...to all of those calling for Jim O'Neil's job: In 2017, Northwestern went down to Durham and St. Mike Hankwitz's defense got shredded for 538 yards and 41 points by a Duke team that finished 7-6. Remember that game? It was U-G-L-Y, an utter defensive collapse. And that defense had Lancaster and Godwin and Paddy and Montre and Thompson and a lot of other studs. NU beat a MAC team the following week, and then lost their first two Big Ten games to fall to 2-3. They came back and won the next eight in a row to finish 10-3.
I say this to make a few points:
1. Meltdowns even happened to Hank's defense on occasion -- not often, but they happened. And that was, what, his ninth year in Evanston? I don't have to remind everyone what happened in the second half vs. Akron the next year, either.
2. It's a long season -- a marathon, not a sprint, as Jared says. There's a long way to go. Give O'Neil some time. He's implementing a new system with a lot of players in starting roles for the first time.
3. Chill. If NU didn't do this just about every year, I could understand the feeling that the sky is falling. But this happens to NU. A LOT: 2016, 2017, 2018. They righted the ship each time. Let's just hope this doesn't turn out to be 2019.
4. We saw against Indiana State, and especially in the second half against Duke, how good NU's defense can be: they had three takeaways and gave up zero points and 138 total yards. They just need to do that consistently. They'll get there. It'll just take time.
#Trust
I say this to make a few points:
1. Meltdowns even happened to Hank's defense on occasion -- not often, but they happened. And that was, what, his ninth year in Evanston? I don't have to remind everyone what happened in the second half vs. Akron the next year, either.
2. It's a long season -- a marathon, not a sprint, as Jared says. There's a long way to go. Give O'Neil some time. He's implementing a new system with a lot of players in starting roles for the first time.
3. Chill. If NU didn't do this just about every year, I could understand the feeling that the sky is falling. But this happens to NU. A LOT: 2016, 2017, 2018. They righted the ship each time. Let's just hope this doesn't turn out to be 2019.
4. We saw against Indiana State, and especially in the second half against Duke, how good NU's defense can be: they had three takeaways and gave up zero points and 138 total yards. They just need to do that consistently. They'll get there. It'll just take time.
#Trust
