The Case for an Undefeated Season is Reasonable

[Turk]

I made the statement on saturday that Fitz taking points off the board may bite us in the ass because thses "close" victories could keep us from the playoffs.
Another fan said that is preposterous and we werent going to the playoffs as fitz was just being a good sportsman to line up in victory position instead of punching it in.

But not so fast.

Ive watched a defense that is simply ferocious and arguably already played against the two best offense short of a chamionship game against msu or osu.

Nobody that we play is ranked in the top 35 other than wisconsin.

Quite honestly few bigten qbs concern me. If we limit the mistakes of thorson and play ball control offense, we should have much better than equal chances to run the table.

But even if we lose one game, and beat #1 rated msu or osu in the championship then we could still reasonably expect playoff consideration at 11-1.

Those who are playing debbie downer and saying this conversation is a fairy tale are not being reasonable.

By reasonable, i say we have a better than 20% chance of being undefeated prior to playing msu or osu. I have witnessed a damn good football team and our defense is national caliber.

Thought?

 

[NJCat83588]

Thought?

"I coulda had a V-8!"

(You have to be old to remember that commercial.....)

 

[chicagocatfan24]

20% is an arbitrary number you threw out there. You really don't have any clue what you're talking about. Let me put it this way:

NU plays Wisco, Iowa, Minne, Michigan, and Nebraska and I'll even include Illinois in this.

Let's say the spread in each of those games is about +/- 3-5 or so. The games will more or less be 50/50 toss ups, meaning either team can win or lose.

If you're playing roulette at a casino, your odds of winning if you bet red or black are about 50/50 (don't worry about the green). For this analogy, say red are wins and black are losses.

The odds that you hit red (win) are about 50/50 each individual play. The odds you hit red (win) against Wisco, Minne, Iowa, Illinois, Nebby and Michigan all consecutively are minuscule.

So you're 20% number, like I said, is just an arbitrary number you threw out there.

Also, you wouldn't shut up about how good Thorson is this offseason. You'd think he was the next Tom Brady the way you talked about him. Now after 3 games you won't shut up about how bad he is.

Please stick to your day job.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

I made the statement on saturday that Fitz taking points off the board may bite us in the ass because thses "close" victories could keep us from the playoffs.
Another fan said that is preposterous and we werent going to the playoffs as fitz was just being a good sportsman to line up in victory position instead of punching it in.

But not so fast.

Ive watched a defense that is simply ferocious and arguably already played against the two best offense short of a chamionship game against msu or osu.

Nobody that we play is ranked in the top 35 other than wisconsin.

Quite honestly few bigten qbs concern me. If we limit the mistakes of thorson and play ball control offense, we should have much better than equal chances to run the table.

But even if we lose one game, and beat #1 rated msu or osu in the championship then we could still reasonably expect playoff consideration at 11-1.

Those who are playing debbie downer and saying this conversation is a fairy tale are not being reasonable.

By reasonable, i say we have a better than 20% chance of being undefeated prior to playing msu or osu. I have witnessed a damn good football team and our defense is national caliber.

Thought?

When did we take points off the board?

 

[Turk]

20% is an arbitrary number you threw out there. You really don't have any clue what you're talking about. Let me put it this way:

NU plays Wisco, Iowa, Minne, Michigan, and Nebraska and I'll even include Illinois in this.

Let's say the spread in each of those games is about +/- 3-5 or so. The games will more or less be 50/50 toss ups, meaning either team can win or lose.

If you're playing roulette at a casino, your odds of winning if you bet red or black are about 50/50 (don't worry about the green). For this analogy, say red are wins and black are losses.

The odds that you hit red (win) are about 50/50 each individual play. The odds you hit red (win) against Wisco, Minne, Iowa, Illinois, Nebby and Michigan all consecutively are minuscule.

So you're 20% number, like I said, is just an arbitrary number you threw out there.

Also, you wouldn't shut up about how good Thorson is this offseason. You'd think he was the next Tom Brady the way you talked about him. Now after 3 games you won't shut up about how bad he is.

Please stick to your day job.

You are incorrect son.
Kindly review huddlecast and see where i was the only one who wasnt even sure Thorson would start.
At any rate, this isnt a roulette table and i disagree with your 50/50 opinion. What i have seen doesnt allow me to conclude that we will split the bigten and be 4-4.

