Hoops Injury Bug Continues: Ryan Gone for Year

Just hours after NU fans learned star hoopster Kevin Coble may be out for the season and at least until Big Ten season, Wildcat Nation was delivered another blow. Senior reserve guard, Jeff Ryan, is gone for the season with a torn ACL. The depth that was the highlight of this team has been reduced to not-so-deep one game in to the season. The 'Cats face #10 Butler at home Wednesday night. Click here for the NUSports.com report.

The ND Domino Effect Is In Effect: Next Up- Stanford

With the winds of change circling over Notre Dame like a Midwestern tornado, several schools are in back office talks to fish or cut bait with their coaches. Pat Fitzgerald's name was mentioned several times before this season and Jim Phillips delivered with a contract extension. Now, Jim Harbaugh and Stanford are set to announce a significant contract extension - click here to read about it on ESPN.com. As I mentioned yesterday, I've voiced my displeasure repeatedly with Harbaugh's negative recruiting tactics, but I have to admit Stanford is playing at a whole 'nother level than the 'Cats this season. If you've actually watched them play you would agree. Regardless, they're still not filling their 50,000-seat stadium, until this week when they play 'Cal and then next week when they face Charlie Weis. Ironically, I predict a Stanford slaughter will be the end of the Weis era, unfortunately (as in keep him there and let mediocrity reign!). I wonder what conversations are happening behind closed doors in Iowa City and Norman, Oklahoma?

Upon Further Review

It is time once again to put the 'Cats victory under the microscope and offer up the props, knocks and question marks surrounding win number seven.

THE GREAT

Mike Kafka

After a 3-and-out to open the 'Cats first series, Mike Kafka settled in and was fantastic. Granted, NU again stalled when approaching the red zone and came away with no points on 2 FG attempts in the first half, but Kafka picked up steam as he went along. His 23-37, 305 yds, 1 TD, 1 rushing TD O Int day was even better than the stat line. Kafka suffered several dropped passes from the sure-handed Zeke Markshausen, one from Andrew Brewer and a big play from Sidney Stewart. Kafka's 3rd quarter 99-yard drive that started at the half yard line was the 'Cats signature drive of the season as Mike was simply brilliant.

The O-Line

The much-maligned offensive line played its best game of the year today. The Illini have a slew of big play guys on their D-line and Mike was sacked only one time, despite being a sitting duck for much of the first half as the Illini brought the blitz. In addition to solid pass protection, the line opened up several gaping holes and despite the modest 139 total rushing yards, Scott Concannon and Arby Fields enjoyed the best blocking they've had all year. Arby posted a stellar 5.6 ypc (9 carries, 50 yds, 1 TD) and Scott put up some very clutch yards, averaging 4.1 ypc (9 carries, 39 yds).

Hunter Bates

This goes in the unsung plays of the year category. Most of the viewers missed it as the weak ESPN Classic announcers were talking about some oversized meat sandwich, but immediately following the Illini's first TD, they went for the onside kick and Hunter Bates made a spectacular catch and flip to save what would've likely been an Illini conversion. The 'Cats failed to convert it in to points as Demos missed the 30-yarder, but it was still a huge play.

THE GOOD

Protecting the Rock & Takeaway Mentality - The 'Cats played error-free ball on the ground and through the air succeeding in not turning the ball over all day. On the flip side, Nate Williams made a great interception, as did Sherrick McManis, albeit somewhat controversial. The 'Cats also caused two fumbles, but couldn't win the battle under the pile.

Quentin Davie & Brian Peters

Davie and Peters seemed to be everywhere against the Illini. They continually had to plug the run holes, but were hitting with a vengenance and using their bodies as projectiles. They also combined for 15 tackles on the day.

Dan Persa

Man, if McCall would only let Persa throw! The injection of speed and moxie of this kid makes you think you've got you're DVR on two arrow mode. Persa supplied a nice spark after several series of no points. Granted, he wasn't able to put points on the board, but he helped move the rock.. Persa ran every time he touched the ball and you've got to mix it up for him to truly be a threat, especially when he's in there on 3rd and 5+ situations.

