[NU Sports] Thompson and Mathews returns

[DPENDERG at aol.com]

Let's not deceive ourselves. UNR and UNH are good at their respective  levels 
but nothing close to what NU will face on Saturday (or the following  
Saturdays).  Nevada and UNH won because the inconsistent, mistake-prone  Cats 
basically let them win with very sub-par performances (even taking into  account a 
new QB, which hasn't stopped PSU themselves from winning its  non-conference 
games and almost beating the #1 team in the country).  I  definitely think the 
Cats are playing well below their potential, a trend  which I hope will end in 
the Happy Valley. Otherwise, we get whipped badly. 
 
In a message dated 9/28/2006 7:50:34 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
rstetson at capps-assoc.com writes:

On this I agree, all 4 games were winable,  but nobody told the guys at 
Nevada and New Hampshire they were supposed to  lose, so they won instead.
 
when I started researching our opponents,  and started tracking them, I got 
very worried about New Hampshire because they  were rated #1 in I-AA, a level 
of football where the kids are better than  you might think [Lower tier Div I 
teams probably have trouble with some  of the top AAA teams, but I digress].NH 
had a QB-WR pair that had pro scouts  living up there. They had a young 
O-Line, but they had a fiery leader in  Santos.They had a statement to make, and 
they did.
 
Nevada was almost the same. They have a  very good QB who didn't step it up 
until their 3rd game, and they had the  misfortune to show their first 2 on TV. 
2 games where they just didn't  click.
 
But the week prior to our game with  Nevada, there were a whole bunch of 
articles about their win on Colorado State  -how the O-Line worked, the 5 
Linebackers, the nose and one defensive end.  They were the kind of stories reporters 
write about teams on the rise, and  they all talked about how their QB had 
taken charge of the team and how  much better they were playing.
 
right now State Penn has all the same  problems we do - decent defense with 
good Linebackers. Suspect secondary, a  D-Line that is improving in its 4-3. 
Offensively, they have a very good  running back, and a frosh at QB who can be 
very inconsistent. There are  observers who think the lions could have won last 
week had they not had  turnovers.
 
I'm not sure how we fare in Happy  Valley.
 
I would have liked to start the year with  Bacher, the better passer of the 
group, and have a slightly better pass game.  The Cats are playing without our 
best deep threat, and have a Tight End who  sometimes lines up in the 
backfield and runs the ball. With Abernathy and  Thompson back, we suddenly have both 
a deep and inside threat. Whoever plays  QB this week has more tools.
 
I'm like most coaches, we all like to win.  But at some point you evaluate 
both team's relative talent and  worry.
 
Right now NU is a 2-2 team. If this team  wants to be better, they have to 
convince themselves that they are, otherwise  its going to be a long fall and I 
suspect that while many of us expected  a better non-conference schedule, we 
also had a little fear in our hearts  about all 4 of the games.
 
I know I did.
 
rsl
 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Roy S. Lamberton - Senior  Associate
Computer Applications & Support Associates
and Publisher  of Purple Reign,
The Scout.com Northwestern University Site
(_http://www.purplewildcats.com_ (http://www.purplewildcats.com/) )
AIM  Handle: CoachRoy74
======== Go Cats -  Beat 'em All  ===========
"You have a Republic Madam --
If  you can keep it" - Benjamin  Franklin
============================================ 


-----Original Message-----
From: DPENDERG at aol.com  [mailto:DPENDERG at aol.com] 
Sent: Thursday, September 28, 2006 6:49  AM
To: rstetson at capps-assoc.com;  nwu-sports at tssi.com
Subject: Re: [NU Sports] Thompson and Mathews  returns



A very  different NU team must show up in Happy Valley or it could get very 
ugly on  Saturday.