the press box. I watched multiple games entirely through binoculars. It's impossible to count the number of times I would prepare to indicate to Eanet that McNaul had made the tackle only to see the runner go right through his arms. There's no official stat (that I can find) on missed tackles, but believe me when I tell you McNaul was the team leader in that category (see the above picture for just one instance) and it wasn't even close.
So which brings us the crux of the issue: Bryce McNaul has superstar potential. First of all, he is jacked beyond belief, even for a linebacker. He's a smart player who clearly has terrific football instincts. His head coach is the greatest linebacker in NU history. These are all ingredients that should lead to success. When I talk about the "key to Persa's Heisman hopes" I am not referring to unexpected or obvious factors; I am talking about someone in McNaul who I see as on the brink of stardom. He's not quite there yet, but a few small mechanical adjustments at the point where he meets the runner in the open field, and he becomes a much bigger factor than most people realize.
If Bryce McNaul starts making the tackles he was in position to make last season, teams will have reason to game plan against him. When they have to game plan against him, other players will find it much easier to make plays of their own. When that happens, Northwestern's defense will emerge as something respectable.
With #PersaStrong's skills, a respectable defense is all he really needs to win games. And if he wins enough of them, this season will go down in Northwestern lore.
But first Bryce McNaul must #finish every play.
Filed under: Football
Tags: Big Ten, Bryce McNaul, college football, Dan Persa, Finish, Heisman, northwestern, PersaStrong
Just to note (not excuse) but McNaul was apparently dinged up (shoulder, if I recall correctly) near the end of last season (particularly against Wisconsin). While that does not explain his performance throughout the year it may have had an impact over the final stretch (during which NU's defense left a lot to be desired).
I agree with the premise, though, that in order for Persa to get pub into the season (and for NU to be successful), the defense is key. I would tend to lean much harder on the DL, though, as they just haven't been the same since Wootton left and it has shown across the entire D.