[NU Sports] NU 2010

[neonrye at aol.com]

In the history of NU collapses after incredible starts--MSU 2006 (I think that was the year); Sun Bowl vs. UCLA; MSU 2010--PSU 2010 ranks pretty high up, considering the stakes and the national audience.? We were absolutely beaten up on both sides of the line, starting with the end-of-first-half drive.? Our inabillity to run the ball (other than Persa) totally caught up with us, and Joe Pa and his coaching staff played that weakness for all it was worth.

As Bill Parcells said so eloquently, "You are what your records says you are."? And what we are is a team that cannot beat better teams or finish them off.? With the exception of Purdue, we have taken care of teams we are either better than or no worse than equal to in talent and coaching.? Howevver, when this team steps up in class--as opposed to last year's squad--we are found sorely lacking.? As such, the only game left that looks reasonably winnable is the Wrigleyville Classic, and I would still favor Illinois by at least 7 points in that one, as they have a lot more athletes on both sides of the ball than we do, notwithstanding today's heartbreaker vs. Michigan.? 

Although Iowa barely escaped today, they will be awful tough next week, and they have the revenge factor.? And I just can't see NU winning this year at Camp Randall.? Maybe we can win in a "bad" (lower tier) bowl.? We are certainly not going to a good one this year, as things stand now.

Sorry to be so pessimistic, but this defeat will resonate for a long time.?? It was the kind of game that had we won, we could have been looking at being ranked, and at having recruits being really jazzed about preventing Joe Pa from grabbing No. 400.? But instead we taste defeat in a very public, ugly way.

Paul Levinson