We've had so many lame fire-up songs. I like this one. Players like it and participate

Wright doesn't seem to be as bad a passer as some people are indicating but certainly not very good. His real problem in my mind is he cannot read the field and see some of the wide open receivers especially when he's running. Also though he has speed that defensive backs on the other team seem to be able to run him down.

The offensive line did not look very good on pass protection as there was pressure on the quarterback quite often. This happened numerous times with just the three or four man rush.

As many have already mentioned, the play calling seems suspect in some respects. Especially the minimal use of the tight end who seems to catch the ball quite well and has a good after catch capability.

On a positive note with the tackling is quite good compared to some previous years.

Didn't see as much action out of the middle linebacker as in the Miami game. But Mueller was quite good.

Braden and Devin Turner both played a good game for what I could see.

On what should have been the final Duke drive in regular time...

Listening on WGN the consensus was that the ball came out before the Duke player was down. Our group on the Zoom chat who watched on TV were in agreement and since the ruling on the field was a fumble it was expected that there would not be indisputable evidence to over turn it. ( In what seemed like the preceding prior call that went against the Cats that was the rationale offered. The refs were not consistent either.)

Have to give them credit. They consistently do a great job of capturing sad faces of ND fans when ND gets shocked at home.

Ended up being moot point but NIU got totally screwed on the ball spot call right before their winning FG.

Losing a game that should be a win really hurts. I want to say more about that (and unlike some, I still expect the Cats to finish with between 6 and 8 wins this year) but the decision I am surprised no one has mentioned is the one they had after losing the coin toss in OT. The Cats clearly had the stronger running game, while Duke had an advantage passing. I don’t understand why they decided to go north to south rather that forcing overtime play into the wind. I hope Braun files that decision away for future reference.

My seats are in W29. Our player’s families are one section over. The families are amazing. They are supportive. They are passionate. They are well spoken and knowledgeable.
As tough as it is for us to watch a loss, I can imagine it being much more difficult for these men and women see their family members give a lot effort in a losing cause.
Win, lose, or draw, I want to thank our players and their families for all that they do to ‘spread far the fame of our fair name. Go Northwestern, win that game!’
Flush the loss. Get back to work tomorrow. There is a lot of football left to be played.

That will hurt Iowa's playoff chances if it stands.

Similar score (16-14 vs. 17-15), similar noone thought they could do it. Jubilation from the kids from the underdog. Notre Dame fans in shock.

Hey Gang!

Sorry, we've been delinquent getting posts about the last handful of Summer Previews up here. But they're all there if you want to check any of them out!

More importantly: Here's The Big Daddy: Our 2024 NU Preview.

Our questions re: QB and Corner are no doubt the same as yours.

But this team looks to have AWESOME coaching, a ton of depth on DLine, the best Linebacker in the Big Ten, and promising talents ready to emerge everywhere (remember last year's coverage units?!) We've all heard about Lujan's acumen for scheme, but when you really dig in--AND WE DID--it looks truly elite. If the offensive line comes together, Mike Wright(we assume--they'll both play at some point regardless) is going to be given every opportunity to succeed, right off the bat.

Could we theoretically only win 3 games on this schedule? Well, yeah...
CAN we beat 10 teams on this schedule? YES. 100%.
BUCKLE UP. 2024 IS GONNA BE A RIDE.

NOTE: This was recorded when we knew Adeyi was hurt, but before we got the word that he's probably done for the year.

ITunes Link
Youtube Link

Thanks as always!
Sam, John, and Scuzz/The West Lot Pirates

The Cats had won six consecutive OT games dating back to Notre Dame 2014 before last night’s loss. That stretch included the 3 game stretch in 2017 when they beat Iowa, MSU and Nebraska on consecutive Saturdays in OT.

I'm enjoying Texas' beat down of Michigan.

Texas also trouncing Michigan.

The Big Ten doesn't quite look so dominant in the 2nd week.

1) Count me as officially concerned about Mike Wright.

2) We aren’t gonna win if we don’t play clean.

3) The **** was that call on 3rd down in OT?

I have no idea why, but NU was getting out of the huddle slowly and approaching the line of scrimmage with not much time. Plays have to come in faster.

All game, our center was low snapping the ball. This needs work.

Down and distance worked half the time on the south scoreboard. When it did, it was awfully small.

Our special teams are much better, but is there a reason why NU cannot or will not teach directional punting. Duke’s punter was very good and was a weapon pinning us back. We just seem to kick down the middle. Both sides missed chippees fg tries kicking toward the north end zone. Obviously our block was awesome. Henning does a nice job fielding punts.

I did not understand the rb rotation. Porter can catch out of the backfield. No idea if the other two can, but they did not offer much.

I won’t comment on other matters folks have touched upon, like play calling, but our right side needs to learn how to run block.

Finally, I never saw a blitz or a pressure last night. I thought we could play press coverage and hurry their qb.

It got cold there last night!

I know it's a small sample size, but this guy is football stupid, and you can't fix stupid.

Here's my Q&A with the Duke site. Believe it or not, this guy picks the Cats! Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing.

Puke is a mediocre team from a weak P4 conference. They would have won the game going away except for half dozen easy drops of passes and INTs. Terribly disappointed, but we deserved it.

Here are my takeaways from a tough loss in double overtime to Duke.

Here are my takeaways from a tough loss in double overtime to Duke.

Theran Johnson flipping his interception directly to Manny Diaz was the funniest thing I’ve seen in a football game since Tim Beckman fell down.

Being a corner is super tough, and Johnson thinks he’s the best. I love watching him play.

(He picked NU over an ND offer. I like him even more.)

The broadcast just showed the south stands and they look empty

Cats enter Duke game in the fifth slot behind Michigan, Arizona, Army and Missouri with a 5 game winning streak.

The sons of satan
Await their watery doom
Lake the damn devils

Wright had a rough game throwing. Has there been any discussion of running the option? We are not going beat any good teams with Wright passing.

I thought we hired a new one? Cats up 10-7 and maybe driving but sheesh.