Some Thoughts on the Facilities News – NU Should Keep Its Promise to Fitz

The Chicago Tribune recently reported that Northwestern’s facilities initiative is receiving some resistance from the NU Board of Trustees. I think it is important to note here that it really doesn’t seem like the Board is opposed to an NU facilities upgrade. However, it seems the issue is the location of some of these new facilities. Most notably it is the issue of where to put a new football practice facility. According to all reports (and it was mentioned again yesterday by Teddy G. in the Trib) Pat Fitzgerald was pretty much set to take the Michigan job until Northwestern promised him better resources which could make his teams at Northwestern competitive with traditional powers like, say, Michigan. I have to assume this was done because it was clear NU wasn’t going to match Michigan’s salary offer. Now, maybe Coach Fitz may just have used Michigan to leverage NU into boosting his salary and promising these resource upgrades (i.e. a new practice facility by the lake to help recruiting) but, that’s just smart and it does help his team. Now, though, it seems like NU isn’t totally meeting what they promised Fitz. This to me is wrong and it hurts other sports such as men’s and women’s basketball as well.

I know a 2-5 season has some people ticked off at Fitzgerald and upset at the state of NU athletics in general. Maybe, this is even true of some of the Board of Trustee members, I don’t know. But, isn’t a deal a deal? I suppose not if it isn’t in writing, but I’d bet Jim Phillips is sitting somewhere in a white shirt and purple tie right now upset at the way things are going in this area. After all, he had to be the primary individual in convincing Coach Fitz that if he stayed that decision would prove worthwhile. Now, he’s being made to look like a lair or maybe more precisely an exaggerator. Odds are NU gets some sort of new football facility in the near future, but if it isn’t on lake where it can “WOW” potential recruits is it really what Phillips promised Fitzgerald? I’d say no. Even worse for NU’s other sports, it might mean that some of the things which were planned to happen around the current football facility such as a new basketball area or a new basketball practice facility might get crossed out of the plan if the football facility has to occupy the same ground as the current setup.

The bottom line is I understand the lakefill land is extremely valuable property and some might not want to put a facility on it which is really only going to be used by 100 of NU’s 8,000 students and only about 50 employees at most when you factor in trainers, equipment staff, etc. But I’m still bothered by the fact that the Board of Trustees is preventing Jim Phillips from following through on the promise he made to his football coach and via extension the other coaches at Northwestern. If I’m Pat Fitzgerald I’m ticked off at this point and if I’d didn’t get the new facility I was promised in the place it was promised I wouldn’t be so willing to give Northwestern a hometown discount next time a major football power came kocking at my door. Now, you might say who is going to visit Pat with his team at 2-5, but let’s remember Gary Barnett got another job after a 3-9 season. The perception outside of Northwestern is generally that winning six or more games at Northwestern consistently makes you the reincarnation of Vince Lombardi. I don’t know if I agree, but when the ‘Cats rally to a 4-1 finish and win a bowl game this season some university president is going to think so. Therefore, I’d ask the Board of Trustees to step up and help Jim Phillips keep his promise or get ready for a potential embarrassment as the face of the NU program exits stage left because while NU talked a good game they didn’t truly commit to his program as promised.

My Thoughts on Several Current NU Athletics Issues

In this post I’m going to share some quick thoughts on a series of current NU athletics issues. NU sports have certainly made the news more often in the last couple days than usual. Unfortunately, a rather depressing percentage of that press hasn’t been positive.

ISSUE 1: Kevin Coble

I admire the fact that Bill Carmody is keeping his mouth shut on this. I wish Kevin Coble would do the same, though, I must say that based on today’s Tribune article it sure sounds like SI.com goaded Coble into making his comment by sending him what very well might have been just part of a Carmody quote that made Kevin look bad. Of course, Coble probably should know better than to trust quotes from a reporter. Also, as far as I can tell Kevin probably acted somewhat selfishly in wanting not to go to Italy with the rest of his team and instead choosing to do his rehab his way. I’d also really like to know the exact dates of Kevin’s Hawaii trip. I’m not saying he shouldn’t have gone to Italy with the team—he should have. However, to really get a sense of this issue I’d like to know where exactly Kevin was when the rest of the team was in Italy. Of course, whether he was in Hawaii, Evanston, or Alaska, the fact he basically said I don’t want to go on the trip because I’m hurt and Jeff Ryan, who was actually going to be in rehab longer than Coble, did go on the trip makes Coble look bad. Still, it seems like we’re not getting the whole story and I’d prefer to have it before making a lot more judgments.

The worst part of this whole thing is that it sounds like a point in time existed where despite everything Kevin wanted to play again and Carmody wanted him to play, but somehow something got in the way. I’d guess that something had to do a lot with streaks of selfishness from Coble (and his family) and probably some stubbornness from Carmody (NOTE: a coach being stubborn about rules and expectations is to me WAY MORE acceptable than a selfish player), but also, sadly, with miscommunication. I think that’s just really unfortunate because I bet Kevin is going to miss playing basketball and I bet NU misses him. It’s also sad to me because I have nagging suspicion that both sides reacted in anger when they should have sat down and tried to work something out and now both Kevin—who I’m very sure will never get a look from a good professional team given that he hasn’t played an organized game in over a year—and NU—who very well may be one more scorer short of being an NCAA Tournament team—might both pay the price. And even if Kevin does make it in the pros and NU does make the NCAA tournament this odd story will follow both the kid and the program for some time.

ISSUE 2: Wrigley Field

I had seats on the scoring side of the stadium so I can’t comment on how it looked from the east side, but I do have a lot of sympathy for those who did. It doesn’t seem fair that those fans didn’t get the product they expected to get. I will say that the pregame build up to the contest was fantastic. I really enjoyed walking around both inside and outside the stadium before the game. However, once the game started all that joy disappeared quickly. Some say the event was so great that the loss didn’t diminish it. I’m jealous of those who feel that way because as far as I’m concerned if I never see Wrigley Field again it will be far too soon. For the record, I'm not even saying NU needed to win for me to have fun (the Outback Bowl was fun despite the loss), but with everything NU put into making the game the keystone event of the while Chicago's Big Ten Team and such to lose like it was 1981 and not like it was Jan. 1st 2010 was what made me some sad about the whole event. The story went from NU as Chicago's team to how fired up Illinois was to prove they were Chicago's team and they did a pretty darn good job. Kudos to them.

ISSUE 3: Kain Colter, Evan Watkins, NU’s Football Coaching Staff, and the future of the this season

So one source on the message boards has Colter upset because he got less plays than he was promised. Another says he should start because Watkins gives NU no chance to win. For all I know both facts could be true, but these essentially anonymous statements do teach us the dangers of message boards. Do we really know Colter is upset? No. Do the people who think Watkins doesn’t give NU a chance to win know how much difference a full game and another week of practice makes? Probably not. I will say this, though, I think NU should have used Colter more. NU was twice inside the ten against Illinois and settled for field goals. I think using more Colter close to the goal line might have helped the ‘Cats punch in a couple more scores. I’ll also say that I do sincerely hope we see a jump in play from Evan Watkins because on Saturday I saw a player who needs a lot of work. That said, I don’t think he got much help from his coaches. To be honest, I think it’s amazing how Bill Carmody can be criticized for what he likes to drink and NU’s football coaches totally bungle basic football strategy and many fans give them a pass.

