[NU Sports] 2005 Predictions

[cherron604 at aol.com]

Last 3-0 start was 2001.  It has an asterisk, however.  They beat UNLV, then had the Army game scuttled by 9/11.  They then beat hapless Duke in Durham and Michigan State in Evanston.  The Army game was never rescheduled - they lost to Bowling Green 43-42 in November on some last-minute heroics.
 
If we discount 2001, the last real 3-0 start was in 1962 under Ara (beating South Carolina, Illinois and Minnesota).  The 1962 team actually started 6-0 before losing to Wisconsin and Michigan State, then beat up on Miami of Florida.
 
Ara actually had 3 great starts.  1958 (4-0 start) and 1959 (6-0 start) in addition to 1962.
 
6 wins would be great, 5 is probably a bit more likely.  We are bound to be underdogs against Arizona State, Purdue, Michigan, Iowa and Ohio State.  4 more games are probably no better than toss-ups - NIU, Penn State, Wisconsin, and Michigan State (I also fear that while 3 of those games are at home, opposing fans are likely to outnumber our fans in the PSU and Wisconsin games, and quite possibly in the NIU game).  It is hoped that we can pencil in wins in the Ohio and Illinois games, but last year's Illinois game showed the danger in that.
 
This raises a new question - how many games does RW need to win ?  There are only about 8 coaches that I could find out of 119 in Division I with records similar to Walker's (10 games under .500, with at least 6 seasons):
 
Bobby Wallace Temple         7 years     19-60        41 under
Dan McCarney  Iowa State 10 years    45-72         27 under
Ken Hatfield     Rice          11 years     54-68-1     14 under
Randy Walker   NU              6 years      30-41       11 under
Darrell Dickey   North Texas  7 years     37-46         9 under
Chris Scelfo     Tulane         6 years      31-40        9 under
Joe Novak       NIU             9 years     47-55          8 under
Andy McCollum MTSU          6 years      30-38         8 under
 
Hatfield seems to be an institution at an underachieving program.  McCarney and Novak have completed rebuilding programs.  That leaves RW in some pretty mixed company (our program ought to aspire to greater things than to be mentioned in the same breath as Temple and Tulane).  So what number does RW need to separate himself from this pack ?
 
Also - attendance was anemic again last year (28,408 per game).  Can RW pull this number up as well ?  
 
Chuck Herron   Tech '85