Zak Irvin drove to the basket for Michigan's first bucket, almost six minutes into the game -- fitting on a cold night across the country, as snow sprinkled softly across the land.
By then, visiting Northwestern already built a 10-0 lead before Irvin's two in front of a far-from-capacity Crisler Center crowd. Atmosphere and execution formed one homogeneous arena-shaped blob of listless discontent.
Despite its cold start, Muhammad-Ali Abdur-Rahkman's 19 points, 16 points from Derrick Walton and a big second half from Aubrey Dawkins led Michigan (20-9, 10-6) to a much-needed 72-63 win against the Wildcats on Wednesday night in Ann Arbor.
Michigan overcame a brutal night from beyond the arc (4-for-15) to score its sixth in a row against Northwestern in Ann Arbor.
Coming into tonight, Michigan's tournament ticket balanced precariously in the air -- a gust of wind, good fortune, would send the ticket flying nearly into its grasp. Or, gravity would do its work, sending said ticket hurtling just inches above a metaphorical paper shredder below.
Jerry Palm placed Michigan in the "last four in" category heading into tonight. A loss would necessitate the tall task of a win at Wisconsin or at home against Iowa, not to mention likely at least one win in the Big Ten tournament.
It wasn't pretty, but conference play often isn't. Northwestern big man Alex Olah once again had his way with the Wolverines, scoring 14 first-half points, while the home team started 0-for-8 from beyond the arc -- a familiar story, to be sure.
Slowly but surely, however, Michigan clawed back into it, led by Abdur-Rahkman's nine first-half points. And just in time, Duncan Robinson buried Michigan's first triple of the game as time expired on the first half, sending Michigan into the break down by just one.
In the second, however, Michigan would have to find a way to check Olah, who made hay in the paint and flashed the ability to stretch the defense with mid-range jumpers (and even one three).
But just like the first, Michigan creaked out of the gates.
Multiple Michigan turnovers paired with an 8-0 NU run once again put the Wolverines in catch-up mode. Early in the half, the Wolverines had already tallied nine turnovers, and continued their cold first-half shooting from three, missing their first two attempts of the second half.
While Irvin and Robinson's shots were off, Abdur-Rahkman continued to make it happen, including a nifty spin into a left-handed layup. A couple minutes later, he maneuvered around the elbow to drop a slick bounce pass to Ricky Doyle on the right block for two.
After a strong effort at Maryland (16 points, 9 assists) and two weeks ago at Minnesota (16 points), the sophomore Abdur-Rahkman has increasingly flashed his value to the team, as an individual playmaker and as a sometimes capable distributor (the latter of which was notoriously not in his arsenal, even earlier this season and certainly not as a freshman).
For a guy who was seemingly lost in the shuffle of preseason ruminations on the minutes hierarchy, he's done quite well to take advantage of his opportunities of late.
A Dawkins triple tied it at 44 with just over 11 minutes to play. A Northwestern turnover on the next possession gave the Crisler crowd new life.
And, speaking of guys lost in the shuffle, Kam Chatman gave Michigan its first lead of the game with a pair of free throws after tough work on the offensive glass.
NU briefly retook the lead, but yet another strong drive for two by Abdur-Rahkman and Dawkins's third triple of the game gave Michigan a 57-54 advantage with 4:15 to play. With the shot clock winding down on a later possession, Abdur-Rahkman rebounded his own miss and added two more points at the rim, padding Michigan's points-in-the-paint advantage (frame that clause for posterity).
Then, on a loose ball situation with a minute and change left, Dawkins took it coast-to-coast, expertly shielding a trailing Olah to score at the rim and open up a seven-point lead from which NU could not return.
Olah led the Wildcats with 19 points (8-for-16). NU's second-leading scorer, Bryant McIntosh, scored just four points on 2-for-7 shooting from the field.
The Wolverines head to Madison on Sunday, where they'll face a Badgers team that has bounced back from a brutal 2015 portion of the season and is also fighting for a tournament spot.
As it always is at the Kohl Center, a win will be tough to come by.
With that said, if the Wolverines can carry over tonight's effort from inside the arc, a win isn't out of the question. More importantly, it can't be looked at as a luxury -- Michigan should be somewhat safely in the tournament field, but you just never know. The margin for error is still too thin to take anything for granted.
Now, though, let's celebrate the bucketmaker, a player who shoots the three well (38%), just like a Beilein player should, but isn't defined by it.
And if the idea of bucking an established convention -- in this case, in the form of explosive drives to the hoop, crossovers and spin moves -- isn't the most quixotic idea in all of sports, I don't know what is.
Showing posts with label Northwestern. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Northwestern. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Monday, October 12, 2015
Michigan 38, Northwestern 0: Visions of verisimilitude
It's only a matter of time before Jabrill Peppers breaks one, they said.
So, when Jehu Chesson took the opening kickoff 96 yards to the house, I laughed, because of course.
As the redshirt sophomore from St. Louis left everyone in the dust, the next thought that rolled down the brain stem was: That's probably enough, right?
A rhetorical question, tinctured with rationality (Northwestern's offense is not that prolific) and hubris (Michigan's defense is good at methodically grinding offenses into a pulp).
The onslaught didn't stop there, as the Wolverines added two more touchdowns in the first quarter and another in the second. Meanwhile, the visiting then-undefeated Northwestern Wildcats managed just four first downs in that first half to Michigan's three touchdowns.
It's gotten to the point where the defense giving up anything at all -- missing a tackle, allowing a ball carrier to get outside the tackle box, giving up a score -- is almost an assault on the senses. When bad things happen so infrequently, the rare mistake is magnified.
Conversely, take recent years, when it seemed like a pass was a 50-50 proposition at best: by some miracle, a completion, or a sack or turnover. Defensively, after solid starts, it was almost a certainty that things would fall apart down the stretch, due to fatigue or whatever reason to which you'd like to chalk up those declines.
Now, Michigan is predictable, in a good way. It's difficult to talk about this team without resorting to the sorts of cliches that are often derided when it comes to sports writing, but this team fits them to a T. The running game produces and the defense plays with a toughness, tenacity and confidence that hasn't been seen in years. They'll rush five, four or three, even, because they can and things will be fine.
The secondary looks like a secondary a good [insert title-winning team name here] SEC team would field. The same goes for the front seven, which at this point might be forced to pay the City of Ann Arbor in property taxes for their constant forays into opponents' backfields. Ann Arbor has built quite a few luxury buildings since my time there, and I suppose it fits with the new vibe of the town for the Wolverines defenders to follow suit, with a brilliant building constructed of tackles for loss, replete with in-unit laundry machines -- for cleaning dirtied uniforms -- and quartz countertops to display the helmets of the fallen.
At first, this was a novel feeling, watching this team incinerate opposing offenses while the offense grinds its way to what it needs.
Halfway through a season in which the Wolverines have already dispatched two ranked opponents with ease and hung tough on the road against another, this is clearly real.
At no point could this have been said during the previous two regimes. Even Brady Hoke's 11-win season felt like a thing that maybe shouldn't have happened, that could've fallen apart when inspected under the light. (It did, beginning with the rout against Alabama to open the 2012 season.)
Rich Rodriguez' tenure never even got the chance to reach this level of reality -- even in the moments of usually Denard-Robinson-inspired brilliance, the Wolverines subsisted on vague magic to move forward, mana that was observably finite.
When it ran out, there was nowhere left to turn.
But Michigan rolled what looked like a strong Northwestern team, one that was 5-0 with a win against a Stanford squad that has looked much better since the 'Cats beat them at Ryan Field. That all felt like a distant memory this past Saturday, as the Wolverines made them look like a generic, overmatched pre-1995 Northwestern team.
Michigan notched three straight shutouts with the win for the first time since 1980, and the first in FBS play since 1995, when Kansas State did it against the following unranked foes: Akron, Northern Illinois and Missouri.
Michigan held the Wildcats to 168 yards of total offense and a 2-for-13 mark on third down. Running back Justin Jackson carried it 12 times for just 25 yards. Clayton Thorson finished with 106 yards passing -- on 4.7 yards per attempt.
The defense gives nothing -- charity is not its forte.
---
Way back in 2011, after Michigan followed a positive first Hoke summer with a rain-soaked thumping of Western Michigan, I dubbed it the Era of Good Feelings.
In retrospect, like many things in life, that is a little funny now, considering what followed and what is currently happening before our eyes.
If that was the Era of Good Feelings, then what is this? The Epoch of Excitement? The Age of Augmented Positivity? The Time of Tenacity?
Whatever it is, something is being built with capable hands and a plan, something that has been missing for a long time. When Gary Moeller and then Lloyd Carr came after Bo, they weren't so much cementing a plan as continuing the success that came before them. Yes, the game changed quite a bit post-Bo, and Moeller and Carr changed with the times as they had to, but what they did wasn't a wholesale upheaval of the previous order.
So, I think it's justifiable to say that Michigan hasn't seen what is happening right now, on an ideological level, since 1969, when Bo came to Ann Arbor. Whether Jim Harbaugh will continue on this track and have the same success as Bo -- or greater -- of course remains to be seen.
But, on a basic level, this all feels very real.
---
Late in the game, something happened that sent a chill up my spine.
The stakes were as low as they could be, on the surface. Michigan was already up 38-0 with 29 seconds left in the game. Northwestern had the ball with a fourth-and-17 upcoming.
Not exactly the most engaging hook, right?
Well, what if I told you a packed Big House started chanting "de-fense" like it was a one-score game? I wasn't there, but watching on my TV, the noise was indicative of a philosophy, a way of being, that has filtered up among the masses.
A shutout is not something you want, it's something you need. Why should they have any points? They shouldn't have any points.
Give nothing and take everything -- points on offense, on defense and special teams. Jourdan Lewis's pick six, rivaling De'Veon Smith's teleportation act against BYU in the incredulity it inspired, was not a chance act or a moment of transcendent brilliance.
Well, it was the latter, but when those moments become the norm, they're no longer extraordinary: they're just ordinary.
And so when the Michigan Stadium erupted in that chant, it felt like one of those moments that would linger.
Matt Millen said that the fans doing so was the mark of a "well-schooled crowd." The first half of this season has been a crash course in Harbaugh's way of doing things. Thus far, it seems like everyone's in good shape after a tough final exam to close the first half of the football year.
But there's always another test on the horizon. Michigan has one week to prepare for another test, this time against the AP No. 7 Michigan State Spartans.
Win that one, and you're talking about some serious verisimilitude being added to this thing.