Zeke, Andrew & Sidney

As mentioned, they all had drops, which precludes them from getting the "great" treatment, however they all made huuuge plays. Zeke's nearly two identical plays escaping from the corner and stretching for the pilon were great. Brewer's 52-yard reception was huge and Sidney continues to make the difficult look routine.

THE DISAPPOINTING

Killer Instinct

When the 'Cats went up 21-3 in the 4th you felt, for the first time in a while, we had a chance to blow out a team. After the Illini cut it to 21-9 and Bates recovered the onside kick, we had a chance to put it away. I was disappointed on 4th and less than 1 we elected to go for the FG - especially when Demos had missed two already. I was yelling to put Mike under center and plow ahead. These are the plays that show you're going for the jugular. Being up 12 or 15 - it's still 2 possessions. I wanted to go for six AND chew up some clock in the process. The 'Cats simply lack the stomp on the opponent when they're on the ropes. This goes from on field execution to the tightness in playcalling on both sides of the ball.

Kicking Game

Stefan Demos had a rough day going 0-3 on FG (missed 50, 47, 30) and shanked a rugby-style punt. Really, do we need to continue the rugby? Demos has been automatic from FG range (14-16 entering game) and I'm confident he'll be money again next week.

THOUGHTS FROM AROUND THE NATION

Considering the past week sparked the Northwestern-Stanford-Notre Dame comparisons and smack talk, it is still enjoyable to see ND lose regardless of the fact they rallied valiantly against Pitt. I'm expecting ND to win next week against UCONN and then get slammed at Stanford. I watched the Cardinal throttle USC today and regardless of your thoughts about Jim Harbaugh, they remind me of the 2000 'Cats with an amazing 1-2 QB/RB combo. The fact RB Toby Gerhart is not a front-runner for the Heisman is a joke. Stanford beat top ten teams in back-to-back weeks and put the most points on USC in Trojans' history. Kudos to Iowa and James Vandenberg for taking Ohio State to the wire. Again, I found myself rooting for the Hawkeyes, likely to help boost the 'Cats win a week ago. Hardly anyone gave Vandenberg a chance and it was great to see a kid in that tough situation put up such a fight. Beware of the Badgers - man are they explosive. Northwestern has yet to face an offense with as many weapons as Wisconsin.

2009 Non-Conference Opponents' Results

Beyond ugly, folks. The 'Cuse lost a cliff-hanger to Louisville 10-9 and dropped to 3-7. Man, how much to have that one back for NU, eh? Towson's woes continue as Villanova (9-1) put a Northwestern-like 49-7 whooping on the Tigers who are now 2-8. Miami (OH) got crushed by Bowling Green on Thursday night 35-14 and is now a laughable 1-10. The 'Cats other dreadful MAC opponent, Eastern Michigan, is one worse than Miami and is now 0-10, but not to be outdone, they lost to Western Michigan by the same exact score - 35-14. Looking ahead to 2010 opponents, the 'Cats opening opponent next year, Vandy, lost again - 24-13 to Kentucky and is now 2-8 on the season. 2010 opponent, Rice, got off the goose egg and upset Tulane 28-20 to get their 1st "W" of the year and improve to 1-9. Finally, Illinois State dropped to 5-5 as they lost 30-18 to Youngstown State.

Sunday Morning Cup 'O Joe

• The Tribune's take on NU's win is here thanks to Teddy Greenstein. Shannon Ryan offered the Illini perspective and the controversial McManis pick here.
• Herb Gould files the Sun-Times report in place of the mysterious case of Jim O'Donnell, here.

Phew! 'Cats Stave Off Illini 21-16

This team is making me look clarevoyant. Yesterday I expounded upon Fitz-coached teams' inablity to step on the throat and put games away. Today, the 'Cats led 21-3 early in the 4th quarter and appeared well on their way to perhaps the biggest margin of victory win in the Fitz era (22). Instead, the 'Cats failed to put the Illini away and after Stefan Demos' 3rd missed FG of the day gave the Illini the ball down 21-9, Illinois promptly scored to cut it to 21-16. As always, NU went in to the "play not to lose" mentality, and thanks to a controversial INT by Sherrick McManis, NU held on for the 21-16 win.

