[NU Sports] At the half ...

[SjT (Stephen J. Truog)]

As a longtime NU fan, it takes more than being on the losing end of a score to get me down at halftime. This game has done it.

I am dismayed at a defense that has fallen apart over the last couple games - the secondary knows nothing but soft coverage, the line is jumping offsides way too many times for a smart team and the linebackers are focusing more on ripping the ball away than tackling.

I am disgusted at our special teams - pathetic punts all day, a botched PAT snap and a kickoff return that was almost fumbled.

I am disappointed at our offensive play calling -- not the QBs, but the lack of rhythm we have. We can move the ball against this defense, but we just have no consistency, too many stupid mistakes that kill drives and I just don't think McCall has anything in his plan besides the QB switch.

All I can say is that Dan Persa is clearly the Big Ten MVP, because he apparently made not just the offense better, but the defense and special teams as well. The struggles on offense are understandable - and actually not that bad today. The struggles elsewhere are inexcusable.

I hope Coach Fitz saved one heck of a speech for halftime, because this is not Northwestern football. Like I said, we're underdogs and we're playing a lot of freshmen, so it's not the score - it's the false starts, the lack of any semblance of secondary coverage, the sloppiness on both sides of the ball, the special teams debacle, the lack of passion ...

WAKE UP 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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