I was out of internet range for the weekend, so sorry for the lack of updates. Today, I’ll run through the plethora of news and notes from the past week, and I’ll post my preview of the middle four NU games later in the week.
Injuries: Really, the most important news coming out of any camp is the injuries. NU has reported four players will not be able to play in the opener against Vandy, and possibly beyond. The most significant of these injuries is David Arnold, who was competing for a starting safety job. He would most likely be the third safety in our nickel set, in the space most recently occupied by Brendan Smith. Hopefully, Arnold has a speedy recovery and is back before the Cats face some of the stronger offenses. We saw how injuries to the secondary can hurt NU last year against Syracuse and Minnesota. Goodlow will add some strong depth to an already deep linebacker corps. Losing him early in the season will, hopefully, not be a large loss. Jones and Riley were already candidates for a redshirt, which is now basically a certainty. If these are the only injuries between now and September 4, NU should consider itself lucky. Good luck to the boys for the rest of camp and stay healthy!
Starters: There are very few position battles in Camp Kenosha this season. And Fitz is keeping the lid on who the starters will be for week one. He did reveal, with certainty, what he suggested at Big Ten Media Day. Brandon Williams will be NU's Punter; Demos will handle the rest of the kicking duties.
Coaches Show: NU announced this week that Fitz will join the rest of the Big Ten coaches and host a weekly coach’s show. This will broadcast locally on Comcast Sports and nationally on the Big Ten Network. Apparently there is also a movement to encourage Fitz to grow a mustache. Facial hair aside, the show is a great addition to the marketing push. This will be must-see-TV in my household. But from a recruiting standpoint, this is long overdue. Fitz now has the opportunity to be in the homes of every recruit at least once a week. NU’s coverage on the Big Ten Network recently received some street cred’ from recent commit Treyvon Green (thanks to Lake the Posts for the content).
Louie Vaccher's interview with recent NU 2011 RB commit, Treyvon Green: Green cited his only knowledge of Northwestern from watching them on the Big Ten Network and specifically cited access to games on the BTN as a key influencer in his interest. I've contended for years that the BTN helps the more unheralded programs like NU - who are getting desperate exposure in places they simply don't have the name brand (YET!) appeal of those that have generations of national default TV status. Great to see.
New Jersey: No, this is not a report on Rutgers and the Big Ten. The NU media guide announced the long-expected tweeks to the NU uniforms this year. NU will return to the aptly-named “Northwestern Stripes” on the arms of the home and away uni’s. Why NU would ever move away from its namesake is beyond me – especially considering the Cats used the USC-esque crescent stripes for the last few years. Also, NU will have black pants, with stripes, for the home kits. Recall that NU wore black pants with the purple shirts against OSU in ’06 and Duke in ’07 – a pretty sharp outfit, if I recall. NU will keep the all white road kits, although the pants promise stripes, rather than plain. Thanks to Sippin on Purple for this graphic cut from the Media Guide.
Future Schedules: In less-significant news, NU announced a four-game series with Duke, to run from 2015-2018. I have always been a proponent of playing BCS schools, so I can’t really complain about this one too much.
NFL Cats: I don’t plan to report too much on former players on this blog, but these two notes are too significant to pass up. First, Eagles assistant Marty Mornhinweg gave some great praise to Make Kafka,
saying that he was the best rookie QB he had seen in his 15 years of coaching. Mike looked pretty good in his debut last Friday. On the flip side, former Cat lineman John Gill was arrested for an alcohol –related incident, which resulted in his suspension from the Colts. Hopefully, this is not indicative of a bigger problem for John and that he comes back from this. We all hope to see you on the sidelines soon, John.
As I said above, season preview will continue later in the week.
Go Cats.
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