[NU Sports] Next Year

Tue Dec 30 11:20:45 CST 2008

Roy,

Thanks for the summary.

Talking about next year helps to ease the pain some.

My question, more than comment, is your opinion on whether or not the
2009 team will also win 9 games.

My sense is that Kafka won't be the guy and the transition to whomever
is the guy will cost us at least one game in the non-con sched.  We've
got Minny, Indiana, PSU, and Wisky at home.  We travel to Purdue, MSU,
Iowa (how come we get back to back away games), and ILL.  So the good
news is no OSU.  The bad news is that they get replaced by PSU.  

Without thinking about it any harder, I think we are going to have a
tough time going 4-0 and 5-3 again.  Seems like 3-1 and 4-4 may be
possible given the coaching transition at Purdue, the disappointment at
Wisky, the payback due Indiana, and who knows what's going on at ILL.  

So what do you (and others) think?

Jeff

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From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com]
On Behalf Of Roy Lamberton
Sent: Tuesday, December 30, 2008 11:49 AM
To: nwu-sports at tssi.com
Subject: [NU Sports] Next Year

IMHO: [based on watching a whole bunch of games this year]

1. There will be quite a QB controversy come the end of Spring Drills -
Kafka has to be the heir apparent for 2009, but Persa or one of the
other backups could easily emerge as "the guy" because of Kafka's
erratic passing.
Of course Kafka could emerge as a better passer with a lot of work in
the spring. He needs to get the same relationship with his senior wide
outs the way CJ has with his. I'd wait until the Kenosha scrimmage to
draw any firm conclusions.

2. The O-Line is a year older with 12 games experience. They have the
Spring to come together and cement a better relationship on the field.
When critiquing their play, you have to go look at how long they've been
playing for NU - (hint: most of our guys are RS-Sophs and Frosh). Give
them another Spring blocking the NU spread and we'll see what happens.

3. Defense will miss the seniors, but there is every indication that the
rest of the guys on our present Defensive 2-deep will be able to
continue the level of play. Case in point - Arrington goes down and Nate
Williams stepped in led the underclass defense in tackles last night.
2010 is the year I'm really concerned about the defense because of the
key players due to graduate, 2009 should not be a problem.

4. Wide Receivers - last night it seemed that all we had were seniors
catching the ball. The guys behind Lane, Peterman and Ward will have to
sort themselves out in the Spring, and right now you can see a couple of
guys emerging (they always do) but I'd be hard pressed to put names on
any position with the exception of Brewer (taking the Peterman role) and
Ebert.
Maybe Kafka also goes to a slot, and Persa throws a couple - like the
Ravens do with Smith and Flacco. (a good play from Cam Cameron BTW NU
offensive guys).

5. Running Back - We are going to miss Tyrell Sutton's fire and his
desire to get the ball in key situations. Simmons appears to have the
skills, he needs a little more blocking. He did have 108 all purpose
(return) yards in the Alamo Bowl - second on the team to Tyrell which is
a good sign for the future.

6. Kicking game - Demos will probably take over the FG/PAT duties and
will star at that just the way he did in Phoenix. I had pegged Amando
Villareal as the future kicker when he was a walk-on Frosh. I see the
same talent in Stephan Demos. However, the Cats will need to figure out
who punts in 2009.

Remember that Fitz is also of that Randy Walker school of coaching that
states that "every job is open and challengeable by  any better player."
It will be hard to say who will step up next Spring or August and take a
starting or backup role because we can't really figure out who among the
incoming frosh will challenge early.

In any case, the Cats have had 15 more practices and an impressive bowl
showing in the Alamo. Sports Center is running a 10 minute recap of the
game, and the tone of the report, unlike the game, is that Mizooo was
lucky to get out of San Antonio with a win. 

Any comments?

rsl

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Roy S. Lamberton - Senior Associate & Unix Guru.

Computer Applications & Support Associates

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