[NU Sports] Lack of explosiveness

[Beamsley, Jeff]

So if I can summarize:

We aren't going to blame the rb's because the o-line isnt creating the  
holes.

We aren't going to blame the o-line because they are all young and  
still learning.

We aren't going to blame the coaches because they recruited young  
players who are better than the upper classmen.

So who is left?

Well, we can blame RW for his untimely passing which disrupted our  
recruiting.

We can also try to blame Northwestern for not being a big state school  
with low academic standards and lots of students and alums who love  
football

OR

We can blame ourselves for insisting that someone else has to be  
responsible for our disappointments.

As my wife sometimes reminds me, it is after all just a game.

Jeff

Sent from my iPhone

On Nov 2, 2009, at 4:40 PM, "Jonathan Hodges"  
<jonathanwhodges at gmail.com> wrote:

> RE: offensive line
>
> In Randy Walker's final years at the helm, the offensive line  
> recruiting
> arguably fell off, ending with the 2006 line that just wasn't very  
> good.
> The 2007 line and even last year's OL got by thanks to a feisty  
> runner in
> Sutton and a guy who got rid of the ball quickly in Bacher.  Without
> Sutton's yards after contact this year, we're beginning to see the  
> effects.
>
> Fortunately, Fitz has really brought in some solid OL recruits: two  
> who are
> redshirt sophomores finishing up their second years starting (LT  
> Netter & C
> Burkett) and four who are redshirt freshmen (Deiters and Mulroe have  
> played
> a lot so far), along with true freshman Ward who has even played  
> some this
> year.  The past two seasons we've seen juniors and seniors passed  
> over in
> favor of the younger guys on the depth chart.
>
> Unfortunately, as has been mentioned, these guys are still young,  
> relatively
> inexperienced, and haven't had the large amount of time training as  
> others
> at opposing schools.  Despite having some guys with some starting  
> experience
> under their belts, they are still young.
>
> Also, don't discount the fact that NU lost OL coach Ingalls to the  
> Saints
> this past offseason (something that myself and others have mentioned
> before).
>
> Hopefully things will really start to improve next year - I also think
> solidifying the starting 5 has begun to help - through the first 7  
> games
> they were almost routinely rotated in and out of the game.
>
> Jonathan
>
> On Mon, Nov 2, 2009 at 3:25 PM, Tom Maycock <tkmaycock at yahoo.com>  
> wrote:
>
>>> That is one reason why you rarely see even RS Sophs playing
>>> one of the 4 up front positions, and centers are sometimes exempt  
>>> from
>> the rule, but still you like to see at least 2 years on the
>>> team before you throw them into the fray.
>>
>> According nusports.com, we started:
>> 1 RS Freshman, 3 Sophomores, 1 Junior
>>
>> According to PSU's site, they started:
>> 3 seniors, 2 juniors
>>
>> Big, big difference there. Heck, just the difference in the  
>> cumulative
>> hours spent in the weight room at the college level is huge.
>>
>> As for *why* we are starting such a young line, I'll leave that to  
>> someone
>> else who has followed recruiting and the status of our linemen over  
>> the
>> years.
>>
>> Tom
>>
>> 
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