Yes, my 20% is arbitrary, i thought all expressions at this time are???

20% represents an unlikeliness of going undefeated but also represents a reasonable possibility. You obviously disagree and you may be right about us splitting the bigten. Your opinion is probably around 40% reasonable. Spiltting the bigten is par and safe.

But michigan iowa illinois are not very good teams thus instead of par, it is possible we get an eagle.

We beat two of the best 3 teams on our schedule comfortably enuf that we were in position to line up in victory formation with minutes left on the clock.

 

[Turk]

When did we take points off the board?

Against stanford we stood down on the given pick 6. And against a gassed duke defense on first and goal we decided to do the victory position in the name of sportsmanship. Im not sure why i had to explain this to you?

 

[gocatsgo2003]

Against stanford we stood down on the given pick 6. And against a gassed duke defense on first and goal we decided to do the victory position in the name of sportsmanship. Im not sure why i had to explain this to you?

Because that's not taking points off the board. Those are correct game management decisions.

 

[Hungry Jack]

Why is there a period in the middle of your title? Is it some sort of Orwellian code?

 

[pawildcat]

Our offense has to pick up to have any shot at the kind of season you describe. Even with a good D, you're eventually going to have a game where turnovers, bad field position and a play or two by the other team puts some points on the board for them. And despite your putdown of Michigan and Iowa, both those teams play solid defense, not to mention Wisky, Penn State and Minny.

 

[NJCat83588]

Against stanford we stood down on the given pick 6. And against a gassed duke defense on first and goal we decided to do the victory position in the name of sportsmanship. Im not sure why i had to explain this to you?

Don't points have to be ON the board to take them off? For example, kicking a FG, opponent penalized for offsides, and taking the penalty thus taking the 3 points off the board. I think it would be more accurate for you to say "not putting points on the board"......no guarantee NU scores against Duke for example, like they didn't score when running Hruby against EIU!

 

[Turk]

Because that's not taking points off the board. Those are correct game management decisions.

Because the points are given. Its a matter of opinion if its proper game management. I would agree with you if we are not considered for a playoff. But if we continue to play good football, the extra points would make a better case for inclusion.

 

[Turk]

Don't points have to be ON the board to take them off? For example, kicking a FG, opponent penalized for offsides, and taking the penalty thus taking the 3 points off the board. I think it would be more accurate for you to say "not putting points on the board"......no guarantee NU scores against Duke for example, like they didn't score when running Hruby against EIU!

No. Its the equivalence of pulling back the reins. The action is explicitly done to prevent the strong liklihood of points.

 

[shakes3858]

You are incorrect son.
Kindly review huddlecast and see where i was the only one who wasnt even sure Thorson would start.
At any rate, this isnt a roulette table and i disagree with your 50/50 opinion. What i have seen doesnt allow me to conclude that we will split the bigten and be 4-4.

Yes, my 20% is arbitrary, i thought all expressions at this time are???

20% represents an unlikeliness of going undefeated but also represents a reasonable possibility. You obviously disagree and you may be right about us splitting the bigten. Your opinion is probably around 40% reasonable. Spiltting the bigten is par and safe.

But michigan iowa illinois are not very good teams thus instead of par, it is possible we get an eagle.

We beat two of the best 3 teams on our schedule comfortably enuf that we were in position to line up in victory formation with minutes left on the clock.

I don't want to get in semantics with you, and will accept your premise of reasonably possible, but unlike. I think the number though is more like 5% maybe 3%.

 

[EvanstonCat]

20% is an arbitrary number you threw out there. You really don't have any clue what you're talking about. Let me put it this way:

NU plays Wisco, Iowa, Minne, Michigan, and Nebraska and I'll even include Illinois in this.

Let's say the spread in each of those games is about +/- 3-5 or so. The games will more or less be 50/50 toss ups, meaning either team can win or lose.

If you're playing roulette at a casino, your odds of winning if you bet red or black are about 50/50 (don't worry about the green). For this analogy, say red are wins and black are losses.

The odds that you hit red (win) are about 50/50 each individual play. The odds you hit red (win) against Wisco, Minne, Iowa, Illinois, Nebby and Michigan all consecutively are minuscule.

