[NU Sports] just to be clear

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

>  My question is: why can't Northwestern do it
> consistently?

The $64K question apparently -- I'd say NU has done at
least as good of a job as the other "academic powers"
in the current environment. Stanford, like NU, has
fluttered up and down (and is really down this year)
in the limited-scholarship environment. Duke and Rice
have been consistently horrible. Vandy is enjoying a
successful start to the year. Even the Doh!mers have
seen some struggles, and they have their own network
and a built-in recruiting base.

>  SJT: ... But I disagree with you
> wholeheartedly about your contention that the Cats
> were getting sufficient pressure up front against
> the Nittany Lions. Check the stats: one sack for
> three yards.

But how many tips? And hurries? Pressure isn't just
sacks - it's scrambles forced, balls tipped, etc. From
the stands, that wasn't a problem Saturday.

As for the other games, I will agree we had no
pressure vs. ASU and little against Ohio -- but I
think we did come with some fire in the front seven
vs. PSU.

>  Wild. Penn State had the ball for all of four
> minutes in the fourth quarter -- and scored 17
> points.

Well, if I remember correctly, that first TD of the
quarter came after a drive done primarily in the 3rd.
But I see your point.

>  It's also obvious that the Northwestern spread
> offense can, and does, produce points. 29 ought to
> be enough to win most ballgames. 

I dunno about that in the Big Ten this year -- seems
that a lot of teams have been scoring 30+ per game in
the first four weeks. It goes hand-in-hand with the
style of offense run. The days of Woody and Bo are
gone and the Big Ten has looked like the Pac 10 in
recent years with big numbers from offenses like NU,
Purdue, MSU and others. I dunno how many games 29
points wins in the Pac 10 or Big Ten these days, but I
know it's not as many as a decade ago.

Again, I'm not defending the defense -- but they did
force a bunch of turnovers and shorten the field a
lot, so the offense shares blame here. They failed to
capitalize early and were absolutely out of sync in
the second half. Aside from that beautiful catch by
Fields that got us down to the 1 for the second TD,
they just couldn't move the ball after the opening
drive.

GO CATS!!!
-SjT

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

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