Comments on Lake The Posts - Northwestern Football Blog: 2009 Wildcat Style

There's a very good chance I'll be making the driv...

2009-01-05T10:54:08.152-06:00

There's a very good chance I'll be making the drive down to that armpit know as Syracuse, NY for the game on 9/19. I don't know that Syracuse is known for having much in the way of places to visit, but I do recommend the Dinosaur Bar-B-Q.

patlos - wow, I hadn't noticed that. That was pre...

2009-01-04T02:21:59.479-06:00

patlos - wow, I hadn't noticed that. That was pretty bad. Looked like Woodsum had a pretty good chance at getting him too. Oh well... there was probably a call like that that went in our favor too. Maybe.

Back to the calls, and I understand where most of ...

2009-01-03T13:43:57.182-06:00

Back to the calls, and I understand where most of us stand on the issue, I believe the most obvious blown calls were on the Maclin punt return. Watch the replay again and not only will you see missed tackles but you will also see some obvious blocks in the back (Woodsum # 44 I believe).

If you're in to schedule-gazing then be sure to ch...

2009-01-02T23:40:46.428-06:00

If you're in to schedule-gazing then be sure to check out HailToPurple.com as they have projected NU schedules through 2015 or so. We start to get the BCs, Stanfords and the like in 3-4 years. I like the philosophy of playing smart, name schools. As I've mentioned before I am in favor of NIU (see Jim Phillips connection) in place of an FCS game and Notre Dame on the schedule. I'd love those two to be permanent with the other two being a rotation.
The challenge of scheduling is there is so much pressure to fill your schedule in advance that locking the BCs and Stanfords of the world in now for games in six years is silly - who the hell knows how good or bad those teams will be.
I plan on doing more Alamo Bowl stuff next week when folks are back at work.

@Lunker - yes, I thought they were bad (although I...

2009-01-02T16:47:34.838-06:00

@Lunker - yes, I thought they were bad (although I thought they were worse at the game then I did re-watching the game). Ironically, Ron Franklin mentioned at the top of the broadcast that the ACC crew was amongst the best in the business....well, I think they missed a bunch of holding calls on Mizzou, but then again, I'm biased.

As for scheduling, I just wish we'd get rid of FCS (Div. 1-AA) opponents all together. First of all, you never gain ANYTHING from winning those games; and a loss (or even narrow win) can be tragic. Second, if we're fighting the home attendance battle anyways, might as well attempt to do it with teams that have a large (or larger) following. Third, in the Big Ten tie-breakers, playing a FCS opponent hurts you in some scenarios (three way ties, I think, where each team beat one of the others)...why take the risk? Fourth, there are plenty of good "name" opponents out there that we should be playing. If you want an "easy" team each year (although they're not really easy), pick up Northern Illinois as a permanent schedule piece.

But I'd love to see us play series with any of the following, all of which have some focus on academics, and some of whom are coming on/have been on our schedule: Duke, Stanford, Vandy, Wake Forest, Boston College, Virginia, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Baylor, Mizzou, Pitt, Syracuse, Rice, Air Force, Navy, Army, BYU, TCU, or Tennessee.

As for next year -- I have no idea what to predict. A lot depends on Wootton, a lot depends on spring practice, and a lot depends on freshmen/redshirt freshmen. I could see us going anywhere from 5-7 to even 11-1 (although that would require a TON of luck).

LTP - any plans on doing more post-Alamo Bowl coverage? I'd love to see a detailed breakdown of the game, or even the entire trip/Purple experience, since I personally had such a great time down there.

I think I might have missed it, but did anyone els...

2009-01-02T16:22:27.848-06:00

I think I might have missed it, but did anyone else think the refs were terrible? I was livid at the game the other night. I heard they were ACC refs, which would make sense after watching the Duke game in Evanston last year. Thoughts anyone?

interesting logic, sounds reasonable.

2009-01-02T14:39:04.219-06:00

interesting logic, sounds reasonable.

Why does NU never schedule Big 12 opponents? Asid...

2009-01-02T14:18:47.603-06:00

Why does NU never schedule Big 12 opponents? Aside from Kansas earlier this decade, the last Big 12 regular season opponent was Oklahoma in the 1997 Kickoff Classic, and the last regularly scheduled game was Missouri (of the Big 8) in the 1980s. Most Big 12 schools have decent alumni bases in Chicago, and playing a BCS school, especially if it is a "name," should bring out the local college football and casual fans. It also might help recruiting -- Texas is a major recruiting state, Missouri is a decent-sized one too, and with Baylor as the only "academic" Big 12 school, there is a pretty level playing field for the academic-type recruits in that region. And from a competitive standpoint (which admittedly is difficult to project years out), only Texas and Oklahoma (based on recent and historical success) would present a large fear of blowout factor.

I'm a little annoyed that they would schedule home...

2009-01-02T11:57:07.776-06:00

I'm a little annoyed that they would schedule home games when most students have yet to come back for school. Why not just schedule the first two games away and pile up the home attendance for when the students can come in force? At the very least, it'd raise some self-esteem by increasing the avg. attendance every game.

This upcoming NU season is a near replica of the 0...

2009-01-02T07:43:46.719-06:00

This upcoming NU season is a near replica of the 08 BC season, lets hope the cats fair a little better then the eagles did. In terms of the potential schedule, the new senior QB, and a returning D, there is some room to work here.