Just imagine....

[TheC]

... if Clayton Thorson and JJTBC had a solid offensive coordinator to work with during their prime....

Anyway, that was as impressive as I've seen NU play in a long time. Granted, Maryland was terrible, but we've had trouble dominating inferior teams in the past. That offense looked as sharp as I can remember an NU team looking. The WRs were getting open. Even the OL looked fantastic. I don't think Peyton was sacked once and he was rarely even hurried. OL were pulling and blocking out in space. And again, before you say... yeah but Maryland.... I remind you how our OL struggled in recent years against even weak non-conference foes. It was really fun football to watch last night.

I just can't help but wonder how much McConnell held this team back over the years.

We still lack the talent at WR to really compete at the next level in today's game. And I think our DL depth is going to hurt us against some of the real power running teams in this conference. But I would like to think this year's team will be a lot of fun to watch.

 

[corbi296]

... if Clayton Thorson and JJTBC had a solid offensive coordinator to work with during their prime....

Anyway, that was as impressive as I've seen NU play in a long time. Granted, Maryland was terrible, but we've had trouble dominating inferior teams in the past. That offense looked as sharp as I can remember an NU team looking. The WRs were getting open. Even the OL looked fantastic. I don't think Peyton was sacked once and he was rarely even hurried. OL were pulling and blocking out in space. And again, before you say... yeah but Maryland.... I remind you how our OL struggled in recent years against even weak non-conference foes. It was really fun football to watch last night.

I just can't help but wonder how much McConnell held this team back over the years.

We still lack the talent at WR to really compete at the next level in today's game. And I think our DL depth is going to hurt us against some of the real power running teams in this conference. But I would like to think this year's team will be a lot of fun to watch.

I agree, it's Mitch McConnell's fault!

 

[cedricmelons]

McConnell and the Republican Congress have held back the NU offense for at least the last decade!

 

[TheC]

Ha.... whoops!

 

[DkeCat]

... if Clayton Thorson and JJTBC had a solid offensive coordinator to work with during their prime....

Anyway, that was as impressive as I've seen NU play in a long time. Granted, Maryland was terrible, but we've had trouble dominating inferior teams in the past. That offense looked as sharp as I can remember an NU team looking. The WRs were getting open. Even the OL looked fantastic. I don't think Peyton was sacked once and he was rarely even hurried. OL were pulling and blocking out in space. And again, before you say... yeah but Maryland.... I remind you how our OL struggled in recent years against even weak non-conference foes. It was really fun football to watch last night.

I just can't help but wonder how much McConnell held this team back over the years.

We still lack the talent at WR to really compete at the next level in today's game. And I think our DL depth is going to hurt us against some of the real power running teams in this conference. But I would like to think this year's team will be a lot of fun to watch.

or imagine if they got to play Maryland every week

 

[CoralSpringsCat]

or imagine if they got to play Maryland every week

Or had Anderson coaching and recruiting the OL.

 

[freewillie07]

Or had Anderson coaching and recruiting the OL.

Imagine if Cushing didn’t get a head coaching offer. Would he still be the OL coach? Probably?

 

[Figrating]

Or had Anderson coaching and recruiting the OL.

Zero sacks against NU. Really solid pass protection. Run blocking sometimes good, sometimes not. But very promising for the rest of the season.

Coach Jake and Coach Anderson will have the big fun growing old together at NU.

 

[FanatiCat]

We will really need some of the younger bigger WRs to step up to provide another dimension of target for Peyton - GHP and Dennis and maybe Kirtz (he’s only listed as 6’0” but isn’t he supposed to have a big vertical?

 

[Katatonic]

... if Clayton Thorson and JJTBC had a solid offensive coordinator to work with during their prime....

Going further back to Siemian's SR season, would have beaten UM, and one of Cal or NIU.

And Trevor likely wouldn't have suffered his season ending injury (McC went to the QB sneak one too many times, after being so slow to use it in the 1st place), which means a win instead of a loss against the pumpkin-heads and a decent bowl game.

McConnell and the Republican Congress have held back the NU offense for at least the last decade!

One turtle taketh away, another giveth...

 

[stpaulcat]

It's understandable if you have a bad case of Politics Brain.

 

[hdhntr1]

... if Clayton Thorson and JJTBC had a solid offensive coordinator to work with during their prime....

Anyway, that was as impressive as I've seen NU play in a long time. Granted, Maryland was terrible, but we've had trouble dominating inferior teams in the past. That offense looked as sharp as I can remember an NU team looking. The WRs were getting open. Even the OL looked fantastic. I don't think Peyton was sacked once and he was rarely even hurried. OL were pulling and blocking out in space. And again, before you say... yeah but Maryland.... I remind you how our OL struggled in recent years against even weak non-conference foes. It was really fun football to watch last night.

I just can't help but wonder how much McConnell held this team back over the years.

We still lack the talent at WR to really compete at the next level in today's game. And I think our DL depth is going to hurt us against some of the real power running teams in this conference. But I would like to think this year's team will be a lot of fun to watch.

Just remember that MD D last year gave up something over 500 yds per game in the BIG and that is what we got. Question is, is the MD D as bad as last year and we just got what they give up or are they better and we really did something

 

[NJCat]

Just remember that MD D last year gave up something over 500 yds per game in the BIG and that is what we got. Question is, is the MD D as bad as last year and we just got what they give up or are they better and we really did something

I seriously doubt the 2019 Cats would have put up the yards the 2020 version did last Saturday.......

 

[TheC]

I seriously doubt the 2019 Cats would have put up the yards the 2020 version did last Saturday.......

Yes, this would be my answer too. Having watched this offense struggle against bad teams for years, it was refreshing to see us pound a team we should have pounded. And that's assuming Maryland is really bad (which is probably a safe assumption).

 

[mickbula]

Has anyone looked at the rivals data base? Maryland has a lot of hs studs on their team. More so than half of the conference. They have a lot of talent. The coaching is what is suspect in my opinion.

 

[Hungry Jack]

Has anyone looked at the rivals data base? Maryland has a lot of hs studs on their team. More so than half of the conference. They have a lot of talent. The coaching is what is suspect in my opinion.

You think???

College kids need a lot of coaching. NU generally does not win because of superior talent. Our coaches take average talent (or less) and coach it up extremely well--few penalties, fewer missed assignments, good tackling, etc. These are coached up.