There was a whole lot of good that comes out of this, Northwestern's 7th victory, ensuring we're going somewhere warm for the holidays, but it also showed the need for the program to grow to the next level, we need an injection of put-em-away moxie.

Mike Kafka shook off a sluggish start to really play a great game as Northwestern lit up the Illini for 305 yards and that included several drops throughout the game (I counted at least five). The 'Cats also tallied some big play love today with Zeke Markshausen and Andrew Brewer converting in clutch situations from perfectly thrown balls by Mike.

Kudos to Scott Concannon who may have had one of the more impressive 39-yard rushing days you'll see as every yard seemed to be clutch, including a 10-yard pop on NU's signature drive of the year - a 99 1/2 yard scoring drive in which Mike Kafka looked simply brilliant busting NU out to a 14-3 lead.

The 'Cats D got gouged by the run as Illini, as expected played the multiple back run it down your throat attack, but the 'Cats were nearly perfect on pass defense sans the money TD by Jacob Charest late in the 4th.

The end result is we won our 6th road Big Ten game in the past two seasons (6-2), and earned our 10th win against the Illini since 1995. We're 7-4 with a game to go against a very solid, top 20 Wisconsin team that will be rolling in to Evanston for our season finale next week. We'll break it down later tonight, complete with video highlights, but start grabbing some friends, throw them some purple and we need to sell out Ryan Field next Saturday. It is time to start impressing some bowl officials and show them Wildcat Nation actually exists. Go 'Cats!

In the meantime, go root on freshman James Vandenberg in the 'Shoe. How amazing would that be, if Iowa bounced back? Can you imagine the disdain for NU if the 'Cats are the lone blemish on Iowa's record? It couldn't happen..could it?

Gameday Is Here! Week 11: Illinois

Northwestern (6-4, 3-3) at Illinois (3-6, 2-5)

GAMEDAY INFO
Date: November 14, 2009
Time: 11:02 am ct
Location: Memorial Stadium (62,870) - Champaign, IL

TV: ESPN Classic

Radio: WGN-720 AM (Dave Eanet & Ted Albrecht), WNUR 89.3 FM
Line: Illinois by 4.5
Coaching Stats: Northwestern - Pat Fitzgerald (4th year - 25-22, 13-17) vs Ron Zook (5th year -21-36, 12-27)

2-Minute Drill
It's amazing how the roller-coaster ride can change isn't it? A week ago, NU was desperately clinging to a season that was headed towards major disappointment and .500-ville and the Illinois has snapped a season-long funk. This week, NU looks to springboard off of the biggest win of the season and Fitz's young career, but all of a sudden the Illini look resurgent having won two straight. The Big Ten theme of the year - dinged-up starting QBs - continues as the Illini will be starting freshman Jacob Charest, who has gained significant minutes and confidence in recent weeks having led the Illini to victory in the wake of Juice Williams' ankle injury. Mike Kafka will get the start for NU and despite the reports from Fitz that he is completely fine, 'Cats fans are excited to learn that back-up Dan Persa is apparently good to go as well.

Every game is a huge game in conference play, but this game now becomes a true springboard game for NU to finish the season strongly and remove any doubt about going to a bowl game. Last week's win over Iowa ensured bowl eligibility, however, NU was bowl eligible in '07 and stayed home. Equally as important is regaining some program momentum that seemingly disappeared early in the season with mediocre play across the board making the 9-win 2008 season seem as distant as the Illini's lone winning season under Ron Zook in 2007.

