[NU Sports] wow

[Tom Maycock]

> 
> Any guesses on what happened between ASU and PSU?
> After the humiliation in the desert, our 'Cats have
> been a different team 

I do think that the Cats have gotten better each and every week, which
has been very gratifying to watch. The offense (and offensive coaching
staff) are operating at an *extremely* high level. And the defense IS
getting better all the time

However, I also think ASU and PSU are probably the best teams we have
played so far, and that there's been a drop in the quality of the
opponents these last 3 weeks.

Purdue and MSU, and Wisconsin to a degree, all seem to have serious
issues on defense. Purdue has major issues on offense as well. MSU has
been terrific on offense up to now, but they shot themselves in the
foot on a number of occassions on Saturday, and that's a big part of
why the game turned into a blowout rather than a shootout.

So, while it has been tremendous to watch this NU team improve each
week, I think the level of competition goes way up the next 3 weeks.
We'll get a chance to see just how good this team can be. 

Can the O-line (perhaps the biggest surprise of the season so far?)
handle the Michigan/Iowa/Ohio State caliber of defensive line? Can our
receivers continue to get open against those folks? Can our defense
continue to improve enough to keep those games close? 

Personally, I think they can, and that we'll snare at least one of
those 3 games, maybe more. But it ain't gonna be easy. 

I actually think the Illinois game is going to be a big challenge as
well--lots at stake, and it's generally a "throw out the records" sort
of game.

Tom