[NU Sports] Aaah, THAT's how we should play in September!

[DPENDERG at aol.com]

I'm not ready yet to become very exuberant.  Yes, great to be 3-0  (beats the 
alternative), but SIU is at best an average FCS team and a shadow of  what 
they were in recent years.  And despite the pluses cited, there  are two 
unmistakable problems the Cats have to resolve before taking on tougher  competition 
(including Ohio U next week):  sloppy, inexcusable tackling and  poor red-zone 
offense.  We can win with those lapses against teams such as  SIU, but we 
will not win against Big Ten-quality opponents.  
 
 
In a message dated 9/13/2008 3:49:32 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
sjtruog at yahoo.com writes:

Yes, it  coulda and shoulda been a bigger margin ... but a 33-7 trouncing of 
SIU is how  Northwestern SHOULD be winning in September against our 
nonconference  slate!

A couple things stand out from our first two TV games (missed  Duke - 
thankfully) ...

* I think we got a steal with our new DC!  Syracuse and SIU moved and scored 
early on us, but then Hankwitz did what no  NU DC seems to have done since 
Vandy ... he made adjustments! We're still not  a great defense and need to get a 
lot more talent recruited, but Hankwitz is  doing a heck of a lot with the 
hand he was dealt and seems to have a sharp eye  to adjust and take away what 
worked those first few drives. Keep it  up!

* I like our focus on special teams this year. Yes, the coverage  was weak 
today, but overall we've won the special teams game against Cuse and  the 
Salukis and that's an aspect of the game we've neglected in recent  years.

* It's good to have Peterman and Tyrell back! Peterman bailed  out CJ a 
couple times today (one thanks to a quick snap and no replay:) ) and  it was nice 
to see Sutton rip a few up the middle.

We definitely need  to work on red-zone capitalization and a few other 
things, but it was nice to  see NU come out strong today and put someone away. Ohio 
will be tough next  week, but if we play like we did today and score seven 
instead of three in the  red zone, I like our chances.

Around the league ...

Not too much  to be impressed about in the early games:

* ILLINOIS struggled big-time  with Louisiana ... I'm still not sold on the 
Illini as a top 25 team and if  their offense struggles, they're gonna be in 
trouble this year.

* IOWA  also came back to earth a bit after a nice first two games. Their D's 
tough,  but their O was MIA today. Hopefully that lack of O hangs around for 
a couple  more weeks.

* MINNESOTA is also 3-0 and quietly building some momentum,  but they had to 
sweat it out a bit.

* MSU not only looked so-so, but  their loss at Cal looked worse after the 
Bears got waxed at an ACC  school.

But, of course, that's not what matters in Big Ten land today.  The midday 
games should be fun (Purdue just ripped a big play off and despite  Oregon's 
power, I like our chances of an upset here) and PSU should roll  Syracuse. As for 
Michigan-ND, someone's gotta win, right?

And then the  evening ... from the talk yesterday and today, you wonder why 
OSU is even  bothering to show up tonight. Hopefully their D finds some heart 
and  represents the Big Ten well. And Wisky has a deathtrap in Fresno, but 
again,  with so many picking the Badgers to fall, hopefully they get fired up and 
get  some Big Ten love.

3-0 ... it's a nice start and lots to like about our  pressure on D today - 
but Ohio's QB looked awfully tough to stop against OSU,  so we have our work 
cut out for us next week.

GO  CATS!!!
-SjT

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





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