Big Ten Wednesday

News and Notes:

Before getting into the rundown of the Big Ten’s first week, some news and notes on the Cats.

I hinted at this in a tweet earlier in the week, but the greatest concern coming out of the Vandy game is the general impression that the Cats came out a little "Flat" according to Teddy Greenstein's report.  This is more than a little alarming. Each of Fitz’s first four opening games has been a solid victory, without much in terms of drama. But not Saturday. Is the team becoming complacent with success – that cannot be true? Hopefully, the Cats can wrench it up over the next few weeks and pile on the wins before the schedule actually becomes difficult. NU is not in the position to mail it in against inferior opponents. The Trib also has a nice photo gallery from the Vandy game.  

The 143 yards rushing coming out of the Vandy game is more than a little deceiving says Tina Akouris for the Sun Times.  Especially when you are calling two out of every three plays for a run, and your QB accounts for 82 of the yards. Nevertheless, Fitz remains committed to making the running attack happen; and everyone is blaming execution instead of personnel. We shall see. Illinois State gave up more than 500 yards passing to a Division II school (ISU is I-AA/FCS) last week; so I would imagine that Fitz is going to give Persa the keys to the Porsche on Saturday and allow him to air it out. But the running game has to be established before Big Ten season. The team is 0 for 1 in this department so far. To be continued.

From an X’s and O’s standpoint, everyone who saw that Vandy game would agree that the biggest disappointment in the running game was Arby Fields and his tendency to kick outside rather than following his blockers. This was exploited as a weakness in the game as the Vandy Defensive Ends continued to dominate NU’s tackles, forcing sweeps and stretch runs further outside. It did not matter whether the run was designed to go outside, or whether Arby took it there on his own. It was not working. Skip Myslenski talks to the team about how to fix this. 
On the other side of the ball, the Cats need to remember how to tackle, both in the open field and in bunches. Solid tackles on a few key plays would have been the difference between NU’s 2 point nail-biter and a nice 14 point victory. ISU has an offense that scored 55 points last weekend – so regardless of the opponent, they can move the ball. Northwestern needs to get their arms around ISU’s smaller players and refuse to allow them to make this a game.

Injury Report: Defensive Lineman Niko Mafuli is out for the ISU game this weekend, but should return sometime this season, according to Lindsey Willhite.  His right knee got rolled up on pretty bad on Justan Vaughn’s interception play. The two-deep reports that true Frosh Will Hampton will take his place backing up Jack DiNardo. No other changes to the injury report as Arnold, Goodlow, and McNaul are all out. I missed the Burkett injury late in the game, presumably because I was hyperventilating after Schmidt’s fumble. All in all, the injury bug has treated the Cats fairly well. Hopefully, NU will stay healthy again this weekend.

Big Ten Rundown:

There were no big surprises in the conference this week, so there is not much to change in my conference rankings. My picks from last week: 10-2.

1 Ohio State: If anyone watched Thursday night, this was the blueprint definition of taking care of business. The Buckeyes were solid in every facet of the game. In fact Marshall’s only score was a fluke blocked field goal return. OSU will be challenged by Miami this week; but they are in mid-season form. Prediction: WIN

T-2 Iowa: Iowa was similarly never close in their opening game against Eastern Illinois, winning 37-7. They will face a little more of a challenge against rival Iowa State, but Stanzi and company have unfinished business this year. Look for another rout. Prediction: WIN

T-2 Wisconsin: Wisconsin managed to keep their players off the Las Vegas strip for the weekend. And the thousands of Wisconsin fans who made the trip out west got to see another great show by John Clay. UNLV tried to keep it close in a sloppy game. Wisconsin will get a chance to cut down on turnovers and penalties against San Jose State this weekend. Prediction: WIN

T-4 Michigan State: Opening the season against Western Michigan and Florida Atlantic is supposed to be easy. MSU is hoping to erase their disastrous start in 2009 with two wins going into the ND game. Fully expect them to do so. Prediction: WIN

T-4 Penn State: For about 25 minutes, Rob Bolden looked like a freshman and the rest of the team looked like they were already in Tuscaloosa. But the Nits pulled themselves together for a solid rout of Youngstown State. They will test Alabama’s defense, and they might have a chance on a neutral field. But it will take some old time glory to beat the Tide. Prediction: loss

6 Northwestern: Wasn’t pretty, but a win is a win. Get’s their FCS team this week. Prediction: WIN

T-7 Michigan: Obviously the most impressive Big Ten team this week – at least relative to its opponent. Maybe UConn is pretty weak, but wow, Denard Robinson is really good. Two teams looking for a redemption year meet in South Bend this weekend (and I will be there live). Should be a great matchup. Prediction: loss (but very close).

T-7 Purdue: Time will tell whether there is any shame in losing to Notre Dame. For now, I’ll give the Irish and the Boilers the benefit of the doubt. But Purdue is going to need a lot more success on offense if it wants to navigate the Big Ten. ND’s defense is better, but it is not that good. It will get some good reps against Western Illinois. Prediction: WIN

9 Indiana: Lost in the shadow of OSU’s win and Minnesota’s near loss was a dominating performance against Towson. IU’s rout reminded me of NU’s big win against Towson last year. IU gets the week off to prepare for Western Kentucky and then Akron. They should be 3-0 going into their game against Michigan.

10 Minnesota: Almost lost to a Sun Belt team, but pulled it out in the end. Not at all impressive. They now face South Dakota, where hopefully they will be a little more comfortable. This could be a long season for Tim Brewster if he is not careful. Prediction: WIN

11 Illinois: Gotta say, Nathan Scheelhaase was really impressive Saturday in the loss to Missouri. While his fourth quarter interception sealed the loss, he performed well. Time will tell whether Missouri is a good team. Southern Illinois will tell us if the Illini are able to compete. Prediction: WIN

X Nebraska: Did not catch any of the Huskers rout of Western Kentucky (although was driving in western Kentucky during the game); but they should do much of the same against Idaho. The first test for Bo Pelini’s boys will be at Washington on Sept. 18. Prediction: WIN

Go Cats