[NU Sports] I don't get it

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

> Everyone is saying the Cats gave the game away.  Is

Four turnovers on four straight possessions in the
fourth quarter - giving Michigan four drives inside
the NU 30 yardline.

So I think it's pretty fair to say we gave this one
away.

> everyone wearing such 
> rose-colored glasses that they missed Michigan
> pounding on a worn-down 
> Northwestern team in the fourth quarter?  That we

I really didn't see that. I saw Michigan pounding on a
worn down PSU team in the second half last week, but
our D held up well. Especially given that those four
short field drives only resulted in two scores and
that Hart was only able to break that one cutback run
at the very very end of the game for 20 yards.
Otherwise, we held up well against their much bigger,
much more talented O line.

As for our O line, they did break down late - but we
still didn't have to give them short fields and easy
scores at the end of the game. We still had our
receivers consistently beating them for 12 yard
catches on 3rd and 10. But the Michigan blitz did get
to us late.

> We didn't give Michigan 
> the game.  They took it.  It once more goes back to
> talent.  They have more 
> of it than we do.

That's the case every time we play Michigan. It was
the case last week and we buckled to it early and
often. But yesterday against Michigan, our effort more
than matched their talent edge and we just gave away
the game in the fourth.

I don't know what else you call four turnovers on our
final four possessions. And most of those weren't even
the D taking it away. The tipped pass was a bad throw
that bounced off our hands into theirs. Two fumbles
were sloppy and loose carrying of the ball. Only the
blindside blitz that popped it out of CJ's hands and
was picked off was really the D making a play. We gave
it to 'em.

Whatever the case, it's two straight home games where
we outplayed the opposition and lost. We can't let any
more wins slip out of our hands. I agree that MSU is a
crucial game. We've moved the ball well on the
Spartans in the past but this is a different coach and
different team. They put a lot more pressure on the
QB, so we'll have to protect better and get rid of the
ball quicker. Hopefully they'll overlook us or still
be moping about the game in Madison and we can jump
out early to build up our confidence and shake theirs.
It's certainly a game we can win - but we gotta finish
the job this time.

GO CATS!!!
-SjT

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


       
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