So you're 20% number, like I said, is just an arbitrary number you threw out there.

Also, you wouldn't shut up about how good Thorson is this offseason. You'd think he was the next Tom Brady the way you talked about him. Now after 3 games you won't shut up about how bad he is.

Please stick to your day job.

Your 50/50 assumption is just as arbitrary as Turk's 20%+. In fact, I'm leaning a lot closer to Turk's perspective on this one. I do not think any of the teams you mention have a 50% chance of beating NU. Not with this defense.

 

[Turk]

Our offense has to pick up to have any shot at the kind of season you describe. Even with a good D, you're eventually going to have a game where turnovers, bad field position and a play or two by the other team puts some points on the board for them. And despite your putdown of Michigan and Iowa, both those teams play solid defense, not to mention Wisky, Penn State and Minny.

Certainly mistakes can make us lose any amount of those games but ive witnessed a nu team that has outstanding leadership and a defense that i believe already shows as not only far exceeding any bigten team including osu, and could end up one of the best national defenses this year.
Both duke and stanford are very very good football teams and imo it was significant that we won away. More importantly we won against duke due to our depth and the ability to rotate. Significant because we both know that injuries will happen and our depth may prevent us from losing later in the season if injuries mount.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

Because the points are given. Its a matter of opinion if its proper game management. I would agree with you if we are not considered for a playoff. But if we continue to play good football, the extra points would make a better case for inclusion.

Take the win and move on. "Style points" only matter if you can do that every single time and this team is far from assured of doing that.

Plus our physical dominance of both games was pretty well established at that point. Not hard for those on the committee to see which was the better team in our Stanford and Duke games, especially our defense.

 

[gocatsgo2003]

No. Its the equivalence of pulling back the reins. The action is explicitly done to prevent the strong liklihood of points.

No, it is done to eliminate the small likelihood of a turnover or anything else disastrous that could turn a W into an L.

 

[Turk]

I don't want to get in semantics with you, and will accept your premise of reasonably possible, but unlike. I think the number though is more like 5% maybe 3%.

5% still considers the unlikely possibility which none of us considered a few short weeks ago. 5% is not that low of a number this early but imo it is high enuf insomuch that i think if we are up on minny by 10 pts with the ball on minnys 5 yard line with 1:30 to go that we keep playing football and make it a 17 pt game. Sure, that extra 7 pts would be cosmetic points but if we do have a 5% chance then we have to also be political and dress this thing up like a Christmas Tree for the subjective voters.

 

[NJCat83588]

5% still considers the unlikely possibility which none of us considered a few short weeks ago. 5% is not that low of a number this early but imo it is high enuf insomuch that i think if we are up on minny by 10 pts with the ball on minnys 5 yard line with 1:30 to go that we keep playing football and make it a 17 pt game. Sure, that extra 7 pts would be cosmetic points but if we do have a 5% chance then we have to also be political and dress this thing up like a Christmas Tree for the subjective voters.

I think the only way NU gets into the playoffs is by going undefeated. And if NU is undefeated, style points won't matter.

Why undefeated? Because if they lose a regular season game to someone in the West, no way they are good enough to beat either MSU or OSU in the title game. And the loser of a title game even if undefeated in the regular season won't go to the playoff.

 

[Turk]

I think the only way NU gets into the playoffs is by going undefeated. And if NU is undefeated, style points won't matter.

Why undefeated? Because if they lose a regular season game to someone in the West, no way they are good enough to beat either MSU or OSU in the title game. And the loser of a title game even if undefeated in the regular season won't go to the playoff.

Certainly if we lose a title game then it wont be possible to enter the playoffs. But based on what i have seen, we have possibilities to lose a game but beat osu.
Northern illinois almost did as osu has started musical chairs with their qb.

 

[chicagocatfan24]

Your 50/50 assumption is just as arbitrary as Turk's 20%+. In fact, I'm leaning a lot closer to Turk's perspective on this one. I do not think any of the teams you mention have a 50% chance of beating NU. Not with this defense.

I'm not saying I think those teams have a 50% chance or greater to beat NU either. I'm saying Vegas will think that. NU isn't blowing anyone out the rest of the year. They're going to play in nothing but close games. More so than not, the games against the teams I listed in my original reply will be one or two big plays from making the difference between a win or a loss. The chances NU runs the table are, like I said, minuscule. 20% is a huge, huge number. They'd have to catch every just about all good breaks, which they have so far, but there will be regression to the mean. There just has to be.

