WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Craig Fitzgerald has been known to lick the floor of his sanctuary when he drops for an up-down after instructing an exercise out of order. He was outside in frigid January mornings wearing shorts and a short-sleeved T-shirt during 5 a.m. winter conditioning sessions, and Saturday, here at chilly, damp and empty Ross-Ade Stadium, he stripped off his shirt during the team stretch and hit the deck.
Naturally, Mike Mauti, the senior linebacker and emotional leader of the team, felt compelled to run over and tackle Fitzgerald.
“I got pretty excited after I saw that,” Mauti said. “It was just unexpected, so I just naturally got super excited. We were just jacked up.
“Back in winter workouts we realized what kind of guy we were dealing with when it’s 15 degrees and he’s got shorts and short sleeves on. He’s an animal. We all just really feed off that energy. We love him.”
Fitzgerald has been one of the most important hires for coach Bill O’Brien. The two first worked together at Maryland, which may have never happened if George O’Leary did not lie on his resume upon being hired as Notre Dame head coach in 2001. O’Brien was reportedly set to join O’Leary in South Bend as his offensive coordinator, but O’Leary’s embellished credentials cost him the job days after being hired. O’Brien was back at Georgia Tech for two years before heading to Maryland in 2003.
Whew.
The players adore their strength coach, and nothing he does can be considered a surprise anymore.
“I just laughed,” linebacker Gerald Hodges said. “We all know how crazy he is.”
Check out Fitzgerald in action, courtesy of FightOnState.com’s Mark Brennan, who lucked out and unexpectedly caught the craziest part of Fitz’s pregame routine to date.
Hill: No Ligament Damage in Knee
Jordan Hill walked gingerly toward the team bus, headphones wrapped around his neck after he left Saturday’s game with what’s being called a sprained left knee. An MRI will determine the extent of the injury and Hill’s availability moving forward, but he said after the game there was no apparent ligament damage.
“I’m good,” Hill said. “I’ll be OK.”
The injury occurred early in the second quarter after Hill’s knee got caught under the pile on a one-yard loss. He was carted into the locker room but returned to the sidelines in street clothes for the second half.
Players knelt in prayer on the field and sideline when Hill went down, and many wandered over to him while being examined on the training table. From there, the other senior defensive leaders raised their voices to assure focus without the anchor of the defensive line.
“I heard the leaders over there, Hodges and Mauti grab the team and grab the defense together,” O’Brien said. “They were barking and getting them ready to go. He’s a helluva player. What a helluva player. When a guy like that goes down, that’s a heart and soul type of guy.”
Obeng-Agyapong Re-Aggravates Shoulder; Hodges Tweaks Elbow
Two other defensive starters got nicked up in Saturday’s game at Purdue.
Safety Stephen Obeng-Agyapong had to sit out a few plays after re-aggravating a right shoulder injury he’s dealt with since the victory against Navy on Sept. 15. The injury first occurred in the spring. Obeng-Agyapong said he’s been treating it with stem-cell therapy.
Senior linebacker Gerald Hodges hyperextended his right elbow and had an ice pack strapped on it walking off the field. The injury is not considered serious.
“Just on a tackle I slammed into my elbow and hyperextended it a little bit, but I’m fine,” Hodges said. “Nothing ice can’t do.”
Curtis Dukes, the redshirt junior running back whose primary role in covering kicks, suffered what O’Brien believes to be a concussion on the opening kickoff.
“I haven’t gotten the final word on that, but I was out there. That was a dangerous hit,” O’Brien said. “I was concerned about him on that. It looked like a head thing.”
Zwinak Earns Start After Strong Practice Week
The running back carousel continued Saturday at Purdue, with Zach Zwinak earning the No. 1 spot after another strong practice week.
Against one of the Big Ten’s worst run defenses, Zwinak had his best game to date, averaging 6.4 yards on 21 carries for a career-high 134 on the ground. Mike Zordich, the No. 2 back on Saturday, added 33 yards and a pair of rushing touchdowns on 11 carries.
“It’s not just me,” Zwinak said. “As a group we push each other to be the best. It’s hard. It’s a stacked position. We have a lot of great guys that can play.”
As for running back Bill Belton, he was not involved in the offensive gameplan, receiving no touches and first entering the game on a 3rd-and-6 play on Penn State’s opening drive of the second quarter. Belton was also replaced by Alex Kenney on the kickoff return team.
“Belton wasn’t hurt,” O’Brien said. “I felt like you gotta earn it on the practice field. I felt like Zwinny deserved a start. I was upfront with Billy about that. I like Billy. I think Billy is gonna be a starter again at some point because he’s gonna fight.”
Extra points:
Freshman quarterback Steven Bench saw his first action since Sept. 8 at Virginia . . . Matt McGloin threw for 321 yards and two touchdowns. He now has a school-record five 300-yard passing games, one more than Kerry Collins . . . Redshirt freshman Matt Zanellato made his first career catch on an eight-yard reception in the third quarter . . . Brandon Moseby-Felder, hampered by a hamstring injury in the spring, had a career-high six catches and 129 yards receiving, including his first-ever touchdown . . . Derek Day finished with a career-high four tackles on special teams Saturday.
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