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Recruiting: 2017

I think this is exactly right. Since we lack the number of on-campus students and alumni bases that the big state schools have, we will likely never have a huge home crowd like our rivals do. We could still fill Ryan Field and provide an exciting atmosphere IF NU football became a big thing in Chicago and non-NU alums got excited to come to games because it was the thing to do.... I imagine Duke basketball is kind of like that in Durham. I worry, however, that this is not really compatible with Coach Fitz. To become a hot ticket, NU needs to play a more exciting, fast-paced style I would imagine. The defense first, conservative offense is probably not as likely to bring in the ordinary sports fan. Thus, I think what we are seeing now may be as good as it gets -- which is still pretty good considering the alternative we've seen as NU fans.

Keep winning. The best is yet to come.
 
Morris, Brown and Fluerima all nobrainers

Don't forget Sebastian Cheeks and I would add WR Jacob Bostick from Palatine (transfer from Fremd) to the list. The 2022 class in Illinois is underestimated, which is par for the course when it comes to Illinois HS football.
 
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That therein is the crux of the problem. Or our remaining gap. We need to close on these guys. More Skoronski's. More Thorsons and JJTBC's. Gary Barnett was able to bring enough of them to Evanston for multiple top 25 or top 30 classes to help win 3 titles. With world-class facitiities and a much stronger track record and program in place, there's no reason we can't succeed, and I expect us to step things up in a big way especially when recruits can visit our facilities (hopefully later this year) and coming off our 2nd West title in 3 years and top 10 finish.

In my view Fitz has brought in more top to bottom talent than Barnett. 2 of those titles Fitz was the on-field leader and captain. Without Fitz I don't think we have one of the best defenses in the country in '95. Some of Fitz's teams are better than the '96 and 2000 BT champions. Those teams were thin and never had to beat OSU for a title. and frankly once the 2000 team's offense got figured out a bit, the team was not good. They got beat by last place Iowa when they had a chance to go to the Rose Bowl and then got utterly destroyed by Nebraska. Fitz's teams are more well rounded and deeper than Barnett's or Walker and I think several would beat any Barnett team other than '95 NU. And take Fitz off '95 NU from the start and maybe they aren't the same either.
 
In my view Fitz has brought in more top to bottom talent than Barnett. 2 of those titles Fitz was the on-field leader and captain. Without Fitz I don't think we have one of the best defenses in the country in '95. Some of Fitz's teams are better than the '96 and 2000 BT champions. Those teams were thin and never had to beat OSU for a title. and frankly once the 2000 team's offense got figured out a bit, the team was not good. They got beat by last place Iowa when they had a chance to go to the Rose Bowl and then got utterly destroyed by Nebraska. Fitz's teams are more well rounded and deeper than Barnett's or Walker and I think several would beat any Barnett team other than '95 NU. And take Fitz off '95 NU from the start and maybe they aren't the same either.
Sports Reference would tend to agree with you. By their Simple Ranking System, the "good" teams from '95-onwards rate out as follows:

YearRecordSRSSOSNotes
199510-219.609.27Rose Bowl, 'nuff said
20207-212.494.82Division champs, dominant bowl win
201710-311.365.138-game win streak, bowl win, peak Thorson and Sr year JJTBC
20057-59.278.44RW final season, 2nd-best offense under Walker, Sun Bowl craziness
201210-38.970.97Killed the monkey, best offense under McCall
20008-48.854.26Co-champs, best offense in recent memory
19969-38.752.84Co-champs
20189-57.515.94Division champs, comeback bowl win
201510-37.304.23Body clocks, elite D, non-existent O, but all 3 losses were blowouts
20167-65.463.07Pinstripe bowl win
20089-44.82-0.11First bowl under Fitz

The 2009-2011 teams which all made bowls are rated far down the list, mostly due to squeaking by or losing to bad teams. The 2010 season might have gone differently without Persa's injury, though even before that we barely beat terrible Minnesota and IU teams and lost to Purdue.

I think the most interesting placement on this list is that 2005 team. An unstoppable offense and a swiss-cheese defense that had some of the most exciting games I've ever attended. Could that offense beat a Fitz-led or Hank-led defense?
 
