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FanatiCat said:

Do you know this from inside info? He hadn’t done much in college before the Rose Bowl year. He was a pretty highly rated recruit and I recall in Barnett’s book he did have to talk him into coming back to NU for that year but I don’t recall if it was because he had an offer to transfer to ASU or what.

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Wasn't he only a Soph (or RS Soph that year) I think he played the next year and opted out of his last year. Since so far we have generally held on till people graduate and then tend to lose them but he was still pretty early in his career.. And we had a pretty good OL at that time. But I do think he was homesick after his first year

Went back to the archives to rank the Top 10 Northwestern road or bowl victories I've seen in person. 12-9 overall, so pretty good.

1. Cats 34, Wisconsin 30 (Ron Dayne fumble, 1996)
2. Cats 23, Northwestern 8 (Cats clinch Big Ten co-champs, 1995)
3. Cats 43, Notre Dame 40 (ND last minute fumble on a freezing day, 2014)
4. Cats 17, Illinois 14 (I don't remember this game at all, 1995)
5. Cats 29, Penn State 6 (Fans thought Northwestern visiting fans were so cute until the Cats won, 2014)
6. Cats 31, Utah 20 (Rainy in San Diego, dominant 2nd half, 2018 Holiday Bowl)
7. Cats 40, Iowa 13 (Pasted Iowa during the Citrus Bowl run, 1996)
8. Cats 14, Utah 7 (Capping off a surprising season, 2023 Las Vegas Bowl)
9. Cats 40, Cal 30 (Longest and latest game ever beating Jared Goff, 2013)
10. Cats 37, Maryland 10 (Total 4Q domination kinda like Holiday Bowl without the rain, 2024)

Other wins:
Cats 47, Hawaii 21 (Was fun because it was in Hawaii, 1998)
Cats 18, Rutgers 15 (A B1G road win, 2018)

Losses
Cats 32, USC 41 (Never expected to see this in my lifetime, 1996 Rose Bowl)
Cats 20, Ohio State 24 (Tied late in 3Q, Buckeye fans were pissed, 2016)
Cats 5, Washington 24 (The best college football setting, 2024)
Cats 21, Penn State 35 (A decent showing, 2010)
Cats 41, Hawaii 49 (That wasn't an interception, 2004)
Cats 7, Rutgers 24 (Inauspicious start to the Braun era, 2023)
Cats 14, Army 21 (Worst logistical game management I've ever experienced, even worse than NU, 2011)
Cats 0, Penn State 49 (Ouch, 2002)
Cats 0, Michigan 38 (Cats came in ranked but left unranked, 2015)

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NUCat320 said:

I don’t have the stats, of course, but I’ve believed for about a decade that winning two out of the three categories above means a victory.

For so long, NU eschewed even trying for the big play. This meant that the defense needed to take the ball away, and especially that NU needed to keep the ball on third down. Or fourth down. And it’s no coincidence that NU’s most consistent success came when NU got aggressive on fourth down.

NU was bad on third downs today — only 3 of 12. NU had only 9 g-d first downs to Maryland’s 25.

But, Kirtz had two deep deep catches and Henning another, while Maryland eked out three, including one after the game was decided.

It’s so nice to have a head coach and an OC that seek to move the ball through deep completions. It’s on tape now, and it’ll lead to more underneath room, more scrambling room, and hopefully — eventually? — some room to run. Take the top off the defense and suddenly you’ve got space underneath. It’ll be beautiful.

(Aside: Komolafe had been in the doghouse since he lost a fumble early on. He provided a spark that I’d hoped to see all season tonight.)


What a satisfying win.

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You don't generally hit 3 of 3 on deep balls. Gotta realize that they are sorta forced to try something of that nature as the other areas of the O are pretty weak with little running game and intermediate pass game

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