This one should be a little closer: it's Michigan State, after all. Despite Michigan's offensive limitations, it seems like they haven't come close to showing their hand completely just yet. Michigan has busted out something new in games against BYU and Northwestern, to great effect. It stands to reason that Harbaugh et al probably have some tricks up their sleeve when Michigan State comes to Ann Arbor this Saturday.
And those tricks won't feel like prayers, even if they don't work.
Whatever happens the rest of the way, it's clear that this thing is real. How good this season will be hinges, of course, on how the Wolverines fare against the Spartans and Buckeyes. Lose both and it's still likely a very good season. Win one -- or both, even -- and you're talking about a Harbaugh premiere that blows Hoke's 2011 out of the water.
Michigan football is a real thing again. So are the stakes. It's been a while since either of those things were true.
Narratives of fantasy are often more gripping than those of reality -- but in the case of 2015 Michigan football, the two genres are one. Fantastical yet real, a combination of disbelief clashing against a burgeoning reality.
When the imagined becomes real, you have something. You have crowds chanting "de-fense" near the conclusion of a blowout. You have performances that don't happen too often, one after another. You have records broken and plays that don't seem to be tethered to this world except for by the frailest of threads.
You have all the elements of a good story, a serial Saturday confirmation steeped in a truth so crazy that it has not other option but to be true again and again and again.
So, when Jehu Chesson took the opening kickoff 96 yards to the house, I laughed, because of course.
As the redshirt sophomore from St. Louis left everyone in the dust, the next thought that rolled down the brain stem was: That's probably enough, right?
A rhetorical question, tinctured with rationality (Northwestern's offense is not that prolific) and hubris (Michigan's defense is good at methodically grinding offenses into a pulp).
The onslaught didn't stop there, as the Wolverines added two more touchdowns in the first quarter and another in the second. Meanwhile, the visiting then-undefeated Northwestern Wildcats managed just four first downs in that first half to Michigan's three touchdowns.
It's gotten to the point where the defense giving up anything at all -- missing a tackle, allowing a ball carrier to get outside the tackle box, giving up a score -- is almost an assault on the senses. When bad things happen so infrequently, the rare mistake is magnified.
Conversely, take recent years, when it seemed like a pass was a 50-50 proposition at best: by some miracle, a completion, or a sack or turnover. Defensively, after solid starts, it was almost a certainty that things would fall apart down the stretch, due to fatigue or whatever reason to which you'd like to chalk up those declines.
Now, Michigan is predictable, in a good way. It's difficult to talk about this team without resorting to the sorts of cliches that are often derided when it comes to sports writing, but this team fits them to a T. The running game produces and the defense plays with a toughness, tenacity and confidence that hasn't been seen in years. They'll rush five, four or three, even, because they can and things will be fine.
The secondary looks like a secondary a good [insert title-winning team name here] SEC team would field. The same goes for the front seven, which at this point might be forced to pay the City of Ann Arbor in property taxes for their constant forays into opponents' backfields. Ann Arbor has built quite a few luxury buildings since my time there, and I suppose it fits with the new vibe of the town for the Wolverines defenders to follow suit, with a brilliant building constructed of tackles for loss, replete with in-unit laundry machines -- for cleaning dirtied uniforms -- and quartz countertops to display the helmets of the fallen.
At first, this was a novel feeling, watching this team incinerate opposing offenses while the offense grinds its way to what it needs.
Halfway through a season in which the Wolverines have already dispatched two ranked opponents with ease and hung tough on the road against another, this is clearly real.
At no point could this have been said during the previous two regimes. Even Brady Hoke's 11-win season felt like a thing that maybe shouldn't have happened, that could've fallen apart when inspected under the light. (It did, beginning with the rout against Alabama to open the 2012 season.)
Rich Rodriguez' tenure never even got the chance to reach this level of reality -- even in the moments of usually Denard-Robinson-inspired brilliance, the Wolverines subsisted on vague magic to move forward, mana that was observably finite.
When it ran out, there was nowhere left to turn.
But Michigan rolled what looked like a strong Northwestern team, one that was 5-0 with a win against a Stanford squad that has looked much better since the 'Cats beat them at Ryan Field. That all felt like a distant memory this past Saturday, as the Wolverines made them look like a generic, overmatched pre-1995 Northwestern team.
Michigan notched three straight shutouts with the win for the first time since 1980, and the first in FBS play since 1995, when Kansas State did it against the following unranked foes: Akron, Northern Illinois and Missouri.
Michigan held the Wildcats to 168 yards of total offense and a 2-for-13 mark on third down. Running back Justin Jackson carried it 12 times for just 25 yards. Clayton Thorson finished with 106 yards passing -- on 4.7 yards per attempt.
The defense gives nothing -- charity is not its forte.
---
Way back in 2011, after Michigan followed a positive first Hoke summer with a rain-soaked thumping of Western Michigan, I dubbed it the Era of Good Feelings.
In retrospect, like many things in life, that is a little funny now, considering what followed and what is currently happening before our eyes.
If that was the Era of Good Feelings, then what is this? The Epoch of Excitement? The Age of Augmented Positivity? The Time of Tenacity?
Whatever it is, something is being built with capable hands and a plan, something that has been missing for a long time. When Gary Moeller and then Lloyd Carr came after Bo, they weren't so much cementing a plan as continuing the success that came before them. Yes, the game changed quite a bit post-Bo, and Moeller and Carr changed with the times as they had to, but what they did wasn't a wholesale upheaval of the previous order.
So, I think it's justifiable to say that Michigan hasn't seen what is happening right now, on an ideological level, since 1969, when Bo came to Ann Arbor. Whether Jim Harbaugh will continue on this track and have the same success as Bo -- or greater -- of course remains to be seen.
But, on a basic level, this all feels very real.
---
Late in the game, something happened that sent a chill up my spine.
The stakes were as low as they could be, on the surface. Michigan was already up 38-0 with 29 seconds left in the game. Northwestern had the ball with a fourth-and-17 upcoming.
Not exactly the most engaging hook, right?
Well, what if I told you a packed Big House started chanting "de-fense" like it was a one-score game? I wasn't there, but watching on my TV, the noise was indicative of a philosophy, a way of being, that has filtered up among the masses.
A shutout is not something you want, it's something you need. Why should they have any points? They shouldn't have any points.
Give nothing and take everything -- points on offense, on defense and special teams. Jourdan Lewis's pick six, rivaling De'Veon Smith's teleportation act against BYU in the incredulity it inspired, was not a chance act or a moment of transcendent brilliance.
Well, it was the latter, but when those moments become the norm, they're no longer extraordinary: they're just ordinary.
And so when the Michigan Stadium erupted in that chant, it felt like one of those moments that would linger.
Matt Millen said that the fans doing so was the mark of a "well-schooled crowd." The first half of this season has been a crash course in Harbaugh's way of doing things. Thus far, it seems like everyone's in good shape after a tough final exam to close the first half of the football year.
But there's always another test on the horizon. Michigan has one week to prepare for another test, this time against the AP No. 7 Michigan State Spartans.
Win that one, and you're talking about some serious verisimilitude being added to this thing.
This one should be a little closer: it's Michigan State, after all. Despite Michigan's offensive limitations, it seems like they haven't come close to showing their hand completely just yet. Michigan has busted out something new in games against BYU and Northwestern, to great effect. It stands to reason that Harbaugh et al probably have some tricks up their sleeve when Michigan State comes to Ann Arbor this Saturday.
And those tricks won't feel like prayers, even if they don't work.
Whatever happens the rest of the way, it's clear that this thing is real. How good this season will be hinges, of course, on how the Wolverines fare against the Spartans and Buckeyes. Lose both and it's still likely a very good season. Win one -- or both, even -- and you're talking about a Harbaugh premiere that blows Hoke's 2011 out of the water.
Michigan football is a real thing again. So are the stakes. It's been a while since either of those things were true.
Narratives of fantasy are often more gripping than those of reality -- but in the case of 2015 Michigan football, the two genres are one. Fantastical yet real, a combination of disbelief clashing against a burgeoning reality.
When the imagined becomes real, you have something. You have crowds chanting "de-fense" near the conclusion of a blowout. You have performances that don't happen too often, one after another. You have records broken and plays that don't seem to be tethered to this world except for by the frailest of threads.
You have all the elements of a good story, a serial Saturday confirmation steeped in a truth so crazy that it has not other option but to be true again and again and again.
Tuesday, October 6, 2015
Michigan 28, Maryland 0: Boring Is Good
As Michigan went into the half up 6-0 in dreary College Park on Saturday, I felt like I'd seen this game before.
That's because I had, last Sunday, when the Chicago Bears traveled to Seattle to take on the Seahawks, with backup quarterback Jimmy Clausen at the helm for the NFC North cellar dwellers, in for the injured Jay Cutler.
Only this time, my team, Michigan, was the Seahawks, and the Terrapins, led by Caleb Rowe, looked much like the punch-less Bears.
After that Bears game, the coaches and even some local sports personalities praised the first half of play -- the Bears went into the break down just 6-0. The game plan worked, they said, a limited thing in which the Bears didn't allow Clausen to take chances downfield (that, or he chose not to take any) and featured goal line formations near midfield -- the latter was about as close as the Bears got to looking like a Harbaugh-coached outfit.
Even so, it was clear that the Bears had no chance, even down six.
That's why, when Matt Millen -- in an attempt to infuse some sort of life into the surreptitious thumping that was Michigan's eventual 28-0 win -- noted at some point in the third quarter that it was still "a two-score game," I laughed to myself.
As fans, we can often trick ourselves into thinking a game is closer than it is. After all, Michigan fans have had numerous opportunities to be on the trailing end of that in recent years. There's still 10 minutes to go, if we can just make one play and get a stop ... if we can just force a turnover ... if we can just hit this field goal ... if we can just score and recover the onside kick.
So on and so forth. The sports fan's mind can bend and contort like no other, envisioning realities only found staring back at you in a house of mirrors.
If it wasn't over after Michigan's first two field goals, it was over when Drake Johnson went 31 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown score on another beautifully executed screen pass.
Maryland is not a good football team. They weren't last year, either, and we know how Michigan's matchup against the conference newcomers went last year in Ann Arbor.
The Wolverines led 16-9 in the third quarter. Having advanced to the Maryland 32, a Devin Garden pass on 4th-and-6 fell incomplete.
And it was all downhill from there en route to a 23-16 loss in Michigan's final home game of the season, dropping them to 5-6 and all but assuring a bowl-less season (with a tilt against Ohio State on the road the next week).
Oh how things have changed.
Instead, Michigan ground out a not-aesthetically-pleasing but comfortable win. The defense extended its streak of quarters without allowing a touchdown to eight, not allowing a score in 14 of the last 16 quarters, going back to the second game of the season.
