fcmchi said:

He threw a couple pretty down field passes over defenders into the hands of our receivers. His long passes into the end zone a few times were just a bit off.

His passing and running put pressure on defenses. I like him.

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EvanstonCat said:

I feel like this is a game we lose under the Fitz regime. Nothing spectacular on O, but the D is Hank Like (which speaks well of McGarigle’s training) and I think we will get better as the year progresses. Things are looking up.

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cattul said:

I think the two most encouraging things on the offensive side of the ball were:

- I thought the OL played pretty well. Wright was generally getting the ball out quickly, but the line was giving him time to do so, and there were a few huge holes they opened up in the run game. It is nice to be able to praise that unit. Well done, OL.

- The potential for improvement is tremendous with this offense. I think the skill players are quite talented. Coupled with improved OL play, this could turn into one of the better Wildcat offenses of recent years.

Even what I found to be the discouraging thing about the offense ties back into the encouraging thing:

- they did not look comfortable running some of the more gadgety plays (lining up for the direct snap, what looked like an attempt to set up a throwback to Wright, some of the handoff to the motion guy stuff, …) But that can be rectified through practice.

All in all, I think this victory will look a lot better by the end of the season. Miami actually played pretty darn well. I thought it was a good first outing. Let’s hope the guys can get smoother at running the full playbook quickly. They will have their hands full with Duke.

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NUCat320 said:

The nicest thing about this game is that we’re not griping about playing down to the competition or not showing up for a non-conference game.

As an NU fan, the guaranteed non-conference loss to a team we can/should beat was frustrating. But the fact that NU seemed to be so bad in those losses (and of course also the wins) was the real kicker. As if NU wasn’t ready to play at all.

NU played pretty well yesterday, with week one errors. They beat a team that I think is probably pretty good. We’re used to neither of those things being the case Labor Day weekend. No news is good news today.

One week at a time, of course, but I’d be really happy if the next two board weeks were elation post-Duke, and a silly QB controversy discussion after beating the piss out of EIU.

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mshelton33 said:

Just like last year I'll be sharing and analyzing some PFF numbers from my subscription here as premium content. Grades don't go final until I think on Wednesdays, but snap counts are normally pretty accurate so I'll break those down now.

This is premium content. Please subscribe to view.

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Baz=Heisman said:

And Wright looked good. He didn’t have any horrible throws really.

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KramerCat91 said:

I thought that Wright's throws had plenty of zip. I never felt that the sideline throws were pick 6s waiting to happen. Perhaps I have low standards for zip as some NU QBs had noodles for arms.

The QB-center exchange will get cleaned up so I am encouraged by the offense going forward.

Special teams play was solid across the board. A kickoff landed in the end zone and coverage was smoothering. Obviously the missed FG was disappointing.

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NUCat320 said:

Big opportunity for B1G-SEC bragging rights today. USC at LSU. A USC win would be a boost for NU’s playoff chances.

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No Chores said:

In my opinion most are underestimating the play of the O-line. They held up very well in pass protection and we out rushed Miami by over 100 yards. What's not to like other than the bad snaps? We covered the spot and should have won by even more.

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NU Houston said:

I don't know much about the Aggies, but their offense looked very pedestrian last night. Perhaps the Domers D really is that good.

They flashed a stat near the end of the game which showed ND having at least a 60% chance of winning each game remaining on their schedule (including a 95% chance of beating Miami - Ohio in a few weeks). They could very well finish the regular season undefeated and seem destined for the expanded playoff. Won't that be grand.

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