Expect the Illini to run early and often against the 'Cats. It is no secret the Illini possess big play playmakers like Rejus Benn, Jeff Cumberland and the like, but I expect the Jason Ford/Michael Leshoure RB combo to get a lot of action as Charest settles in to the starting role. The Illini boast the nation's 25th best rushing attack at 188 ypg, but are a dismal 99th in passing offense at 181 ypg, however the bulk of those stats were based on Juice Williams being at the helm. As I said yesterday, I expect the same gameplan as Michigan State, which struggled early with the run, but used it to tee-up the play action which killed us. Charest is a solid, confident pocket QB, who threw for a very respectable 10-19, 185 yds 1 TD, O Int game, but has escaped several INTs in the process. I expect Hankwitz to test him a little early, but rely on the 3 and 4 man rush to collapse the pocket. The Illini surrender sacks-a-plenty, ranking 109th in sacks allowed with 3 per game, but again, that stat is slanted due to the volume of rushing attempts Juice Williams makes when he's behind center.

On offense, expect NU to dink and dunk to their hearts' content as the Illini have struggled with short passing games all season. The Illini D will likely be blitzing like crazy early to test the mobility of Kakfa and try to build on their confidence-inducing 7 sack game against Minnesota last week. The D line is very improved and boasts some true challenges for an O-line that has been spotty at best. Let's hope when Persa gets the rock, McCall allows him to throw and rid the predictable playcalling patterns.

The Illini special teams are nothing to crow about, but then again, neither are ours. If the game comes down to FGs, you've got to like the 'Cats chances.

The Game Will Be Won...
By red zone play. Both teams lack scoring punch, yet the Illini have been much more explosive in the past two weeks. Northwestern has struggled all season long to convert long drives into 7 points and will need to jump out in this one to really challenge Charest and give Hankwitz some options on aggressive playcalling.

Stats to Stew On...
The 'Cats have won 5 of 6 in this series and are 9-5 vs the Illini since 1995 - the most total wins against any Big Ten opponent during that span.


Lake The Posts Factor: 7
I was surprised I didn't see the goal posts erected in Lake Michigan last week after the Iowa upset. Today, the 9.9 LTP factor from last week gets cranked back a couple of dials, despite the Land of Lincoln rivalry. Make no mistake about it, this is a huge game and momentum builder, but relative to beating the #4 undefeated Hawkeyes who were 17 point favorites, it is not a 9.9.

Pick to Click: Vince Browne

If 'Cats actually read this blog they likely shreik when they see their name come up as Pick to Click. I've been way off every game and it's borderline SI Jinx-ish. So, I'll go with Vince Browne today in hopes that Corey continues his improving ways and perhaps Sherrick comes up with yet another game-changing INT.


LTP Prediction
Northwestern 23 Illinois 20

Remember to send in your photos of the "N" flag flying in Champaign and bring back a victory!

In Search of A Complete Game

You will likely challenge me on this one, but Northwestern's most complete Big Ten game in the Fitz era was last season's 27-10 win over the Illini. If you look at the box score, the stats may not support this as Northwestern and Illini came to almost a draw in rushing yards, passing yards and time of possession. But, when you measure things that the stats don't - level of hard hits, number of big plays given, and pressure in the backfield, Northwestern played wire to wire its best Big Ten game in the Fitz era.

The 'Cats 17-point victory over the Illini is second only to last year's 48-26 win over Purdue in terms of pure point differential. Come to think of it, Fitz-coached teams have only posted four double-digit Big Ten victories, with two of them against the Illini ('06,'08), the Purdue win and Fitz's first Big Ten victory - a 21-7 win over Iowa in 2006. That is almost unbelievable.

The 'Cats will indeed need a full 60 minute game, especially on defense, to get their much-needed 7th win. Illinois has posted 30+ points in each of their last two consecutive Big Ten victories, albeit against two of the weakest scoring defenses (Minnesota-9th, Michigan-11th) in the conference. The much-maligned D seems to be finally ripping the band-aids off and gelling. McManis is expected to start for the second straight week and Corey Wootton played his best game of the year last week and seems to be gaining strength and playing more recklessly. One of the knocks on NU is that they still don't know how to grab the jugular of teams. It seems like, even when they have the opportunity, they feel more comfortable pawing at teams and keeping them around than stomping on them.

