Overall, like Iowa State and Wisconsin of late, Northwestern has owned Iowa's number during the Pat Fitzgerald era, though Iowa does have three wins in past four games, but all were in Iowa City.
Tough loss for Northwestern against a very good Michigan team on Saturday. Congratulations to Jake Rudock and the Michigan Wolverines. However, Fitzgerald needs to focus on getting a rematch (his post-game assumed that Northwestern will not play Michigan once more).
In the new division format, I think both Iowa and Northwestern each want a crack at Michigan in 2015. For Northwestern, it would mean another crack ...
"That is disappointing. Obviously, that starts and ends with me. I believe in that group of guys in the locker room. We've got a darn good football team, but we just didn't get them prepared to play that way today. I've got to give a ton of credit to Michigan. I thought they played very well and I am absolutely ecstatic to see Jake Rudock graduate. He has been a thorn in our side at two institutions. He is a great young man. I want to congratulate him. It's good to see him graduate." - Pat Fitzgerald
Everyone has improved, after last year's 48-7 game in 2014. It will be interesting to see how the game plays out on Saturday. The Hawkeyes are banged up at certain positions, which began in Week 2, when Drew Ott went down. As Northwestern fans likely know, Ott is now lost for the season, due to an ACL. His earlier injury was a hyper-extended elbow. He missed most of the Pitt game.
Thirty years ago, was the last time Iowa came into Evanston 6-0. Of course, that team was ranked #1. This year's team will not be, but they will have a #16 at QB.
Iowa recruited Clayton Thorson ... not sure if Jake Rudock was his host?
I believe the Hawkeye coaching staff saw in Thorson, with a lot of C.J. Beathard. A guy who can make plays with both the arm and his legs.
In getting to 2-0 in B1G, Beathard has made plays with his legs. He also did it in wins @ Iowa State and vs. Pitt, as well.
The big difference in 2015 for Iowa has been Leadership. It certainly was big for Michigan this year. Iowa has been influenced by Michigan over the years ... leadership is an important part of it.
On the play of Michigan quarterback Jake Rudock...
"I think Jake took what we gave him. You can't take everything away. He was able to find things. He is a veteran quarterback. He has played a lot of Big Ten games and he was smart with the ball, got it out of his hands quickly. Especially when we had some pressure. They are doing a good job. They have a lot of volume in their offense. They build in news things in the first quarter of each game and obviously our guys didn't respond well. You can't anticipate what some of those things are going to be. Some of their plays were off of some areas we thought they would go, but we weren't disciplined enough."
On the Michigan being a veteran football team...
"I said it on Monday. This isn't to discredit the job of Coach Harbaugh and his staff are doing, they are doing a terrific job; outstanding. That is a veteran team we just played. That is a senior-laden football team that is a very good football team. Obviously, Coach Harbaugh and his staff are doing a great job, but we've got to play better and we've got to coach them better. We got beat by a veteran team today and we have to learn from it."
Looking forward to Saturday's game. It will be one of the biggest games on the B1G West in 2015. It will likely be a very close game, like Pitt, like Wisconsin, like Illinois ... though a bust out game is never out of the question for either team.
peace
Tough loss for Northwestern against a very good Michigan team on Saturday. Congratulations to Jake Rudock and the Michigan Wolverines. However, Fitzgerald needs to focus on getting a rematch (his post-game assumed that Northwestern will not play Michigan once more).
In the new division format, I think both Iowa and Northwestern each want a crack at Michigan in 2015. For Northwestern, it would mean another crack ...
"That is disappointing. Obviously, that starts and ends with me. I believe in that group of guys in the locker room. We've got a darn good football team, but we just didn't get them prepared to play that way today. I've got to give a ton of credit to Michigan. I thought they played very well and I am absolutely ecstatic to see Jake Rudock graduate. He has been a thorn in our side at two institutions. He is a great young man. I want to congratulate him. It's good to see him graduate." - Pat Fitzgerald
Everyone has improved, after last year's 48-7 game in 2014. It will be interesting to see how the game plays out on Saturday. The Hawkeyes are banged up at certain positions, which began in Week 2, when Drew Ott went down. As Northwestern fans likely know, Ott is now lost for the season, due to an ACL. His earlier injury was a hyper-extended elbow. He missed most of the Pitt game.
Thirty years ago, was the last time Iowa came into Evanston 6-0. Of course, that team was ranked #1. This year's team will not be, but they will have a #16 at QB.
Iowa recruited Clayton Thorson ... not sure if Jake Rudock was his host?
I believe the Hawkeye coaching staff saw in Thorson, with a lot of C.J. Beathard. A guy who can make plays with both the arm and his legs.
In getting to 2-0 in B1G, Beathard has made plays with his legs. He also did it in wins @ Iowa State and vs. Pitt, as well.
The big difference in 2015 for Iowa has been Leadership. It certainly was big for Michigan this year. Iowa has been influenced by Michigan over the years ... leadership is an important part of it.
On the play of Michigan quarterback Jake Rudock...
"I think Jake took what we gave him. You can't take everything away. He was able to find things. He is a veteran quarterback. He has played a lot of Big Ten games and he was smart with the ball, got it out of his hands quickly. Especially when we had some pressure. They are doing a good job. They have a lot of volume in their offense. They build in news things in the first quarter of each game and obviously our guys didn't respond well. You can't anticipate what some of those things are going to be. Some of their plays were off of some areas we thought they would go, but we weren't disciplined enough."
On the Michigan being a veteran football team...
"I said it on Monday. This isn't to discredit the job of Coach Harbaugh and his staff are doing, they are doing a terrific job; outstanding. That is a veteran team we just played. That is a senior-laden football team that is a very good football team. Obviously, Coach Harbaugh and his staff are doing a great job, but we've got to play better and we've got to coach them better. We got beat by a veteran team today and we have to learn from it."
Looking forward to Saturday's game. It will be one of the biggest games on the B1G West in 2015. It will likely be a very close game, like Pitt, like Wisconsin, like Illinois ... though a bust out game is never out of the question for either team.
peace