I’ll give one simple example. After Mike Trumpy’s 80 yard TD run every time he got the ball Illinois’s defense swarmed him with basically all 11 guys coming up to tackle him. The basic play on an over aggressive defense is to run a reverse; however, NU didn’t seem to consider such a play. In fact, if you throw out flanker sweeps to Venric Mark, which aren’t reverses, I can only think of one reverse NU has run all season that was with Charles Brown vs Central Michigan. It is just bizarre to me how easy NU’s run offense is to defend and it got a lot easier without Dan Persa. I’m not a football coach and don’t know the talents of all NU’s players, but to not try some misdirection when the defense was flying at Trumpy was really stupid as far as I’m concerned. I’m pretty sure Jeremy Ebert would be fast enough to take a reverse flip from Trumpy and make yards.

Instead, NU simply found itself in long yardage situations trying to force Evan Watkins to convert them by throwing deep passes. Shorter yardage to go also might have given Watkins some shorter throws which he did seem more comfortable with the few times he got to throw them. Plus, those involve the reliable Ebert while downfield Watkins was forced to work to less experienced receivers.

Better defense may give NU a shot this week at Wisconsin, but what I’m most thankful for is that NU is for sure in a bowl and that Watkins has (counting this week) five more weeks to get ready for that game. As far as I’m concerned the bowl is the only game that matters at this point. Wisconsin can beat the ‘Cats by 80 and as long as Watkins uses the experience to get ready to lead the offense to a bowl win then I don’t care. Of course, his odds of doing that would be better if a game plan were created to actually help the kid by successful and which didn’t try to force him to make throws which while mastered by Tom Brady and Peyton Manning are awfully tough for redshirt freshmen.

Evan Watkins Pep Talk

It’ll be a huge weekend for NU sports with a home basketball game on Friday night (and a road game Wednesday which we’ll talk about tomorrow) and hosting the All State Wrigleyville Classic along with ESPN’s College Game Day on Saturday. However, some people are doubting NU’s chances of beating the state’s Other Big Ten Team thanks to the news of Dan Persa’s injury. I say to them have some faith in Evan Watkins, but it’s probably more important Watkins have faith in himself. If I were given the chance this is what I’d say to NU’s new QB1.

Evan,

You’ve got to be excited, right? I mean I know you’re sad about your friend Dan’s injury too, but you didn’t come to Northwestern to warm the bench did you? I didn’t think so. Coach Fitz recruits guys who have great character and want to compete—and that’s you! Now, here’s the thing; over the next couple days you’re going to hear about how NU can’t win because you’re starting at QB and not Dan Persa. Some of those comments might even come from NU fans. In fact, I know you’re already aware of a few comments which have been made saying as much. Ignore that crap! What a bunch of idiots who have never seen you do anything more than throw pregame warm-ups say isn’t worth even thinking about. Instead, you need to focus on doing what Coach Fitz talks about all the time—Trust Yourself. You wouldn’t be in this position if you weren’t a darn good player. Look what you did cold off the bench at Indy, now you’ve got a whole week to prep.

Also, trust those around you. Coach McCall is going to come up with a great game plan and you’ve got great resources to give you advice. Talk to Dan about how he approached stepping in for Mike Kafka last year. Call up Mike and talk to him about stepping in for C.J. Bacher in 2008. They’ll tell you that Northwestern’s offense is quarterback friendly and that you’ll have plenty of chances to make plays. Will things go perfectly? Probably not. So what do you need to do? Respond. When things go wrong forget them and press on. If you do that you’ll end up having more successful plays than unsuccessful ones.

Finally, the most important advice I can give you is to have fun! This game is going to be awesome. Have as much fun as you’ve ever had in your life on a football field! You’re a good player and I know if you have fun out there you’ll have great success.

So, go get us that Land of Lincoln Trophy, big guy!

Thanks, Dan.

Northwestern played a football game today against the University if Iowa and defeated the Hawkeyes 21-17 thanks to a fantastic fourth quarter rally led by quarterback Dan Persa. Unfortunately, Persa was hurt on the same play he threw the game’s winning touchdown and will be out for the rest of the season. As I think of the amazing year that Dan Persa has had, I want to say thanks and hope that his warrior spirit carries over to his backup Evan Watkins and the rest of NU’s student-athletes.

Dan Persa is obviously a talented football player, but my admiration for him isn’t simply for that. It’s for the type of competitor he is. Because this is a basketball blog I’ll make this connection—Dan Persa is the football version of my all time favorite NU basketball player Jitim Young—people called both too small or said they didn’t have certain athletic abilities, but they both played at an All-Big Ten level because they competed relentlessly.

That relentless competiveness is a special thing. Pat Fitzgerald talked about wanting 22 Dan Persa’s and some fans didn’t like his comments, but it’s a simple fact is that Dan’s a rare type of kid. That’s not to see NU doesn’t have other talented players or good leaders on the roster, but the way Persa competes has simply been at another level. His willingness to do whatever was necessary and put his team on his back was truly remarkable. To be honest, I think much of the time NU’s offensive calls have been rather predicable and unimaginative, but Persa has made up for this with his amazing ability to stay cool under pressure and make something out of nothing. The final drive today and the final drive in NU’s forth quarter comeback at Minnesota were both made in large part by Dan Persa’s amazing instincts. His ability to avoid pressure and find open space or open receivers saved the ‘Cats on multiple occasions this season.

Now, Dan won’t be able to save the ‘Cats with his legs again till 2011, but I know he’ll still make a positive impact. That’s just the type of leader he is. He won’t feel sorry for himself, instead I know he’ll do everything in his power to help make sure Evan Watkins is ready to play against Illinois, against Wisconsin, and in a bowl game. Let’s not count Watkins out either. Sure, he’s only 3-of-7 passing this season, but he made a big third down throw in what turned out to be the game winning drive against Indiana.

You also have to credit NU’s coaches who helped get Persa ready to step in for Mike Kafka last year and got Kafka ready to step in for C.J. Bacher the year before. Clearly, Mick McCann knows how to develop quality quarterbacks. I just hope McCall too takes a lesson from Persa and doesn’t play it safe. Sure, Persa’s injury hurts, but if he’d played conservative and scared all season NU would only have 3 wins. Instead, his fearless play has NU at 7-3. There will be a temptation to keep Watkins in a safety net thanks to his zero-experience backups, but NU can’t win that way. They need to be aggressive. Plus, with Watkins own limited experience giving him rollouts where he can run or pass makes great sense to me. Therefore, I hope McCall and Watkins both have a little Dan Persa in them and display the fearlessness necessary to lead the ‘Cats to victory.

