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.

…was the blocked punt, first and goal, no points. Had other chances to win, but that was a key moment. This offense looks concerningly…familiar. Trying to avoid an overreaction, but constant offensive ineptitude is frustrating because the D can only save us so many times.

Also, I think I’m officially sick of the annual Duke loss — which always happens, even when we go on to better seasons, and is *always* ugly. Yuck.

Too cute. Not ready for B1Gtime.

After a bright defensive effort and a promising, if uneven, offensive start, the Cats welcome Duke to the Lakeside for a renewal of what seems like a perennial Non-Con "rivalry." I'm not sure there's much actual investment in Duke as a rival, but there is frustration at years of losses to the Blue Devils, often in years when Duke ends up with a losing season record and the Cats go on to bowl victories.

Will this be year the NU breaks the Blue Devil curse? I think so.

Richard Milhous Nixon 13
Adlai Ewing Stevenson 23

@lou v's column from another disappointing loss to Duke.

Northwestern (1-0) hosts Duke (1-0) tonight at Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium. The game is on pace for an 8:05 kickoff and will air on FS1.

The Wildcats are looking to snap a five-game losing streak in the series.

And they know they can’t trust the QB they started. Just look at what they call on offense.

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Looks like Herzog is dressed, but not starting. Lovelace in for him at OG. Rest of OL is the same.

Bastone and Flakes both out at DT.

Ricky A. out.

Franks out for Duke. Wearing shorts with a big brace. Guy is never healthy.

Good luck throwing and kicking today.

All times CENTRAL. All games available nationally unless otherwise indicated.

First, the NU game:

Duke @ Northwestern
Friday, September 6
8:00 PM, FS1
PxP: Connor Onion
Color: Mark Helfrich

And the rest:

Friday, September 6

Western Illinois @ Indiana
6:00 PM, BTN
PxP: Lisa Byington
Color: J Leman

Saturday, September 7

#3 Texas @ #10 Michigan (ESPN College GameDay, Big Noon Kickoff)
11:00 AM, FOX
PxP: Gus Johnson
Color: Joel Klatt

Bowling Green @ #8 Penn State
11:00 AM, BTN*
PxP: Chris Vosters
Color: Matt Millen

Akron @ Rutgers
11:00 AM, BTN*
PxP: Jason Horowitz
Color: Adam Breneman

Rhode Island @ Minnesota
11:00 AM, Peacock (streaming only)
PxP: Brendan Burke
Color: Kyle Rudolph

Iowa State @ #21 Iowa
2:30 PM, CBS
PxP: Brad Nessler
Color: Gary Danielson

Michigan State @ Maryland
2:30 PM, BTN*
PxP: Jason Ross Jr.
Color: Anthony Herron

Eastern Michigan @ Washington
2:30 PM, BTN*
PxP: Mark Followill
Color: Lincoln Kennedy

South Dakota @ Wisconsin
2:30 PM, FS1
PxP: Eric Collins
Color: Spencer Tillman

#19 Kansas @ Illinois
6:00 PM, FS1
PxP: Alex Faust
Color: Robert Smith

Colorado @ Nebraska
6:30 PM, NBC
PxP: Paul Burmeister
Color: Colt McCoy

Western Michigan @ #2 Ohio State
6:30 PM, BTN
PxP: Jeff Levering
Color: Jake Butt

Boise State @ #7 Oregon
9:00 PM, Peacock (streaming only)
PxP: Andrew Siciliano
Color: Michael Robinson

Utah State @ #13 USC
10:00 PM, BTN
PxP: Guy Haberman
Color: Yogi Roth

Purdue and UCLA are off this week.

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

Ahumaraeze, Flakes, Keeler, Knox and Bastone are among the Out.

Herzog is Questionable.

@mikefitz77 has three things we learned, two questions we're asking, and one bold prediction heading into the Duke game this Friday.

If you could "fix" one barrier that keeps us from being competitive in recruiting both high school and transfer players, what would you prioritize?
I deliberately left out "our athletic reputation/history/not being a traditional blue-blood" because I wanted to keep this to factors that are actually modifiable (assuming administration support, etc).

Not sure if anyone noticed at the beginning of the game last Saturday but it appears we are now a base 4-2-5 defense?

I know a lot of teams in today’s era run around 3 WRs as their base offense but thought it was interesting nonetheless. Cant imagine we’ve ever had a base 4-2-5 defense in our past…

Wide receiver Dube Enongene committed to Northwestern this evening, the second wide receiver in their current class. I talked to the Georgian about his trip, his bond with Georgia QB Marcus Romain and his fellow WR commit Braden Blueitt, and more.

Anyone know? I have season tickets but didn't see anything about parking when I bought them. When walking to the first game, we saw a sign for parking for season ticket holders... am I able to park there or did I need to buy parking when I bought my season tickets?

Where is everyone else parking? We wound up parking at Maple garage and taking the shuttle for the first game.

In the spirit of more discussion about the play on the field, I offer my very amateur, haven't-really-strapped-it-on analysis from game 1. In particular, I want to talk about why I felt a little better about the offense after watching that game.

It starts with the first play on offense. I love calling an aggressive, down-the-field pass play on play #1. Wright drops back and hits Bryce Kirtz on a deep out for a great gain to start the season. The exciting things about that play included the incredibly clean pocket Wright had for a significant amount of time which allowed Kirtz to get wide open down the field. The throw was strong and on target. While it seems like a simple play, it was play that was a struggle for the last several NU QBs not named Ben Bryant - either because the QB didn't have the arm or because the QB had happy feet watching the pass rush collapse. Wright hit similar passes like that a few times on Saturday, which is very encouraging.

