Show me the last kid who ended up at either Illinois or NU to say "plus I picked [NU/Illinois] so I could play [NU/Illinois] every year."
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Show me the last kid who ended up at either Illinois or NU to say "plus I picked [NU/Illinois] so I could play [NU/Illinois] every year."
That was not my point. Point is the rivalry matters, especially to in-state kids.
Sorry you feel that way. I think kicking the snot out of Illinois is a lot of fun.
And I'm disagreeing with that point based on my own experiences in recruiting and being around the team, asking you to back it up.
I get it. You disagree. It's an opinion. You can let it go now.
While I like the recent in-state dominance against U of I. I would rather develop Nebraska as a rivalry. Much more national exposure and for the most part extremely competitive games since joining the B1G.
You misunderstood. I think it will be Lovie that walks away because he didn't realize how deep of a rebuild and how long of a slog he has in front of him. I don't think he has the energy or the staff to do what it takes to rebuild Illinois' football program. They should have hired a younger, energetic college coach with a track record of success on the field and in recruiting. As much as I dislike the guy, PJ Fleck would have been a much better hire for them. Good for us that they did not pursue him.
Well, we have to start dominating somebody. It is nice to be competitive but you have to consistently whoop a few people to get a reputations that allows you to say, "Hey, We are just better than them." It isn't enough to win some, lose some but survive enough to be pretty good. You have to be the guy who is responsible for putting the opposition out of contention.
Ummm... haven't we dominated the Illini to the tune of 10-4 over the past decade or so? We have given Wisconsin fits at times, as well as Iowa.
With Illinois in the crapper, there is not much fun in going to Champaign for a game when the stands are empty. I went several years ago, back when the Illini were somewhat competitive, and had a great time at a tailgate and then the game (it was the Sweet Home Chicago we lost 38-35). I also went to the Missouri - Illini game at the Jones Dome way back when and it was fun.
If we are going to dominate someone, I'd set my sights higher. I would give up ice cream if we could Michigan our whipping boy.
When we can say we have beaten them 9 of 10 times, or no one on NU's squad has ever lost to Illinois, I'd be more satisfied. What is OSU record against us in the last 10 games?
Well, in that case, we beat Indiana 9 out of the last 10 times. Why not just use them?
Not in our division. It needs to be a division opponent.
Statements like Notre Dame has not beaten us since 1994 are fun but we have only played twice. Having a game that we play every year and the opponent circles us because they can't stand losing and they still lose... that is dominating.
I don't think we care if the Illini are good or not.
I hope we create a rivalry with dOSU or Michigan because we're seeing and beating their asses every year in Indianapolis.
That is a start. IMO but just a start. My point is that teams like OSU keep lots of teams in the basement. We were competitive with OSU (still lost) and need be beating them at least 1 in 3 times. Meanwhile, we need three or four teams that just can't get over the hump with us.
When fans look at their schedule 6 month in advance, I want them counting NU as a probable loss based on passed experience.
Based on that logic, there are just a few teams that might fit that description across the nation--Bama, OSU (Mich and PSU fans excepted), Clemson (with Watson gone, who knows), maybe USC now with Darnold, etc. It's just not something that applies to the vast majority of teams.
There is a progression...
1. Establish that NU can compete at the B1G level- Done
2. Establish that NU can regularly be competitive in the B1G - Done
3. Establish enough tradition and support that we have a strong home field advantage - Working on it
4. Establish that we are regularly competitive for the Division - Working on it
5. Establish a regular presence in the conference championship game - Working on it
6. Establish that we are regularly in the discussions for the play-offs - Working on it
7. Establish that we are a regular contender for NC - Working on it
If you look at that ladder, we might have a few rungs to go before we are spoken of in the same breath with OSU and Alabama.
But we are still moving up the ladder and we might be grabbing a rung or two or three within the next very few years.
They can still play for us against a competitive IA and WIS even if IL is irrelevant.
