[NU Sports] Fantastic statistical analysis

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

Excellent analysis - a couple ideas on possibilities ...

First, the problem of purple dismay is a good/bad thing. Bad because - as you point out - we are a demonstrably better team despite replacing our top offensive and defensive players from last year ... but good because it points to raised expectations of NU fans (including yourself, as I recall from your "this is NOT a rebuilding year" mantra :) ).

So that's a good thing ... we just have to remember to take a minute to breathe and assess the situation as well. All our games are up for grabs - we're not like Ohio State who can take a week off and still clobber Indiana. We snooze vs. IU and we lose. However, we can beat just about anyone as well. That's Northwestern football. :)

A second reason might be the three losses - one to a Purdue team we had no business losing to, the other two with 17-0 and 21-0 leads lost ... so that can lead to understandable frustration. MSU's a good team and PSU is always a tough venue, but that Purdue loss still irks me ... like IU a couple years back ... or Miami 1995 and Wake 1996 ... I guess that's Northwestern football as well. :(

A third reason might be the teams we have left and their improvement from last year. Wisconsin is headed to a B(C)S bowl - likely Pasadena. Iowa won't be smelling Roses, but has OSU at home and could be B(C)S bound if they win there. And the Fighting Zookers were on a roll until they played Big East football against RichRod. Granted football is all about matchups and we seem to fare better against the Hog-eyes than most and hold serve at home with the Badgers (but unfortunately this year's game is in Cheddarland). But we're playing three bowl teams, two with B(C)S hopes.

It's good to have those expectations and to demand more from Fitz and the Cats (if you'll remember back to August, I wasn't drinking the purple kool aid some of you were, so maybe some of you shot too high and were let down more?) ... but when the games are over, you have to look at things and make an honest assessment, so thanks for those stats to remind us. Yeah, we could be 8-1 or 9-0 heading into Iowa ... or we could be 4-5. It's been one of those years for the Cats. Not a dream season, but certainly not a disappointment. 

Hopefully we can get at least one of these last three games against our three true rivals and finish strong with a bowl victory!

GO CATS!!!
-SjT

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STEPHEN J. TRUOG
sjtruog at yahoo.com
GO CATS!!! GEAUX SAINTS!!!
Super Bowl XLIV Champions!
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