[NU Sports] Two more cents ...

[Tom Maycock]

> Have expectations at Michigan really changed that
> much?:) If this had happened last year, I would think
> the OSU scene would have been repeated by Michigan
> fans. 

I don't know. In my experience, Michigan fans generally tend to be a
lot classier than their counterparts at OSU. I hate to generalize based
on personal experiences. But having attended away games at both
stadiums, and encountered fans from both schools on numerous occasions
at NU, my impressions of OSU fans has always been much more negative.

> * Our execution, however, got worse. I was hoping that
> after the Nevada game, CJ had that confidence that we
> all saw Zak and Baz have to come through in the
> clutch, but the Duke and Michigan games have hurt that
> hope. He's still our QB, but he has to develop that
> leadership and confidence in crunch time (some help
> from the O line would help, too).

Agreed. Michigan certainly cranked up the pressure in the 4th, and our
O-line hasn't been holding up terribly well, but there were chances for
CJ to make plays. He was a little off all day actually--lots of passes
were a bit behind receivers, or a bit high. We also had a few drops on
difficult, but catchable balls. 

NU is always going to have a slim margin for error against the more
talent-laden Big Ten opponents. This week, all the effort was there,
but we were just on the wrong side of that margin for error.

Another example would be Michigan's first scoring drive. We stopped
them on downs, but the drive was kept alive by a face mask penalty
somewhere far away from the main action. Little things like that made
the difference. 

> Exactly - if we play like this the rest of the season,
> we can beat anyone. We just need to finish. 

Yep. 

And just FYI, Fitz absolutely had the 4th quarter "4 fingers in the
air" thing going as the clock was winding down on the 3rd quarter. I
doubt there's been any change in focusing on finishing in the 4th
quarter under Fitz.

But, doesn't every coach in the country preach that? It's not like NU
invented holding up 4 fingers before the 4th quarter. 

Tom