Fans Rarely Know Reasons

I recently went to a high school soccer playoff game. I don’t really know much about soccer, but a friend of mine was coaching and his team was playing a team ranked in top-5 in nation. Not in the state mind you, the nation. Having had lunch with this friend and listening to him detail his strategy for countering this powerful opponent, I wanted to see how things worked out. Soccer fans will have to forgive my ignorance of major terms, but basically my friend’s strategy was keep the majority of his team back on defense and load up in front of the goal to prevent this powerful opponent from getting clean shots. Having faced the team earlier in the year and having been blow out 6-0 it made sense to play with a defense first mentality and hope to catch a break or get into a shootout where he might have the stronger goalie. To a great extent my friend’s strategy worked. His kids played a great defensive game and even though they allowed 27 shots on goal and only got three, they went into overtime tied 1-1 before losing 2-1 in that OT period. In a contest against a vastly superior opponent with a top-5 ranking and two players who will likely by high school All-Americans you’d think people would have been impressed with the way the game stayed close. Especially since this opponent beat their other playoff competition like a drum. I’m sure most were, but behind me one fan kept saying, “What the hell is the coach doing? Is he just playing to tie? We need to get more aggressive!” Personally, I wanted to turn around and pick a (verbal) fight with the guy, but I restrained myself. Another friend of mine did try to point out the earlier 6-0 loss which showed our side simply couldn’t play such a strong team heads-up, but this gentleman (term used loosely) would have none of it. He didn’t understand why it was a good idea to play such a strategy. He thought the way the game was setup up was “wussy” and not tough enough. Now, this post isn’t meant to be an exercise is ripping a random soccer fan whose name I don’t even know. The guy is entitled to his own opinion. My point, though, is that his opinion is based on total ignorance of the situation. He didn’t have the insider knowledge to know why a defensive game plan made more since. Such a state of mind, however, is not uncommon amongst fans. In fact, we’ve all been there more than not.

As we start the basketball season and come into a potentially dark time in the football season, I think this is a point worth noting. I’m not saying we as fans shouldn’t criticize coaches, but let’s be aware of just how ignorant we are. I sat with my friend at lunch and he explained his strategy and the reasons for it. It wasn’t a random decision at all. It was a choice he agonized over and eventually made (which went against his team’s usual style of play) because he reasoned out that it gave his team their BEST CHANCE TO WIN against a vastly superior opponent. It almost worked. In fact, if not for a deflection on a corner kick it probably would have. That’s the coach’s job. Develop a game plan which after careful thought you believe gives you the best chance to win. You do this after careful study of past games (both yours and the other sides) and after careful consideration of the abilities of your players and their performance in practice and previous contests. You don’t just walk into the arena and start haphazardly calling plays. The plan might not work, but you didn’t choose to play that person or call that play without truly doing the work to think it was the right choice.

Despite all this work done by coaches, we as fans still think we know better. Now, I say it’s totally fine for us to offer our opinions. But, let’s be realistic about it. Even if the game plan looks odd to you (which my friend’s did to that guy behind me) the coach has to honestly thinks his plan gives his team the best shot at victory. We need to respect that. I have no problem saying or listening to fellow NU fans say that the 1-3-1 defense is scary and I hope Bill Carmody plays it less or that if Mike Hankwitz goes to three down linemen again this week he ought to be looking for work at the end of the year, but let’s be honest. Do any of us know more about basketball than Bill Carmody? Honestly. Has anyone else out there devoted their entire life and livelihood to studying the game? (If so I’d love for you to contribute to the blog, but you’re probably busy coaching your own team). Do any of us have more defensive football knowledge than Coach Hank? I suspect the fact he’s been coaching longer than many of us have been alive means likely not. Whether we agree with them or not, let’s keep that in mind and respect they have a reason for the strategic choices they make. After all, their ability to feed their families is based on making the right choice. Considering that, we have to admit that jumping all over coaches without truly having inside knowledge of who does what at practice or without having broken down every play of another team’s season makes us look pretty ignorant. Now, will this stop me from offering my opinions on what defense NU should play? No. But, I want to go on record right now saying that I know Bill Carmody has a plan and a reason for his moves and really does believe he is doing the right thing. Just like every other coach. I’m just a fan with passion who sometimes can’t help but share how he feels.

Some Keys to Success

So I’ve been thinking about how NU’s basketball and football teams can be successful or more successful than they are. After all, let’s not discount what’s been done thus far. Football is 5-2 and both the men’s and women’s basketball teams are coming off of postseason appearances. However, I think we can all agree that while those successes are very nice, we can expect more success from those programs in the future. Here are four keys to that success.

1) Win at Home – It’s not that NU is 5-2 that has football fans upset. It’s that NU is 2-2 at home. Good Big Ten (and Big Time) teams win games at home. NU is freakishly good football wise on the road (10-3 in last 13), but if you’re that good on the road you should put up 10 or 11 win seasons not 8 win seasons. The good news is NU’s basketball teams are actually better at home, but Coach Carmody’s guys still ripped out fans hearts last year when they gave away a game to Wisconsin and failed to beat Penn State at Welsh-Ryan.

2) Consistently Respond to Big Ten Challenges – NU always seems to get some nice wins in conference play and has seemingly turned a corner in both sports regarding non-conference games, but they don’t consistently show up for Big Ten games. That’s bad. Look at football vs Purdue or basketball last year at Iowa or vs Penn State. Those are games in conference where NU was better than the opponent, but didn’t rise to meet the challenge the other team offered. Yes, NU you were better, but those teams decided they were still going to try to win and because they tried harder, they did.

3) Finish Games – Most obviously this comes up after two blown football leads, but men’s basketball had a serious problem finishing games two years ago and the problem resurfaced last year a couple times as well. When you’ve got a team down you can’t let them off the hook.

4) Expect to Win – This goes for fans as well. Good programs build expectations of success. While we as NU fans have higher expectations than fans of the ‘Cats 20 years ago, we still don’t expect to win all the time. Sadly, I think the players sometimes react the same way—especially basketball wise. I can think of a number of games last year against so called “better” teams that NU folded as soon as the lead got big for the other guys (see: Ohio State and Butler). It was almost as if when the ‘Cats came out and the game went bad they looked at each other the said, “see they’re just better.” They might be, but that doesn’t mean you have to stand around looking really impressed as Evan Turner uses you as fodder to improve his draft stock. NU did at least mount a comeback in the game at Wisconsin, but they should never have gotten down so much in the first place.

Murphy’s Law and NU Athletics

It’s almost time for basketball practice to start and most fans are pretty excited. In the wake of the football team’s loss to Purdue, though, my thoughts on the coming season are suddenly focused more on avoiding disappointment than I thought they would have been. I like to think I’m a realist and I know NU will have a tough road to the NCAA Tournament this year, but I also think they have a good shot. However, thinking back over my NU fandom, despite the fact that I’ve seen four basketball postseason teams and six bowl games in football, I still feel as though NU sports live by one law…Murphy’s.

