<p>So I started a new thread to avoid continuing the devolution of the first one. The 'Cats got a big stop on D before going 6 plays and 80 yards in the last minute 20 to beat the Wolfpack. This certainly was one of the wilder games in recent history (certainly not as wild as the 54-51 Michigan game, the 2005 Sun Bowl, or the Michigan State Homecoming game).
In the first half, the secondary seemed porous and the d-line soounded impotent... I again heard the game on WGN Radio, so I'm relying on announcers, not my own eyes. The offense struggled w/o Sutton. Fitzgerald relied on the passing game far too much and the team became one-dimensional. Also, the 'Cats could've used Sutton to put the game away late in teh 4th quarter with a 3 point lead. Instead, Nevada took advantage and got a TD to go up late.
My thoughts: Maybe the last drive gives Bacher the confidence to be the game manager that we all thought he could be. A Kurt Warner type that gets the ball to the right people and maximizes his potential. Bacher's arm and legs were just enough to get past Nevada.
The 'Cats are a much better offense w/ Sutton, but it can survive with Roberson.
There are 4 receivers that can all get open and catch the football.
The O-Line is strong, but not dominant.</p>
<p>Special Teams are fantastic. Demos is great on kickoffs and on punts. Villareal can hit a mid 40s Field Goal, which is far rarer in college FB than it should be. McManis is a solid return man.</p>
<p>The D-Line needs help. The pass rush was too little, too late (only bailed out by Bacher's heroics).
The LBs are good, but not going to dominate games or change the other team's gameplan.
The secondary also needs help. Giving up a 48 yrd TD as time expires in teh 1st half is unacceptable. Too many open receivers.</p>
<p>If NU can barely get past Nevada, then I maintain that this is a 7 win team. </p>
<p>Hopefully we can discuss the game and the team without being overly personal or hostile?</p>
<p>This has probably been CJs team since the Iowa W last season.</p>
<p>The reason why the Cats had a dismal 1st half is due to the vanilla and predictable play-calling by both COs McGee (who still seems like he doesnt know how to run a Cats spread O) and Colby Swiss Cheese (whos passive play-calling on D nearly cost NU the game in the 1st half).</p>
<p>According to a no. of sources (based on the activity on the sidelines), it seems that Fitz took over much of the D play-calling in the 2nd half (which led to more a aggressive D).</p>
<p>Compounding the lackluster play-calling, it seems like Lilja (the strength coach) has made the D-line-men too bulky, which has resulted in a loss of speed (including Wooten who may now be more suited for DT instead of DE).</p>
<p>The good thing is that the kicking game, for the 1st time in years, seems to be very solid.</p>
<p>
[quote]
This certainly was one of the wilder games in recent history (certainly not as wild as the 54-51 Michigan game, the 2005 Sun Bowl, or the Michigan State Homecoming game).
[/quote]
</p>
<p>You can toss in the 51-49 W against UW and the 28-27 W against Iowa (as well as the PSU and Purdue games) in 05; the TCU and dOSU games in 04 as well as any no. of games from 2000 (including the Victory Right game against Minny, which the Cats won a last second hail mary pass).</p>
<p>The worst part is that the media totally gives NU a bad rep. Unless we pull off an amazing upset, we won't make the news for winning a game. No one hears about Northwestern that much on ESPN, but when they do, it's because we screwed up a game and lost to a team that hasn't won in 2 years. ESPN just called us the "Kitty Cats." How do we expect to get respect when the tv only shows the bad ***** that happens. No wonder people think the team sucks.</p>
<p>i hear from someone at the game that ref calls were really ridiculous; in his words, duke fans stopped cheering when we got penalties (which, i think is an exaggeration), but =\ disappointing game</p>