After reading the game thread and various other discussions, it is evident that everyone could benefit from taking a step back and for a moment and relax. Undeniably, the game was quite frustrating and NU did not perform up to their usual standard. However, there was never any doubt about which team would emerge as the victor and prove themselves as the superior team last night. Defensively, there were numerous instances of sloppy play, lack of communication, and failure to box out. NU's performance in this aspect was truly abysmal, falling short of their own expectations.

Nevertheless, it is worth acknowledging that they still managed to force a significant number of turnovers, and defensively, Barnhizer is a wrecking ball, causing disruption for the opposing team. Berry, on the other hand, demonstrated unusual lapses in his defensive abilities. The big players on NU's team failed miserably in boxing out and preventing WMU players from gaining good positioning on the boards. Additionally, the guards were not proactive in grabbing a body either.

On a more positive note, Clayton, despite being a freshman, performed commendably during his time on the court, and he earned his minutes through his impressive display of skills and effort on the defensive end as well as hitting a 3. He also had a very athletic board in the 2nd half, skying over a WMU player.

Offensively, the team struggled to make shots from deep. Langborg, in particular, had difficulty scoring even when inside the arc. Despite missing multiple wide open three-point shots throughout the night, Barnhizer still managed to score 20 points. Buie was the only player who consistently hit three-pointers, but even he missed several open opportunities. Although the shooting overall was extremely poor, it's worth noting that the team took good shots within the flow of the offense rather than forcing low-percentage shots. However, their execution was lacking, and NU was unable to convert these opportunities.

Barnhizer is clearly showing immense potential this season, benefiting from the defensive attention drawn towards Buie, which allows him to exploit mismatches and create scoring opportunities. He is a versatile player who poses a challenge to opposing teams. Buie made a ton of clutch plays down the stretch and sees the court extremely well. His court vision and passing do so much for the cats.

The game itself was difficult to watch, highlighting numerous areas for improvement. Nonetheless, the team managed to secure a victory. Now, let's shift our focus to the upcoming game and just be happy we escaped with a win.

Login to view embedded media
"That's huge! I think with what Coach Braun has done this year with the guys there, there is no reason why he shouldn't become the head coach. As a current commit, I feel great about this news."

Enjoy!

Login to view embedded media

As poorly as the administration (#fireschill) handled the situation with PF, Coach Braun seems to have been a great get this year. It is time to remove the interim tag and see what he can do on the recruiting trail.

Though these guys are probably out regardless, I think Bajakian and Anderson would be good to retain if possible. If that is the case, I’d love to see Braun find some FCS talent and play scrappy

We all learn from our teachers, in one way or another. If I am an average college football player, but a hard worker, what position group coach is likely to have the greatest impact on my development?
We (board members) often bemoan our O Line coaches, and this year praise our WR coach. Are there some position group coaches that frankly cannot help players a lot?

They just announced next year's commencement will be at the United Center.

Northwestern (2-0) hosts Western Michigan (0-2) tonight at Welsh-Ryan Arena at 7 p.m. The game will air on B1G+

The Wildcats are heavily favored at -23.5, their biggest margin of the season.

Here's @mshelton33's take on the Cats' too-close-for-comfort win.

First time I've seen his name reported by the press. Paul Chryst is a candidate.
Login to view embedded media

@mshelton33 was in Evanston for David Braun's press conference today and files these notes.

Ben Bryant finds himself on the precipice of the last home game of his long and winding college career. I talked to him about coming back from injury against Wisconsin, what Northwestern means to him and what he's learned from his season in Evanston.

What time does that ceremony start? It's pregame, right? I've been to several but it's been a while since I really wanted to be there to give them a send-off. They deserve it.

Speaking of, if you can make it, come to the game. Even if you are disgusted with last summer's mess. The kids deserve it and you might even get to boo Gagg

I talked to 2024 WR Hayden Eligon II about his Nov. 8 offer from Northwestern, his upcoming official visit for Purdue and where Northwestern stacks up in his recruitment.

Team finally showing an identity. Feels like Brauns job to lose now. And I’m okay with that.

Just hoping admin doesn’t mess this up by trying to get a “name” coach now, unless Braun will stay. Love this dude.

Cowbell U was 9-4 last season, including Arnett’s bowl win over illinois after Mike Leach’s death.

Arnett’s Bulldogs are 4-6 this season.

Notably, Arnett left the Leach tree to hire his OC, who came from Appy State after a few years at CMU.

