That Was... Uh... Yeah... Northwestern Falls Short of an Upset, Loses to MSU 35-27
by Hilary Lee on Oct 23, 2010 5:19 PM CDT
in Northwestern
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What do you say about a game like today? That was the question I was struggling to answer on my train ride home from Ryan Field this afternoon. Though the trip took almost the entirety of the first half of the Iowa - Wisconsin game to complete, I still found myself without a satisfactory response.
Good job playing 3.5 quarters of football? Way to almost upset the last undefeated Big Ten team? At least you weren't blown out?
Yeah, no. That's kind of like hopping over a puddle of mud on the sidewalk only to land in a pile of dog crap. The end result is the same: you're unhappy, and you stink.
Okay, maybe I'm being too harsh. Northwestern doesn't stink, really (shhh, Iowa fans). They are 5-2. One game away from bowl eligibility. And they have three games remaining on the schedule that are very winnable (Indiana, Illinois, Penn State) with an upset (Iowa or Wisconsin) never out of the question. Get three of those games and you're at 8-4, matching last year's total. And that's great, but...
It feels like this team is always stuck in this gear. Always in the middle of the conference. Despite recruiting disadvantages, they seem to do well at finding and developing underappreciated talent, but ultimately, too often, they just can't get it done.
While today's loss certainly wasn't as embarrassing as, say, the ‘Cats failure during the Greg Paulus challenge last year, it was still just... ugh. Penalties for 66 yards? Two lost turnovers? One of them on 1st and goal from the one?! It's just sloppy. The offense is clearly capable of scoring touchdowns - you don't put up 27 points on Sparty if you have an anemic offense (like say, some other team from Illinois...). The defense is clearly capable of making stops. Despite the fact that they eventually gave up 35 points on the day, they held MSU scoreless for almost an entire half and forced a number of punts after allowing State to get part way down field.
So, if all of this is true, why didn't it translate into a win? I really just don't know. I still have more questions than answers.
Why did Northwestern have 47 rushing attempts to 30 passes?
Why did we rely on runs up the middle by someone other than Dan Persa during situations other than 3rd or 4th and 1 when we are CLEARLY NOT A RUNNING TEAM?
Why, when we were up by six with just over 8 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, were we only able to hold the ball for all of a minute before allowing Michigan State's offense right back on the field?
Why did we then allow MSU to score a go-ahead touchdown after getting them to 3rd and 15??
And most importantly, why, oh why, on our 2 minute drill drive did we commit a facemask penalty on the first snap, backing us up from the 33 to the 18?
I want to have answers to these questions. I really do. But I just don't. The Wildcats are a team that sometimes does this. Sometimes, they just don't seem to be able to get over the hump. They can thrill you one week and break your heart the next.
Ultimately, when it comes down to it, I'm disappointed, but not depressed. I honestly do not feel the way about Michigan State (despite some of the Sparty fans sitting in front of me... not the best representatives of the fan base, guys) that I do about Iowa, Illinois, or Ohio State. And I love that they are having a special season. I love the increased parity in the conference - it keeps things interesting for much longer than typical. So... I am accepting today's defeat. I am moving on.
Win three more games, beat Illinois on a national stage at Wrigley Field and I will be happy. Really, I will. It'll have been a good season.
It's just... I do sometimes wish though... well... never mind...
Until next time,
GO U! NU!
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Relax
You guys are a well coached (man is that an understatement) team with a lot of upside and great discipline. There are few teams in the Big Ten I worry about playing as much as you guys. Always scrappy, and always dangerous.
You guys played a hell of a game today.
i have a problem with the well coached part
mainly because of the 47 rushing attempts.
When I was a kid, I didn't want to be a doctor or a fireman. I wanted to be Super Mario. It's the most literal pipe dream I've ever had.
Maybe
not well offensively-coordinated, then…
Obviously, Minnesota will hire John L. Smith to be their next head football coach.
by OBrienSchofieldismyHero on Oct 23, 2010 9:16 PM CDT up reply actions
I'm not sure about the well-coached part either
Because our coaching staff- and, as a result, our players on the field- were the only people in America who were not looking for a fake punt in the fourth quarter, with the Cats up 10 and time starting to get short.
"I wasn’t really thinking fake at the moment." Jordan Mabin, who was the guy responsible for covering Fowler.
"You’ve got to give credit where credit is due. They put their starting receiver in, and we knew [Aaron] Bates could throw it, so we talked all week that there was going to be a fake punt where they’re probably going to throw it but did we expect that fake punt? No. We’d never seen them do it before, so kudos to them." Pat Fitzgerald.
Really? Late in the game, with your opponent down 10 but in relatively good field position, you don’t think they’d try a fake there? What exactly did they have to lose at that point?
Really?