Despite the success needed to reach those postseason dates, NU has only won once in them and has failed to succeed in a number of key regular season games that might have improved their postseason fate. I don’t want to rehash bad memories, but I’ll highlight football at Iowa in 2000 and basketball at Ohio State in 2009 as games which likely kept NU from the Rose Bowl and the NCAA Tournament respectively. The basketball team is 0-2 when ranked and the football is 1-9 when ranked since 2000. Neither of those two stats is good. A friend suggested NU impose a poll ban on itself. I don’t think it’s such a bad idea.

The question that I’m left asking myself is what causes Northwestern’s highest profile teams (football and men’s basketball) to find ways to fail whenever attention seems to get paid to them. Part of me even wonders if it is the fault of us as fans who start to believe the little hype which exists and if that somehow translates to the players and makes them overconfident. I don’t think that’s it, but some level of overconfidence might play a role. After all, these are kids who range in age from 18-23. When people start to tell them how good they are, they might start to believe it a little too easily. If I’m Bill Carmody or Pat Fitzgerald I’m starting to guard against that very closely given the past few years.

Some people will simply say NU’s problem with success is they aren’t that good to start with. That they have a way of being lucky, but luck catches up to less talented teams. I have trouble with that. At some point if you’re successful it ceases to be luck. Winning close games is a skill in itself. A skill that comes from having a team with talented players and good coaches.

This is a good Northwestern basketball team. John Shurna deserves to be mentioned as a top candidate for Big Ten Player of the Year and Juice Thompson might be the best point guard in the league (don’t laugh, it might be true). However, NU will face a Big Ten with a ton of other good players and the ‘Cats aren’t so stocked with talent they can take games off or even moments of games off. They have to focus the entire time.

In the end, I think that’s what makes lesser talented teams who win all the time able to do so. Focus. They play every play with a sense of urgency because they know they can’t afford to let up. You want people to believe they are good, but at some point realizing that they player across from you is just as good as you counts for a lot as well. It might even make you better because you’re then working harder to beat him than he is to beat you.

That’s how Northwestern needs to play in both football and men’s basketball. When they’re successful that IS how they play. The effort Bill Carmody’s teams showed last year at home against Illinois and Purdue was amazing. NU never let up on intensity (thanks in part I think to great crowds). On the other hand, in that 2009 Ohio State game I mentioned above and last year’s game at Wisconsin (key games for postseason bids) NU came out with a notable lack of intensity. Almost as if they were just happy to be there. They then got way down and woke up and made a furious comeback with great intensity. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough. At least those were against good teams, though. The same result played out against weaker competition in Iowa and Penn State last season. On those nights NU was a team that looked unfocused and undisciplined for most of the game and wasn’t trying to play harder than the other guys for 40 minutes. They looked more like a team that thought they would win, but didn’t want to work too hard to make it happen. I think the football equivalent played out against Purdue Saturday night.

The real crime of NU’s Murphy’s Law athletic department isn’t indivudal losses or disappointed fans, though. The real crime is the players on the court/field are good enough to get to the NCAA Tournament or the Rose Bowl. They just need to play like it all the time and not let anything else get in the way.

More Schedule Thoughts...Looking for Positive Momentum

Northwestern’s basketball schedule has now been discussed in great detail on this blog, other blogs, and message boards over the last several days. The consensus is that the Wildcats schedule features a fairly weak and boring non-conference slate. Also, most agree they would like to see Northwestern take on more local teams such as DePaul and Loyola.

Based on the numbers I have to agree with the first statement (though a silver lining might exist) and I absolutely agree on the second. I don’t know what happened to NU’s series with DePaul. Starting in the mid-2000s it seemed then NU AD Mark Murphy had made a commitment to reestablish a yearly series, but it disappeared last year. However, when last year’s schedule was released both teams indicated the series would resume this season. Something obviously prevented that. I know DePaul has a new coach, but wouldn’t a contract have been in place which required the game? I really don’t know, but I think that’s a notable missing game on NU’s schedule. NU hasn’t played Loyola in a very long time. The story is that Bill Carmody refuses to play them due to some controversy over a recruit or recruiting. This makes no sense to me. First off all, do NU and Loyola really cross recruit that much? Second, if you really don’t like another team or coach isn’t the best way to deal with that dislike by betting them? I’d think so. Now, Loyola wouldn’t be a huge resume boosting win (neither would DePaul) but at least playing those schools might generate a little local excitement and if nothing might put some more people inside Welsh-Ryan Arena. I mean as much as NU’s marketing has improved, Arkansas-Pine Bluff is tough sell even if they did make the NCAA Tournament.

Now, what’s the silver lining of NU’s weak schedule? Well, one thing that can’t be substituted for is success. Northwestern beat Minnesota in football today 29-28 and although it was a rather unimpressive win, it helps guarantee a good crowd for next week’s game at home against Purdue. Frankly, Northwestern’s fans (especially student fans) have a reputation for being quick to stay home after a loss and a loss to last place Minnesota would have really reduced the Ryan Field crowd. Now, at 5-0, even if it was a “weak” 5-0, Northwestern has started to generate some positive momentum from casual fans and students. That’s a major step in the right direction. Therefore, the fact that Northwestern can realistically start the basketball season 10-0 at least offers the same possibility of early momentum. Sure, it’ll will also potentially be an “weak” 10-0 and any loss (like losing to Minnesota would have been) might be considered a bad loss, but I’d like to confident that like their football counterparts, NU’s men’s basketball squad is reaching for a point where they avoid such bad losses.

Another advantage to good football and basketball starts comes in recruiting. High School kids have short attention spans. They don’t watch every play of a game very often and sometimes don’t watch games at all. Instead, they go on-line and look at highlights, polls, and blogs. What they’re seeing now is a 5-0 Northwestern football team that might find a way to crack the top-25 in the coaches’ poll in the next two weeks. If NU starts the basketball season as successfully, it might generate some much needed energy in recruiting. Now, that might be more hope than fact, but it is possible. Of course, a poor start against a weak schedule could have the opposite result. Bottom line, I know people are disappointed about the schedule, but consider how good it feels to see the football team 5-0 and building momentum towards a successful Big Ten season. Basketball could do the same thing based on the schedule they have setup.

