Northwestern - aka Pretenders
- Thread starter WinOneThisCentury
- Start date
okeefe4prez
Well-Known Member
The schedule they have played is about as good as they can get. I give them credit because most BCS schools are in a mode of playing the worst teams they can find and almost no decent programs will give them a home and home because their stadium is too small and they have no fan following to make it economically viable for them to play most middle of the road BCS teams. They have lined up Cal, Stanford and Notre Dame (which ND may cancel) in the future, but that is the absolute high they can hit. Hell, a 4-0 team drew 33,000 people for a Big Ten game last week.
I don't think that team or their coach or their fans are "pretending" they are good. They know it is a pedestrian team. But if they get out of Happy Valley with a win, they have a good shot at 9-3, which would warrant a lower top 25 ranking, at least until they lose big to an sec team in a bowl.
If you want to see a "pretend" team, watch the 2005 or 2010 Hawks. Or the 2006 Hawks the hour before they played OSU en route to a 2-6 big ten campaign. Or the 2008 fighting Illini. Northwestern fans lack the delusions of those fan bases.
okeefe4prez
Well-Known Member
1-4 if they got lucky.
DeanMarshall
Well-Known Member
No it's not.
Some 'informed' folks also pointed out that Minnesota's 'gaudy' 4-0 record was against
cupcake type competition. Northwestern has beaten who, exactly?
Indiana, at home, barely......that isn't what I'll call, let's say, exactly impressive.
GO HAWKS
WinOneThisCentury
Well-Known Member
Anyone want to discuss Northwestern's incredible offense that had 239 yards of total offense and really only scored 14 points. How about their incredible defense that gave Penn State over 100 offensive plays and a three or four 85 to 90 yard drives. Wow that team is impressive. If not for their special teams, Penn States defenders who can't catch, and a muffed punt by Penn State...this would have been a blowout.
But since Boston College and Vanderbilt got beat by some good teams...therefore Northwestern must be good. Great logic morons.
I'm everyone is going to now say how great Penn State is for beating the Wildcats.
But since Boston College and Vanderbilt got beat by some good teams...therefore Northwestern must be good. Great logic morons.
I'm everyone is going to now say how great Penn State is for beating the Wildcats.
AreWeThereYet
Well-Known Member
They don't suck much more than anyone else in the league.
I did put my vCash bet on Penn State though. Northwestern never plays well against Penn State.
I did put my vCash bet on Penn State though. Northwestern never plays well against Penn State.
WinOneThisCentury
Well-Known Member
I'm going to go on record...they will get to a bowl game...and they will lose the bowl game. I know, not exactly a novel prediction since it's happened every time they have gotten to a bowl game over the last 60 years or so, but I'm thinking the trend continues.
MisterLucky
Well-Known Member
What sucks is that Fitzpatrick has completely out recruited Ferentz for years now. And this is at a school with high admittance standards. They have had better skill position players for the past decade and better coaches as well.
WinOneThisCentury
Well-Known Member
I haven't seen any of the NW touters and people who blasted me for the premise coming on to comment. I love the way they were experts at assessing a team that hadn't played anyone, but when they are exposed...they seem to have no interest in coming on and saying they were wrong.
WinOneThisCentury
Well-Known Member
Or somehow they tie my OP to the fact that I'm an Iowa fan...so it's out of spite. No, they just hadn't played a defense with a pulse. That was my point. They have good skill position players, but they got beat at the line of scrimmage yesterday on both sides of the ball. That is exactly where they will get beat in each of their games against physical teams...they will have to outscore them.
I will say this...NW has some very good young players at the skill positions.
I will say this...NW has some very good young players at the skill positions.
okeefe4prez
Well-Known Member
They also had a ton of problems with McGloin - as I noted above, they are weak in the trenches and in the secondary. Had McGloin played like he normally does, the Cats win that game, but the dude almost had 300 yards passing and showed why he might not be the worst QB in the Big Ten. Lucky for NU, there are a lot of big ten teams that are fairly soft in the trenches, I see 7-5 in the cards for them, with their wins coming against Minnesota and one of Iowa or Illinois, but MSU also looks beatable and hopefully NU's run of luck of beating a good team has transferred from Iowa to Nebraska, so maybe they could sneak in another win against MSU or Nebraska.
WinOneThisCentury
Well-Known Member
Their offense went three and out several times yesterday...and therefore they couldn't wear down the defense. That was the issue. That same offense really accounted for only 14 points with Mark's punt return and the muffed punt. McGloin had time to sit and wait for people to get open...and I mean he sat back there and waited to for guys running short patterns to change directions a few times. The key to McGloin is that you can't let him get comfortable. He was comfortable from the first series yesterday.
I'm not necessarily bagging on NW...as I don't know that we can beat them...I think it will be a good game and there are interesting match ups on both sides of the ball. My point in this whole thread was that they hadn't faced a decent defense yet...they faced a good D, not great, but a good defense yesterday and the result was less than stellar. They are going to get better though...but they are going to need to protect the passer a little better.
jwegner
Well-Known Member
The entire B1G (at least the eligible ones) are pretenders
B1G shut out of coaches' poll for first time - College Football Nation Blog - ESPN
I
ILHawk
Guest
Ok, I"ll respond. A sore Iowa fan has no business trashing NW as pretenders. The main point most of your detractors presented was that Iowa certainly has been a pretender, especially when you look at their BCS record and who the losses come against.
Happy Valley is tough place to play. Iowa laid the CMU egg at home.
Fact is that the BIG is a bunch of pretenders and it's getting worse.
My take is that high school programs in general are deteriorating as parents watch the Jim McMahon's off the world in their present state. With fewer players, the quality goes down. The really good players are gobbled up by the better programs. In IL, there are more bigger schools. The bigger schools are having trouble fielding Fr and JV teams. I'm talking even Champaign schools. Some smaller schools have forfeited. Our local team which is bigger than most in Iowa and would be 4A is a traditional power. They are starting about 40% 10th graders. The talent pool in lower grades is plummeting.
Now, let's compare the mildcats and the parakeet eyes. NW has at least made a game of it on the road. The tweeter hawks haven't really played on the road yet.
A close loss in Happy Valley doesn't make them a pretender.
The playing Illini aren't pretending to be anyone.
Iowa pretended to be really good against goofers.
tweeterhawk
Well-Known Member
Any real reason to post this in a Hawkeye football forum, other than perhaps you were too lazy to look for the appropriate place? This belongs in Rivalry.
That is all.
That is all.
kicker22
Well-Known Member
The problem I have doesn't have anything to do with the fact of whether PSU is a pretty good team or not or where Northwestern played. I got criticized, like others, for calling out their OOC schedule and the fact that although they had played a number of BCS schools, none of those schools (IMO) were worthy of proving that they belonged in the top 25. I don't think there's anything wrong with playing respectable teams before labeling a team that is 5-0 at the time a contender.
Everyone wants to bring Iowa into this argument, but the fact is I don't know anyone who has said Iowa was a contender. The thought of Iowa even as a pretender is a joke as well, because no one is "pretending" that this team looks like a team that should be ranked or that could contend for a championship, albeit conference or MNC.