The offense, meanwhile, did enough to make it work. Perhaps the only downside was the offense's seeming inability to make a consistent ground game work in De'Veon Smith's absence. Luckily, it sounds like he could have played, and is set to to do so when undefeated Northwestern comes to Ann Arbor on Saturday.
Drake Johnson (13 carries, 68 yards) did some nice things, but wasn't exactly a replacement for Smith's abilities. Ty Isaac (6 carries, 17 yards) has done some nice things this season, but coughed it up twice (albeit losing just one of them) -- with Smith likely to return to the backfield, I'd imagine that Isaac slips down a slot on the tailback pecking order. How long he stays there will be an interesting early test case in the Harbaugh era vis-a-vis bouts with fumbleitis and their repercussions. Derrick Green (7 carries, 26 yards), in what seemed like yet another audition for more playing time, didn't seem to help his case.
Overall, though, this is an offense that is making do. Jake Rudock's turnovers remain a concern, a week after a turnover-less affair against BYU inspired confidence that maybe the Iowa transfer was set to start playing the generally Big-Mistake-free football many expected him to play.
Against weak competition in Oregon State, UNLV and Maryland, it hasn't hurt the Wolverines. Of course, against Utah, what ultimately was a one-score loss, the pick 6 loomed in its culpability.
Against a Northwestern squad with a freshman quarterback who can run but leads an offense ranked 118th in passing, Michigan cannot afford to gift the Wildcats extra opportunities, especially via turnovers granting them prime field position.
This Saturday's game in the Big House is assured to be a low-scoring slugfest (the legitimate kind, not the euphemism for bad football rationalized as something else). Mistakes could prove the difference when these two teams, fielding two of the statistically strongest defenses in the country, meet this weekend.
But unlike the recent low-scoring Michigan-Northwestern tilts, this one won't make you want to close your eyes and imagine being somewhere else, watching something else, like I felt at Ryan Field last season where the Wolverines won, 10-9, but the game of football lost.
Whatever happens this Saturday, one thing is clear: Michigan football the last few weeks has been boring, but the good kind of boring. Like going to your favorite restaurant and getting the same thing you've been getting for years: the trusty, comfortable standby.
It'll be a while before Michigan once again assumes the mantle of good-boring on a consistent basis. There are still too many variables, particularly at the offense's most important position, to assume that Michigan can't lose to a team it "should" beat (and is it stands now, there are far more of those remaining on the schedule than perhaps previously predicted).
When expectations on a play-by-level are consistently met -- Smith grinding out yards after contact, Michigan's defensive line detonating the pocket, Jabrill Peppers pulverizing the grand designs of an opponent's screen pass -- it can be easy to settle into a feeling of something resembling boredom, stripped of its negative connotations.
I guess -- and this is an old feeling being dusted off and returned to a prominent position on the shelf of the fan base's collective consciousness -- this is what happens when you expect good things to happen, and they do.
This is good. Boring is good. All aboard the boring train to Indianapolis.
It won't be that easy, of course, and I'm being more than a little facetious. But there is something comforting about a 28-0 win in which a 6-0 halftime lead inspired little to no worry.
Whatever happens, despite this team's flaws, I don't dread sitting in front of the TV to watch this team play, even while I know things will go wrong at certain points in a game.
As the Wolverines attempt to put miles behind it and everything that's been, this campaign, almost at its halfway point, has been a success.
This is fun again. It's been a while since I could say that. I suspect it won't be the last.
Eventually, though, I won't have to say "again." It'll just be "this is fun."
Until then, the novelty of the boring reigns supreme.
That's because I had, last Sunday, when the Chicago Bears traveled to Seattle to take on the Seahawks, with backup quarterback Jimmy Clausen at the helm for the NFC North cellar dwellers, in for the injured Jay Cutler.
Only this time, my team, Michigan, was the Seahawks, and the Terrapins, led by Caleb Rowe, looked much like the punch-less Bears.
After that Bears game, the coaches and even some local sports personalities praised the first half of play -- the Bears went into the break down just 6-0. The game plan worked, they said, a limited thing in which the Bears didn't allow Clausen to take chances downfield (that, or he chose not to take any) and featured goal line formations near midfield -- the latter was about as close as the Bears got to looking like a Harbaugh-coached outfit.
Even so, it was clear that the Bears had no chance, even down six.
That's why, when Matt Millen -- in an attempt to infuse some sort of life into the surreptitious thumping that was Michigan's eventual 28-0 win -- noted at some point in the third quarter that it was still "a two-score game," I laughed to myself.
As fans, we can often trick ourselves into thinking a game is closer than it is. After all, Michigan fans have had numerous opportunities to be on the trailing end of that in recent years. There's still 10 minutes to go, if we can just make one play and get a stop ... if we can just force a turnover ... if we can just hit this field goal ... if we can just score and recover the onside kick.
So on and so forth. The sports fan's mind can bend and contort like no other, envisioning realities only found staring back at you in a house of mirrors.
If it wasn't over after Michigan's first two field goals, it was over when Drake Johnson went 31 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown score on another beautifully executed screen pass.
Maryland is not a good football team. They weren't last year, either, and we know how Michigan's matchup against the conference newcomers went last year in Ann Arbor.
The Wolverines led 16-9 in the third quarter. Having advanced to the Maryland 32, a Devin Garden pass on 4th-and-6 fell incomplete.
And it was all downhill from there en route to a 23-16 loss in Michigan's final home game of the season, dropping them to 5-6 and all but assuring a bowl-less season (with a tilt against Ohio State on the road the next week).
Oh how things have changed.
Instead, Michigan ground out a not-aesthetically-pleasing but comfortable win. The defense extended its streak of quarters without allowing a touchdown to eight, not allowing a score in 14 of the last 16 quarters, going back to the second game of the season.
The offense, meanwhile, did enough to make it work. Perhaps the only downside was the offense's seeming inability to make a consistent ground game work in De'Veon Smith's absence. Luckily, it sounds like he could have played, and is set to to do so when undefeated Northwestern comes to Ann Arbor on Saturday.
Drake Johnson (13 carries, 68 yards) did some nice things, but wasn't exactly a replacement for Smith's abilities. Ty Isaac (6 carries, 17 yards) has done some nice things this season, but coughed it up twice (albeit losing just one of them) -- with Smith likely to return to the backfield, I'd imagine that Isaac slips down a slot on the tailback pecking order. How long he stays there will be an interesting early test case in the Harbaugh era vis-a-vis bouts with fumbleitis and their repercussions. Derrick Green (7 carries, 26 yards), in what seemed like yet another audition for more playing time, didn't seem to help his case.
Overall, though, this is an offense that is making do. Jake Rudock's turnovers remain a concern, a week after a turnover-less affair against BYU inspired confidence that maybe the Iowa transfer was set to start playing the generally Big-Mistake-free football many expected him to play.
Against weak competition in Oregon State, UNLV and Maryland, it hasn't hurt the Wolverines. Of course, against Utah, what ultimately was a one-score loss, the pick 6 loomed in its culpability.
Against a Northwestern squad with a freshman quarterback who can run but leads an offense ranked 118th in passing, Michigan cannot afford to gift the Wildcats extra opportunities, especially via turnovers granting them prime field position.
This Saturday's game in the Big House is assured to be a low-scoring slugfest (the legitimate kind, not the euphemism for bad football rationalized as something else). Mistakes could prove the difference when these two teams, fielding two of the statistically strongest defenses in the country, meet this weekend.
But unlike the recent low-scoring Michigan-Northwestern tilts, this one won't make you want to close your eyes and imagine being somewhere else, watching something else, like I felt at Ryan Field last season where the Wolverines won, 10-9, but the game of football lost.
Whatever happens this Saturday, one thing is clear: Michigan football the last few weeks has been boring, but the good kind of boring. Like going to your favorite restaurant and getting the same thing you've been getting for years: the trusty, comfortable standby.
It'll be a while before Michigan once again assumes the mantle of good-boring on a consistent basis. There are still too many variables, particularly at the offense's most important position, to assume that Michigan can't lose to a team it "should" beat (and is it stands now, there are far more of those remaining on the schedule than perhaps previously predicted).
When expectations on a play-by-level are consistently met -- Smith grinding out yards after contact, Michigan's defensive line detonating the pocket, Jabrill Peppers pulverizing the grand designs of an opponent's screen pass -- it can be easy to settle into a feeling of something resembling boredom, stripped of its negative connotations.
I guess -- and this is an old feeling being dusted off and returned to a prominent position on the shelf of the fan base's collective consciousness -- this is what happens when you expect good things to happen, and they do.
This is good. Boring is good. All aboard the boring train to Indianapolis.
It won't be that easy, of course, and I'm being more than a little facetious. But there is something comforting about a 28-0 win in which a 6-0 halftime lead inspired little to no worry.
Whatever happens, despite this team's flaws, I don't dread sitting in front of the TV to watch this team play, even while I know things will go wrong at certain points in a game.
As the Wolverines attempt to put miles behind it and everything that's been, this campaign, almost at its halfway point, has been a success.
This is fun again. It's been a while since I could say that. I suspect it won't be the last.
Eventually, though, I won't have to say "again." It'll just be "this is fun."
Until then, the novelty of the boring reigns supreme.
Saturday, November 16, 2013
Michigan 27, Northwestern 19: Near Death Experiences
Evanston, Ill. (file photo)
Michigan headed to Evanston looking to avoid its first 3-game losing streak during the Brady Hoke era. Meanwhile, Northwestern looked to snap its calamitous 5-game losing streak, both for pride's sake and the opportunity to get one win closer to bowl eligibility (with two more remaining on the schedule).
Things started off well for the Wolverines on offense, powering down the field with Derrick Green, De'Veon Smith and some quick passing for a 12-play, 63-yard field goal drive. Unfortunately for the Wolverines, that's about where the first half offensive success ended.
Northwestern answered with a long field goal drive of its own to tie it, and added another one at the end of the first half to go up 6-3.
Michigan was not exactly impressive on the ground, but they were in the black this time, rushing for 40 yards in the first half; baby steps, as they say.
Once again, the Wolverine defense performed admirably as the offense floundered, giving up six first half points and just 2.8 yards per carry.
Michigan was fortunate to enter the half down just 6-3, as Devin Gardner tossed several passes that were nearly intercepted, with at least one of them looking like good bets to be returned for six.
As has typically been the case, the Wolverines were completely helpless on third and long situations. For whatever reason, Michigan seemed to go away from Green and Smith in the second quarter despite having success with them early in the game.