MSU’s only conference win is against Arkansas, and they had been outscored 102-26 in three straight losses to Auburn, Kentucky, and Texas A&M.

Notably, Arnett was employed for about 36 hours longer than Jimbo Fisher, who beat him 51-10 on Saturday. 🤷🏼‍♂️🤷🏼‍♂️

Actually, Arnett’s firing is pretty defensible.

Coach Collins no-showed the post game tonight on WGN. Mr. Wildcat, Dave Eanet, did not sound happy.

I assume Collins was busy reaming the team a new one in the locker room after that piss poor effort but still not a good look to blow off the interview, IMO.

Sat in the first row behind the bench last night.

Yeah it was ugly.

Reminded me of last year's loss to Pitt after a good game against Auburn. We thought we were good and didn't have to play well to keep winning. Glad it was WMU and not a good team.

We missed a lot of open shots and the defense was step behind.

Collins was interesting. He reamed Berry once after being pulled saying WTF your guy blew past you twice on the right. It was brutal. After missing open shots he would walk over to BMac and say "he was wide open" and BMac would not respond 5 times.

Buie is stone cold. He does not get flustered and is always locked in. Amazing concentration and poise.

Barnhizer played well. Full speed, finished contested at the rim. Humble.

Langborg's worst game. He will play better (I hope).

It is good to have a game like this early and get the win. Hopefully this will light a fire with the team for the rest of the year and cause them to come out hungry for each game.

As Aaron Rodgers said to Green Bay fans after a weak start to the year "RELAX"

I was reading a Michigan board, and I saw a post lamenting all the Michigan hate. I thought this would be a good place to collect all the reasons other Big Ten members dislike Michigan.

Below are the reasons I know of:

#1. Michigan opposed letting the Chicago Bears play at Northwestern's stadium. This would have likely provided a nice financial boost the NU athletic department when it would have made a difference, and may have changed the future of NU football.

#2. Michigan made it impossible for ND to join the Big Ten when ND would have gladly done so. Part anti-Catholic bias and part not wanting another competitive team in the conference.

#3. Opposed the inclusion of Michigan State into the conference.

Heaven help us

Why is this so hard to get done ??? Why would there be another delay ???

where do I find B1G +

Andy Katz has us as the 27th best team in the country.

The hype is slowly building…

The Wildcats faced a quality opponent in just their 2nd game of the season, taking down Dayton 71-66. Here are the numbers for the victory...


Martinelli only played 19 minutes, but NU thrived when he was on the court. 4 of 6 from the field, with 3 steals (the official scorer gave him a 4th as time expired, but I didn't count that).
Barnhizer had a strong game, with Langborg playing a team-high 39 minutes. All 3 of those guys are not afraid to shoot.

Not too surprisingly, NU was most successful when Martinelli played the 4 and Barnhizer played the 3. In almost 18 minutes of action, NU outscored Dayton 41-22. Thats rather remarkable.
Of course the flipside of that is when Barnhizer played the 4, NU got outscored 39-28. When the frontcourt was Preston/Barnhizer we got smoked 17-5. When the frontcourt was Nicholson/Barnhizer, we held our own, winning 23-22. I mentioned before the season that I thought Preston/Barnhizer might not be big enough for Big Ten competition... Something to keep an eye on.

Justin Mullins and Luke Hunger did not play at all.
Jordan Clayton did not play in the 2nd half, even when Buie went to the bench with 4 fouls. In the first half, when Clayton was in the game, Dayton scored 14 points in 6 minutes.

It was a nice win, even though Dayton lost their starting point guard in their season opener. He was their 2nd best player.

At this point in the season Matt Nicholson looks a half-step slow and a little heavy compared to last season.

Coach Collins only has 7 players he trusts currently... Going to need 1 or 2 more by the time January rolls around.

So Iowa is going to win it most likely. However what if they lost to both Illinois (definitely possible) and Nebraska (not likely). They would end at 5-4 and we have 5 other West teams at 3-4.

Assuming if Iowa lost out -

We win out, Iowa would have tiebreaker.
Illinois wins out (includes beating Iowa next week and us following week), I think they’d be in?
Minnesota wins out they’d be in but they’re not beating OSU next week.
Nebraska wins out (includes beating Iowa final game), they’d be in?
Wisconsin wins out, Iowa has tiebreaker.

West title is really not meaningful anyway as it will just add another L to whoever plays OSU/Mich in Indy.