Oh, no it's actually ND 66, Purdue 7. Embarrassing for the B1G. I sure hope we beat those guys in a few weeks.

The Cats enter Week 3 after a frustrating 2OT loss to perennial back-riding monkey the Duke Blue Devils for a sixth straight non-conference loss. Although an inexplicably overturned fumble recovery would have sealed a Cat win, a blown up option on 3rd and short ended the Cats' hopes.

This week the Cats have what should be an easier challenge and an ideal warm-up for Jack Lausch who will take over as starting QB. EIU lost to Illinois 45-0 in an earlier B1G non-con game. So, with all that in mind...

Eastern Illinois 10
Northwestern (in NE Illinois*) 38

*Yes, I am aware Northwestern was named for the Northwest Territories. We can revisit this next week on NU's trip to the Pacific Northwest.

How about that second half for No. 12?!? Here's my game recap from Martin Stadium.

How do I watch the game on Xfinity in Chicago?

I cannot believe they are showing Nebraska in NU's how market.

Someone in the athletic department should be flogged for letting this happen.

Nebraska shouldn't even be in this conference.

South Carolina has a running back named Rocket Sanders,,,great football names...Have we had any great names?

Wisconsin looked ok early against Bama, then their QB went out and Bama has 28 unanswered points.

MichiGag and ILL-Annoy up comfortably on lesser opponents.

FSU losing again

Hydroxide just scored but trails a questionable Cincy.

Per our man at the press conference.

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Truly an amazing stat.

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Welp. We were struck with yet another Dook Debacle last week. What is it about that opponent that makes our players and coaches lose their collective minds year after year…

This is going to be much shorter than a normal recap because I intentionally waited a week before coming back to the board because it’s never good to post when annoyed (and also this place was likely to be salty if I read it). Also because by now I’ve forgotten 3/4 of what I would have written in the immediate aftermath.

A few takeaways though, starting with the good:
1. Cam Porter is good. Really good runner and showed skills out of the backfield. Excited for the RB room the rest of the year. Let’s get him lots of yards in the first half tonight and then hand it over to the other backs ideally. Give Komolafe a chance to redeem the fumble.
2. Stadium and setting looked great on TV.
3. OL showed improvement from week 1 I thought. Duke was blitzing every play basically and they gave Wright a bit of time. Also late in the game / into OT they started to get downhill on the Dook defensive front it seemed. At the margin I still think this unit is a negative as of now, but it was nice to see progress. Hoping to see us dominate the EIU defensive front this week and then get ready for Washington.
4. Defensive tackling still pretty good. I like our LBs and S crew. Xander and Devin Turner are the core of our defense.
5. DL was good for most of the game… they seemed to tire towards the end though. We seemed to get close to the QB a lot and struggled to get home. I think we have a better pass rush than the last couple of years which is nice. Hoping we can get pressure on B1G QBs. I think we might be able to.
6. AJ Henning had a nice game and was pretty dynamic.

Okay so the bad:
1. Gotta start with the QB position. I’m sure Mike Wright is a great kid. And he’s an excellent athlete, awesome runner. But jeez he looked scared out there. He threw an early pick and it was like he got the yips for the rest of the game. Was not going through his reads, was jumpy, quick to ditch the pocket, afraid to make a throw, etc etc. With a halfway competent QB and how our D was playing we should have won that game easily. Dook just started putting 6 guys on the LoS and blitzing relentlessly every play. And he couldn’t do anything about it because he looked terrified. Week 1 there were some pros and some cons to his performance. Week 2 was downright painful to watch. I’m hoping that was an aberration, and I don’t doubt that he’s played much better than that in practice against pressure to justify getting the starting job. But there’s a difference between a practice player and someone who steps up against pressure in a game, and responds from a mistake with resilience. I’m hoping that was his worst game that we see this season and he learns from it and progresses, but safe to say I have some concerns.
1A. I was heartened to see Braun is going with Lausch tonight. I think that’s the right move. None of us know if Lausch is better or worse than Wright, but after what we saw last Friday I think it would be extraordinarily stubborn to not give the other guy a chance under live game conditions and see what he shows. Then make a decision about what to do after that.
2. Next we gotta go to Lujan… he had a tough job with Wright having the yips all day I acknowledge, but that play call on 3rd and 1 in OT was one of the dumbest ones I’ve seen in quite some time. I have no idea what we were trying to accomplish there, obviously it didn’t work, but when you have 2 downs to gain a yard and after that 4 downs to plow it in, and your RB and OL is starting to move a tired defense… there’s a line that you can be too clever by half, we were too clever by 1000x. I don’t have enough words to describe how dumb a play call that QB stretch whatever the F that was was. It was bad enough that it made me wonder if we should fire him for a single play call when he’s on the second game of his tenure. So incredibly idiotic. So absurdly stupid. So infuriating. … … I guess let’s just hope he learns from that but I have nothing kind to say.
3. We gotta find a way to get the ball to Bryce Kurtz more. That was partly a function of the QB tbh so won’t dwell on it.
4. Our corners and coverage scheme. Not gonna name names at CB but they did not have a great night. Also looked like Tim McG did not trust them. I know the Hank philosophy is to play soft on the outside until the 20 and then tighten up, but we seemed to take that to the extreme late in the game. When we are up a FG maybe we should try to prevent them from getting a FG to tie us? Or at least we should try covering Moore a bit tighter (put safety help over the top) when he’s the primary guy they have been looking to all day. Too much soft coverage on the edge. And a lack of intensity up front to stop the runs and draws. Very frustrating we had been playing well on D most of the game and then we started playing from our back foot and then they got the upper hand which seemed to carry over into OT.
4A. I like Timmy McG as DC mostly. But there was a stark contrast between the Duke D approach and ours. I’ve seen the success of the Hank scheme over many many years so I’m not questioning the cover 4 and make them execute all the way down the field. But the way we played the late Q4 which then fed into OT was very frustrating. I’m hoping he learns from that and improves as a defensive play caller.