Regardless, this is the best NU defense I have ever seen. I'm not an alum, and I vaguely remember the Rose Bowl year (I was 8 years old). If the offense can just be decent, they'll win a ton of games this year. Anthony Walker is an animal. He's not playing at an all Big Ten level, he's playing at an All American level. What impresses me the most about him isn't how he defends the run, it's how great he is in pass defense. Just wish he didn't have stone hands haha.

 

[shakes3858]

5% still considers the unlikely possibility which none of us considered a few short weeks ago. 5% is not that low of a number this early but imo it is high enuf insomuch that i think if we are up on minny by 10 pts with the ball on minnys 5 yard line with 1:30 to go that we keep playing football and make it a 17 pt game. Sure, that extra 7 pts would be cosmetic points but if we do have a 5% chance then we have to also be political and dress this thing up like a Christmas Tree for the subjective voters.

Subjective voters are going to vote against Northwestern given any excuse. OSU got in over Baylor and TCU because of a fanbase, TV viewers and money. Bottom line, that's it. The only way we get in is if we go 13-0 or we go 12-1, win the title game, and there are no other power 5 champs with only 1 loss and Notre Dame is worse than 11-1. In other words, the only thing that matters is that number under L, not style points.

 

[Turk]

I'm not saying I think those teams have a 50% chance or greater to beat NU either. I'm saying Vegas will think that. NU isn't blowing anyone out the rest of the year. They're going to play in nothing but close games. More so than not, the games against the teams I listed in my original reply will be one or two big plays from making the difference between a win or a loss. The chances NU runs the table are, like I said, minuscule. 20% is a huge, huge number. They'd have to catch every just about all good breaks, which they have so far, but there will be regression to the mean. There just has to be.

Regardless, this is the best NU defense I have ever seen. I'm not an alum, and I vaguely remember the Rose Bowl year (I was 8 years old). If the offense can just be decent, they'll win a ton of games this year. Anthony Walker is an animal. He's not playing at an all Big Ten level, he's playing at an All American level. What impresses me the most about him isn't how he defends the run, it's how great he is in pass defense. Just wish he didn't have stone hands haha.

Interesting that you would finally admit that after you hammered me for equatting a redshirt freshman AWalk as a freshman Spielman.
You also hammered me for saying we would go 8-4 (a win total that now seems to low).

At any rate if i say something negative about the team, you claim it is profane. If i say something positive...you turn it into an impossibility.

Sheesh!

 

[CMcCat]

I made the statement on saturday that Fitz taking points off the board may bite us in the ass because thses "close" victories could keep us from the playoffs.
Another fan said that is preposterous and we werent going to the playoffs as fitz was just being a good sportsman to line up in victory position instead of punching it in.

But not so fast.

Ive watched a defense that is simply ferocious and arguably already played against the two best offense short of a chamionship game against msu or osu.

Nobody that we play is ranked in the top 35 other than wisconsin.

Quite honestly few bigten qbs concern me. If we limit the mistakes of thorson and play ball control offense, we should have much better than equal chances to run the table.

But even if we lose one game, and beat #1 rated msu or osu in the championship then we could still reasonably expect playoff consideration at 11-1.

Those who are playing debbie downer and saying this conversation is a fairy tale are not being reasonable.

By reasonable, i say we have a better than 20% chance of being undefeated prior to playing msu or osu. I have witnessed a damn good football team and our defense is national caliber.

Thought?

Let's just say the 2015 defense is on par with the 1995 defense. That's a pretty big leap but we'll make it for discussion purposes.

Let's also make the leap that JJ is on par with DA. Another leap at this point but plausible.

What other leaps can we make that would equate elements of the 2015 squad with a team capable of running the table in the B1G?

2015 OL does not match up to 1995. 2015 QB not close to 1995. 2015 WRs not near 1995.

I think we should be very happy with 8 wins this year, a nice bowl site and chance to build towards the year you expect...in 2016.