No kidding
8-0 or not, I would have been royally pissed at our coaching staff if they’d punted there. Down two scores, inside the opposing 40, you DO NOT PUNT. Not even on 4th and 20.
Coaches haven't caught up with the team
More than anything, I see this as a product of Fitz’s youth, and not catching up to where NU football is today. It’s like our coaching staff is so used to come-from-behind, impossible wins over better opponents that they don’t know how to close out the game when they’ve got the lead. The team has improved to the point where dramatic come-from-behind wins aren’t needed anymore… but Fitz hasn’t made the adjustment. He doesn’t know what to do with a fourth quarter lead when you’re up against a quality opponent who’ll give you a fight.
But he’s young, which means he can learn. Just wish he had learned after Purdue instead of after Michigan State.
Unfortunately
your sentiments are shared fully by Iowa fans today.
I ate the blue ones ... they taste like burning.
Awww look
you did read one of my articles. I knew you couldn’t stay away forever Hoya!
Heheh….
Off Tackle Empire - Ruling on the Big Ten since 2008.
People forget...
…that the play before the fake punt Michigan State had gone out on the field showing a field goal attempt – which Fitzgerald and Northwestern did not buy (leaving the defense on the field) – and ended up taking a five-yard penalty making it fourth-and-ten instead of a five yard attempt. I have to give the State coaches some credit – it takes real stones to accept the penalty and still come back with the fake.
I was watching the interaction betwewen Fitz and Hunter Bates during that sequence, and most of the players still seemed ready for a trick play. I think that you just need to give State credit for executing and maybe a little bit of blame to Mabin for weak one-on-one coverage.
That play was emblamatic of the story of the game… when State got behind the chains due to a penalty or a sack, they were continually able to come up with a big play to dig out of the hole. Northwestern played well for most of the game and did a great job bottling up State’s run attack, but when our offense got behind the sticks, we just couldn’t come up with the conversion. Out entire game plan was built around making Cousins beat us through the air, and hats off to him and the receivers for executing in the second half to do just that.
Well, the FG non-attempt
was part of the double-fake MSU pulled. And what made the actual fake punt that much more effective. After trotting the FG unit on for what would have been a ridiculously long FG try, it looked like MSU was just trying to draw Northwestern offsides. When that “didn’t work” and MSU took the penalty and I remember thinking that Northwestern let it’s guard down a little bit because it seemed like MSU was punting, using the penalty to back up a bit for a better chance at downing inside the 10.
I ate the blue ones ... they taste like burning.
if you take out the eight sacks for thirty yards, NU ran the ball 39 times for 205 yards for a very solid 5.25 yard average. And if you subtract those sacks from the passing yards, they had 38 pass plays for 180 yards, a 4.73 yard average. So I’m not really seeing how more passing and less rushing would have been a good thing, given how terrible a job the offensive line was doing of protecting Persa.
Good point about the sacks.
Also, Persa scrambled a number of times, often quite successfully. He had 14 non-sack carries, split maybe 50/50 between scrambles and options or goal-line sneaks. That would be around 45 attempted pass plays, just with a third of them ending in some form of rushing attempt.
Hey! I'm tryin' to eat lunch here!
That's valid
taking that out the ratio becomes more acceptable. Still, when I was at the game it felt not as though they were running too much, but that they were using designed run plays (i.e., non persa scrambles) in weird and ineffective situations.
Off Tackle Empire - Ruling on the Big Ten since 2008.
HL, you’re now famous on BHGP!
Obviously, Minnesota will hire John L. Smith to be their next head football coach.
by OBrienSchofieldismyHero on Oct 23, 2010 9:11 PM CDT up reply actions
What's your reaction to this sudden fame?
I understand BHGP shoutouts can further one’s career…
Obviously, Minnesota will hire John L. Smith to be their next head football coach.
by OBrienSchofieldismyHero on Oct 23, 2010 11:14 PM CDT up reply actions
As much as I would like to pretend
that my ego saw this coming, it really just cracks me up
Off Tackle Empire - Ruling on the Big Ten since 2008.
as the bard Delonte West once said
snitches get stitches
oh, and haters gonna hate.
5 for 5!
And I get huge upset points from Mizzou!
Obviously, Minnesota will hire John L. Smith to be their next head football coach.
by OBrienSchofieldismyHero on Oct 23, 2010 11:19 PM CDT reply actions
impressive
Off Tackle Empire
The quintessential Big Ten smoking room.
by Graham Filler on Oct 24, 2010 9:45 AM CDT up reply actions
Absolutely a fabulous quote!
“That’s kind of like hopping over a puddle of mud on the sidewalk only to land in a pile of dog crap. The end result is the same: you’re unhappy, and you stink.”
Glad you liked it
totally how I was feeling until the Iowa-Wisconsin ending that day.
Off Tackle Empire - Ruling on the Big Ten since 2008.
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