Keep winning. The best is yet to come.

Yep. We've seen what kind of Gameday experience (literally) NU can have when the team is ranked and winning games, both in football and basketball.

The biggest reason for optimism should be that the talent boost that has made NU's defense one of the country's best is starting to make its way to the offense now.

- The OL talent pickup under Coach Anderson is undeniable.
- QB room got a big boost for years with Hilinski.
- Cam Porter + Anthony Tyus at running back.
- WR momentum starting to pick up with Robinson, plus Jordan Mosley and potentially Calvin Johnson II in the 2021 class, plus hopefully Fleurima in the 2022 class.

That's not to say the offense is going to magically be awesome because of the number of stars next to Hilinski, Tyus and Mosley, but it certainly seems to be trending in the right direction.

And if NU starts to not just win nail-biters as the Cardiac Cats, but actually fairly easily wins games they're supposed to, I think that will turn out the crowds more reliably. Seeing good defense AND good offense is fun.
 
Yep. We've seen what kind of Gameday experience (literally) NU can have when the team is ranked and winning games, both in football and basketball.

Do not underestimate the 2013 Gameday experience against Ohio State. That was probably the most excited the country was about NU football since 1995. Granted, NU came up short that night in what was ultimately a disappointing season, but we need more experiences like THAT.

And if NU starts to not just win nail-biters as the Cardiac Cats, but actually fairly easily wins games they're supposed to, I think that will turn out the crowds more reliably. Seeing good defense AND good offense is fun.

The Auburn game was a nice start. Beat a good team fairly easily without people pointing at this or that and saying NU was "lucky."
 
Yep. We've seen what kind of Gameday experience (literally) NU can have when the team is ranked and winning games, both in football and basketball.

The biggest reason for optimism should be that the talent boost that has made NU's defense one of the country's best is starting to make its way to the offense now.

- The OL talent pickup under Coach Anderson is undeniable.
- QB room got a big boost for years with Hilinski.
- Cam Porter + Anthony Tyus at running back.
- WR momentum starting to pick up with Robinson, plus Jordan Mosley and potentially Calvin Johnson II in the 2021 class, plus hopefully Fleurima in the 2022 class.

That's not to say the offense is going to magically be awesome because of the number of stars next to Hilinski, Tyus and Mosley, but it certainly seems to be trending in the right direction.

And if NU starts to not just win nail-biters as the Cardiac Cats, but actually fairly easily wins games they're supposed to, I think that will turn out the crowds more reliably. Seeing good defense AND good offense is fun.
Just remember, we have been spoiled on D having the mad doctor back there. We really don't know what we will have going forward. We hope it will be similar but truth be told, we really do not know. We are seeing signs that we will see an improvement on O but again, we really don't know how the two will mesh together
 
Yep. We've seen what kind of Gameday experience (literally) NU can have when the team is ranked and winning games, both in football and basketball.

The biggest reason for optimism should be that the talent boost that has made NU's defense one of the country's best is starting to make its way to the offense now.

- The OL talent pickup under Coach Anderson is undeniable.
- QB room got a big boost for years with Hilinski.
- Cam Porter + Anthony Tyus at running back.
- WR momentum starting to pick up with Robinson, plus Jordan Mosley and potentially Calvin Johnson II in the 2021 class, plus hopefully Fleurima in the 2022 class.

That's not to say the offense is going to magically be awesome because of the number of stars next to Hilinski, Tyus and Mosley, but it certainly seems to be trending in the right direction.

And if NU starts to not just win nail-biters as the Cardiac Cats, but actually fairly easily wins games they're supposed to, I think that will turn out the crowds more reliably. Seeing good defense AND good offense is fun.

Great post. Couldn’t agree more. Lots of reasons to be optimistic.
 
Do not underestimate the 2013 Gameday experience against Ohio State. That was probably the most excited the country was about NU football since 1995. Granted, NU came up short that night in what was ultimately a disappointing season, but we need more experiences like THAT.



The Auburn game was a nice start. Beat a good team fairly easily without people pointing at this or that and saying NU was "lucky."