Just because it is our only trophy game doesn't mean it is the only chance at a rivalry. For a long time, was it the only game we played every year? We now play a number of teams every year so our rivalries can be with other programs such as IA and WI (maybe we need trophies for those games) At this point, IL probably needs us more than we need them. Things go through cycles and at some point they will be back but I can wait.
We do play them every year but I would guess IA and WIS are more natural. NU fans can get to them easy enough while NEB is much more difficult. Doesn't it help to have a few opponents fans at your ballpark? Hard to do for NU to NEB but much easier for us to get to IA and WI. Even MN is easier. PU is in a similar boat to IL. We play them every year but lately they are currently irrelevant. If they improve, they can also provide the rivalry that we are presently missing
Because we do not play them every year. Hard to be a rivalry if you only play them on average 3 or 4 times every 10 years.
So what we are basically saying is that we need to beat up on the bottom half of the conference being competitive against top tier, something along the lines of:
90% win pct vs. Ill, Indiana, Purdue, Rutgers, Maryland
60% (would be thrilled) vs. Nebraska, Minny, Iowa, MSU
40-50% vs. Wisky (check), Mich (nope), OSU (nope), PSU (lately yes)
Performance like that probably puts you in consistent 8-10 wins every season, with 6-8 conference wins. I don' think any of us would complain about this.
90% win pct vs. Ill, Indiana, Purdue, Rutgers, Maryland
60% (would be thrilled) vs. Nebraska, Minny, Iowa, MSU
40-50% vs. Wisky (check), Mich (nope), OSU (nope), PSU (lately yes)
Performance like that probably puts you in consistent 8-10 wins every season, with 6-8 conference wins. I don' think any of us would complain about this.
I can name at least one person and possibly a second that would complain... and call for some or all of the coaches to be fired.
At which point I would duct tape them to the seat in the back of a school bus next to Celine Dion and have it driven across 20 miles of bad road.I can name at least one person and possibly a second that would complain... and call for some or all of the coaches to be fired.
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I love the fact that this is a pretty exciting time to be a Northwestern fan. And I agree that things are looking up for our football program. But let's make no mistake.... we are a looooooooooooooooong ways away from being spoken of in the same breath with OSU and Alabama. The key question is... do we really ever want to be?
I think becoming an OSU or Alabama isn't possible or even desirable.
I would like to see us consistently overachieve. That means having a program that can attract top talent for its mix of on-field success, academics, and team atmosphere and character.
On the field, it means confidence and consistency. I'd like to become a perennial contender in the West division, not unlike Wiscy. And, yes, that means taking care of business against lesser programs every year and being more than competitive with the best in the B1G as well.
I would think the target level is Stanford football, not OSU or Alabama. These latter two are not realistic targets or comps.
I want to dominate the lolIllini. Like playing my 6th string running back in the 4th quarter every game against them dominant. Like hearing the announcer say 40 years from now that "the last time the Illini beat Northwestern was way back in X" dominant. Like Michigan over Rutgers this past year dominant.
I may need to clarify my point, as I am beating around the bush here so I will use Feli ALL CAPS to be more direct: I WANT US TO BEAT THE ABSOLUTE TAR OUT OF THEM, SO BADLY THAT EVERY ILLINI PLAYER CONTEMPLATES QUITTING FOOTBALL AFTER THE GAME, RINSE AND REPEAT EACH AND EVERY YEAR, UNTIL I DIE...
I may need to clarify my point, as I am beating around the bush here so I will use Feli ALL CAPS to be more direct: I WANT US TO BEAT THE ABSOLUTE TAR OUT OF THEM, SO BADLY THAT EVERY ILLINI PLAYER CONTEMPLATES QUITTING FOOTBALL AFTER THE GAME, RINSE AND REPEAT EACH AND EVERY YEAR, UNTIL I DIE...
If we beat them every year they will hate us more and that is also good for the rivalry.
We should beat them every year just for the sake of the rivalry.
So then we hope we are saying. What is the similarity between Drums and Pumpkinheads? We beat them regularly