Wright looks like he can play the part this year. He missed some throws, including those fade routes where I felt like he just didn't get enough touch on the ball. Someone on here commented that he lacked arm strength, but I thought just the opposite. I thought he threw bullets on every pass, even when a softer touch would have been better. I don't think arm strength will be the problem. Consistency may be the problem as he would hit one throw and then miss the next. But overall, I think he has the ability to lead a productive passing game. On top of that, he is a weapon running the ball, which we saw a little, but I expect we'll see even more as the competition gets tougher.

Also exciting was seeing the way Cam Porter was running the ball. He was his old, violent-running self making some nice cuts running inside and then crashing into defenders at the end. His run inside the 10 yard line on that ill-fated first half drive was some powerful inside running that this team could really use this year. I was somewhat disappointed in the other two backs. I don't think they really displayed anything. But it is early. One 75-yard screen pass to Himon is probably coming at some point soon!

Overall, the 13 points doesn't look so great on the scoreboard, but this was a game I felt like we should have easily scored 23-30 points. In the first half, the offense couldn't quite get out of it's own way. We made some nice plays and started a drive, but then had a mistake play that threw us off schedule. On the first drive, it was the botched snap, shovel pass to Covey that led to a big loss, killing a drive near mid-field. Then there was another drive that was promising ending with the first fumbled snap. Then a penalty slowed another drive. Then we finally got our act together only to see that crushing goal line fumble. I know they won't be perfect, but if they can clean some of those mistakes up, I think they will score points this year.

Finally, I'm still blindly believing that Lujan is an offensive wunderkind until I've seen enough to dissuade me of that fantasy. The playcalling, while not revolutionary, also didn't seem stagnant and predictable, which it had become under the last two OCs. We'll see how that looks going to game #2.

Northwestern hosts Duke tonight on a short week and the Blue Devils have won the last five games in the series. @lou v and I record our predictions for if the Wildcats can snap the streak.

Anyone looking for a parking pass for tonight's game? I have one available -- it's the Northwestern Place lot, right on campus, east side of Sheridan Road, tailgating allowed. Just looking for face value -- $50 -- not counting the donations I had to make to be eligible to buy it! Electronic transfer. Feel free to send me a direct message (the "conversation" button up top).

PFF grades are finalized and Northwestern acquitted itself well in its 13-6 win over Miami (Ohio) at home last week. Here are the highlights from the team's analysis:

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Northwestern hosts Duke tonight on a short week and the Blue Devils have won the last five games in the series. @lou v and I record our predictions for if the Wildcats can snap the streak.

Think back to the tenor of sentiment a year ago after the opener at Rutgers. To say the least, the general feelings on the board are a little better than they were a year ago after the Rutgers opener.

I am enjoying things a lot more, but will post what I said then as one of the Rivals Wildcat optimists:

“My expectations are low but not non-existent, and in some ways haven’t lowered a whole lot based on Sunday. Before the season started, it was clear both lines were going to be bad, and Sunday they were. Rutgers offense was able to get a 2 yard push any time they wanted. Having said that, the defense exceeded my expectations two ways. The DB’s, I thought, were excellent; the positional discipline of the entire defensive unit was very good. By and large, the D did not screw up. They did get beat on the first 2 drives, and will be challenged on 3rd down all year, but give Schiano and Rutgers some credit, too. On the first 2 drives, the first 2 of the year, they ran 32 plays with only one apparent breakdown, the pass that could have been intercepted. They were disciplined and well prepared. Going forward for the Cats, I would expect Braun to shift up and situationally use a little more press coverage on passing downs and run blitz more on short yardage situations. I don’t think this defense will be dominant, but t will be good enough to keep the Cats in half a dozen or so games this year beyond Howard.
The offense, as opposed to the defense, did not show good unit cohesion. While the inability of the line to open any daylight for an inside running game is probably not fixable, no one was reading blitzes and or adjusting to the pass rush. When the will LB rushed, the slot receiver did not read, move into the void the LB left and become hot. It looked to me like no one was recognizing blocking assignments on any sort of overload RU put on. My guess is that Bryant is still learning the system, and it showed. My expectation going forward is pretty low, but he is an experienced guy. What I do expect is that the offense is going to look a lot like it did in 2018 before Bowser emerged: a lot of quick passes, some jet sweep motion, and some inside screens to try to get Porter the ball with a little space. I do think Bryant will remember to do some of the things he has done before: read and adjust at the line, put some loft on the ball when Henning gets deep separation as happened at least once Sunday. I don’t think the offense will be great, but I do think there are a few players who can make plays and (big if) if Bryant can get them working with a little precision, they will put some points on the board. If Bryant can’t adjust, they will need to use Sullivan and start over.
To some it up, this team has a low ceiling, but the floor might be a little higher than what Sunday showed. I think next week we will see what sort of a game to game coach Braun is. I still want to give home a chance to show me before I throw in the towel completely. I still think the Cats can win 4 or 5 games this season, and hope they do.”

I rode my bike past the lakefront stadium this afternoon. They were testing the scoreboards. I'm happy to report that, unlike last week, the down & distance were being displayed on the ribbon boards above the south stands and at the base of the north stands. The main video boards showed only the score (it's currently Duke 0, Northwestern 0), along with a giant picture of Luke Donald -- special surprise guest?