The Michigan defense bent to start the second half but did not break, eventually forcing a punt after a well-defended third down option play. Now, it was Al Borges's turn to dial up the offensive equivalent of a timely blitz, with about 27 minutes between Michigan and a 6-4 record.
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
Miscellaneous Minutiae, 10/22/13
Hey, would you look at that, we're just one week away from the start of Michigan basketball. Ah, I remember that Final Four run as if it were yesterday.
- Speaking of basketball, Alex Cook has a breakdown of Michigan's nonconference schedule that's worth a read to get you up to speed.
- Spencer Hall went to Ole Miss this past weekend. "Ole Miss is never more afraid than when Ole Miss is winning." This sounds oddly familiar.
- Things are not looking so good for my other school; disillusionment is the word of the day in Evanston.
- Bucky's 5th Quarter talks about Adam Miller, one of the few positives for the Badgers hockey team this past weekend out east.
- Aided by teams ahead of them in the rankings losing, Minnesota hockey moves to the top spot in the polls. The Gophers have a big test against Boston College coming up this weekend. BC pasted the Badgers last Friday, 9-2, at Conte Forum.
- Joel Stave's accuracy continues to be an issue; he badly underthrew a wide open Jared Abbrederis deep on Saturday for what would have been a touchdown. To be fair, it sounded like there was a pretty stiff wind in Memorial Stadium. Also at that link, Chris Borland should be ready to go for UW's next game against Iowa (the Badgers are off this week).
- In unfortunate injury news, Alabama safety Vinnie Sunseri is out for the season with a torn ACL.
- The NCAA will announce its ruling on the Miami investigation this morning.
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Miscellaneous Minutiae, 10/15/13
Somehow we're already halfway through October...time flies when you're having fun!:
- Indiana continues to work on the two-QB dynamic with Tre Roberson and Nate Sudfeld.
- On the heels of a crushing loss at Camp Randall, Sippin' On Purple asks where the 4-2 (0-2) Wildcats stand.
- The Illini look to bounce back after their loss in Lincoln; unfortunately for them, they'll have to do it against Wisconsin.
- Kyle Bosch is the newest name to enter the 2013 line blender.
- Like Michigan, Wisconsin hockey is off to a 2-0 start. Also like Michigan, the Badgers have some difficult upcoming tests on the road.
- Speaking of hockey, this is yesterday's news but tickets for this year's Big Ten hockey tournament in Minneapolis this March are on sale.
- Christian Hackenberg won CBSSports.com's "Rookie of the Week" distinction.
- BHGP with a mid-season assessment of the Hawkeyes, who travel to Columbus this weekend.
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Miscellaneous Minutiae, 10/8/13
Who would've thought the Atlanta Falcons would be 1-4 and the New York Jets would be 3-2 at this point in the season? I'll admit I had my doubts about Geno Smith after the way in which West Virginia tanked in the second half of last season*, but he looked like an NFL quarterback last night (albeit against a struggling Atlanta team).
*Of course, a majority of the blame for that falls on the WVU defense; you can't score 40+ points every week.
Anyway, enough about the NFL and on to the college links:
*Of course, a majority of the blame for that falls on the WVU defense; you can't score 40+ points every week.
Anyway, enough about the NFL and on to the college links:
- From Bucky's 5th Quarter, Gary Andersen talks a little bit about preparing for Northwestern's 2-QB offense. Also, the Badgers should be getting a few players back who missed the Ohio State game due to injury, including tight end Jacob Pedersen and center Dallas Lewallen (ESPN Wisconsin).
- Rodger Sherman talks about Northwestern's unique situation heading into Madison this week, facing an unranked squad as an underdog. Given what happened in Tempe, the Badgers really shouldn't be unranked, and the line reflects that; the Badgers are 10-point favorites against the ranked Wildcats.
- This is yesterday's news, but I haven't mentioned it in this space: Jake Ryan might play this Saturday at Penn State. Of course, I'd imagine his snap count will be closely monitored. It will probably take two or three games before he gets back into the swing of things. Luckily for Michigan, the schedule is fairly accomodating (on paper, at least).
- Do you like bowl games? Are you a fan of a non-BCS conference team? Would you like to make a trip to the Bahamas? Should I continue to write this bullet as a series of questions? No, no I should not. Anyway, if you answered yes to any of those first three questions, this might be of interest to you.
- Lake The Posts is frustrated about the amount of scarlet in the Ryan Field stands this past Saturday. Given Northwestern's record, College GameDay's presence and the amount of marketing that went on for this game in Evanston, I have to admit I was somewhat shocked to see that much scarlet in the crowd. Michigan fans are known for making Ryan Field home, but I'm not sure I've seen Michigan fans dominate Ryan Field like Ohio State did on Saturday. With that said, there's that whole "not everyone wants to wear maize" thing, which perhaps distorts my perception of Michigan crowds at Ryan Field over the years.
- I'm not sure Minnesota was "in the game" until the 4th quarter--I'd say it was basically over when Michigan scored to start the second half--but I do agree that Mitch Leidner showed promise for the Gophers (Star Tribune).
- Also re: Leidner, the Leidner-Maxx Williams connection might be Minnesota's best shot at any sort of passing game going forward, especially in the red zone (St. Paul Pioneer Press).
- Despite Urban Meyer's well-earned reputation as a brilliant offensive mind, it was the relatively straightforward running game that powered the Buckeyes to victory in Evanston.
- Josh Slagter of MLive looks at Penn State by the numbers. I still have to give the slightest of edges to Jared Abbrederis over Allen Robinson as far as the best receiver in the conference goes, but Blake Countess et al will have their hands full trying to slow down the Hackenberg-Robinson connection on Saturday.
Monday, October 7, 2013
Around the Big Ten: Week 6
With only half of the conference playing football last week, the Week 6 Big Ten slate was a bit more action-packed. Five conference games took place this past weekend, including big wins for Michigan State and Ohio State on the road and Nebraska and Indiana at home. Michigan's 42-13 win doesn't qualify as "big" so much as it was one small step toward a righted ship. In any case, on to the games:
Michigan 42, Minnesota 13. There's not much use saying too much here (see the previously linked Maize n Brew recap). The game was close for a little while due to the molasses-esque pace, and then it very quickly became not so close. Fin.
Penn State 24, Indiana 44. Penn State is not exactly the Penn State of old, but that doesn't make this score any less strange to look at. The Nittany Lions entered the fourth quarter down just 21-17. Penn State missed an opportunity to get on the board early when its first drive stalled at the Indiana 26 on 4th & 5. Christian Hackenberg later hit Allen Robinson for a 46-yard touchdown to tie it at 7-all in the second quarter. Indiana added two more field goals before the half to take a 13-7 lead into the break. All in all, holding Indiana to just 13 points is a solid accomplishment, and Penn State would need a few more big strikes to Robinson to come away with a victory.
Of course, that last sentence was all theory, as it did not play out that way. Hackenberg did hit Robinson again, this time for a 26-yard score, but the Hoosiers answered back via a Tevin Coleman 44-yard run. Penn State added a field goal in the third, but, once again, the Nittany Lion defense gave again, this time on an 11-play, 75-yard IU touchdown drive.
Thus, on PSU's next offensive drive, Bill O'Brien elected to go for it on 4th & 2 from PSU's own 33. The Hackenberg attempt fell incomplete, and the Hoosiers summarily scored on its second play from there. To make matters worse, Penn State's Eugene Lewis fumbled the ensuing kickoff, allowing the Hoosiers to start from PSU's 9-yard line. Another touchdown score made it 42-17 (the Hoosiers later added a safety).
The Nittany Lions got decent production from tailback Zach Zwinak (17 carries, 72 yards), but getting into a passing contest with a freshman quarterback against Indiana is not ideal. Hackenberg threw a whopping 55 times under the circumstances, completing 30 for 340 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions. Had the defense (and later the special teams) not thoroughly failed Penn State, people might be talking about Hackenberg's excellent performance on the road and Allen Robinson's monster day (12 receptions, 173 yards, two touchdowns).
Indiana is not a good football team overall, but they can score against most Big Ten defenses. I'm not sure Michigan can duplicate that sort of offensive production against the Nittany Lions, who will almost certainly put up a better defensive performance this Saturday at home. On the other hand, Michigan will have to be ready to check Allen Robinson and prevent Zwinak and company from chipping away at the now Pipkins-less front seven.
Once again, it's a sign of the times that I'm worried about a game against a team that just lost to Indiana by 20.
Jump for the rest of the Big Ten slate.
Michigan 42, Minnesota 13. There's not much use saying too much here (see the previously linked Maize n Brew recap). The game was close for a little while due to the molasses-esque pace, and then it very quickly became not so close. Fin.
Penn State 24, Indiana 44. Penn State is not exactly the Penn State of old, but that doesn't make this score any less strange to look at. The Nittany Lions entered the fourth quarter down just 21-17. Penn State missed an opportunity to get on the board early when its first drive stalled at the Indiana 26 on 4th & 5. Christian Hackenberg later hit Allen Robinson for a 46-yard touchdown to tie it at 7-all in the second quarter. Indiana added two more field goals before the half to take a 13-7 lead into the break. All in all, holding Indiana to just 13 points is a solid accomplishment, and Penn State would need a few more big strikes to Robinson to come away with a victory.
Of course, that last sentence was all theory, as it did not play out that way. Hackenberg did hit Robinson again, this time for a 26-yard score, but the Hoosiers answered back via a Tevin Coleman 44-yard run. Penn State added a field goal in the third, but, once again, the Nittany Lion defense gave again, this time on an 11-play, 75-yard IU touchdown drive.
Thus, on PSU's next offensive drive, Bill O'Brien elected to go for it on 4th & 2 from PSU's own 33. The Hackenberg attempt fell incomplete, and the Hoosiers summarily scored on its second play from there. To make matters worse, Penn State's Eugene Lewis fumbled the ensuing kickoff, allowing the Hoosiers to start from PSU's 9-yard line. Another touchdown score made it 42-17 (the Hoosiers later added a safety).
The Nittany Lions got decent production from tailback Zach Zwinak (17 carries, 72 yards), but getting into a passing contest with a freshman quarterback against Indiana is not ideal. Hackenberg threw a whopping 55 times under the circumstances, completing 30 for 340 yards, three touchdowns and zero interceptions. Had the defense (and later the special teams) not thoroughly failed Penn State, people might be talking about Hackenberg's excellent performance on the road and Allen Robinson's monster day (12 receptions, 173 yards, two touchdowns).
