After a big loss to Illinois, @lou v has your preview for Michigan State tomorrow night.

Why do I have to reset every day on the rock?
Seems like I have to reset every day

Anyone know whether this photo I captured of fans seated in front of me at the Las Vega Bowl game pictures Seth Meyers in attendance? His last taped show before the Christmas break was on Friday so logistically he could have made it to Las Vegas. Northwestern Alum Seth has been in attendance at prior major NU sporting events to include an NCAA Basketball Tournament game.

He does have a look-alike younger actor brother who has been mistaken for his twin, but I am not sure of his Northwestern ties.

If I recall correctly there was mention on this board of the Northwestern Football players pre-bowl game activities in Las Vegas including a bout of foosball, a game like football that incorporates both offensive and defensive strategies. Included in the following post is a vignette that I put together for friends and family regarding my replication and reimagining of another game that similarly incorporates both offense and defense.

Since you are part of my "internet family" as well as "internet friends" I am sharing it here for those looking for an hopefully entertaining diversion during this down period preceding Spring Football.

For Christmas, I attempted to replicate and reimagine a classic French game from 1894 known as Billiards Nicolas or as known on this side of the pond, "Puff Billiards." (This was 9 years before Monopoly, then known as "The Landlord's Game" was invented in 1903.)

Anyone remember playing Puff Billiards?

The Original:


As Replicated and Reimagined:

In the portal. Any chance he’d be interested in NU? Any chance he’d pass Admission’s muster?

Good read on a truly unique path to NU.

Tune into the Standard Network ABC broadcast on this Sunday, January 7th @ 1:00 PM CST, to watch the 2023-2024 FCS Championship Football Game as the South Dakota State University Jackrabbits lock horns/rabbit ears with the Grizzlies of the University of Montana...

When is the 2023-24 FCS National Championship Game?​

The 2023-24 FCS Championship is on Sunday, January 7, 2024 at 2 p.m. ET.

How to watch the 2023-24 FCS Championship​

The 2023 FCS Championship will air on ABC. You can stream the game by clicking or tapping here.


Why, you ask? The answer is simple... This could be (and I personally declare that it will be) the national "coming-out" game for the Wildcats' next super-significant Offensive Coordinator hire of Coach Zack Lujan from SDSU. If the 'Cats University powers-that-be (are you listening current AD Mr. Gragg and President Mr. Schill) can lure this innovative offensive mind and sign him to a minimum 5-year contract into David Braun's Wildcat Football Program, it will mark a monumental shift in the 'Cats' near-term gridiron future that will be the equivalent of the Earth's long-overdue/awaited Magnetic Pole Shift.

To every fan who identifies himself or herself as a card-carrying member of Wildcat Nation, this could be the start of something as significant as the game-changer hire/signing of Pat Fitzgerald to the post of NU Wildcat Football Head Coach in 2006. With David Braun as the defensive guru of the 'Cats coupled with the state-of-the-art talent of Mr. Lujan as his offensive coordinator, this collaboration could set the table for NU's relevancy regarding championship aspirations within the new-look 2024 B1G Football Conference as the 4 B1G Dogs of the erstwhile former Pac-12 join our competitive ranks of the B1G.

And it all starts with the 2024 FCS Football Championship grapple this Sunday @ 1:00 PM CST.

Be There and Beware!!!

After a big loss to Illinois, @lou v has your preview for Michigan State tomorrow night.

This got buried on the other thread, but I thought it sufficiently interesting to share separately. It isn’t Pete Thamel, Adam Rittenberg, etc., but Football Scoop is actually pretty dialed in:

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Take your victory lap, @CoralSpringsCat . Must say that I‘m still a little skeptical of a defensive-minded HC handing the reins of his offense to a young and relatively unseasoned OC, but in Braun we trust. Perhaps there are more veteran guys anticipated as staff members.

Now go bring Gronowski with you

I kind of put this out in a jumble on my Twitter, I'll see if I can organize my thoughts better here.

Something I thought interesting is that if Lujan is indeed the OC, and if Anderson is indeed out at OL, the non-NU P5 coaching experience on staff dwindles down to basically zero.

McGarigle was LB coach at Illinois for a year and QC for Green Bay in the NFL but that's about it on the staff. Smith and Binns both have QC/GA stints but that's a whole other ballgame.

This movement started with Fitz in the Spring of 23 making all five hires from G5 or FCS schools and it's something I think Braun will continue. Since McGarigle is from the NFL, once Anderson is gone and if the hires for TE/ST and OL are made from G5/FCS ranks, there will be ZERO assistants on staff directly from a previous P5 job.

But, before that, Fitz hired almost exclusively laterally in P5 or down from the league. By my count, there were six assistants hired from 2017-22: Ryan Smith, Jim O'Neil, Mike Bajakian, Tim McGarigle, Kurt Anderson and Jeff Genyk. All six had prior P5 or NFL experience the season before taking the job.

I don't necessarily mean this as a critique, I think McGarigle and Smith were both great hires. I just thought it was really interesting to highlight what seems like an inflection point in the program from finding or finding guys at a higher or equal level that either aren't working out or giving them a promotion to drop a level to promoting guys from G5/FCS to take their next step.

