By now, you've had time to digest the nearly indigestable Houdini win at Duke from Saturday night. I tortured myself by watching the game on my iphone at a wedding via ESPN's gamecast, at the dinner table, under the table. I had to remove myself for the last four minutes of the game to channel my emotions, but I didn't need Dave Eanet in my ear to realize the Cats offense has been more McGee than McCall in 2008.
Let's face it - despite my Wildcataganda! tactics, Northwestern fans can never shake their heads at a 2-0 start, yet the program has achieved a level where it is no longer just acceptable to win. There is reason for concern - not panic - but concern. If week two proved anything, it is that 1)Syracuse is much worse than we even anticipated (they lost 42-28 to Akron at the Dome) and 2)David Cutcliffe's Duke Blue Devils will win several games this year (I said this last year after they beat us and was wrong, but this is truly a different team - one on the rise). Most importantly, it showed we have some major room for improvement on offense. By now, I'd hoped we would have a product that would be selling itself - putting up 40+ ppg - and serving notice to the Big Ten. Instead, we've shown we can do what it takes to win, but not much more.
Fast forward to this Saturday and Southern Illinois. I loathe the annual FCS game. I don't get it - there is no upside and WAY too much downside (see UNH) for a program like ours. EXCEPT, when it can impact attendance. SIU will do just that. I believe we should actually schedule NIU in place of a FCS game every year. Why? One guess on the largest non-conference game in the past 5+ years? You got it - NIU in 2005 (35,114). Granted SIU posted a meager 10,000 in their home opening win over Hampton - 37-31 -this weekend, but this is their Super Bowl. You will hear countless times this week how SIU is seeking their 3rd straight win over an FBS team (NIU in 2007, Indiana in 2006), and the rather large Chicago alumni base has a chip on their shoulder towards the Purple Blazer club in Evanston. Think Saluki fans fear us? Think again. A recent SIU blog poll had 88% predicting victory over the Cats. But, let me give you one name that should concern you - Dale Lennon.
Lennon is the Salukis' first year head coach who comes from a North Dakota program that was a fixture, like SIU in the I-AA playoffs. SIU's famous Jerry Kill is now at NIU, but they may have upgraded with Lennon. Lennon went 90-24, yes 90-24 in his 9 seasons at North Dakota including a national championship. SIU? Well, conventional wisdom in Wildcat Nation is that SIU is in transition and lost several key players. 12th-ranked SIU is now at a point where they simply reload. Consider that since 2003 there are only 9 teams at any level with more wins than SIU's 51 wins -USC, Boise State, LSU, Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Montana, Georgia and Auburn. Not bad eh?
This weekend, however, is not about a directional school that will hopefully bring a crowd in the neighborhood of the NIU 2005 game, but rather a gut-check time for the Cats offense. It doesn't matter who they're playing, the Cats simply need to execute - in particular on third down where they've been uncharacteristically inconsistent in 2008. The good news? Red Zone proficiency. The achilles heel of McGee's 2007 offense has been perfect in 2008 - 7 for 7 including 6 TDs so far in two games under Mick McCall. The issue? It has been feast or famine drives.
Our up-tempo style has backfired on occasion, especially against Duke, where we churned 3-and-outs in seemingly record time, keeping our "D" on the field for an astonishing 91 plays to only 60 for the Cats. This weekend, I'm expecting the coming out party for the offense as we are far too experienced to be suffering from growing pains any more. Of course, if you follow this post, you know I predicted the Cats to go 3-1 in non-conference and my "guess" for the loss was Duke. Most Wildcat fans aren't thinking blowout this weekend and are bracing for a battle. I'm hoping we finally put it together.
SIU Recap
The Salukis held off Hampton 37-31 after cranking out to a big lead thanks to the Gateway Conference's offensive and defensive players of the week. RB, Larry Warner racked-up a conference 4th alltime best 359 all-purpose yards including 151 yards rushing and a 95-yard KR for a TD. On defense, S, Mike McElroy tallied 2 INTs and recovered a fumble. This weekend's game is the only DI battle of the season for a team that is in a loaded FCS conference.
Frustrated? You Could Be a 'Cuse Fan
Check out the self-loathing in the land of Orange. Note the fact it is football armageddon, they still managed to outdraw us by 10,000+. Click here.
Beware of the Bobcats
Anyone else having bad flashbacks to Sam Ricketts when you saw Boo Jackson fill-in for starter Theo Scott? What a jolt of both "uh-oh" for our game in two weeks combined with the "the Buckeyes are beatable". First, we've got to take care of some major issues on the homefront.
Wildcataganda! Coming Up!
OK, it is inevitable to begin talking about 3-0 and 4-0 starts, but there are several different "since..." rumors flying around out there. As usual it is a little tricky, so stay tuned this afternoon for some Wildcataganda! to clear things up and make you a rock star at the Purple water cooler.
Cats Get 1 Vote
...In the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. Hmmmm....thank you Mr. Cutcliffe?
BTB Karma
LTP went a perfect 11-0 in Big Ten picks this week - a first for me and good enough to get me atop the standings. See TheDailyGopher.com for updates.
Monday, September 8, 2008
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5 comments:
Brutal game to sit through, tho very exciting. Duke tore us apart up the middle -- they got 5 yards a pop, at will. But the defense stiffened in the red zone. CJ was just off a little. He seems to be throwing the ball too hard at times, not exhibiting the touch he showed most of last year. Still some positives. The O line was again pretty solid. Their blitz pickup on the long 3rd down pass to Peterman was awesome. Even the backup center made two good snaps when the starter had to hit the bench for a couple of plays.
But this was the kind of game we've all seen us lose. We would outplay, outgain, and outstat our opponent, but find a way to lose. Hopefully this is a sign of a team that's learning how to win?
Any video clips out there? I'd love to see highlights, since I, too, missed the game at a wedding.
As for the game itself, I'd say we take some good things out of this -- the ability to win gritty games, the red-zone offensive effectivness (the unnoticed Achilles' heel of last year's team), and a defense that continues to impress albeit this time in a bend-don't-break type of way.
I'm still somewhat surprised by the offense's failure to click, though. I wonder if the problem is that we're not committing quite as much as we should to the run. The secret of the 2000 team was how often it ran out of the no-huddle, giving the offense more sustained drives (and not 3 and outs), and taking the pressure off of the QB and putting it on the defense, which could not keep up with the punishing pace of the O-line and continually having to fight off blocks, etc.). I think McCall needs to accept that Sutton (and, to a significant extent, Conteh) are our team's advantage over every other team, and use them more when we go to the ultrafast no-huddle to punish Defenses and control possession and tempo.
When we did go to the run, it was a mess. TS would only get a yard or so. Duke D-line did a great job against our young O-line. Neutralized TS, which is what they needed to do. While CJ wasn't perfect, he made it when it counted... a nice pass to Peterman. Our WRs missed several passes, but again Peterman came through when it counted. At the end of the day, we should be proud that our Defense took a step forward by finishing... they did a tremendous job for as much time as they were on the field.
I agree with LGIP that more commitment to the run was NOT a viable option. For the most part, Tyrell had nowhere to go.
I can't share his optimism about Bacher's performance. Way too many missed passes, and I don't blame his receivers for most of them -- as a senior, he's supposed to be delivering the ball in a place they can make the catch and go. He did come thru in the clutch, so we can hopefully build on that aspect of the evening, but it was very, very frustrating watching passes sail over the fingers of open receivers, or behind them, when a completion could have resulted in a first down and some more rest for the defense.
wow, thanks for brightening my day, LTP. you now have me utterly terrified of the Salukis.
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