Indiana is not a good football team overall, but they can score against most Big Ten defenses. I'm not sure Michigan can duplicate that sort of offensive production against the Nittany Lions, who will almost certainly put up a better defensive performance this Saturday at home. On the other hand, Michigan will have to be ready to check Allen Robinson and prevent Zwinak and company from chipping away at the now Pipkins-less front seven.
Once again, it's a sign of the times that I'm worried about a game against a team that just lost to Indiana by 20.
Jump for the rest of the Big Ten slate.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Miscellaneous Minutiae, 9/11/13
A few things on this 82 degree day in Chicago (somehow over 10 degrees cooler than it was yesterday):
- It's a big week for the Big Ten, with Wisconsin traveling out west to face Arizona State and Ohio State taking on a rebuilding but dangerous Cal team. Additionally, Nebraska takes on UCLA at home, looking to avenge last year's loss out west. Adam Rittenberg makes a "Delany=Mickey Goldmill" analogy. Good, good.
- Speaking of, Bucky's 5th Quarter previews UW's tilt in Tempe. ASU will be aggressive defensively, so hopefully Joel Stave is ready to make a few more plays through the air if the running game happens to stall here and there (unlikely, but it's also unlikely that the Badgers have a third week with three 100+ yard backs).
- Sippin' on Purple charts the performance of Colter/Siemian against Syracuse in the Prose Bowl. The Wildcats take on Western Michigan this week (I'm thinking about heading up there for it). It will not be close, and Glopknar will memorialize the crushing victory with tremendous video skills. I can't wait to find out what Traevon's coverage/squat status is this week.
- If you want to go to Alabama-TAMU this week, you better have a little money.
- Hammer and Rails previews Purdue's matchup against Notre Dame at Ross-Ade Stadium. Needless to say, Purdue hasn't exactly had the best of starts, getting pummeled by Cincinnati and then squeaking by Indiana State. That, combined with their lack of recent success against Notre Dame and the Fighting Irish's desire to get back on the winning track probably means this one ends up in the losing column for the conference.
- Michigan-Ohio State: BAND WARS.
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
"Fourth and Long: The Fight For the Soul of College Football" Excerpt
Fouad Egbaria
A little late on this one, but the Wall Street Journal published an excerpt from John U. Bacon's forthcoming book, "Fourth and Long: The Fight for the Soul of College Football." Here is an excerpt from the excerpt, focusing on Penn State (the book also covers Michigan, Ohio State and Northwestern):
Elsewhere, Penn State blog Onward State has a reaction:On July 23, 2012, Penn State's football players gathered in their lounge to watch on television as NCAA president Mark Emmert walked to the podium for a news conference.Eight months earlier, prosecutors had arrested Penn State's former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky on 40 criminal counts, including the sexual assault of several boys over a 15-year period, one of them in the showers of Penn State's football building. Within three months of Sandusky's arrest, Penn State trustees released their president, a senior vice president and their Hall of Fame coach, Joe Paterno, who died soon afterward. The athletic director also ultimately lost his job. Then a report commissioned by the university found that those leaders knew enough of what Sandusky had done to report him to the authorities, but cared more about protecting the university's image than his victims.Most Penn State players didn't know who Sandusky was until they saw his picture on TV. Only then did some recognize him as the "old guy who worked out here once in a while.
Bacon’s Fourth and Long goes on to explain how O’Brien, Mauti, Zordich, and some others worked to keep the team together. Mauti told a former Penn State strength coach who tried recruiting him to “go fuck himself.” The three of them, along with strength coach Craig Fitzgerald, ran their own miniature call center, spending multiple days reaching out to re-recruit every player that was considering transferring.I'm currently taking a class taught by Bacon, and I can safely say the book will be well worth a read. Another thing to look out for this Friday:
As a soon-to-be Northwestern graduate, I will also be looking forward to the section on the Wildcats. The book will be available September 3.
Friday, November 9, 2012
Northwestern Preview: Juncture
No, this has not nonsensically transformed into a Bulls blog. I am aware that Michigan has a football team still. Anyway, here's the first preview in a while from me (since ND, actually). Enjoy.
This season, like every one before it, has sped on without your consent, like a city bus driver who sees you running up to door outside buts pull away anyway.
After a second trip up in Iowa City last season, the Wolverines entered the final triumvirate of games (Illinois, Nebraska and Ohio State) with a lot at stake and many questions left unanswered. Would the Wolverines be able to shake their offensive struggles on the road to get the win against a defensively solid Illini team? What about Nebraska? I also heard that there was some sort of looming streak against the Buckeyes that needed to be taken care of that definitely hadn't constantly been on all of our minds.
The circumstances this time around aren't exactly the same. Michigan rolls into this stretch with one more loss than they had at this point last season, this year's Iowa team is probably the weakest of either trio of opponents in question (i.e. last three games of 2011 and 2012) and the Wolverines get a much better Ohio State team on the road.
As a relatively new student at Northwestern, I took it upon myself to, you know, pay attention to Northwestern football. I watched most of--and in some cases, all (!)--the Wildcats' first five games, but I admittedly haven't been able to keep up from the Penn State game onward. So, a decent percentage of the things I will write here are colored significantly by watching them in September, FWIW.
On Offense
Brady Hoke will continue to say things regarding Denard's status, but it's pretty clear at this point that Hoke is the Mozart of the trolling craft (yes, you the annoyed fan are indeed Salieri in this ridiculous analogy). With that said, I'm going to remain under the assumption that Devin Gardner will start until proven otherwise, which should happen at right around 11:59 a.m. ET on Saturday.
Northwestern has actually been pretty tough defensively this season, particularly against the run, which is bad news for a Michigan team that hasn't gotten much of a non-Denard ground game going against anybody this season. If Denard goes, this concern is mitigated, but that is, in fact, an "if." Northwestern sits at a respectable 43rd in defensive S&P+; of course, they are 49th in pass defense S&P+, 35th against the pass, furthering my already extensive confusion vis-a-vis the world of ADVANCED STATZ.
DC Mike Hankwitz has done a good job molding this defense into a solid run D outfit, headlined by its three linebackers, Damien Proby, Brian Nwabuisi, and the spectacularly named Chi Chi Ariguzo. Before I move on, I just want to note that Mike Hankwitz basically is Heisenberg, you guys:
The Wildcats have had capable linebackers in the past, including some guy named Pat Fitzgerald, so it's no surprise that that is the case now. Proby and Nwabuisi lead the team in tackles (86 and 75, respectively) and Ariguzo and safety Ibraheim "Guy You Probably Know From Reading Preseason Preview Magazines" Campbell are tied at third with 67 each. That is the sign of a good run defense.
The Cats have given up 41 on the road at Syracuse, 39 at Penn State, 29 against Nebraska in a pseudo-home game and had a rough second half against Indiana (albeit one that featured an IU kickoff return for a TD from Tevin Coleman), with the Hoosiers finishing with 29 after backup Nate Sudfeld had taken over at quarterback. Otherwise, the Northwestern D has generally put the clamps down on most teams, although none of those teams are very good at the offense thing.
Unfortunately, Michigan has been debatably good on that front as well. However, this defense isn't Alabama's or Notre Dame's, obviously. For a point of reference, Iowa sits at 45th in def. S&P+, two spots behind NU.
As you'd expect, the weak link in this defense is the secondary. Campbell, to quote Hoke, is a "guy who can do some things," but he can't do it alone. Redshirt freshman corner Nick VanHoose has shown promise at times but has also been picked on at various points; the same applies for Stanford grad transfer Quinn Evans. However, the two didn't play two weeks ago against Iowa after VanHoose suffered a shoulder injury and Evans an ankle injury against Nebraska the week before. Playing backups at both corner spots against Iowa, the Wildcats made it okay, giving up only 17 points against an Iowa offense that has been absolutely disastrous minus Mark Weisman's TRUE GRIT.
As of a few days ago, it seems that VanHoose and Evans will both go Saturday.
To make a long story short, Northwestern will generally look to contain Denard and hope he doesn't complete any bombs deep like he did last season. This generally worked during the first half last season, when Denard tossed three picks. Given what we saw from Gardner last week, the Wildcats might not be in a much better position if he ends up starting.
This is the type of game that probably keeps Borges up the night before. I'm talking about the "night before the first game of the season excitement" sort of restlessness and not the "OH GOD I HAVE TO DO THIS AGAIN I HAVE A LINE MADE OF OFFICE SUPPLIES AND EVERYBODY HATES ME NO MATTER WHAT AHHH" kind.
Michigan will likely get off to a slow start again as it finds its bearings and establishes a non-zero threat to run. Once that happens, look for Borges to initiate "RexGrossmanGameplanGOINGDEEP.exe."
On Defense
As frustrating as it has been to talk about the offense, the defense has been like a ceaseless ray of sunshine. Michigan is truly #blessed to have a DC like Greg Mattison, no question Jim.
The Wildcats have been a shifting amorphous blob of an offense, particularly at quarterback, but it would seem that they have decided to roll with Kain Colter full-time. Pocket passing freshman Trevor Siemian got some serious run early in the season, with Colter serving as a Wildcat (literally) QB/WR. Siemian attempted only one pass against Iowa, and the 'Cats only threw the ball 10 times total. That's "Big Ten football at its best."*
But wait, it's not, because Northwestern is decidedly a run-based spread outfit. The 'Cats are 13th in rushing yardage per game (236 per) and 113th in passing (162 per). If you have watched Northwestern play for even five minutes this season, this is probably not a surprise to you.
Colter is not Denard when it comes to top-end speed, but in the context of a read-option offense, that's not necessarily the most important thing. Colter, as I mentioned earlier in the season, has a particular set of skills. Of those skills,neck chopping the zone read is one which he executes masterfully, making me wish Denard could do the same every time I see it unfold.
The Wildcats have managed a 61:41 run-pass split to date. Complementing Colter's zone read sorcery is diminutive tailback Venric Mark, who has honestly been one of the most exciting players in the country. He is a threat to break a big play at almost any time. Mark has racked up 910 yards with a nice and shiny 6.1 YPC.
The Wildcats do in fact have some capable receivers, even if Kyle Prater hasn't turned out to be the instantly impactful guy that NU fans were hoping. The quartet of Tony Jones, Demetrius Fields, Rashad Lawrence and Christian Jones all have similar numbers (200s in yardage, 0-2 TDs each). The Wildcats don't pass much though, especially with Colter taking almost all of the snaps.
Michigan shut down a run-based Minnesota team last week and did a pretty solid job against Nebraska (up until the very end) despite have an offense about as effective as one composed of 11 boxes of Cheerios. Washington and Campbell should be able to get a little push up the middle when NU does pass or run little isos and draws out of the shotgun.
