PurpleWhiteBoy said:

I know I'm going to catch some crap for this, but in going back over the last 5 years of QBs, I think Hiliniski should be given a chance right now. I know he's not Lujan's guy and its hard to believe he's even on the roster, but his numbers aren't that bad. He just had the misfortune of being the starting QB when Jim O'Neil was the defensive coordinator - meaning we were behind in nearly every game.

If he is interested in playing football, Hilinski may be our best option and may actually perform pretty well.

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I reiterate what I said in another thread: stick to basketball when it comes to trying to break down numbers. The last time we saw Hillinski he couldn't throw the ball. I don't mean he couldn't throw under pressure, I mean he consistently could not execute even little screen and swing passes that involved no decision making, just a backyard pitch and catch. Unless that has improved radically in practice, it's a no.

PurpleWhiteBoy said:

This is an interesting assumption about other fanbases.
Around these parts, there are people with a habit of degrading everybody on the team until that player proves them wrong.

Martinelli ("clownish") and Nicholson ("useless") come immediately to mind, but even Buie had haters into his 3rd season.

Is that a Northwestern thing?

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I think it mostly, not entirely, reflects fans without much detailed knowledge about a sport having either never played or at best played at a backyard level, so they resort to stereotypical thinking and/or group think until a player makes a case that they can't criticize. I don't know that NU fans are particularly unique in that regard, however.

desihawk said:

qb is flawed, executes turnovers, and has the shittiest arm in cfb. on saturday he will be a fantastic weapon for nu
there's no quality WR either. without KJ iowa can't sniff the endzone
you may also enjoy ravishing our boyish defense

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You're just trying to make us feel good. This post is going to really suck if you guys end up stomping us.

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Barnhizer 14.5
Berry 11.2
Martinelli 10.6
Leach 8.0
Windham 7.1
Nicholson 7.0
Hunger 4.9
Mullins 3.5
Ciavarino 2.8
Others 2.2

That adds up to 71.8 points per game (I hope). This is based on "total points by player" / "games played by team" as opposed to the more common "total points by player" / "games played by player."

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Baz=Heisman said:

This is absolutely a “must win.” If we win, I assume we can beat Purdue and then have to steal 1 of the final 3… if we lose, I still think we beat Purdue but then we must beat Michigan (at the big house) AND Illinois at Wrigley. The latter seems pretty unlikely.

Beat Iowa!

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Maybe we can sneak into a bowl with 5 wins due to APR rankings?

I am hoping we don't need Leach to score double-digits, but that would mean a significantly different offensive footprint for this team.

TheC said:

Ok, I will defer to you. I thought you had one quality WR too and a QB, though flawed, at least has executed at a high level in BIG games.

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qb is flawed, executes turnovers, and has the shittiest arm in cfb. on saturday he will be a fantastic weapon for nu
there's no quality WR either. without KJ iowa can't sniff the endzone
you may also enjoy ravishing our boyish defense

Count me among those who though Martinelli looked goofy and awkward when he first came in. Of course, I like to think that was almost a compliment, because it lulls other teams into a false sense of confidence. No way this guy can be this good around the rim! It took most of the year for the Big Ten to realize he's a lefty!

Boo *was* really frustrating early in his career. I don't even think the biggest Boo supporters on this board could have foreseen when he was a freshman how great he was going to be by the time he was a senior.

As for NU fans overrating players, I just don't see it. One thing I noticed in the Wisconsin game last week was how much the announcers were hyping NU players that even our own fanbase is meh about, like Joe Himon and Thomas Gordon. My thought was: am I underrating these guys? I didn't think so.

In years forgotten
They called us just Northwestern
Now our rejects’ home

Some guys translate, and some don't. Domask turned out to be really good for Illinois last year, but I would expect he would've had similar numbers and quad 3/4 games the year before (I could be wrong - I'm not looking it up). And of course we were talking about Langborg as well, who likely played a lot more Quad 3/4 games the previous year and still seemed to be fine.

If Leach turns out to be Ryan Taylor, we'll all be disappointed I suppose. If he turns out to be Langborg, we'll be thrilled. If he turns out to be Domask, we're going back to the NCAAs. You just don't know which guy you're going to get when someone transfers up.

Purple Pile Driver said:

If I hated every player that’s fanbase overrated their own players, I would hate the whole conference.

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This is an interesting assumption about other fanbases.
Around these parts, there are people with a habit of degrading everybody on the team until that player proves them wrong.

Martinelli ("clownish") and Nicholson ("useless") come immediately to mind, but even Buie had haters into his 3rd season.

Is that a Northwestern thing?

He played in 8 Quad 3 games. His averages in those games were 17.5 points, 2.4 assists, 2.4 turnovers, 4.6 rebounds, and 38.5% from 3 in 35 mpg.

In 21 Quad 4 games, he had 16.9 points, 3.4 assists, 1.4 turnovers, 4.2 rebounds and 38.0% from 3 in 33 mpg.

Our schedule currently features 1 Quad 3 game and 6 Quad 4 games out of 30...

No crampons needed
It ain’t freakin’ Everest
We just need some points

EagerFan said:

Dood, if he can replace Langborg's production we will be singing his praises.

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I agree. I think as long as we don't expect him to fill Boo's shoes (and no one can, really), we would be thrilled if he merely filled Langborg's.

PurpleWhiteBoy said:

Gonna take a wild guess that the fouls were largely bs.
Its the NBA. If you're in the club you can draw a foul on every play.

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Come on..... not everything is a conspiracy.

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