Turned out not to be that short. Alright well it’s gameday, let’s pummel EIU tonight and get right and then make some noise in conference season.

GO CATS
Rick

PS Manny Diaz is a douche and I’m pissed we lost to him

A huge part of the appeal of the lakefront stadium is the scenery and atmosphere. You get a little of that pregame, but then it’s just dark and the visual appeal of the Duke game (no interesting cutaway shots) was stark compared to the Miami game - sweeping drone shots of blue water, sailboats, the gleaming campus buildings and skyline in the background.

Not to mention probably the most pertinent issue for the game - temporary lighting standards (even the ones at Ryan Field) often create subpar illumination and shadows that could confuse players.

Why in the world would we choose to play 2 night games in September?

This is one area where NU really needs to capitalize. Can we finally utilize having one of the top business schools in the country to our advantage?

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@lou v and I log our picks and predictions ahead of Northwestern's matchup with Eastern Illinois tomorrow.

I’m bringing my elderly grandfather (NU alum) to the game tomorrow. He’s very excited

He cannot walk very far and has a handicapped badge

I wasn’t able to find any info online; is there a place he can get dropped off without needing to walk all the way to the lake fill?

Haiku well is dry
Drivel machine has shut down
Carry on, poets

I talked to 6-foot-8, 285-pound, 2026 OT Braden Wilmes about his offer from Northwestern and his recruitment.

To South Alabama.

In 54 minutes!

Bad game

Especially if it never gets close?

Illinois had a 31-0 halftime lead. Forced 3 first-half turnovers and punted twice.

I’m not so into appealing to the kids with mid-70s rock, but it’d be great to hear lots of “TNT” jibber jabber on the broadcast.

I've got family in Seattle and Little Smelly is looking at colleges, so we're going to U-Dub in September. Anybody else making the trip?

@lou v and I log our picks and predictions ahead of Northwestern's matchup with Eastern Illinois tomorrow.

All times CENTRAL, and all games played on Saturday, September 14. Rankings come from the AP poll. All games nationally televised unless otherwise indicated. I will add announcers as they are assigned.

First, the NU game:

Eastern Illinois @ Northwestern
6:30 PM, BTN*
PxP: Jason Ross Jr.
Color: Matt Millen

And the rest:

#4 Alabama @ Wisconsin (Big Noon Kickoff)
11:00 AM, FOX
PxP: Gus Johnson
Color: Joel Klatt

Arkansas State @ #17 Michigan
11:00 AM, BTN
PxP: Jeff Levering
Color: Jake Butt

Central Michigan @ Illinois
11:00 AM, Peacock (streaming only)
PxP: Jac Collinsworth
Color: Michael Robinson

#18 Notre Dame @ Purdue
2:30 PM, CBS
PxP: Brad Nessler
Color: Gary Danielson

#9 Oregon @ Oregon State
2:30 PM, FOX
PxP: Jason Benetti
Color: Brock Huard

Prairie View A&M @ Michigan State
2:30 PM, BTN*
PxP: Mark Followill
Color: Anthony Herron

Nevada @ Minnesota
2:30 PM, BTN*
PxP: Lisa Byington
Color: Brock Vereen

Washington vs. Washington State @ Seattle, WA
2:30 PM, Peacock (streaming only)
PxP: Paul Burmeister
Color: Colt McCoy

Troy @ Iowa
3:00 PM, FS1
PxP: Eric Collins
Color: Spencer Tillman

Indiana @ UCLA
6:30 PM, NBC
PxP: Noah Eagle
Color: Todd Blackledge

Northern Iowa @ #23 Nebraska
6:30 PM, BTN*
PxP: Guy Haberman
Color: Yogi Roth

Maryland @ Virginia
7:00 PM, ACCN
PxP: Wes Durham
Color: Tom Luginbill

#3 Ohio State, #8 Penn State, Rutgers, and #11 USC are off this week.

*These are regional telecasts; check your local listings or the BTN GameFinder.

If you are a Northwestern fan and watching the game on TV (or streaming it), you are welcome to join us for a live Zoom discussion during the game. It's a great way to share the experience with others as you watch.

One thing you should be aware of is that TV and streaming are not always in sync with real time. It is not unusual for some viewers to be 30 seconds ahead of others, which leads to an interesting dynamic during the game watch. You can often tell by the reactions of others if something good or bad is about to happen. To me, it just makes it more interesting.

I hope that you can join the fun via Zoom on Saturday @ 6:30 PM CT.

Topic: Zoom In-Game Discussion: EIU @ NU Friday Sept 14 6:30 PM CT
Time: Sep 14, 2024 06:30 PM Central Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting

Meeting ID: 839 0565 1845
Passcode: 336329

Go 'Cats

- Astro

Looking forward to the Spoon River game.

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@lou v talked to Dan Verdun from Prairie State Pigskin about what to expect from Eastern Illinois this weekend.

Outstanding player…local prospect out of Morgan Park. Nasir Rankin picks up an NU offer. Terrific basketball player as well. Has multiple offers to include Indiana, Illinois, Michigan State, Nebraska and Wisconsin.

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There were no down and distance indicators on any of the displays/screens. There's plenty of room for them so why not show them?