 

[pawildcat]

Subjective voters are going to vote against Northwestern given any excuse. OSU got in over Baylor and TCU because of a fanbase, TV viewers and money. Bottom line, that's it. The only way we get in is if we go 13-0 or we go 12-1, win the title game, and there are no other power 5 champs with only 1 loss and Notre Dame is worse than 11-1. In other words, the only thing that matters is that number under L, not style points.

Ohio State also beat a good Wisconsin team 59-0 in the B1G title game while the Big 12 had no title game. They were certainly as worthy a playoff team as Baylor or TCU.

 

[pawildcat]

Certainly mistakes can make us lose any amount of those games but ive witnessed a nu team that has outstanding leadership and a defense that i believe already shows as not only far exceeding any bigten team including osu, and could end up one of the best national defenses this year.
Both duke and stanford are very very good football teams and imo it was significant that we won away. More importantly we won against duke due to our depth and the ability to rotate. Significant because we both know that injuries will happen and our depth may prevent us from losing later in the season if injuries mount.

Yes, but sooner or later you're going to have to score some points to win a football game. We're not going to give up 10 points or less every game.You can't constantly put the defense in a position where one or two mistakes in the secondary could cost us a loss. We need to get some passing O going or some of the good defensive teams we're facing this year are going to load the box and stone Jackson. Not to mention we might get Jackson hurt running him 30 times a game. We had a rough time running on Duke most of the game, and I doubt their d-line is better than Minny, Wisky, Michigan or Penn State.

 

[chicagocatfan24]

Interesting that you would finally admit that after you hammered me for equatting a redshirt freshman AWalk as a freshman Spielman.
You also hammered me for saying we would go 8-4 (a win total that now seems to low).

At any rate if i say something negative about the team, you claim it is profane. If i say something positive...you turn it into an impossibility.

Sheesh!

I never hammered you for saying anything about Walker. I never hammered you for saying we would go 8-4. I hammer you because you speak as if you know the game at a much higher level than everyone knows you really do. I'm not the only one who reads these message boards that has sniffed this out.

 

[FanatiCat]

We have a championship defense. A B1G championship defense, that is. And maybe (with everyone healthy) a Playoff level defense.

We do not, however, have a championship QB or WR play at this point. Perhaps it would be good enough for a West division title, since Minny and Wisky had very shaky passing games last year and they were playing for the West in the season finale. This was mainly because of their D and run games.

 

[Turk]

Let's just say the 2015 defense is on par with the 1995 defense. That's a pretty big leap but we'll make it for discussion purposes.

Let's also make the leap that JJ is on par with DA. Another leap at this point but plausible.

What other leaps can we make that would equate elements of the 2015 squad with a team capable of running the table in the B1G?

2015 OL does not match up to 1995. 2015 QB not close to 1995. 2015 WRs not near 1995.

I think we should be very happy with 8 wins this year, a nice bowl site and chance to build towards the year you expect...in 2016.

Yes we should b happy with 8-4 and as i said on the show, a 7-5 season would be a very very good coaching job.

That said, im assessing 2015 by 2015 alone. However, if i were to compare our 2015 defense to the 1995 one then i would have to conclude that its not a leap of anything but quite objective to conclude that 2015 is not only par but above par defense when compared solely to 1995. Our talent and productivity are ahead although with some similarities. CD record on 26 TFL (albeit in 1996) is under pressure from AWalk.

And if we are going to compare the 1995 season with 2015 then we would necessarily have to compare the schedules. The 1995 team played against a tougher schedule including a much tougher bigten. I think they played against 6 ranked teams whereas we may only play against two.

At any rate, admittedly the talk is premature however reasonably so considering our leadership on this team.

 

[Turk]

I never hammered you for saying anything about Walker. I never hammered you for saying we would go 8-4. I hammer you because you speak as if you know the game at a much higher level than everyone knows you really do. I'm not the only one who reads these message boards that has sniffed this out.

I never claim to say im credible or any authority. You just like building strwamen and keep telling folks i am no expert. I admit im no expert so i have no idea what your fuss is???
Your second point against me is your claim that players hate my guts. However, i dont claim to seek their opinion on me plus it is a reasonable emotion to dislike my grades especially if someone feels im unfair. Why wouldnt they?

That said, i talk to more former players than you can count and not because of any other reason other than they can appreciate myself and other diehard fans that have actually engaged by more than just buying a season ticket.

