[NU Sports] Any word on CJ yet?

Tue Oct 28 17:04:09 CDT 2008

Here is my take, for whatever it's worth.
 The Indiana loss was one of the worst ever. Ugh. Why? In no particular order:
 - Five turnovers. Awful. Just awful. No excuse.
 - Lost opportunity to assert the Wildcats on the national stage. 
 - Losing to a team that had been winless in conference. I know there are no easy road victories in the Big Ten but, still, that's a team Northwestern has to beat. Just like Indiana beats Northwestern in basketball -- in football, the Wildcats have to beat Indiana each and every time. 
 - Lost bowl opportunities, perhaps.
 - Failure of senior leadership to step up and seize the opportunities at hand.
 - Injuries to two star offensive players.
 - Inconsistency at quarterback, still.
  All that said, there can still be hope for this year's team, and prospects for a major bowl. But the Wildcats must defeat Minnesota. 
  As I have said on this list before, this Wildcat team has defense. Therefore every game can be a win. Every game.
 But -- the margin for error on this team is so slight that it can not afford turnovers. Look at the two losses. Three NU turnovers = 17 Spartan points = 37-20 loss. Five NU turnovers = debacle in Bloomington, and still that game was winnable until the bizarro nature of the two Kafka plays.
 That said, I am not necessarily down on Kafka. 
 Regrettably, I am increasingly down on Bacher (not personally), because he remains like the little girl with curls -- very good or very bad. When he's good, it's a thrill to watch. But he's not consistently good enough to be dependably good, and why that it is, with just four games left in his senior year, remains a mystery.
 Kafka does not need to win the Gopher game himself. But the Wildcats can not afford for him to lose it. He needs to manage the offense, to execute smart plays and to do what he can do best against the spread, which is to run it some himself.
 If the Cats get just enough consistency out of Kafka this Saturday, if the Cats don't turn the ball over, if they come out with energy and enthusiasm instead of feeling deflated and discouraged -- they can and should win.
 A win in Minneapolis puts the Cats at 3-2 in conference going into a home game with the Buckeyes. That's a very different spin than 2-3 and reeling from back-to-back road losses.

-----Original Message-----
From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com] On Behalf Of Roy Lamberton
Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2008 2:10 PM
To: 'Tom Maycock'; nwu-sports at romaine.tssi.com; 'Beamsley, Jeff'
Subject: RE: [NU Sports] Any word on CJ yet?

As you hear from the TV pundits, there is a big difference between levels of football.

HS guys have to adjust to the pure speed of Div I defenses, once the game begins to slow down, they become productive. Persa's challenge would be getting the game to slow down should he have to play.

Kafka, having sat for so long, also has to adjust to the speed of the game again. Earlier in the season, he came in for a series, threw two passes that didn't connect, and was out again. He's decent runner, but he has to be able to throw the ball, and that is half O-line, half in his own head.

I'd love to see Kafka get in there and operate the offense, score a bunch of TDs and come away with a win over Minny. 

Of course Brewer is back and able to play, and Peterman can run that reverse/pass play....

rsl

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Roy S. Lamberton - Senior Associate & Unix Guru.
Computer Applications & Support Associates
--------------- Also --------------------------- Retired Senior Chief Cryptologic Technician [R] Commissioner Delaware American Legion Baseball Northwestern University - Sp 1974 ==========  Go Cats -  Beat 'em All  =========== "The American Experiment will succeed until the masses realize they can vote themselves largesse from the public purse." -- attributed to Adam DeToqueville - 18th cent. 
=============[How True, How True]===============

-----Original Message-----
From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com] On Behalf Of Tom Maycock
Sent: Tuesday, October 28, 2008 4:11 PM
To: nwu-sports at romaine.tssi.com; Beamsley, Jeff
Subject: RE: [NU Sports] Any word on CJ yet?

> Don't think that Persa has actually played in a game yet, so doesn't 
> he retain the ability to claim a red-shirt for this year?

He did play a couple downs at QB (against SIU, I think), and I believe he's a regular on special teams.

Tom

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