[NU Sports] Thoughts on our new coach: Trust the Plan

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

> all seem to realize,' 06 
> was going to be tough without Baz--not to mention

Exactly - no matter who the coach was, the Cats lost
their offensive and defensive leaders on the field and
face a brutal schedule. So I think everyone
understands that this year will be transitional and
that we'll have to look for more than wins/losses to
judge how Fitz is doing.

That said, we do have many of the other starters back
on both sides of the ball and can get to 6 or 7 wins
if things break right. So Fitz is right to talk about
high goals -- but let's not get too carried away as
fans in our euphoria. We'll see how things look after
that brutal 3-game road stretch at Nevada, Penn State
and Wisconsin. Beating Miami and a 3-0 start is a must
for bowl hopes given that after that road trip, we
have another 3-week stretch that takes us to Ann
Arbor, Iowa City and has a visit from OSU. OUCH!

> those than they lose .  The 
> BT will probably be weak and that should help us out
> with the lower rated teams.
> 
Two problems there --- first, I don't really see the
Big Ten as weak this year. With Illinois and Indiana
on the rise, it's deeper than ever! Secondly, the
wonders of the Big Ten schedule rotation have kept us
from two of those "lower rated" teams this year --
Indiana and Minnesota.

We're gonna need all of the Purple Nation in the
stands cheering to get a home field edge this year for
Fitz. Looking at the schedule, our only "should wins"
are home dates with New Hampshire, Eastern Michigan
and Illinois -- and the Illini are far from a gimme.
And the Cats will need that Purple Craze even more for
that crucial two-game home stretch in October against
Purdue and MSU in between those daunting 3-game
stretches mentioned above. We gotta have five home
wins for any bowl hopes ... and beating the Bucks
would be nice too.:)

We'll see ... I love the talk, I hope we can walk the
walk and I will cheer until the final gun every game
hoping for a Wildcat win. But in all honesty, what I'm
looking for this season is to see the team stick
together and rally behind Fitz as he grows into his
new position with an eye on a bright future.

GO CATS!!!
-SjT

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

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com