 

[phatcat]

Let's just say the 2015 defense is on par with the 1995 defense. That's a pretty big leap but we'll make it for discussion purposes.

Let's also make the leap that JJ is on par with DA. Another leap at this point but plausible.

What other leaps can we make that would equate elements of the 2015 squad with a team capable of running the table in the B1G?

2015 OL does not match up to 1995. 2015 QB not close to 1995. 2015 WRs not near 1995.

I think we should be very happy with 8 wins this year, a nice bowl site and chance to build towards the year you expect...in 2016.

You could also make the leap that the special teams are on par with 95. Mitchell is good, Niswander is promising, Vault looks special, we are ok defending kicks. Good ST's.

My big concern is the nicked up OL (IF they were at full strength it is a good unit), and I am just not sure we more than 1 decent receiver.

 

[stpaulcat]

20% is an arbitrary number you threw out there. You really don't have any clue what you're talking about. Let me put it this way:

NU plays Wisco, Iowa, Minne, Michigan, and Nebraska and I'll even include Illinois in this.

Let's say the spread in each of those games is about +/- 3-5 or so. The games will more or less be 50/50 toss ups, meaning either team can win or lose.

If you're playing roulette at a casino, your odds of winning if you bet red or black are about 50/50 (don't worry about the green). For this analogy, say red are wins and black are losses.

The odds that you hit red (win) are about 50/50 each individual play. The odds you hit red (win) against Wisco, Minne, Iowa, Illinois, Nebby and Michigan all consecutively are minuscule.

So you're 20% number, like I said, is just an arbitrary number you threw out there.

Also, you wouldn't shut up about how good Thorson is this offseason. You'd think he was the next Tom Brady the way you talked about him. Now after 3 games you won't shut up about how bad he is.

Please stick to your day job.

This is Turk's day job.

 

[willycat]

I'm not saying I think those teams have a 50% chance or greater to beat NU either. I'm saying Vegas will think that. NU isn't blowing anyone out the rest of the year. They're going to play in nothing but close games. More so than not, the games against the teams I listed in my original reply will be one or two big plays from making the difference between a win or a loss. The chances NU runs the table are, like I said, minuscule. 20% is a huge, huge number. They'd have to catch every just about all good breaks, which they have so far, but there will be regression to the mean. There just has to be.

Regardless, this is the best NU defense I have ever seen. I'm not an alum, and I vaguely remember the Rose Bowl year (I was 8 years old). If the offense can just be decent, they'll win a ton of games this year. Anthony Walker is an animal. He's not playing at an all Big Ten level, he's playing at an All American level. What impresses me the most about him isn't how he defends the run, it's how great he is in pass defense. Just wish he didn't have stone hands haha.

If the D stays healthy NU can win any of the remaining games on the schedule. The Cats will be favored against Purdue and Illinois and likely vs. Minny, Io-a and Pen St. at home. Underdog at Wisconsin but probably pick-em against Michigan and Nebraska on the road. Could see a 8 or 9 win season if the D and JJ stay healthy and some form of a passing game materializes.

 

[Wrestlerneverdiesasacatfan]

I made the statement on saturday that Fitz taking points off the board may bite us in the ass because thses "close" victories could keep us from the playoffs.
Another fan said that is preposterous and we werent going to the playoffs as fitz was just being a good sportsman to line up in victory position instead of punching it in.

But not so fast.

Ive watched a defense that is simply ferocious and arguably already played against the two best offense short of a chamionship game against msu or osu.

Nobody that we play is ranked in the top 35 other than wisconsin.

Quite honestly few bigten qbs concern me. If we limit the mistakes of thorson and play ball control offense, we should have much better than equal chances to run the table.

But even if we lose one game, and beat #1 rated msu or osu in the championship then we could still reasonably expect playoff consideration at 11-1.

Those who are playing debbie downer and saying this conversation is a fairy tale are not being reasonable.

By reasonable, i say we have a better than 20% chance of being undefeated prior to playing msu or osu. I have witnessed a damn good football team and our defense is national caliber.

Thought?

Well said,Turk! We need to stay healthy and have our QB and online develop!

