[NU Sports] beating a dead horse

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

>  It's our defense that it is also incredible. As in,
> 'Uh-oh, it is incredible that Northwestern could be
> 5-2 with that defense.' We are now ranked dead last
> in the country -- 117th out of 117, giving up a
> magnanimous 504.43 yards per game. We give up a
> generous 6.55 yards per play.

OK, I will again beat the dead horse in support of
this lost cause ... i.e. our defense.:) 

Yes, the stats are woeful ... but I remember being a
little kid as my dad, a high school football coach,
ran through all his team's stats for the season.
"Dad,' I said, "isn't the only stat that really counts
the score?"

>  This defense is painful to watch. If my grandfather
> was still alive, he would watch, shake his head and
> mutter, 'Oy vey.' 

Our D suffered some great losses before the season
began -- Howard, Heinz, Backes, etc. -- and has been
hit again during the season. With the exception of
LBs, we are quite young on D.

I'm not saying that as an excuse - just as a fact. All
you can really ask for with a young D is hustle, heart
and improvement as the season goes on. I've seen all
three from the student athletes in purple the last
month. So I have no problem defending the D here.

And if you want stats, how many turnovers has the D
caused this year?

The ASU game was a total loss by O, D and everyone
else in purple. And I maintain that the PSU loss was
also a team loss and not one to pin on the D. Yes, the
4th and 15 hurt ... but it should have never come down
to that. The defense forced turnover after turnover in
the first half, only to watch the offense walk away
with 3. We blew that game long before the last drive
by the Nits.

The stats are dreadful - but skewed by the style of
offense we play. And yeah, I may watch 3rd downs
peeking through my hands. But these guys are playing a
more aggressive style and I see effort and
improvement.

> blue over the Hawkeyes. After Michigan won, I said
> to them, bring it on, Wolverines. They looked at me
> in amazement: 'You talking to me?' Yep. Bring it on,

I'd be careful about kicking a Wolverine when down:)
... Michigan may be the most balanced and explosive
offensive team we'll face this year and they have a
lot of talent on D as well. They blew some games
early, but this is a team that was in the top 5 when
the season began.

And Iowa will be entering off a week's rest to regroup
... and OSU is, well, OSU and in the Shoe and their
WRs are even faster than PSUs. So it's a brutal
three-game stretch ahead. One game at a time!

>  The defense has to keep coming up with big plays.
> Or we will -- despite our phenomenal offense --
> lose.  

I'll agree with that -- the turnovers have saved us a
couple games because a defensive stop is tough to come
by. Also, I'll add that Baz and the O can't let up --
which it seems Baz himself realizes, as the ESPN2 crew
had him rallying the team in the second half on the
sidelines saying that they can't stop scoring now just
because they're ahead.

Let's help 'em out Saturday night - I expect to see
nothing but a Purple Haze over Evanston with an
electric atmosphere that I won't even be able to hear
myself think in while the game is on. And if you even
THINK of sitting on third down, well, hang your head
in shame!:)

WEAR PURPLE!!!
MAKE NOISE!!!

GO CATS!!!
-SjT

* * * * * * * * *
STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!!


		
__________________________________ 
Yahoo! FareChase: Search multiple travel sites in one click.
http://farechase.yahoo.com