[NU Sports] Overconfidence? (used to be Purdue to Sun Bowl)

[CHerron604 at aol.com]

Some facts I ran across about Northwestern vs. Hawaii

- Their O-line - 285 pounds per man.  Our D-line - 294 pounds per man.

- Our O-line - 312 pounds per man.  Their D-line - 281 pounds per man.

Our D-line ought to be able to move their O-line, and keep alot of pressure 
on Mr. Chang.

Our O-line should push around their D-line, and open up some hughr holes for 
Noah.

Hawaii has the 4th Passing Offense nationally, 318 yds/game - 11.4 yds per 
passing attempt

Our passing offense is a surprisingly good 45th nationally.  230 yards per 
game, and about 11.0 yards per passing attempt

Our rushing game is an equally nice (and balanced) 46th nationally, 168.1 
yards/game.

Hawaii is awful running the ball - 111th nationally, only 95 yards per game.

We are 64th nationally in total defense - giving up 381 yards per game.  
Works out to about 4.99 yards per play, and we have yielded 37 touchdowns.

Hawaii is an awful 112th nationally in total defense, giving up 462 yards per 
game, 5.97 yards per play.  They have yielded 50 touchdowns already.

They have been shredded by some teams, especially running the ball.  Rice 
outrushed them 405 yards to 7.  Ed Bailey was their leading rusher in that game - 
37 carries for 234 yards (6.3 y/c).  On the season, he has rushed 185 times 
for 881 yards, 4.76 yards per carry.

San Jose State (2-8) outrushed them 315-108.  That one game accounted for 20% 
of San Jose's total season rushing yards.

Boise State carried it 50 times for 430 yards - 18% of their 2383 yard 
rushing this year

Louisiana Tech (5-6) outrushed them 275 to 86.

Fresno outrushed them 503 to 106.  The 503 yards are 23% of their seasons 
total of 2195 yards.

On offense, we need to pound the ball, maybe put up 400-500 yards rushing.  
Keep the ball out of Timmy Chang's hands.  Pass it around some, to keep them 
honest, but NO dumb interceptions (late first half interceptions gave new life 
to both Penn State and Illinois in recent weeks).

All year long, we have driven the ball downfield, only to settle for a field 
goal (or a missed field goal).  If we kill 5 minutes driving, but settle for 3 
points, and Hawaii throws a bomb for 7, that hasn't helped anything.  When we 
are in the red zone, PUT THE BALL IN THE END ZONE.

On defense, push their line around, keep up the pressure on their QB, don't 
get beat long.

On special teams - COVER OUR KICKS.  Twice against Illinois (1st half 
touchdown and the Backes touchdown), Illinois had massive returns that set up a 
touchdown, and almost the game winning field goal.  Have we reached the point where 
we kick it out of bounds, so they start at the 35 and not mid-field ?

AND NO MORE DUMB PENALTIES !

I wuld prefer that the legacy of the Walker years not be mid-level bowls, 
league-high penalty totals, slow season starts, inconsistent kicking games, and 
playing down to the opponents level.

Can anybody remember the last time we outplayed and put away a double-digit 
underdog, rested the starters for 10-15 minutes and got the younger guys some 
playing time ?

Chuck Herron  Tech '85