I wasn’t underestimating it! Not only was I there for Gameday, it’s exactly the type of atmosphere I think NU would get if it were a staple in the Top 25 and consistent threat to win the Big Ten.

I would also point to the CBS game against Purdue at WRA during the NCAA season in basketball as a sign of what is possible. But like Coral said, just keep winning.
 
I wasn’t underestimating it! Not only was I there for Gameday, it’s exactly the type of atmosphere I think NU would get if it were a staple in the Top 25 and consistent threat to win the Big Ten.

I would also point to the CBS game against Purdue at WRA during the NCAA season in basketball as a sign of what is possible. But like Coral said, just keep winning.

I have to think that Wisconsin week in Evanston this past year would have been pretty good.
 
I wasn’t underestimating it! Not only was I there for Gameday, it’s exactly the type of atmosphere I think NU would get if it were a staple in the Top 25 and consistent threat to win the Big Ten.

I would also point to the CBS game against Purdue at WRA during the NCAA season in basketball as a sign of what is possible. But like Coral said, just keep winning.

Didn't mean to imply that you personally were underestimating it. Just a general comment. And I wanted to add the Purdue game to my post but didn't because I'm on the football board (and I missed that game...grrr).

The point stands...Michigan and Penn State along with of course Ohio State still get the "big-game treatment" nationally during the regular season and NU does not...yet. It takes a lot to get there. I'm not even sure Wisconsin is there yet, and they've consistently been a very good team for a long time. Maybe it's because they lose to Northwestern so much?
 
Don't forget Sebastian Cheeks and I would add WR Jacob Bostick from Palatine (transfer from Fremd) to the list. The 2022 class in Illinois is underestimated, which is par for the course when it comes to Illinois HS football.
Yeah I'm hearing that but hadn't seen either play. Got to watch the others play in 2019 or whole game tape.

I would die if the Cats landed Morris. Alas I think he's headed to Michigan
 
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Sports Reference would tend to agree with you. By their Simple Ranking System, the "good" teams from '95-onwards rate out as follows:

YearRecordSRSSOSNotes
199510-219.609.27Rose Bowl, 'nuff said
20207-212.494.82Division champs, dominant bowl win
201710-311.365.138-game win streak, bowl win, peak Thorson and Sr year JJTBC
20057-59.278.44RW final season, 2nd-best offense under Walker, Sun Bowl craziness
201210-38.970.97Killed the monkey, best offense under McCall
20008-48.854.26Co-champs, best offense in recent memory
19969-38.752.84Co-champs
20189-57.515.94Division champs, comeback bowl win
201510-37.304.23Body clocks, elite D, non-existent O, but all 3 losses were blowouts
20167-65.463.07Pinstripe bowl win
20089-44.82-0.11First bowl under Fitz

The 2009-2011 teams which all made bowls are rated far down the list, mostly due to squeaking by or losing to bad teams. The 2010 season might have gone differently without Persa's injury, though even before that we barely beat terrible Minnesota and IU teams and lost to Purdue.

I think the most interesting placement on this list is that 2005 team. An unstoppable offense and a swiss-cheese defense that had some of the most exciting games I've ever attended. Could that offense beat a Fitz-led or Hank-led defense?

1995 "Body Clocks" Once I figured it out, lmao. But, but, but, it's only 9 am on the West Coast.
 
The biggest reason for optimism should be that the talent boost that has made NU's defense one of the country's best is starting to make its way to the offense now.

- The OL talent pickup under Coach Anderson is undeniable.
- QB room got a big boost for years with Hilinski.
- Cam Porter + Anthony Tyus at running back.
- WR momentum starting to pick up with Robinson, plus Jordan Mosley and potentially Calvin Johnson II in the 2021 class, plus hopefully
I'm hoping that the 2021 recruiting class will go down in NU history as the turning point for our lethargic offense with the infusion of playmakers. The OL is definitely headed in the right direction already, with 3 recruits from last year in the two deep all year - Skoronski, Priebe, and Wrather. We added two more studs this year in Tiernan and Thompson. Now we have some scoring weapons who will benefit from the upgraded OL. Gonna be fun!
 
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