For some reason I see us matching up against the wolverines.

Call me crazy but.

We couldn’t get anyone to Welsh-Ryan tonight, but I’ll be watching and writing from home as the Cats go for the Football-Basketball double against the Panthers.

Rittenberg provides a little PR for new stadium:

Head coach David Braun stood by Zach Lujan as his OC, and said there is no consideration of a change this offseason. Read about that and more from Braun's weekly presser here.

Popped in my FB feed...

For those that are nostalgic. Ironic timing considering today's NU announcement. The kicker is it was first time I ever went up to upper deck


https://www.facebook.com/share/15NMg5Cg86/

From Adam Gorney’s Recruiting Rumor Mill story this morning…

This is premium content. Please subscribe to view.

@mikefitz77 has three things we learned, two questions we’re asking, and one bold prediction before the Wildcats head to Ann Arbor to take on Michigan.

@mikefitz77 has three things we learned, two questions we’re asking, and one bold prediction before the Wildcats head to Ann Arbor to take on Michigan.

I really thought Braun and his assistants did a great job in preparation for OSU, and that the players gave a top notch effort. The 92 yard TD drive was, for me, the highlight of the season.

To my eyes, OSU did not overwhelm the Cats. The NU offense mounted sustained drives, and the defense registered stops at various times. I thought the Bucks won by making the plays at the limits of skill: perfectly thrown passes caught on fingertips, a half step of quickness on defense to make open field tackles, flawless, strong play at every position. They are very good.

I did think there were two key junctures that could have made it a much more interesting game had they gone differently. The obvious one was the double bad snap sequence leading to a blocked punt. The other, that was tantalizingly close, was on OSU’s first third down after NU’s TD at about the Bucks’ 17. Hubbard flat out beat the OT, and got within a whisker of batting the ball out of Howard’s hand as he was releasing it. It really looked to me like Howard had no idea Hubbard was so close. If Hubbard gets there, the rest of the half may well have played out differently.

I was really proud of how well the team played and really impressed by the Bucks. After watching them, I completely expect them to play for the National title.

TEAM

Northwestern ran 67 plays to Ohio State's 58 this game, their first time losing a game when running more plays. A very good indicator out of the bye week of the team's ability to sustain drives on offense over their next two games as they try to make a bowl.

This is premium content. Please subscribe to view.

Badgers sack their Air Raid OC today. Always seemed like an odd fit in MadTown.

Somewhat in the topic of alumni supporting the FB team and buying season tickets, I was shocked to see this photo from the combined “5 and 10” year increment classes: $338 million! Does this include some massive Ryan-like family donation? Last year I participated in the same “big check” presentation and the total for the same number of classes - and there were actually more individual donors - was about $25 million.

https://www.facebook.com/share/1DN3FnTbCY/?mibextid=WC7FNe

Northwestern offered PWO spots to Ohio linebackers Lincoln Creager and Mikey Young. I interviewed both to see what they had to say about their offers, their overall recruitment and more.

2025 Rockford (Mich.) TE Blake Linsley was one of Northwestern's visitors of Saturday's game against Ohio State at Wrigley Field.

This is premium content. Please subscribe to view.

Is there anything dumber than playing the Homecoming game a) at Wrigley, b) against dOSU, and c) in mid-November???

Presumably they scheduled it there given the uncertainty of where the earlier games would be played. But it would have been perfect to have Homecoming 2024 on campus, against Wisconsin, in sunny, warm weather. I hope the new AD will make a better choice in 2025.

Was this pass interference or good defense by the USC secondary?

Login to view embedded media

Regardless of today’s outcome, we’ve found our QB. Lausch plays with passion. Kid has the “it factor”…just like Stacey Fitz said. Need to get him some more weapons and an average OL. Excited to watch him perform/develop over the next 2.5 seasons.

Lots of discussion on NU turnout (or lack thereof) yesterday so thought I'd throw out a poll.

Plane headed to Detroit.....self explanatory....



Login to view embedded media

Wondering

He was a 4 star recruit yet I’ve never seen him play.

Anyone know the story?

Yeah there was a game today (and I watched the whole thing), but the whole time, I was thinking more about whether we'd be able to find a win against Michigan or Illinois.

Ohio State is a loaded team and their real test (and Indiana's) is next week.

For us, it's whether we can top either of Michigan or Illinois in the next 2 weeks.

I think we have a decent shot at winning 1 of the 2 (something like 30-40% chance of grabbing 1 win).

All times CENTRAL, and all games played on Saturday, November 2. All games nationally televised unless otherwise indicated. Rankings come from the AP poll.

First, the NU game:

Northwestern @ Purdue
11:00 AM, BTN
PxP: Jason Ross Jr.
Color: Anthony Herron

And the rest:

#4 Ohio State @ #3 Penn State (ESPN College GameDay and FOX Big Noon Kickoff)
11:00 AM, FOX
PxP: Gus Johnson
Color: Joel Klatt

Minnesota @ #24 Illinois
11:00 AM, FS1
PxP: Tim Brando
Color: Devin Gardner

#1 Oregon @ Michigan
2:30 PM, CBS
PxP: Brad Nessler
Color: Gary Danielson

UCLA @ Nebraska
2:30 PM, BTN
PxP: Guy Haberman
Color: Yogi Roth

#13 Indiana @ Michigan State
2:30 PM, Peacock (streaming only)
PxP: Paul Burmeister
Color: Colt McCoy

Wisconsin @ Iowa
6:30 PM, NBC
PxP: Noah Eagle
Color: Todd Blackledge

USC @ Washington
6:30 PM, BTN
PxP: Jeff Levering
Color: Jake Butt

Maryland and Rutgers are off this week.

Happy Homecoming! Northwestern (4-5, 2-4 Big Ten) hosts No. 2 Ohio State (8-1, 5-1 Big Ten) this morning at Wrigley Field, set for an 11 am kick. The game will air on BTN.