 

[Turk]

Well said,Turk! We need to stay healthy and have our QB and online develop!

roni, as a studdnt athlete at nu and one of their greatest authors, i appreciate your opinion. There is a reason why you are the voice of nu football.

 

[mybrotha]

For us to go undefeated and there's some legitimate logic based on our defense and improving special teams, our offense will have to improve a lot! We have a good running game, but Thorson and the receivers are going to need to improve more than quite a bit for that to happen. The worry here is that while Thorson wasn't picked in the first two games, (should have been multiple times) he did get picked twice last game. Eventually these turnovers will become points and if our defense has an off game, we could find ourselves in trouble fast!

 

[Turk]

For us to go undefeated and there's some legitimate logic based on our defense and improving special teams, our offense will have to improve a lot! We have a good running game, but Thorson and the receivers are going to need to improve more than quite a bit for that to happen. The worry here is that while Thorson wasn't picked in the first two games, (should have been multiple times) he did get picked twice last game. Eventually these turnovers will become points and if our defense has an off game, we could find ourselves in trouble fast!

Its reasonable to discuss going into the playoffs at this point because we have direct evidence that we can overcome a struggling freshman. We have simply entered the discussion. I put the actual chances at 20% which i find reasonable but something between a half court shot and shaq doing a 3pt shot.

 

[stpaulcat]

I made the statement on saturday that Fitz taking points off the board may bite us in the ass because thses "close" victories could keep us from the playoffs.
Another fan said that is preposterous and we werent going to the playoffs as fitz was just being a good sportsman to line up in victory position instead of punching it in.

But not so fast.

Ive watched a defense that is simply ferocious and arguably already played against the two best offense short of a chamionship game against msu or osu.

Nobody that we play is ranked in the top 35 other than wisconsin.

Quite honestly few bigten qbs concern me. If we limit the mistakes of thorson and play ball control offense, we should have much better than equal chances to run the table.

But even if we lose one game, and beat #1 rated msu or osu in the championship then we could still reasonably expect playoff consideration at 11-1.

Those who are playing debbie downer and saying this conversation is a fairy tale are not being reasonable.

By reasonable, i say we have a better than 20% chance of being undefeated prior to playing msu or osu. I have witnessed a damn good football team and our defense is national caliber.

Thought?

Sure we've got a great defense. But where is the evidence we can beat Iowa, Penn State, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Michigan? Sure, we could win any of these games, but I'll be very surprised if we win more than half of them. Iowa is showing a good team right now and we play them at Kinnick. Penn State always finds a way to beat us. Last year against Wisconsin was an anomaly I believe and again we play them at Randall, as with Nebraska who had an offensive onslaught you wouldn't believe in their almost comeback last week, and Michigan who is getting better and btw, Harbaugh is their coach. Convince me we can/will these games as you seem to suggest and I'll be a happy camper.

 

[Turk]

Sure we've got a great defense. But where is the evidence we can beat Iowa, Penn State, Wisconsin, Nebraska and Michigan? Sure, we could win any of these games, but I'll be very surprised if we win more than half of them. Iowa is showing a good team right now and we play them at Kinnick. Penn State always finds a way to beat us. Last year against Wisconsin was an anomaly I believe and again we play them at Randall, as with Nebraska who had an offensive onslaught you wouldn't believe in their almost comeback last week, and Michigan who is getting better and btw, Harbaugh is their coach. Convince me we can/will these games as you seem to suggest and I'll be a happy camper.

Im not convinced we can win all of those games. Certainly that would be quite an accomplishment. The only thing certain is that its reasonable to suggest that we have a 20% chance. My prediction may be high, as other predictions place this accomplishment at 5%, which still enters this as a reasonable discussion. There is a reason why none of those teams are ranked in the top 35 other than wisconsin so i think our schedule is accomadating to any team that is still in the playoff discussion.

 

[stpaulcat]

Im not convinced we can win all of those games. Certainly that would be quite an accomplishment. The only thing certain is that its reasonable to suggest that we have a 20% chance. My prediction may be high, as other predictions place this accomplishment at 5%, which still enters this as a reasonable discussion. There is a reason why none of those teams are ranked in the top 35 other than wisconsin so i think our schedule is accomadating to any team that is still in the playoff discussion.

"There is a reason why none of those teams are ranked in the top 35"

Yet.