Wouldn't it be nice to see NU come out tomorrow and do just that? The 'Cats offense has been stymied against two very good defenses in the past two weeks, mustering only two offensive touchdowns in the past 10 quarters. The two-headed QB monster will likely be in effect tomorrow, but NU will clearly need to be putting up more than 17 points to have a good chance at winning. Let's hope the high of upsetting Iowa was quickly put to bed and the 'Cats bring their business trip, road warrior mentality out of the gate.

I fully expect the Illini to employ the Michigan State strategy and almost pig-headedly, run, run, run to set-up the 2nd half play action that destroyed us in Spartyville. Granted, MSU wisely captialized on the absence of Brad Phillips in that contest, but as we discussed in great detail last weekend, injuries are part of the game and not excuses to be leaned on to rationalize losses.

Here's to a complete game and the want to add a double-digit win to the annals of this rivalry. Wouldn't it be nice to actually enjoy a game like last year's Illini tilt for once this season? I've got a hunch this one is going down to the last possession once again. How about you?

NUMB's Triple Duty

NUMB's Road Curse

Every year, NUMB travels with the team for one regular season road game and any post-season play. From 1997 to 2004, NUMB was something of a bad luck charm for our traveling football team: Starting with the '97 Citrus Bowl, NUMB traveled to 11 games and saw every single one of them lost, including the regular season away trips as well as the '00 Alamo Bowl and '03 Motor City Bowl.

The curse was broken in 2005 at Illinois and the record has since taken a dramatic turn: NUMB has witnessed wins at three of four of the regular season road games (Illinois '05, Iowa '06, Michigan '08) -- the exception was Illinois '07, their Rose Bowl year, and the bowl games.

Of course, it's all silly superstition -- after all, the presence of the band can't really be looked at as anything but a positive factor -- but still, I'm glad the curse has been broken, and I feel good going into tomorrow. NUMB will travel officially and a large group of NUMBALUMS will be there, well, unofficially.

NUMB reports at 5 am tomorrow to make its way to Chambana and back on the same day. Tomorrow's halftime show will be a re-hashing of the homecoming show, with a few drill changes and minus the alumni band song at the end. Also, given the fact that there will be two bands sharing pregame space before the game, NUMB will be performing "Brevity Pregame," which just means they'll cut out Patriotic Opener and the Star-Spangled Banner. All in a day's work.

(Thanks to John Hodges for filling me in on historical details.)

NUBB
Basketball season is starting, which means that the Northwestern University Basketball Band -- or NUBB -- is also making its debut.

NUBB, like NUMB, is made up completely of volunteers. The average 60 or so volunteers are divided in half and dubbed the White Band and the Purple Band. Those bands rotate games, playing at every single home men's and women's games throughout the season, including non-conference games. (And if you've been to any non-conference women's game lately, you may have basically gotten your own private concert.) A majority of these students were also in NUMB, but basketball band has its own culture of sorts.

Having spent four years in NUBB, I can tell you it's something of a thankless job. Unlike NUMB, NUBB members don't get class credit. Neither ensemble is compensated, which is fine; we don't do it to be paid. It's about school spirit, providing support for our athletes and playing fun music. But the last few years in particular have been a long, cold winter for NUBB. It gave me an idea (on a much smaller scale) of what it must have been like for NUMB members who witnessed the Dark Ages; we would do what we could to rev up the crowd and the team, but it's difficult to scream and yell and get excited about the game when all the sound you're making is echoing off the walls of an empty arena.

I'm told that our team(s) are going to be better this year, which will of course increase attendance and bring more electricity to the games. I really hope that's true, because besides some cold Hecky's and a purple jersey, there's little other to draw NUBB members besides fortitude and a winning team. Director of Athletic Bands Dan Farris will be conducting NUBB along with graduate conductors Owen Tucker and Katherine Smith.

Remember Glenn Opie?
The adorable and impressive 1949 Rose Bowl drum major from homecoming? Well the crack team at Northwestern Magazine landed an interview with him and talked about band, the Rose Bowl, and getting stuck in a blizzard on the way back. Check it out here.