[NU Sports] Ohio Game

[J.R. McCullough]

Boy was I worried in the first half. We were totally out of sorts offensively early on. I was concerned that the young offensive line was going to be the down fall of this team. After they shook off the rust, though, we really started to click. Baz was sharp -- probably sharper than I've ever seen him. No stupid INTs this game. The only mistake was that ill-conceived lateral that Ohio took back for a TD. He threw passes to NINE different people. That's impressive.

OK -- so we have a good offense. I guess that's no surprise. I was surprised, however, at how good Sutton is. Granted, he was playing against Ohio, but that kid has vision and elusiveness. He's a keeper. Conteh also looked good in limited duty.

The defense better step it up, though, because they had some serious breakdowns in the secondary. If we were playing a team with even an average QB, the outcome would have been in doubt. 

Special teams were OK. Sure Howells missed two long FGs, but he had some good, deep kickoffs. 

NIU looks very good offensively. We're going to have to play worlds better on defense if we are going to run with them. The good news is that their defense is not looking very sharp against Michigan. Perhaps it will be a shootout like last year's TCU game -- only this time we'll be playing at home. And how about TCU knocking off Oklahoma.

I caught a little of the Ohio State game today too. They looked like NU, but with a much better defense. They're running a spread offense, and boy do they have some firepower. They'll be hard to stop this year. Looking forward to the Texas game next week to see how good they really are.

For those of you at the game -- and those who are much more schooled in football than me -- how did the team look in person? Were the defensive lapses really as bad as they looked on TV? How does the offensive line look? Should we be optimistic or worried? 

Go Cats!