[NU Sports] Optimism/Pessimism

[Arthur Miller]

So tell us, Mike:  Who are *you* rooting for this weekend?  :-)



On Tue, Nov 1, 2011 at 3:42 PM, Mike Nolan <nolan at tssi.com> wrote:

> Some of the posts on this list recently remind me of the old Art Linkletter
> show where he asked little kids to complete this phrase:
>
> "It's always darkest just before"
>
> One young boy responded:
>
> "it gets totally black."
>
> COULD Northwestern win this game?  Yes, but it would take a superior
> effort by both the offense and the defense, plus a below par performance
> by Nebraska on both offense and defense.
>
> So far, we haven't seen that kind of 60 minute effort, especially on
> defense.  Comparison to the '08 - '10 seasons just point out the
> inability of the '11 team to close out a game, especially against
> a good team.
>
> And Nebraska is a good team, though not quite an elite one.  (But even
> elite teams have off days, ask Oklahoma.)
>
> Nebraska hasn't done a very good job covering the point spread this
> year, and that may be one reason why the Cats are lesser underdogs than
> several of our Big Ten brethren this coming Saturday.
>
> If the Cats get some early breaks and get ahead, which has been their
> pattern this year, as opposed to recent years when their pattern was
> more often to fall behind and then fight back into the game, they will
> have a chance.
>
> If Martinez feels he needs to pass, then the Cats will need to prove that
> they can stop deep threats.  It may help that Martinez's passing mechanics
> are abysmal.
>
> Nebraska has blown its share of double-digit leads in the last few
> years, too, but the Huskers are often like a python on defense, they just
> slowly strangle their opponents.
> --
> Mike Nolan
>
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