NU goes 4-0 and 1-0

The Wildcats ended a solid Italy trip with a 77-55 win today. That also ended a solid weekend for NU sports which featured a 1-0 start to the football season. I'll make a quick football rant and then get into the basketball. Okay, so Dan Persa is awesome, I knew he would be because he just sounded like the type of kid who you win with. He brings everything you want to the table and more. However, he got no support from his runningbacks and pretty much was the NU offense. If Northwestern had a halfway decent running back I think Persa would put up numbers which would make him a legit All-Big QB if not a dark horse for the Heisman. As it is, I think he'll be good and NU will go a decent bowl, but some games will be lost because NU can't run the ball. Other websites and other people have ideas why NU's non-Persa running game is so poor and they're all interesting to read, but the bottom line I think is it is a combo of players and plays called. Walk-on Jacob Schmidt is NU's starter at tailback. That's not good. I'm not trying to disrespect Schmidt and I know he'd smoke me in the 40-yard dash, but when it comes to playing runningback in the Big Ten, I just don't think he hits the hole quick enough. Really, only Persa looks like he can get to a hole. Simmons and Fields might be quicker than Schmidt, but they didn't seem to attack openings like Persa or past NU backs like Autry (x2), Wright, Herron, Sutton, Anderson, or even Omar Conteh.

Now, on to basketball. NU won the last two games on their tour. The 3rd win was 112-105 in OT. With full video of the game it is tough to say much, but Juice Thompson posted 38 points, John Shurna had 26 points, and Drew Crawford had 22. NU has a pretty good top three in those guys. At the center position Luka Mirkovic and Davide Curletti combined for 10 points and 11 rebounds. I still think they'll need to do more for NU to do better than last year in Big Ten, but that's decent enough to win some games. Nick Fruendt also made a big shot, his only one, but maybe he might find a roll. Also, Mike Capocci got the start in the spot that has also gone to Alex Marcotullio and JerShon Cobb.

Today both Thompson and Shurna had off games, yet NU won. That's a very strong sign this might be a pretty good team. Drew Crawford netted 21 points, but the big story was JerShon Cobb with 16 points. I think Cobb will make a lot of big plays for NU and it was nice to see him near the top of the stat sheet. Mirkovic and Curletti didn't do much on offense, but Mirkovic got 10 rebounds and Ivan Peljusic had seven. Alex Marcotullio also had a big day with 17 points and 5 rebounds. He seems to know how to find the ball.

NU will go back home and wait for the start of the regular season.

Game Week for Football and Basketball

It’s game week for both NU football and basketball. This usually doesn’t happen until November and then football usually totally dominates the news as the basketball game is often versus a lower tier non-conference team. Now, I still expect the prep for Northwestern’s football season opener at Vanderbilt to get more attention than NU’s basketball tour through Italy, but I think NU fans will learn about from the ‘Cats Italian journey.

According the reports on nusports.com, the ‘Cats have arrived in Italy and have enjoyed some sight-seeing and great food, but according to Reggie Hearn’s blog, they still realize they are there to play basketball. While the quality of the Italian competition still remains to be determined, I think NU will get a lot out of the trip. At least as a fan I know I’ll have some questions answered. I want to see what starting lineup Coach Carmody uses and I want to see how JerShon Cobb plays against a level of opponent superior to what he faced in high school. I also want to see how Carmody manages his rotation. Is he looking to be a potentially deep team or will Mike Capocci, Ivan Peljusic, and Nick Fruendt have minor roles once again? This trip will give us answers a couple months earlier than we otherwise would have had them. If you’re an NU fan you should step away from the football hype at least long enough to find out.

For the record, I am excited about football. I’ve seen a wide range of predictions for the ‘Cats this season. Some have NU in the Big Ten’s top three and others have them in the bottom three. I personally expect a pretty good team. I believe Dan Persa is the type of player a team wins with as their leader and when you look at NU’s offense you see NFL talent in Al Netter and Drake Dunsmore. NU’s defense might seem more suspect, but I think Corbin Bryant might prove as good or better than NU’s past defensive line stars and I’m excited to see if Jared Carpenter lives up to his hype. If he does NU’s defensive front will have the needed support in the backfield and Mike Hankwitz should be able to breakout his wide array of various schemes.

Openers…

Basketball – Monday 1:30 PM CT

Football – Saturday 6:30 PM CT

NU Confirms New Football Unis and Fitz TV Show

NU could once again wear black pants with purple tops in home games.

Big news from NU today was the confirmation of new football uniforms for Northwestern which bring back the Northwestern striping along with the return of black pants which didn’t go so well last time they were worn by NU, but actually were NU’s standard road attire in the 2000 season and that means they were in fashion for the 47-44 OT win in Madison and the “Victory Right” game against Minnesota. Therefore, I think the black pants have taken something of a bad rap due to their most recent appearances. I also think bringing some black back into the uniform isn’t a bad idea. Much of the NU products available feature black as does much of the NU coaches’ gear, so I’m not surprised to see it added to the football uniform.

Now the bigger news from the perspective of basketball is the news Pat Fitzgerald will have a half hour TV program on each week. Back in NU’s Big Ten Title winning seasons of 1995, 1996, and 2000 Gary Barnett and Randy Walker had television programs as did hoops coaches Ricky Byrdsong and Kevin O’Neill. I have no idea if a Fitz show means a Bill Carmody show, but Fitz having a show at least makes it somewhat more likely Carmody could have one in the future if not this season. Honestly, I think Bill Carmody would probably be the prefect coach for a TV show because I have a feeling his show would be very different from other coaches’ TV shows. Most of these coach shows are highlights and positive vibes and basically total spin. Basically totally boring to watch, but as a fan you still watch anyway. I have a feeling Bill Carmody taking his “tell it like it is” approach on to TV would offer a different kind of show. A more interesting show. Carmody has never been one to spin a loss or sugarcoat bad play and I really respect him for that. The man is brutally honest even when it sometimes gets fans upset with him. Look at the firestorm on the message boards whenever he admits he’s not sure about something. The truth is every coach isn’t sure about things at times, but no one else is honest enough to say so.

Carmody’s also very funny with a very quick wit and would no doubt be entertaining to watch. In fact, I think Carmody’s wit would appeal strongly to the type of player NU wants to recruit. With NU recruiting smart kids, they should be the types that can see that most coaches’ shows are just infomercials for a team. Basically, a political ad with basketball highlights. I think a Bill Carmody’s honesty and frankness would standout to the type of recruits NU wants as an appealing characteristic for a potential head coach. Now, will NU give Carmody a show? I have no idea. But the other Big Ten basketball coaches have them and with NU putting together a production team for a show for Fitz, I don’t see any reason why they couldn’t use that same team to produce a show for Carmody.

Northwestern Marketing Hits Media: Hope for a Georgia Tech Sellout?

Is NU reusing an old idea in the new marketing campaign?

Northwestern has launched a new marketing campaign that started just a week ago and begins in full force just as football starts and single game football tickets go on sale. This campaign right now is obviously focused on football, but one has to assume we will see basketball related marketing as well. Interestingly, the campaign touting Northwestern as “Chicago’s Big Ten Team” is very similar to a past campaign from the start of the last decade (see picture above). Some people have objected to this. Basically, they feel that NU is trying to repeat a failed strategy. I somewhat disagree. Yes, NU has tried to hit on being a “Chicago” team before. However, Northwestern really hasn’t ever spent a great deal of money in marketing. That is changing. I’ve seen full page ads in the paper, radio spots, and billboards which will be up year round. That’s a far cry from the past then NU basically didn’t market outside of the NU community. If NU is every going to truly make a dent in a very competitive media market in Chicago, it is important that NU be visible on a regular basis. Having daily ads helps with this a great deal. It also probably isn’t a coincidence that this campaign is occurring in the same year NU is scheduled to play football at Wrigley Field. No place in Chicago says Chicago sports more than Wrigley and so NU is trying buy some Chicago goodwill from that move as well. With season ticket sales up a reported 30% perhaps it is already working.

