[NU Sports] Our 2005 schedule in retrospect ...

[DPENDERG at aol.com]

Although I've been among the Walker critics, I tend to agree with the  notion 
that a 7-4 record against a very tough schedule is hardly grounds for  firing 
the guy.  Whatever any of us thinks is irrelevant, of course,  because the 
only jury that counts -- Murphy and Bienen -- reportedly really  likes Walker 
and will extend his contract barring unforeseen  circumstances.
 
At the same time, we should point out that Walker's tenure at NU is  
seriously flawed by two major shortcomings:  defense (consistently among  the worst in 
D-IA football) and special teams.  No one questions Walker's  offensive 
acumen or his recruiting of some extraordinary offensive players, but  the contrast 
with what happens in the other two thirds of the game is pretty  striking.  
We cannot count indefinitely on our offense to win games and the  problems on 
defense/special teams will always come back to haunt us as we saw  against ASU, 
UM, OSU and PSU.  If we have a really good bowl opponent, I  really fear it 
might again happen to us, but in any case let's hope to see some  genuine 
changes on defense/special teams before next  season.