[NU Sports] beating a dead horse

[Roy S. Lamberton]

We may be dead last in yardage, but not in points allowed.

We let MSU run up and down the field but humiliated them on the 
scoreboard. Purdue ran up a lot of yardage, but we kept them off the board.

As I said somewhere last week, our D is not as bad as some may think, 
their O is not as great as some may think.

The truth is still in the middle somewhere.

Go Cats

rsl

Abrahamson, Alan wrote:

> Hey, Lloyd Carr has it right! Our offense is indeed incredible. 
> The current NCAA stats show us at fourth in the country in team offense -- behind only USC, Texas Tech and Michigan State. 
> 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.
> At the risk of beating the life out of the horse I've been whipping all season, I now bring out the whip: 
> This defense is painful to watch. If my grandfather was still alive, he would watch, shake his head and mutter, 'Oy vey.' 
> But this offense is absolutely unstoppable. Basanez has ONE interception in seven games and that was a chickshirt pick -- as I recall the play from my vantage point in the south end zone, the NU receiver fell down and the PSU d-back got himself an easy ball to end the game.
> I happily concede that the defense is playing with more aggressiveness. I watched the game this last weekend in Vegas, surrounded by a bunch of Michigan honks who were furiously rooting on the maize and 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, blue. 
> Let's say for the sake of argument that we beat Michigan (45th in team defense, 48th in offense). Then the statistical rubber really meets the road. Because Ohio State is ranked third in the country in defense. 
> How's this for a couple thoughts?
> The defense has to keep coming up with big plays. Or we will -- despite our phenomenal offense -- lose.  
> But if the big plays keep coming, we will win out. We will thereupon find ourselves in January in -- good lord, I can barely make my fingers type the sentence because it's so unthinkable -- the Fiesta or Orange bowls. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that Penn State will lose to Wisconsin or Michigan State.
> Of course, it would be just our luck to go to the Sugar Bowl the year it's in Baton Rouge or Bentonville, Ark., or wherever. 
> But that would be a nice problem to have, yes?
> Yours in purple, Alan
>  
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com]On
>Behalf Of Jim Bendat
>Sent: Monday, October 24, 2005 6:20 PM
>To: nwu-sports at romaine.tssi.com
>Subject: Re: [NU Sports] Michigan
>
>
>Just caught part of Lloyd Carr's show on cable.  In previewing 
>Northwestern, he said all the right things.  Stuff like "their offense 
>is unbelievable.  We can't stop them.  Nobody can stop them."  He went 
>on to say that UM's goal is to maintain ball control, trying to keep 
>NU's offense off the field.  He said he doesn't want to get into a 
>shootout with NU (a la 54-51 in 2000), but then he smiled and said, "But 
>sometimes those things happen."  -- Jim B.
>
>
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