[NU Sports] Penn State and Bowl hopes

[Dennis W. Brandt]

Wel-l-l-l, ya might wanna look at some of those weak teams you're comparin' our schedule to.  Notre Dame isn't a pushover, much as we wish they were.  Navy and their triple option is always a challenge as Ohio State learned and nearly lost.  Southern Cal?  'Nuff said about them.  Cal and Missouri are no milquetoasts, and Cincinnati and Oregon are ranked in the top ten.  And ask Michigan State about Central Michigan.

And on an unrelated note, anyone catch Fitz's comments about injuries in the post-game press conference.  Injuries are up all around, he said, and it's because teams are playing a twelve-game schedule with only 85 players.  Was he lobbying for fewer games or larger rosters?
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: cherron604 at aol.com 
  To: tbng at comcast.net ; nwu-sports at tssi.com 
  Sent: Tuesday, October 27, 2009 2:28 PM
  Subject: Re: [NU Sports] Penn State and Bowl hopes


  I agree with Dennis that we have to do better.  I am afraid, however that the era of the tough non-conf game is gone.  As examples, here are the three teams Dennis mentioned:

  Penn State - Akron, Syracuse, Temple, Eastern Illinois
  Michigan - Western Michigan, Notre Dame, Eastern Michigan, Delaware State
  Ohio State - Navy, Southern Cal, Toledo, New Mexico State

  And the rest of our mates:

  Iowa - Northern Iowa, Iowa State, Arizona, Arkansas St
  Wisconsin - Northern Illinois, Fresno St, Wofford, Hawaii
  Michigan State - Montana St, Central Michigan, Notre Dame, Western Michigan

  Minnesota - Syracuse, Air Force, Cal, South Dakota St
  Purdue - Toledo, Oregon, Northern Illinois, Notre Dame
  Indiana - Eastern Kentucky, Western Michigan, Akron, Virginia
  Illinois - Missouri, Illinois St, Cincinnati, Fresno St

  And I believe that we have to play a non-conference schedule that is equivalent to those of our conference mates, and it would seem that we do.

  Everybody is playing the 
  a) 'win 4 n-c, go 6-2 in conference and make a big bowl' game or
  b) 'win 4 n-c, go 2-6 in conference and just make a bowl' game, so we have to as well.


  Chuck Herron   Tech '85


  -----Original Message-----
  From: Dennis W. Brandt <tbng at comcast.net>
  To: nwu-sports at tssi.com
  Sent: Tue, Oct 27, 2009 12:01 pm
  Subject: Re: [NU Sports] Penn State and Bowl hopes


  <Fitz is succeeding in making us a 'Bowl caliber' team every year, that gets us recognition from fans, media and prospective recruits. 
   
  We may become "bowl-eligible" principally because we schedule wimp pre-season opponents like Towson, Eastern Michigan, Miami of Ohio, and Syracuse. Even then, only once in the last fifteen years have we beaten all four of our wimp non-conference opponents and often struggle even when we do win. Quite a contrast from my senior year ('67) when we played number-one ranked Miami (and won) and highly ranked Missouri, and the year following we took on O. J. Simpson's USC team. A weak pre-season schedule doesn't make NU unusual, but it doesn't make us a quality program either. What we clearly have accomplished is not being the doormat we were in the past, but that is not good enough anymore. I want a legitimate shot at beating Penn State, Michigan, and especially Ohio State every season, and I want to see some pre-season games against quality teams and have a good chance at winning those, too. Anything less is a loser's mentality. Recruiting better talent is the only way that can happen. It may take another five to ten seasons for Fitz to pull it off, but once the stream starts flowing, it will tend to keep flowing.  
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