[NU Sports] Big Ten losses and why I love them

Sun Sep 14 15:47:06 CDT 2008

I'll accept a win every chance we get.

The BTN talked to Tyrell after the game - he pretty well said that the Seniors expect to take the Purple somewhere this Winter, hinted that San Antonio would be a nice spot, altho he later hedged that, and almost immediately took off to sing the fight song to the band, and the 50 students who were over there.

Was anyone else irritated by Mason's constant second guessing of Fitz? 

The Cats tried two Sutton runs on their first drive, and were 3rd and 10 (or 11). C.J. threw for the first and the Cats kept driving thru the air, while Mason kept harping on the need to give the ball to Sutton.

Forget that NU was moving the ball well thru the air, and forget that SIU was spying Sutton with one of their linebackers, we should run the ball up the middle because SIU was in a 3-4 and you can run up the middle against a 3-4.

I guess that's why he's now in the booth instead of on the sidelines, but once CJ had opened up the box by throwing outside a bunch of times, suddenly there was space inside for the two zone plays that Sutton and Conteh run so well. 

He was also confused by running Kafka in the 2nd quarter - something that made a certain amount of sense since I'm sure that part of the strategy was for CJ to see what they were doing on coverage since CJ came back and picked the SIU D apart.

The D line seemed confused at first, altho once the stunts started giving Corey and Gill lanes, the big runs by the "miniback" seemed to slow down. Whatever you think, the D pitched a shutout the 3 final quarters, and most of the time it wasn't even close. When was the last time our defense had 3 sacks in a game?

Anyway, I got the feeling that the BTN crew was hoping for an SIU win, to kind of put the Cats in their "Place." I don't want homers, but if the visitors are not up to the task, stop hoping out loud for them to suddenly improve - NU beat SIU convincingly - at least that's how it looked from my couch in front of the big screen TV.

BTW - Michigan seems beatable, so does Illinois on a dry track.

And finally, you think they'll let dOSU back in Columbus?

rsl

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Roy S. Lamberton - Senior Associate
& sometime Unix Guru....
Computer Applications & Support Associates
--------------- Also ---------------------------
Retired Senior Chief Cryptologic Technician [R]
Commissioner Delaware American Legion Baseball
Alumnus of Northwestern University - Sp 1974
==========  Go Cats -  Beat 'em All  ===========
"You have a Republic Madam --
     If you can keep it" - Benjamin Franklin
================================================

> -----Original Message-----
> From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com [mailto:nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com] On
> Behalf Of Abrahamson, Alan (NBC Universal)
> Sent: Sunday, September 14, 2008 2:27 PM
> To: sjtruog at yahoo.com; nwu-sports at tssi.com
> Subject: Re: [NU Sports] Big Ten losses and why I love them
> 
> Competing argument: novelty, intrigue of another 'storybook' Wildcat team
> would make it a compelling choice.
> 
> I say emphatically: every other team in the league can lose every week. All
> I care about is Wildcat
> victories.
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com <nwu-sports-bounces at tssi.com>
> To: NUSPORTS <nwu-sports at tssi.com>
> Sent: Sun Sep 14 14:14:02 2008
> Subject: Re: [NU Sports] Big Ten losses and why I love them
> 
> The only case where those Big Ten losses help us is when we're 6-6 and on
> the bubble to get into a bowl. Or if we tie for the Big Ten title and it
> comes down to the overall record tiebreak.
> 
> But if we have 9 wins and Michigan or OSU has 8 or 7 wins, they're still
> going to get chosen over us for a bowl game - just the way fan bases and TV
> ratings are.
> 
> I think the Big Ten needs to learn from the SEC on this - conference
> strength makes your team look better as well. The Pac 10's had the best
> team over the past decade or so in SC, but it hasn't helped the perception
> of the conference (days like yesterday don't help either).
> 
> Meanwhile, would Florida or LSU have even MADE the title game the past two
> years if there wasn't this perception - real or not - that the SEC is miles
> ahead of the other leagues? I still believe that neither Florida or LSU
> were the best team in their own league the year they won the title - but
> because of those silly tiebreaker rules and bye scheduling, UGa never had a
> shot at LSU last year and LSU never got to play the Gators in the title
> game two years ago.
> 
> So here's where it hurts us ... if NU should get to 10 wins or so this year
> and be in the hunt for a BCS at-large berth, the rep of our league will
> definitely factor into it. The SEC will surely get two BCS teams. The Big
> XII likely will as well. And we could have a BCS buster (though Wisky's win
> helped narrow that pool a bit - go Big Ten!). That could leave NU competing
> with teams like Oregon ... who helped their league by beating Purdue
> yesterday.
> 
> I know there are deep-seeded rivalries in the Big Ten ... as there
> certainly are in the SEC ... but Big Ten fans need to look at the big
> picture like SEC fans do. When Bama crushes Clemson, it's not just good for
> Bama but for SEC teams in the rankings, in extra BCS berths, in the title
> game chase and in national attention/recruiting (playing against the best
> and all that stuff).
> 
> When OSU, Michigan and Purdue all drop marquee games in a weekend, it
> weakens our league. It could be the difference between a BCS bid for a 10-
> win league team like Northwestern and losing the BCS slot to another
> league, meaning EVERYONE gets dropped down a rung and there's one less bowl
> slot. It hurts us in money, rep and exposure ... so while it may be fun to
> watch the Bucknuts self-implode or Big Blue to get some comeuppance, it is
> bad for NU in the short and long run.
> 
> Come conference play, we'll be rivals ... but for now ...
> Go Big Ten!
> GO CATS!!!
> - SjT
> 
> * * * * * * * * *
> STEPHEN J. TRUOG
> sjtruog at yahoo.com
> GO CATS!!!
> 
> 
> 
> 
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