The question, though, is will those sales be consistent next season and will anybody who bought football tickets this year because of the Wrigley game be motivated to buy basketball tickets as well. Well, one good thing for marketing basketball is you’ve got a ton of potential basketball season ticket buyers at football games. When you consider that a crowd of even 20,000 is about three times NU’s average attendance in basketball that means that somehow if NU could make just 3,000 of those 20,000 football fans into hoops fans Welsh-Ryan could be sold out every game. Sure, some football fans have other issues which allow them to make Saturday football games and not make basketball games, but out of the multitudes of NU football fans who don’t come to basketball games at least a few thousand must exist who could come, they just aren’t motivated to do so yet. One suggestion I do have is that I’d like to see NU’s big basketball matchups promoted during football games. It’s hard to sell the Chicago State game, but it can’t be that hard to sell fans on watching ACC runner up and NCAA Tournament qualifier Georgia Tech. If Northwestern was smart they would make a concentrated effort to sellout the Georgia Tech game (Nov. 30th 6PM CT ESPN2) during football season. I’d like to see ads for tickets during timeouts or maybe even a deal for tickets to that game for season ticket holders. That game will most likely be the jewel of NU’s non-conference schedule and it’s on national TV. Aside from how having a sellout crowd would help energize the team. Seeing a packed gym on TV would also impress recruits in a critical recruiting year.

Getting fans in the stands is a start and the next key is getting them to comeback. The other great thing about trying to pack the place with football fans for Georgia Tech is that it will probably be a great game with a good atmosphere (similar to top football games). Experiencing that atmosphere would hopefully make those people comeback. I’d also love to see NU football season ticket holders who aren’t basketball season ticket holders bombarded with ticket package deals. For example, a Big Ten game only package or a package that has the Tech game along with Michigan State and Illinois. Something that at least gets large pro-NU crowds in Welsh-Ryan for key games. Bottom line, building a larger fan base for football might be an achievable goal long term, but doing so for basketball should be even easier. Hopefully NU will have saved some money to try and make that happen. Personally, I encourage everyone to try and get your non-basketball fan friends to buy Georgia Tech tickets. When Georgia Tech (and ESPN2) arrive in Evanston on Nov. 30th let’s have them see a sea of purple.

NU’s Top 5 Wins (both basketball and football) over Iowa since ‘95

Okay, I’m going to jump on the ongoing message board debates between NU and Iowa fans over at Wildcat Report with today’s post. In this post I’m looking back at recent contests between NU and Iowa in both football and basketball in effort to come up with a top five. NU has had enough success in football and basketball versus the Hawkeyes since 1995 that a number of choices exist. I think I’ve picked the best, but feel free to disagree.

5. 1996 football Northwestern, 40 Iowa, 13

The Wildcats and the Hawkeyes were a national TV contest on ABC with Keith Jackson on the call and most expecting a tight low scoring Big Ten contest. NU altered the script by burying the Hawkeyes thanks to typical great mid-1990s defense, a key trick play, and loads of yards from Darnell Autry. NU could have scored more, but instead of run up the score like Hayden Fry had on him, Gary Barnett made his point in the opposite manner by calling runs up the middle at the end of the game even though NU had the ball in the red zone.

4. 2004 basketball Northwestern, 51 Iowa, 49

With 0.7 seconds left Vedran Vukusic sunk a jumper from the top of the key to give the Wildcats a series sweep of the Hawkeyes for the first time since 1959. It was the first of three years in a row in which the Wildcats would beat the Hawkeyes in the games final moments.

3. 2009 football Northwestern, 17 Iowa, 10

Dan Persa takes over for an injured Mike Kafka and leads the ‘Cats to a game deciding TD to help top the #4 ranked Hawkeyes on the road. Corey Wotton made the game’s biggest play by sacking Hawkeye QB Ricky Stanzi in the endzone and causing a fumble which Marshall Thomas recovered for the ‘Cats first TD.

2. 2005 football Northwestern, 28 Iowa, 27

14 points in the last 3:28 from a Tyrell Sutton TD, an outside kick recovery, and a Ross Lane TD catch allowed the Wildcats to pull the stunner of all stunners on a Hawkeye squad which was already celebrating a victory.

1. 2005 basketball Northwestern, 75 Iowa, 74

Michael Jenkins in the corner drills a game winning three pointer at the buzzer which hits every part of the rim before dropping in. Even more amazing, though, was NU’s 12 point comeback in the final three minutes of regulation to send the game to OT. Some people might think one of the football wins ranks higher, but I challenge anyone who was at this game to disagree. Just think how you felt when Jenkins’s ball finally decided to go in.

So I might have left you favorite game off this list. It was tough a list to make. Several other games like the 2008 football win or Craig Moore’s final home game at Welsh-Ryan Arena almost made the list. Feel free to disagree and tell me what I missed.

My Thoughts on NU at Wrigley

Cubs OF Sam Fuld won't play at Wrigley on Nov. 20th, but the 'Cats will...

Wrigley Field. It is very possibly the most well known sports venue in the United States. It might very well be the most well known sports venue in the world. It’s most famous for it’s beautiful ivy covered walls, neighborhood pubs, and the often futile efforts of its resident baseball team. On November 20, 2010, though, it will also be known as the site of a college football game between the Northwestern Wildcats and Illinois Fighting Illini.

Since the idea of such a contest was floated last year, many different opinions on the matter have been expressed. Even in the NU blog community. It seems Spread Far the Fame (despite helping break the story) is very much opposed to the idea, while Lake the Posts has concerns, but will get behind the effort in order to help make the Friendly Confines unfriendly to the Illini. I’m not sure exactly what view the other major NU blog, Sippin’ on Purple, holds, but Rodger certainly didn’t seem to express the same frustration with the idea that Otto at Spread Far the Fame did.

Personally, I think I’ve agreed with every viewpoint on this game at one time or another. When Jim Phillips first mentioned the idea I thought it was terrible. Especially in a season when NU has only six home games. Now, the ‘Cats will only have five. In a possible rebuilding year, it didn’t seem that smart to give up a home field advantage. Then, the rumor started that the game would be against Iowa. I thought about how NU plays Iowa so well on the road and I decided that it would be a fantastic showcase game for the Wildcats to take on the Hawkeyes in Wrigley. Now, it appears the deal is more or less done and, that like originally figured, Illinois will have the honor of visiting Wrigley to play the ‘Cats. Surprisingly, though, I haven’t gone back to hating this idea. I still think Iowa would be a more exciting game, but I’m starting to buy into the idea of playing a game at Wrigley.