Where Michigan can get beat, on occasion, is on the edges. With Colter and Mark's general jukability, Michigan's edge defenders will need to be vigilant. Even the glorious Jake Ryan has had lapses on the edge this season, although they've been relatively infrequent occurrences. So, this game will basically come down to how Michigan responds in these situations.
*Hey BTN, if you haven't trademarked this yet then I hereby claim it. I'm pretty sure this is how copyright law works, right?
Special Teams
Simply put, Michigan needs: a) no costly derps from Gallon and b) a not terrible performance from Hagerup, especially since I get the feeling that Michigan will get off to a slow start again on offense.
From the Northwestern side, Mark is also a special teams dynamo. He's been okay on kicks, but on punts he has picked up two touchdowns in 10 returns, with an average of 25 yards per. Dear Michigan ST guys: lanes, get to them!
Oh, also, kicker Jeff Budzien is 11/12 on the year with a long of 44, in addition to being perfect on extra points. He's a dependable guy who should be able to chip in some points when Northwestern drives stall.
Predictions of Negligible Worth
Gardner's performance last week was undoubtedly a jolt of confidence for the jittery post-Denard injury Michigan fan. Yes, it was just Minnesota, but Gardner looked far more capable than he has at any point in his career; I truly believe all the talk that his time at receiver helped him last week.
Defensively, I just see a fairly one-dimensional--albeit talented and dangerous--Northwestern offense, and Greg Mattison has dreams about those sorts of things. Colter and Mark are good enough that they will find their way onto the second level from time to time, but I don't believe that this is the week that Michigan starts giving up multiple big plays.
This will come down to Jake Ryan maintaining his level of play to date and Michigan's corners, namely J.T. Floyd, bringing the appropriate support on edge runs and screens. If all goes according to plan, Northwestern will be forced to execute several grinding drives; if this happens, I'm willing to bet that at least one or two of those ends in a field goal or no points at all.
To be quite honest, I'm not sweating the whole "will he or won't he play" re: Denard. If he plays, everything will be fine and dandy and Michigan will actually have a running game. If Devin is in, assuming last week wasn't a mirage, Michigan should be more than fine. He has the arm to test Northwestern's corners deep, and he should be able to pick up some more yardage on the ground a la last week when the first couple of reads aren't there.
Northwestern will keep it close throughout. This might be the strongest defensive front seven the 'Cats have fielded in some time, and Michigan's interior OL hasn't shown the ability to dominate anybody on a consistent basis all year, let alone against solid to pretty good fronts.
Colter can make some plays through the air, but I don't know that Northwestern will really try all that much. Barring a complete defensive implosion, Michigan should hold Northwestern to around 20 points, give or take. I'm thinking that we get an encore performance of last week's game: rough beginning, triumphant middle, medals being handed out on Endor in the end.
Score: Michigan 31, Northwestern 17.
Last week:"Denard will play. Don't you trust me, guys?"
Time: 12 ET (ESPN)
Place: Michigan Stadium--Ann Arbor, MI
Line: Michigan -9.5
Mood: Let's take care of business, eh?
This season, like every one before it, has sped on without your consent, like a city bus driver who sees you running up to door outside buts pull away anyway.
After a second trip up in Iowa City last season, the Wolverines entered the final triumvirate of games (Illinois, Nebraska and Ohio State) with a lot at stake and many questions left unanswered. Would the Wolverines be able to shake their offensive struggles on the road to get the win against a defensively solid Illini team? What about Nebraska? I also heard that there was some sort of looming streak against the Buckeyes that needed to be taken care of that definitely hadn't constantly been on all of our minds.
The circumstances this time around aren't exactly the same. Michigan rolls into this stretch with one more loss than they had at this point last season, this year's Iowa team is probably the weakest of either trio of opponents in question (i.e. last three games of 2011 and 2012) and the Wolverines get a much better Ohio State team on the road.
As a relatively new student at Northwestern, I took it upon myself to, you know, pay attention to Northwestern football. I watched most of--and in some cases, all (!)--the Wildcats' first five games, but I admittedly haven't been able to keep up from the Penn State game onward. So, a decent percentage of the things I will write here are colored significantly by watching them in September, FWIW.
On Offense
Brady Hoke will continue to say things regarding Denard's status, but it's pretty clear at this point that Hoke is the Mozart of the trolling craft (yes, you the annoyed fan are indeed Salieri in this ridiculous analogy). With that said, I'm going to remain under the assumption that Devin Gardner will start until proven otherwise, which should happen at right around 11:59 a.m. ET on Saturday.
Northwestern has actually been pretty tough defensively this season, particularly against the run, which is bad news for a Michigan team that hasn't gotten much of a non-Denard ground game going against anybody this season. If Denard goes, this concern is mitigated, but that is, in fact, an "if." Northwestern sits at a respectable 43rd in defensive S&P+; of course, they are 49th in pass defense S&P+, 35th against the pass, furthering my already extensive confusion vis-a-vis the world of ADVANCED STATZ.
DC Mike Hankwitz has done a good job molding this defense into a solid run D outfit, headlined by its three linebackers, Damien Proby, Brian Nwabuisi, and the spectacularly named Chi Chi Ariguzo. Before I move on, I just want to note that Mike Hankwitz basically is Heisenberg, you guys:
Maybe we should not mess with this guy. (HT: nusports.com)
The Wildcats have had capable linebackers in the past, including some guy named Pat Fitzgerald, so it's no surprise that that is the case now. Proby and Nwabuisi lead the team in tackles (86 and 75, respectively) and Ariguzo and safety Ibraheim "Guy You Probably Know From Reading Preseason Preview Magazines" Campbell are tied at third with 67 each. That is the sign of a good run defense.
The Cats have given up 41 on the road at Syracuse, 39 at Penn State, 29 against Nebraska in a pseudo-home game and had a rough second half against Indiana (albeit one that featured an IU kickoff return for a TD from Tevin Coleman), with the Hoosiers finishing with 29 after backup Nate Sudfeld had taken over at quarterback. Otherwise, the Northwestern D has generally put the clamps down on most teams, although none of those teams are very good at the offense thing.
Unfortunately, Michigan has been debatably good on that front as well. However, this defense isn't Alabama's or Notre Dame's, obviously. For a point of reference, Iowa sits at 45th in def. S&P+, two spots behind NU.
As you'd expect, the weak link in this defense is the secondary. Campbell, to quote Hoke, is a "guy who can do some things," but he can't do it alone. Redshirt freshman corner Nick VanHoose has shown promise at times but has also been picked on at various points; the same applies for Stanford grad transfer Quinn Evans. However, the two didn't play two weeks ago against Iowa after VanHoose suffered a shoulder injury and Evans an ankle injury against Nebraska the week before. Playing backups at both corner spots against Iowa, the Wildcats made it okay, giving up only 17 points against an Iowa offense that has been absolutely disastrous minus Mark Weisman's TRUE GRIT.
As of a few days ago, it seems that VanHoose and Evans will both go Saturday.
To make a long story short, Northwestern will generally look to contain Denard and hope he doesn't complete any bombs deep like he did last season. This generally worked during the first half last season, when Denard tossed three picks. Given what we saw from Gardner last week, the Wildcats might not be in a much better position if he ends up starting.
This is the type of game that probably keeps Borges up the night before. I'm talking about the "night before the first game of the season excitement" sort of restlessness and not the "OH GOD I HAVE TO DO THIS AGAIN I HAVE A LINE MADE OF OFFICE SUPPLIES AND EVERYBODY HATES ME NO MATTER WHAT AHHH" kind.
Michigan will likely get off to a slow start again as it finds its bearings and establishes a non-zero threat to run. Once that happens, look for Borges to initiate "RexGrossmanGameplanGOINGDEEP.exe."
On Defense
As frustrating as it has been to talk about the offense, the defense has been like a ceaseless ray of sunshine. Michigan is truly #blessed to have a DC like Greg Mattison, no question Jim.
The Wildcats have been a shifting amorphous blob of an offense, particularly at quarterback, but it would seem that they have decided to roll with Kain Colter full-time. Pocket passing freshman Trevor Siemian got some serious run early in the season, with Colter serving as a Wildcat (literally) QB/WR. Siemian attempted only one pass against Iowa, and the 'Cats only threw the ball 10 times total. That's "Big Ten football at its best."*
But wait, it's not, because Northwestern is decidedly a run-based spread outfit. The 'Cats are 13th in rushing yardage per game (236 per) and 113th in passing (162 per). If you have watched Northwestern play for even five minutes this season, this is probably not a surprise to you.
Colter is not Denard when it comes to top-end speed, but in the context of a read-option offense, that's not necessarily the most important thing. Colter, as I mentioned earlier in the season, has a particular set of skills. Of those skills,
The Wildcats have managed a 61:41 run-pass split to date. Complementing Colter's zone read sorcery is diminutive tailback Venric Mark, who has honestly been one of the most exciting players in the country. He is a threat to break a big play at almost any time. Mark has racked up 910 yards with a nice and shiny 6.1 YPC.
The Wildcats do in fact have some capable receivers, even if Kyle Prater hasn't turned out to be the instantly impactful guy that NU fans were hoping. The quartet of Tony Jones, Demetrius Fields, Rashad Lawrence and Christian Jones all have similar numbers (200s in yardage, 0-2 TDs each). The Wildcats don't pass much though, especially with Colter taking almost all of the snaps.
Michigan shut down a run-based Minnesota team last week and did a pretty solid job against Nebraska (up until the very end) despite have an offense about as effective as one composed of 11 boxes of Cheerios. Washington and Campbell should be able to get a little push up the middle when NU does pass or run little isos and draws out of the shotgun.
Where Michigan can get beat, on occasion, is on the edges. With Colter and Mark's general jukability, Michigan's edge defenders will need to be vigilant. Even the glorious Jake Ryan has had lapses on the edge this season, although they've been relatively infrequent occurrences. So, this game will basically come down to how Michigan responds in these situations.
*Hey BTN, if you haven't trademarked this yet then I hereby claim it. I'm pretty sure this is how copyright law works, right?
Special Teams
Simply put, Michigan needs: a) no costly derps from Gallon and b) a not terrible performance from Hagerup, especially since I get the feeling that Michigan will get off to a slow start again on offense.
From the Northwestern side, Mark is also a special teams dynamo. He's been okay on kicks, but on punts he has picked up two touchdowns in 10 returns, with an average of 25 yards per. Dear Michigan ST guys: lanes, get to them!
Oh, also, kicker Jeff Budzien is 11/12 on the year with a long of 44, in addition to being perfect on extra points. He's a dependable guy who should be able to chip in some points when Northwestern drives stall.
