Our enemies, er, friends over at BHGP are the gracious hosts of the Big Ten Blogger weekly roundtable. Be sure to check out BHGP for their round-up, but beware of the pink lockerroom when you visit their site. Away we go...
1. Week 1's in the books. What surprised you about your team? Are you optimistic? Disappointed?
The slow start offensively and the solid play defensively. The Cats seemed to take a long time to get on track and I expected them to be scoring points in bunches, which they eventually did in the 3rd quarter. I was also very surprised by the strength of our special teams as Stefan Demos was the unsung hero of the game pinning every one of his 6 punts inside the 'Cuse 20. Holding a team to under 275 yards of offense (yes, we know it was Syracuse!) - any team - is a monumental feat for us. There is definite reason for optimism and it is surprisingly on the defensive side of the ball. It may be a few weeks before the unit proves itself out, considering all bets are off for a predicted 10-inches of rain mudfest at Duke this weekend. Anytime we win by 20 against any team that is Division I I am very happy.
2. Beanie Wells' foot is definitely the top story in the conference. What's #2?
Michigan's ineptitude. Yes, we know it is a "rebuilding" year, but all we read about from January thru July is how many top recruits the Wolverines get. There are only a handful of Northwestern starters that would even get a look by Michigan, yet we compete with them. The Michigan second and third string players are more highly touted than the Cats starters coming out of high school, yet it is almost like people accept the fact they can have a down year. I simply don't get it.
There is no excuse for Michigan to be as bad as they looked. Perhaps the traditionalists are popping up from the graves to grab the jerseys of the men trying to implement the spread? It will be interesting to see how long it takes for the offense to gel as watching the Utah game, granted against a top 25 caliber team, was painful for any fan of the conference. I also thought Mark Dell at Michigan State emerged as a potential star vs Cal.
3. Admit it: you loathe DickFraudROFL (né Rich Rodriguez), but when Michigan scored that last touchdown, you were rooting for them to make the 2-pt. conversion.
Of course! I root for every Big Ten team to win every non-conference game. I also want every Big Ten team we beat to run the table - it is all about making the Cats look as good as possible.
4. Is this weekend's slate of games actually less interesting than last week's?
Duh. This may be the least sexy slate of games I can remember this decade. It may also be the best chance to run the table for the conference, but I have a feeling Minnesota will let us down against Bowling Green - sure to be everyone's sexy "upset" pick after their win over a how-the-hell-are-they-in-the-top-25? Pittsburgh win. Duke - Northwestern actually looks like a marquee game based on the slate this week. Now September 13...that is a fun week of games.
5. Don't you hate pants?
???? BHGP - you are so funny. Please keep that QB controversy going at least through September 27.
Thursday, September 4, 2008
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3 comments:
LTP, you realize we have the lockerroom painted pink year-round, right? We don't leave it gray for every other team, then paint it pink just so it matches the color of every Northwestern undergrad's polo shirt.
As for the quarterbacks, we'll keep arguing over the decision to start "better than C.J. Bacher and without the Frenchy name" over "also better than C.J. Bacher and without the Frenchy name" until at least mid-October.
"I root for every Big Ten team to win every non-conference game."- LTP
Dude, a few more non-conf losses for certain Big Ten teams and we would have gone bowling last year.
Don't get bogged down in how the B10 is perceived by others. You're a Northwestern fan first, a Big 10 fan second.
I take it from #5 that you aren't a Simpsons fan, LTP.
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