I do agree with those who say that only have five home games stinks for those of us who love to get to games early and tailgate in the parking lot at Ryan Field. The truth is, though, their just aren’t that many of us. What Jim Phillips is trying to do is create some more fans. NU has tons more potential fans (alums, employees, etc.) who are in the Chicago area, but don’t show up at Ryan Field. I can’t begin to speculate why, but it just doesn’t happen. What Phillips wants to do is give these people, and hopefully many of their friends, a reason to get interested in Northwestern. The odds are that the best seats for the Wrigley game will be attached to either season ticket packages or partial (say Big Ten games) season ticket plans. As a result, those people interested in the Wrigley game will buy season tickets for the first time and come out to Ryan Field. Once they do, I think they’ll get hooked. NU games are fun and often exciting. Usually, people want to come back after one visit. If Jim Phillips and the ticket office connect the Wrigley tickets to other games, they will help build NU’s fan base and the off-campus game will be worth the effort. It might even connect Chicago to Northwestern in a new way. After all, besides the items I mentioned at the start of this post, the other thing Wrigley Field is best known for is being located at 1060 W. Addison Street in Chicago, Illinois. People who think Chicago think Wrigley Field and those who live in the city are proud the park stands in their town. If NU can take over Wrigley Field, if even for a day, perhaps the large contingent of Chicago sports fans who don’t have a team will adopt NU as one of their own.
At least those are the goals. Yeah, it isn’t ideal to give up a home game, but if doing so adds to greater home attendance early in the season and in 2011; it’ll be worth the effort.

Black Pants Curse? (I hope not, they look sharp)

Will the Wildcats have new football uniform which looks something like this?

If you’re a member of Northwestern fandom you’ve likely visited Hail to Purple, Spread Far the Fame, or the Wildcat Report message boards recently enough to know insiders say Northwestern has new football uniforms in the works. Those of you who read this blog regularly know I devoted a ton of space over the past summer to NU uniforms of all sports because, to be honest, I’m a fan of uniform history and, specifically, NU’s classic black uniform top. Now, the new rumored jersey does not feature a black top, but supposedly, at least as an option, has black pants. Therefore the basic outline of the jersey would look like the picture above, but the top would be more traditional. It would have block numbers and the Northwestern Stripes would return for the first time since 1996. That’s a good omen, I think.

What might be less of a good omen, what scares the superstitious fan in me, is the decision to potentially go to black pants. Now, I do think the purple jersey black pants look is actually pretty sharp. TCU uses it and I’m a fan of their play and their look. However, Northwestern’s recent history with black pants isn’t good. The black pants went out of the regular rotation at the end of the 2002 season. The same year NU’s black jerseys went out of the regular rotation. After the disaster that was 2002 it made sense for Randy Walker and the ‘Cats to want to try something different. What Coach Walk and the ‘Cats settled on was a purple jersey with purple pants combo for home games and a white jersey with white pants combo for road games. NU has worn the white jersey white pants combo on the road for every road game since the start of 2003 except for one game in 2004 at Minnesota. In that game the Wildcats wore black pants. The result involved Minnesota putting a whooping on the ‘Cats 43-17. The greatest indignity was Gopher Head Coach Glen Mason calling a halfback pass for a TD late in the 4th quarter. It makes me want throw rocks at my TV every time I see him smiling smugly on the Big Ten Network. The Wildcats haven’t worn black pants on the road since.

After the 2006 season NU ditched the all purple look to go with purple jerseys and white pants at home. I do like this look, but I don’t mind the visual of a purple jersey with black pants either. What I mind, however, is the results to the two times NU has tried this. In 2006 Northwestern hosted Ohio State. With NU out of bowl contention it was the Wildcats bowl game. Early in the week at a get together with fans at the Blue Stone Coach Fitz hinted the team would have a “new look”, Fitz didn’t say what the look would be, but it sounded like NU would wear new uniforms. In fact, NU wore old uniform pants. The Wildcats wore the 2000-2002 black pants with their regular purple tops. The uniforms looked good, but the players in them did not. Ohio State pounded NU 54-10.

The greatest disaster of the black pants era is perhaps the blackest day of all in the history of NU football, and that’s saying something. In 2007 the Wildcats hosted Duke at night in Evanston. Going for a different look for the season’s only night contest the Wildcats walked out of the tunnel with the same combo as the pervious year’s Ohio State game. Duke had lost 22 straight games at the time, but they didn’t lose that night. When CJ Bacher’s last pass fell in complete on 4th and goal, the Wildcats fell to 0-3 since 2002 in black pants.

Now, does this recent history of failure in black pants mean anything? No. NU actually beat Wisconsin and Minnesota in two outstanding games while wearing black pants in 2000. Also, while those black pants were the same design as what NU wore in the games mentioned above, next year’s well be different, perhaps with a purple stripe. Regardless of uniforms, I’m sure NU will be successful next year as I like where Coach Fitz has the program. If he asked my thoughts on the uniforms, I’d say if the players like the purple top with black pants idea, then I can get behind it. Personally, though, if NU is going back to black, I’d say lets go back to the black tops we wore when winning 3 Big Ten Titles in just 6 years.*



* For the record one rumor has NU getting black tops for a special occasion game. Perhaps a game at Wrigley Field in 2011 vs Michigan.

At this Point, the Postseason is the Postseason (Unless, Science Fiction isn't Fiction)

A quick additional thought related to NU making a postseason tournament. Personally, I’m still pretty bummed out by NU’s loss yesterday. I refused to watch either Big Ten Tournament game today (I guess I missed a good game between OSU and Illinois, but I really can’t say I care). I suppose I’ll have to watch tomorrow’s game, but it’ll be really hard for me to get myself to a point where I can watch that game and not feel NU ought to be playing. Despite my disappointment, though, I am somewhat heartened by the idea Northwestern hasn’t played their last game. In a little over 24 hours we’ll know for sure, but I’d say it’s almost certain Northwestern will be playing a postseason game on Tuesday or Wednesday of this week.

Now, a number of people have expressed some disappointment with the idea that NU might not make the NIT. This makes sense as the NIT is obviously better than the CBI or the CIT. It’s on ESPN instead of HDNet or Fox College Sports which gives it more prestige and it is run by the NCAA and not a random organization trying to make money. Those points are all well and good and I’d like to see NU in the NIT, but I don’t understand people’s claim they won’t be excited if NU makes the CBI or CIT. They’re POSTSEASON tournaments.

Postseason play is something that as Northwestern fan I haven’t seen much of. In my lifetime Northwestern has won ONE (1) postseason game in men’s basketball and football combined. If they win number two this year, I’ll be as happy as I possibly imagine being. I’d have preferred that game be the Outback Bowl or an NCAA Tournament contest, but if it’s the NIT, CBI, CIT, or a 5th tournament that gets created in the next day, I really don’t care at this point. I’m going to enjoy it, especially if I can attend in person.