Predictions of Negligible Worth
Gardner's performance last week was undoubtedly a jolt of confidence for the jittery post-Denard injury Michigan fan. Yes, it was just Minnesota, but Gardner looked far more capable than he has at any point in his career; I truly believe all the talk that his time at receiver helped him last week.
Defensively, I just see a fairly one-dimensional--albeit talented and dangerous--Northwestern offense, and Greg Mattison has dreams about those sorts of things. Colter and Mark are good enough that they will find their way onto the second level from time to time, but I don't believe that this is the week that Michigan starts giving up multiple big plays.
This will come down to Jake Ryan maintaining his level of play to date and Michigan's corners, namely J.T. Floyd, bringing the appropriate support on edge runs and screens. If all goes according to plan, Northwestern will be forced to execute several grinding drives; if this happens, I'm willing to bet that at least one or two of those ends in a field goal or no points at all.
To be quite honest, I'm not sweating the whole "will he or won't he play" re: Denard. If he plays, everything will be fine and dandy and Michigan will actually have a running game. If Devin is in, assuming last week wasn't a mirage, Michigan should be more than fine. He has the arm to test Northwestern's corners deep, and he should be able to pick up some more yardage on the ground a la last week when the first couple of reads aren't there.
Northwestern will keep it close throughout. This might be the strongest defensive front seven the 'Cats have fielded in some time, and Michigan's interior OL hasn't shown the ability to dominate anybody on a consistent basis all year, let alone against solid to pretty good fronts.
Colter can make some plays through the air, but I don't know that Northwestern will really try all that much. Barring a complete defensive implosion, Michigan should hold Northwestern to around 20 points, give or take. I'm thinking that we get an encore performance of last week's game: rough beginning, triumphant middle, medals being handed out on Endor in the end.
Score: Michigan 31, Northwestern 17.
Who Are You and Why Do We Care?: Northwestern Wildcats
Is there a rivalry here?
No. Northwestern has not been very competitive in this series as Michigan leads 53-15-2 in the series' seven meetings since 1892.
When did we see them last?
Last season, Michigan traveled to Evanston, Illinois to face the Wildcats. On Michigan's first possession, Denard Robinson completed a pass to Junior Hemingway for 48 yards to get the Wolverines into the redzone, then threw the ball to Steve Watson for the touchdown. Northwestern responded on the next drive. Dan Persa lead the Wildcats down the field before Kain Colter ran for a 15 yard touchdown. When Michigan got the ball back, Denard threw an interception to Northwestern's Ibraheim Campbell. The Wildcats ran down the field, and Treyvon Green finished the job with a seven yard touchdown run.
On the first play of the of the second quarter, Denard threw a second interception to Ibraheim Campbell. Northwestern was not able to take advantage, and was forced to punt. Multiple possessions later, the Wolverines ran seven straight rushing plays before Jeremy Gallon found room on a throw back screen and went 25 yards for a touchdown. Again, Northwestern would respond, this time with a drive opposite of Michigan's. Dan Persa threw six straight passes before handing the ball off to Adonis Smith who ran for the touchdown. Michigan got the ball in the two minute drill, and Denard threw a third interception, this time to Brian Peters. Northwestern's Jeff Budzien kicked a field goal, and the half ended 24-10.
The second half was a different game. Michigan had five possessions, and scored on 4 of them. The only possession without a score ended with Brendan Gibbons missing a field goal. On the other hand Northwestern had the same five drives, and only came close to scoring on the last play of the game. The first possession of the second half included a 57 yard pass from Denard to Roy Roundtree and a Denard 2 yard touchdown run. The second drive was highlighted by a Robinson 25 yard run, a Kevin Koger 19 yard reception, and finally a Devin Gardner 1 yard touchdown run. On the third drive, Michigan started with great field position due to a Brandin Hawthorne interception. The first play of the fourth quarter was Michael Shaw running for a two yard touchdown. Northwestern fumbled and Michigan got the ball for a fourth time. This was the possession that ended with the missed field goal. Michigan's last drive ended with Denard rushing for a 5 yard touchdown. The game ended after Northwestern ran all the way down the field, and Kain Colter was tackled at the Michigan 1 yard line. Final Score: 42- 24.
What do they look like?
Well for a very long time they looked like purple USC. In 2010, the Wildcats broke out a new set of uniforms, which actually have stripes called "Northwestern Stripes." IMO, purple rarely looks good on a football uniform (even Brandon Graham couldn't make it look good). In addition, black for black's sake looks very bad for the Wildcats, especially since their colors are Purple and White. I actually really liked their old away jerseys, but I did not care for the purple or black. This year, Northwestern came out with a new set of uniforms. I know some people will say these are horrible, but I really like them (even with the purple). We will see the white version of these, which again are much better than the purple and black version.
What's their coaching situation?
When Randy Walker died in 2006, Linebackers Coach, Pat Fitzgerald took over. Fitzgerald has done everything the Northwestern fan base could ask for. He has gone 37-38 including four straight bowl games (all losses). Before becoming the Wildcat's head coach, Fitzgerald was an excellent linebacker for the same team. He was named the Big Ten Defensive Player of the Year twice, and won both the Bronko Nagurski Trophy and Chuck Bednarik Award in both 1995 and 1996. After playing one season for the Dallas Cowboys, he became the linebackers coach at Maryland followed by Colorado and Idaho before returning to Northwestern.
Have they won National or Big Ten Championships?
The Wildcats have never won a National Championship, but they have won eight Big Ten Championships. Three of those championships have occurred in the modern era: 1995, 1996, and 2000.
Did anyone famous play there?
These are really a stretch... I've only sort of heard of these guys...
- Mike Adamle: former WWE Raw General Manager
- Pat Fitzgerald
Do they have a goofy mascot?
It is very difficult to do research on Northwestern's Willie the Wildcat when another purple wearing team, Kansas State, also has their own Willie the Wildcat. Supposedly Northwestern's Willie went through a makeover before the video above. I don't know much about mascots, but this one is worse than Goldy.
Any cool/weird traditions?
- Well, they are more pretentious than us and they are proud of it. Since they are the only private school in the conference, Northwestern fans chant "State School" at the other teams in the Big Ten.
- I'm sure Fouad would hate this one: during kickoffs, their fans jingle their keys (I'm sure it makes a lot of noise). The keys replaced a much more awesome tradition of throwing marshmallows on to the field and at each other.
Prediction based on everything but football: Michigan 31 - Northwestern 17.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
HTR's Top 25: Week 6
Previous dubious assertions: HTR's Official Meaningless Preseason Top 25, Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5
With most of college football having exited the realm of Cupcake City, we were treated to our first weekend of mostly good football. This past Saturday was rife with upsets, derailed hype trains, and general shenanigans.
Out: Northwestern, Nebraska, UCLA, Washington, Texas Tech
With most of college football having exited the realm of Cupcake City, we were treated to our first weekend of mostly good football. This past Saturday was rife with upsets, derailed hype trains, and general shenanigans.
"Stop it with the dumb penalties, fergodsakes!"
(HT: Mike DeSimone)
Rank
|
Team
|
1
|
Alabama
|
2
|
Oregon
|
3
|
South Carolina
|
4
|
West Virginia
|
5
|
Florida
|
6
|
Notre Dame
|
7
|
Ohio State
|
8
|
Kansas State
|
9
|
LSU
|
10
|
Oregon State
|
11
|
USC
|
12
|
Florida State
|
13
|
Texas
|
14
|
Oklahoma
|
15
|
Georgia
|
16
| Louisville |
17
|
Stanford
|
18
|
Texas A&M
|
19
| Rutgers |
20
| Cincinnati |
21
|
Mississippi State
|
22
| Iowa State |
23
|
TCU
|
24
|
Michigan
|
25
|
Louisiana Tech
|
Out: Northwestern, Nebraska, UCLA, Washington, Texas Tech
- Northwestern...no longer undefeated. All of you that predicted an Alabama-Northwestern national title game, I'm sorry. The dream season is over. No completely unironic--no, really--Northwestern fight song linking this week.
- This year in college football insanity: Oregon State, in the top 10. This is "expectations exceeded" personified. I'm not sure how Mike Riley has navigated this team to a 4-0 record a season after losing to Sacramento State, but he has and is clearly a graduate of the Bill Snyder School of Sorcery. On the not so bright side, Oregon State QB Sean Mannion is out indefinitely after sustaining a knee injury against the Washington State Pirates. Luckily, OSU has a manageable slate throughout the rest of this month (@BYU, Utah, @Washington, Arizona State). If Oregon State can somehow get through that stretch without a loss, Riley has to be the coach of the year, right?
- Other dreams vanquished. Texas Tech finally fell this past weekend after surprising basically everyone by playing this thing called "defense" during its first four contests. Unfortunately, the Fightin' Tubervilles fell to the Sooners in Lubbock. The Red Raiders gave up 17 points in each of the second and third quarters. With that said, the TTU defense still did okay, giving up a relatively okay 4.2 YPC and under 400 yards of total offense. An Oklahoma pick 6 essentially ended the game midway through the 3rd quarter, taking the score to 38-13, putting it out of reach even for a pass-happy offense like TTU's.
- Michigan: back! Not back as in "returning to glory" back, but hey, Michigan's schedule has been tough and a thumping on the road against what figures to be a bowl team of some sort is enough to vault the Wolverines back into the top 25 for now. It means literally nothing but hey, being ranked 24th feels much better than being a "receiving votes" team.
- This week in my unrealistic and/or irrational preseason conjecturing. Virginia continues to plummet, making me look like a fool after spending the offseason hyping up Mike London. The Cavs lost at Duke, 42-17, putting them at 2-4 halfway through this 2012 season. Everything about that last sentence is really, really bad.
- Speaking of ACC failings...the Seminoles Florida Stated it up this weekend, losing to an NC State team that got destroyed by Tennessee. Virginia Tech continues to slide, adding a loss to UNC to its resume. Boston College lost to Army, Miami didn't even put up any sort of fight against Notre Dame in Chicago, and Georgia Tech lost again (also dropping them to 2-4). To make matters worse, the Ramblin' Wreck also relieved defensive coordinator Al Groh of his duties on Monday. Times are not good in Atlanta these days, and I'm not even talking about the Braves. Oh, by the way, Duke is 5-1. DUKE IS 5-1.
- West Virginia: legit. Okay, that defense is still very, uh, shaky, but a win in Austin is a win in Austin. It's fairly clear that, unlike Missouri, West Virginia will be perfectly fine in its new conference.
Saturday, September 29, 2012
Northwestern-Indiana: Kain Colter Has A Certain Set of Skills
Like Liam Neeson, Kain Colter has a certain set of skills.
