[NU Sports] So What did you Expect?

[Jonathan Hodges]

I agree that the loss of McManis and Hahn was a factor in the D's second
half letdown.  Hahn would normally be in the D-Line rotation, so Bryant and
Thomas had a lot more reps (especially when compared to last week when they
played little in the second half).  Meanwhile, the loss of McManis and then
Vaughn late in the 4th quarter forced redshirt freshman Dugar onto the field
at CB.  In any case, no excuse for the poor play against the run.

Regarding NU's running game - the 'Cats plan on using Simmons as "lightning"
and Schmidt as "thunder."  Schmidt has routinely come in as the short
yardage back and done a respectable job (he had 13 carries for 61 yards
today; he had NU's first TD of the season against Towson as well).  We'll
see how effective this RB by committee is against tougher defensive fronts,
but it's chugging along right now.

It seems like NU tried to put things on cruise control a little early and
were trying a little to hard not to show anything to future opponents -
meanwhile EMU literally ran right at NU's weak point on defense and took
advantage of uninspired 2nd half play to make it close.  Thankfully Demos
showed that he has the confidence to go with that leg of his as he nailed a
49 yard FG to win with plenty of room to spare.

Jonathan

On Sat, Sep 12, 2009 at 4:22 PM, Roy Lamberton <rstetson at capps-assoc.com>wrote:

> As I pointed out in my "Random Thoughts" yesterday....
>
> 1. EMU could throw the ball when they had to, especially behind that big
> O-Line (which I expected to get better from game 1 to game 2). Meanwhile,
> they were going to stress the run (again behind that big offensive line)
> which they did. (at least at the end of the game when they put up 14)
>
> 2. NU still isn't going to show all of their stunts and blitz packages
> because the rest of the Big 10 will be taking these films apart to see what
> we're going to do once it counts.
>
> 3. Missing McManis is important, so is Hahn. Put them out there and maybe
> we
> don't get penalties for pass interference and the #1 receiver doesn't catch
> the ball because the #1 defender is out there. And maybe we get some sacks
> because Hahn is a load in the middle.
>
> 4. EMU came in to run, and to stop our running. Which they did 5.2 ypc vs
> 3.9 ypc. BTW, they out gained us per play by about a yard.
>
> 5. Once again, Simmons was the guy who toted the rock. Maybe there will be
> a
> "lightning" guy come out of all this but Simmons is going to be "thunder"
> this year.
>
> I had a meeting that I had to attend as the Baseball Commissioner - I cam
> out and put the game on my phone and watched NU blow a 2 TD lead. I almost
> drove off the road when Demos (who is the real deal with 9 pts) won the
> game.
>
> On to 'cuse!
>
> rsl
>
> ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
> Roy S. Lamberton - Senior Associate & Unix Guru.
> Computer Applications & Support Associates
> -------------------- Also ----------------------
> Commissioner Delaware American Legion Baseball
> Retired Senior Chief Cryptologic Technician [R]
> Northwestern University - Speech 1974 -
> Chi Phi: Pi 1974, KD 1968
> Publisher Emeritus: Purple Reign (Fox Sports)
> ==========  Go Cats -  Beat 'em All  ===========
> So...
>     How's that "hope" and "Change"
>     Working for ya?
>
> Don't re-elect nobody, not even yo mama!
> ================================================
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> nwu-sports site list
> nwu-sports at tssi.com
> http://romaine.tssi.com/mailman/listinfo/nwu-sports
>