[NU Sports] Annual Cat Report Card

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

Hard to argue with any of these - excellent analysis.

> QB Bacher: C; Kafka: D-; Brewer F-; overall D- 
> Bacher is the man.  If only 
> he had started the season healthy, we might be
> looking forward to a bowl. 

Definitely. As you mention, those rookie mistakes
would have been taken care of in September instead of
November and we'd have gotten at least two more wins.
But that's life, I guess. I felt the same way of the
1997 season has D'Wayne Bates not been injured in the
opener.

> RB B  Knocked down due to the quarterback and OL
> issues.  I'm looking 
> forward to returning Tyrell to an A+ next season.

It was interesting that Tyrell went over 1,000 yards
today - at midseason that looked almost impossible.
Amazing what a passing game can do for our running
attack.

> WR C   The QB situation hurt this group.  We have
> steadiness at wideout but 
> no real star or deep threat.  When will Kim Thompson

Yeah - we need that deep threat. Peterman developed
nicely this season to almost surpass Herbert and Lane,
though. And with a year of WR practice, Brewer could
be a nice addition.

> OL D-   Biggest flop of the season.  For the first

Yup - we needed them early.

> TE  I   Only on the cheerleaders.

:)

> DEFENSE
> 
> DL  Running C; Pass rush D-  Overall D+  They
> improved over last season's 
> straight F crew, but that isn't saying a lot.  Next
> year's version has to 

Yup, but it was nice to see us focus on taking away
the run late in the year and get some pressure to
boot.

> LB   C  Losing Nick Roach hurt, but there appears to
> be some talent 

This might be the surprise of the year - you never
like to see a leader and great kid like Roach go out,
but it was encouraging to see we had some young depth
at that spot.

> DB   C+  Our perennial weak spot became the surprise
> unit of the season in 
> spite of their dreadful start.  They will offer
> experience next season.  The 
> Deadly McManis was the big improvement and is a sure

Man is he fun to watch!

> SPECIAL TEAMS  F  I don't want to talk about this
> crew anymore.  Get some 

Ugh - agreed. This needs to be focus #1 in spring ball
and Kenosha. Howells had a nice day today - but our
punting seemed to get worse as the year went on and
coverage and returns were poor.

> COACHING  C+  This is a tough one.  The year started
> on a hellish note that 

This is the one grade I might quibble with. Fitzgerald
came into a situation that went from bad to worse
early on with the QB woes and 0-5 conference start.

Worse then hit rock bottom with that MSU collapse. But
not only did Fitz keep his optimism and focus, he kept
his team united and focused and tinkered with some
gameplan strategies to end on a much better note --
beating two rivals and playing respectable (save for
the darn turnovers) against the #1 and #2 teams in the
country.

This guy showed some amazing grace, poise, leadership
and class this year and I think even those who thought
he may be too young were turned around by the end of
the season. This IS our coach and this IS the man we
want to see on the sidelines of Evanston for a long
time to come.

> believe Fitz got his size 12s wet and will be the
> man for the next 50 years. 
> Eat your heart out, JoePa!  We may see changes in

:) - yeah, I think we agree here too, I just had to
say again how proud and amazed I was of Fitz to hold
this team together after that MSU heartbreak.

> Prognosis 2007 - Definitely a bowl team next season.
> a big upset or two.  Is 
> it August 31, 2007, yet? 
> 
I agree completely -- Fitz and his staff guided the
team through what would have been a rough year even
before Walker's death and have left fans with reason
to be optimistic and passionate about the purple next
year.

GO CATS!!!
-SjT

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


 
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