With Michigan off this week, I turned to my current school for football sustenance...yes, the Northwestern Wildcats. Excuse me, the undefeated Northwestern Wildcats.
I actually did not end up going to this game, but I really thought about it. I really, really did. And, really, it's the thought that counts (thousands of Northwestern fans nod in agreement).
Okay, that was not very nice, but still: what gives, Northwestern fans? Are things that different here that a 4-0 team can't sell out Ryan Field? I have no idea what the official attendance figure was, but on TV there were clearly some pretty empty patches throughout the stadium. I know it was just Indiana and all, but c'mon man.
Anyway, here are some football thoughts to keep me sane during this bye week and while deciding who to "root" for in this MSU-OSU tilt.
---
Just to get this out of the way so I don't say it 30 times: Indiana is terrible, so much of this should be taken with several boulder-sized grains of salt. Nonetheless, Northwestern is not a team for which you could dismiss any single opponent with complete nonchalance. Northwestern has fielded some nice teams in the Fitzgerald era, but they haven't necessarily been immune to the egregious loss. For instance, NU lost to: New Hampshire in 2006, Duke in 2007, and Army last season.
Thus far, Northwestern has taken care of business, often with a very new and decidedly un-Northwestern-like formula: the ground game and defense. The Wildcat defense (particularly the secondary) had been an enormous weakness over the years in spite of Fitzgerald's defensive pedigree. Likewise, the running game had not been functional since Tyrell Sutton left Evanston after 2008.
After taking on three straight BCS conference foes, including an opener on the road at Syracuse, the Wildcats dispensed with all three, classily, intellectually, and generally in an agreeable manner befitting a warrior-poet-gentleman.
After tacking on a victory against the Coyotes of South Dakota last week*, the Wildcats began the Big Ten with a 2-1 Indiana team coming off a bye after losing to Brady Hoke's venerable alma mater in Muncie.
*I like to think that the South Dakota roster consists of a literal pack of coyotes running around on a football field while howling lugubriously at things.
The Offense
Once again, Northwestern's offensive attack has largely been ground-based thus far, and that trend continued today. Northwestern sped to a 27-0 lead after its opening drive in the second half, capped by a 15-yard scamper by QB/RB/WR Kain Colter.
Redshirt sophomore pocket passer Trevor Siemian actually started the game at quarterback for NU, as the Wildcats continue to go with the poor man's version of Michigan's old Brady-Henson set up in 1998/99. Despite each QB having a distinct weakness, Northwestern has rotated the two to great effect, even if the competition to date has not exactly been exceptional (although it was better than many non-conference slates around the country).
After NU's first two drives ended in punts, Kain Colter took the reins and NU went running like Forrest Gump. The Wildcats went 80 yards on six straight runs (three from Venric Mark, three from Colter) en route to a touchdown, an 8-yard run from Colter. This is the New Northwestern, manifested in a single drive.
Siemian entered the game again to start the second frame. Powered by a Mark rush for 18 and two straight 16-yard passes to Colter and Christian Jones, the Wildcats eventually settled for a 44-yard field goal from potential Lou Groza candidate Jeff Budzien. Northwestern added another touchdown--another 8-yard run from Colter--on its next drive via some more Siemian passing and nifty rushing from Mark and backup tailback Mike Trumpy.
NU added another field goal before the end of the half to go up 20-0, and everything was coming up Milhouse.
After going up 27-0 after the second half's opening drive, Mark fumbled at the end of a 25-yard run near the IU 36, ending what likely would've been another scoring drive. NU bounded back to deliver another TD drive on the back of a 26-yard Colter run and two big passing plays from Siemian to Christian Jones and Rashad Lawrence, ending with Mark punching it in from a yard out.
With IU returning the next kickoff for a score, the score was 34-21 and the pressure was back on the offense after the defense had held the clean sheet through the first half. The Wildcats once again cut through the IU defense like Balboa cutting his way through the forests en route to the Pacific; Budzien chipped in another 29-yarder to take the lead back to 16.
Northwestern had been fairly careful with the ball to date, turning it over only three times coming into today. Unfortunately, the 'Cats coughed up a fumble and two interceptions (one from both Colter and Siemian) against the Hoosiers. The first pick turned into a missed field goal from IU and the fumble was converted via the long Kofi Hughes touchdown grab. Luckily, Siemian's INT in the fourth quarter, with NU up 39-27 and driving deep into IU territory, lead to a fairly lackadaisical three and out for IU.
It was an especially bad pick for Siemian, as he was locked onto Colter in 2004 Chad Henne fashion, but the miscue didn't end up hurting the 'Cats.
Colter then did his thing, finding holes up the middle and on the perimeter in the IU defense. He even took another rush to the house, a 30+ yard scamper that was regrettably called back for holding. Nevertheless, NU soldiered on, plugging away against a horrific IU run defense, eventually leading to yet another Colter TD run on an expertly run zone read. IU actually tackled the running back on the play, which is pretty much a zone read coach's dream. Colter then simply schooled the IU edge defender, #42 David Cooper, before running 22 yards for a relatively easy score.
With the score being 44-29 in NU's favor with only five minutes to go, the game was basically over...just kidding, it wasn't, as the NU secondary still had some derp left in the tank.
The Defense
The other encouraging development for the Wildcats this season, other than the running game, has undoubtedly been the defense. After a shaky affair in the Carrier Dome, the NU defense has hunkered down of late, holding its last three opponents to a total of 33 points. The Wildcats weren't near the top of the rankings in total defense, turnovers forced, red zone defense, or third down defense, but they were a respectable 37th in scoring defense coming into today.
After a first half in which the Wildcats completely stonewalled the hapless Hoosiers--keeping them to 113 yards of offense and zero points--the second half resembled a dam's complete collapse, with the Hoosier offense being the oncoming flood (I'm pretty sure that's the first time that has ever been said).
The secondary issues of old began to rear their ugly head once again, as Kofi Hughes, probably Indiana's most talented player, went to work against Quinn Evans (a Stanford grad transfer) et al. After an IU touchdown drive powered mostly by some expert running from tailback Stephen Houston, Hughes reeled in two consecutive receptions of 28 and 35 yards respectively, the latter being a fairly impressive TD grab in the end zone. The NU lead was back to 13, at 27-14.
After the aforementioned 1-yard Mark TD, Indiana's Tevin Coleman returned the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for the score, representing possibly the first kickoff return for a score this season that I have actually seen live (I think).
With the score at 37-21, the IU offense went back to work near the end of the 3rd and into the 4th, executing a 7-play, 69-yard TD drive that included a 33-yard pass from backup QB Nate Sudfield (who had taken over for Cameron Coffman in the second quarter) on NU corner Nick VanHoose. IU scored and Kofi Hughes converted the two-point conversion to make it a one score game at 37-29. What had once been a blowout was no longer, and Northwestern's built up cache of defensive good will had seemingly been squandered in three quarters.
After NU went up 44-29, Sudfield completed a 46-yard bomb to Cody Latimer on Quinn Evans, taking it to the NU 11. After two straight Houston rushes and a fumbled Sudfield snap on third down, IU had to go for it on fourth, but not before a ridiculous false start penalty. After a failed fade attempt to Kofi Hughes in the right back corner, the game was essentially salted away for the Wildcats. Game blouses.
Special Teams
Jeff Budzien has to be one of the best kickers in the country. He went 3/3 on the day, continuing his perfect mark on the season.
Punter Brandon Williams only punted twice but did a nice job, using his two opportunities to boot 45- and 46-yarders.
The kick/punt return game wasn't a factor for the Wildcats on the day, but it was for their opponent. The Hoosier took six kick returns back for an average of 36.6 yards per, including the aforementioned 96-yard score from Tevin Coleman. Northwestern can't afford to offer more capable teams that kind of space on returns going forward if the defense is to be protected.
Miscellaneous Minutiae
- Kain Colter. Colter is a poor man's Denard, but if there is anything that Colter absolutely does better than Denard, it is the zone read. I was honestly kind of jealous watching him run it to perfection over and over again. Yes, it was only Indiana yada yada yada, but Colter seems to have the basically innate quick twitch decision-making with the zone read that Denard for whatever reason hasn't really ever had. Of course, it remains to be seen if Colter can continue to do this against teams with some semblance of a defense; he passed the ball three times today for two yards and an interception.
- More offense-related awe: the Wildcats amassed 704 total yards (!), including 6.8 YPC. IU is clearly very terrible, but that is impressive nonetheless. FWIW, it broke NU's single game school record.
- Mark Five. GET IT, MARK FIVE. Okay I'm done. Despite his stature, Mark continues to plug away and deliver big plays for NU on the ground as the QB situation continues to sort itself out. Mark ran for 139 yards on 26 carries (4.8 YPC) and a touchdown. The only blemish on the day for the 5'8'' Texan was a fumble near the end of a long run into IU territory.
- Drops. NU has a surprisingly deep group of wide receivers, but from what I've seen thus far this season, drops have been an issue from time to time. Late in the third quarter, Demetrius Fields dropped an easy pass in the end zone that really shouldn't have been. It lead to a field goal and ultimately didn't matter, but it's just something to monitor going forward.
- Good times, bad times. All kidding aside, IU does have some offensive talent, namely Kofi Hughes and Stephen Houston. Still, IU's offensive explosion in the second half should give NU fans some pause after. After being held in check in the first half, IU scored 29 in the second--albeit with the help of a kickoff return for a TD--and amassed over 300 total yards in that time. NU corners, Nick VanHoose and Quinn Evans, were victimized deep from time to time. The Hoosiers also ran the ball at 5.7 yards a pop, which is a bit worrisome for the 'Cats with run first teams like Michigan, Michigan State, and Nebraska still left on the divisional docket.
- An injury note. One potential explanation for the secondary's collapse: star safety Ibraheim Campbell left with an injury after a pretty jarring hit on an IU offensive player. I don't remember seeing him out there in the second half, so, take that FWIW.
- Jeff Budzien=the Robbie Gould of Evanston. It was another perfect day for the NU kicker, who went 3/3 with a long of 44. He's 8/8 on the year, although he has yet to attempt anything past 50 yards out. So, like I said...Robbie Gould. NU won't be able to run roughshod over the Big Ten--yes, even the terrible, lowly Big Ten--the way it has done through five games, so I have to think that Budzien will get many more chances to test out that leg.
- Well, this was fun. Michigan bye weeks are horrific, horrific things, but it was nice to get into a game on some level this week. I will be rooting for the Wildcats the rest of the way (as long as it doesn't affect Michigan's chances to win the division, of course). I'll play myself out with this once again:
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