To be honest, unless you’re an NU fan who accidently stepped through a quantum mirror from a parallel reality where Rex Walters to didn’t transfer to Kansas, Geno Carlisle didn’t transfer to Cal, Nick Knapp’s heart never stopped beating and instant replay existed so Brian Musso didn’t fumble in the Rose Bowl, then I think you know the postseason (of any type) isn’t something to take lightly or complain about. Sure, I want to make the NCAA Tournament every year and win the Rose Bowl several times a decade, and I’ll do whatever small part I can to support NU Athletics in building to those goals, but in the meantime I’m going to enjoy the accomplishments along the way. That is, unless somebody has a spare quantum mirror sitting around in their basement, because I’d really have liked to see the results of Geno and Esch playing together.

Football: 'Cats Fall in OT at Outback Bowl

In one of the stranger football games I've ever seen Northwestern fell to Auburn 38-35 in OT. This is the second year in a row the Wildcats have fallen in OT in a bowl game. This is a tough loss. The last play call for NU was probably questionable (but what do you do without a kicker? Also someone on Wildcat Report mentiond Zeke might have gone to quickly, and in the past I do recall more of delay on that play), the fact is NU had more than enough chances to win the game before that final play. Kafka's interceptions, Demos's missed FGs earlier in the game (it's amazing how even NU's good kickers go south when NU goes south for bowls), and a number of failed attempts to stop Auburn on 3rd and long are among the plays which could have turned the tide of the game before Auburn stopped Markshausen on the fake field goal. The worst part is that after two near misses Wildcat Nationa now has to wait at least another year to get a shot at a bowl victory.

Outback Bowl Preview

I haven’t devoted much time to football discussion since basketball seasons started since this site was started as a basketball blog. However, I want to take some time today and offer my own preview for Northwestern’s matchup with Auburn in the Outback Bowl.

The Wildcats (8-4) take on an Auburn Tigers (7-5) team that offers perhaps NU’s best shot at a bowl win in recent memory. Much has been made of NU’s 60 year bowl win drought, but the ‘Cats have played some very good teams in their bowls since 1995. Auburn isn’t a bad team (no bowl team really is), but they don’t have a Heisman winner or a number 1 draft pick at QB either. The strength of Auburn’s team is a diversified spread offense. The Auburn spread is similar to the early versions of NU’s spread that featured a run first mentality despite being in a passing formation. The tailback Auburn uses is Ben Tate. Tate is a big back at 5-11 218 lbs. who rushed for 1,254 yards and 8 TDs this season. In terms of Big Ten opponents he is most similar to Wisconsin back John Clay. The Wildcats did a good job stopping Clay. The big difference is Auburn’s spread allows for a little more creativity in getting the ball to Tate than Wisconsin’s straight ahead power game.

If Northwestern concentrates on stopping Tate, Auburn will have to go to the air. When NU stopped Clay, Wisconsin had some success passing, but the ‘Cats DBs made just enough stops to pull out the victory. I suspect a similar game against Auburn. QB Chris Todd leads the Tiger passing attack. He has thrown 21 TDs and only 6 INTs this season. Last year he struggled with turnovers. NU’s Sherrick McManis might be the best defensive back in the game, but he’ll need help from Jordan Mabin, Brad Phillips, and a now healthy Brendan Smith in order to contain Todd.

NU’s biggest advantage in the game will be the Wildcat passing game led by QB Mike Kafka against an Auburn secondary which has been less than stellar. Kafka tossed only 12 TDs, but his 65.7% completion percentage shows how accurate he was in running NU’s spread. He should also be close to 100% physically and potentially able to add to his 7 rushing TDs this season. That versatility could make a difference. If Auburn tries to commit to stopping Kafka on the run, it will be even easier for him to hit open receivers. I do think NU will need some running game from the running back position, but with Kafka’s accuracy and healthy legs, I don’t think NU needs a 100-yard rusher to win. They simply need their collection of tailbacks to keep the defense honest with enough solid runs that the Tigers don’t start dropping eight men into coverage every play.

With the offenses both these teams feature I’m expecting a high scoring game. In fact, I think this might be NU’s highest scoring game of the year. I believe Kafka will be finding open receivers all day, but I also think Chris Todd will take of advantage of NU’s efforts to stop Ben Tate and pick on Jordan Mabin and the rest of NU’s non-McManis pass defenders. However, I think NU’s defense will have just enough to stop Auburn when it counts on enough third downs. On the hand, I believe Kafka’s ability to convert third downs to Zeke Markshausen and Drake Dunsmore will keep NU drives alive. In a high scoring affair I think the Wildcats pick up their first bowl victory since beating Cal in the 1949 Rose Bowl. Northwestern, 38 Auburn, 34

News and Notes: Thanks to a tip from a reader I was alerted to the fact The Sporting News Today's Mike DeCourcy has NU men's hoops ranked 2nd in his Big Ten power rankings. If you're a TSN Today suscriber you can read the article at this link: http://today.sportingnews.com/sportingnewstoday/20091229?pg=27#pg27

Details on Football Season Ticket Holder Event Before Sunday’s Game

A lot of people don't seem to know about NU’s football season ticket holder event on Sunday so just going to post the e-mail sent to season ticket holders and do my part. Also, I want say something positive as I think the event is a good idea to lure football fans to Welsh-Ryan. Still, it seems like it should have been better promoted beyond just e-mails. I do like how Coach Fitz adds his name to the invite.

The Text of the e-mail reads:

Dean Wildcat Fans,

Thank you for your incredible support as a 2009 Wildcat Football Season Ticket Holder. We hope you can join us for the Fan Appreciation Party before the Wildcat Men's Basketball game on Sunday, December 13 from 2:30 pm - 4 pm in the N Club on the second floor of Welsh-Ryan Arena. Please let Tracie Hitz know if you plan to attend by sending an e-mail to t-hitz@northwestern.edu by Friday, December 11.

If you would like to stay for the Men's Basketball game that day at 4 p.m., you can either redeem in advance the complimentary basketball ticket coupon you received as part of the full football season ticket package, or you can purchase tickets for only $20 on the day of the game. Plus, it's Kids Come Free Day, so one paid ticket gets two kids in the 8th grade and under in FREE. There is no charge to attend the Fan Appreciation Party.

Go 'Cats!

Tracie Hitz and Coach Fitz

Bowl Rumors

Update: This rumor is true. NU will play Auburn on New Year's Day in Tampa. This means by the way that NU finished the decade of the 2000s with a winning record based on the victory over Wisconsin. Let's get the 2010s off to a great start vs the Tigers.

It’s not official yet, but is seems like a slew of reliable rumors (which is probably an oxymoron) have NU in the Outback Bowl versus Auburn. If this is true I’m very happy to see NU in the bowl I believe they truly earned and deserved.