We were blessed to hear him share his basketball knowledge on WGN broadcasts with Dave Eanet. And of course, he was on the opposing bench in the 1994 NIT first-round win.

I know my choice.

There weren't a lot of bright spots for NU in the first game of 2024.
I cut out the last 4:55 as "garbage time" but probably could have tossed the entire 2nd half.
Justin Mullins came into the game at 4:55, with Illinois ahead 82-55.
Mullins attempted his first field goal, a jumper, which was blocked. He also committed 3 fouls.
Luke Hunger had 5 points, a rebound and an assist in garbage time to pad out a mixed effort.


From a team perspective, NU really got walloped when Boo Buie was on the court. Not sure what was going on, but I hope I don't see it again. My guess is that he couldn't guard anyone on Illinois.
When Nicholson was on the court, NU got outscored 40-25 in about 14.4 minutes. Illinois scored 17 points in the first 5 minutes. By possession, Illinois scored 3,2,2,2,0,3,2,3 before the first TV timeout.

On the less grim side... Ty Berry and Nick Martinelli competed.

Berry had a really difficult time with Domask, giving away 3 inches and 30 lbs, but at least he didn't quit. Martinelli defended Domask on one occasion and stayed right on him, forcing an airball from a red hot scorer. Unfortunately everybody else watched an Illinois player grab the errant shot and dunk it. It was that type of night. We were a step slow at every position and Illinois made almost everything. The Illini were 25 of 38 inside the arc and 10 of 18 outside it. They shredded us. A compliment to their coach, gameplan and execution. Their big guy Hawkins, went out to the perimeter, dragging our centers out there, enabling the taller Illini players to punish our guards inside. Our double teams were notably ineffective.

And now for the bright spots... Luke Hunger displayed his shooting touch from the perimeter, making 2 of 3 from outside the arc.
More importantly, the lineup of Hunger/Martinelli/Barnhizer/Berry/Langborg was effective against Illinois. With Buie on the bench, that lineup won their 2 segments by a combined 18-16 over almost 8 minutes of action. Hopefully we see that lineup when Buie needs a rest. All other lineups with Hunger at center got outscored 15-2 in 6 minutes.

The lineup of Nicholson/Martinelli/Barnhizer/Berry/Buie (which has been our best, but rarely plays) got 4 minutes of time and we got outscored 7-4. That was the segment early in the 2nd half where Nicholson missed a layup with his left hand and dunked an offensive rebound. I would really like to see that group of 5 playing together often, instead of rarely.

The pieces are there, but the offense looks really stagnant and one-dimensional, with Buie trying to do a lot by himself and not much going on to create easy shots.
Defensively, we need to be able and willing to switch to zone if necessary. (Sorry Gato).

Lastly, according to my ratings, this was the Illini's best game of the season and NU's 3rd worst (behind Chicago State and Detroit Mercy).

So ballsy. Such a culture win.

ESPN publicly stating McGarigle as DC, Bajakian out as OC, and up to 5 new coaches makes me think Braun has a plan that will be public pretty soon.

But that’s neither here nor there tonight. This was an incredible, culture-defining win and season. Let’s just enjoy it.

Penix is relentless. Looks like we will be playing a defending national champion one way or another next season...

STs up to $80 each from $49.

The Haitian Sensation!

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Owen Lansu, a 2026 QB from Downers Grove North, visited Northwestern this September. Still early in his process, of course, but getting decent buzz across the Midwest P5s. He's sending his season's Hudl tape around and I thought I'd post it here after updating his page.

Get to know Northwestern's top target at offensive coordinator.

Walerius already hard at work?? Big kid out of Minneapolis.

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Men lost by 30
Women lost by even more. 40 pt loss to PSU.

NU hoops lost by a combined total of 70 points.

Wow

Watching him this year, he was pretty close to lockdown. I don't have the detailed stats in front of me (not sure if anyone has the PF Focus numbers or something) but it seemed opposing QBs were largely avoiding him the second half of the season and didn't have much success when they did target him. On top of that, he was very good in run support - in particular his game against Utah jumped out.

From googling though I don't see much reporting on his potential draft status. I think that might be bc he wasn't on many folks' radar before the season started and the NFL draft reporting cycle for 2024 hasn't really picked up yet. But to my untrained eye, I would think he'd be a mid-round pick with some upside from there depending on testing numbers. He has at least one more year of eligibility if he wants it I believe and could improve that projection, but depending on where he stacks up could see him going pro. Curious on thoughts from others?

Similar question for Coco Azema, though his injury complicates the evaluation process which could hurt him. And while he was a great Safety for us, he doesn't jump out to me as much as an NFL prospect as Hollis.

Rick

Mojo Moose sightings preceding our Bowl Game apparently added a measure of good luck for the Wildcats. New Years Eve here in Hawaii included the sighting of a Whale that had migrated to the Islands from the Northland. Hopefully that portends good fortune for the year ahead:

Both finished with 700+ receiving yards. Last time two wildcat receivers did that in the same season was 2009, Andy Brewer and Zeke Markshausen. It felt like this was the best WR duo we’ve had for a while and the stats back it up. I’m interested to see which young players step up in that room in 2024.