SB Nation - Tyrell Sutton

Cats Gettin Paid

Rodger Sherman — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 22:04:02 -0000

More photos » by Patrick Semansky - AP

Five Saints, one Tyrell Sutton.

So, the way this works is that this week, I'm just continuing my really random posting schedule, but next week is Auburn week. It'll be good.

As for today, t's time for a roundup of professional football playing ex-NU students, and how they're faring so far this fall. All 15 or less of them. And only 13 weeks into the regular season!

And no, I couldn't come up with a better title. Plus, a google search reveals the phrase "Cats gettin paid" was said by Akrobatik in this song featuring Little Brother, and if you don't know about Little Brother, well, hear about them. I'm not sure how combining two great lyricists with one of the best producers in the game doesn't create mainstream waves, but The Listening and The Minstrel Show are top ten albums of the decade in my opinion, just sayin'.

So yeah, Cats gettin paid.

Let's start out with the people in the NFL: 14 ex-Cats are being payed by NFL teams to play football. Of these, two are on their respective teams' active rosters but have not yet played, and two are on practice squads, leaving ten players who have played downs in the NFL this year.

I'ma make you hit the jump for it, though:

Luis Castillo is probably the most prominent NU grad in the NFL, having signed a $43 million dollar contract in the offseason. As you probably know, Luis is San Diego's starting right defensive end, but he's had a pretty off year - in the first 10 games of the year, he had 20 tackles and only two sacks, which seems kinda low, don't it? - and then a calf injury in week 11 has had him out since and he's doubtful right about now. Also, he still has the same name as a baseball player.
Barry Cofield as he has been for the past few years, is the Giants left defensive tackle, and one of NU's vastly important Super Bowl champs. The Giant's defense has fallen off a cliff this year and the team has lost five of seven, but it's not Barry's fault. (And if it is Barry's fault... well, wow, he's pretty bad. But it probably isn't.) In fact, reading briefly about what the Giants blog on this here SBN has said about him, he's been doing pretty decent.
Nick Roach has had a pretty decent sized role for the Bears this year, since Brian Urlacher had a season-ending injury way back in week one. Roach has been starting all over, including a few games at middle linebacker, which is a pretty hard position to randomly move into, and has since swapped out to strong-side linebacker, where he's been great from what I read. He's 3rd on the team with 61 tackles and in a 30-6 win against Cleveland, forced to fumbles. So that's aight.
Trai Essex, NU's other active Super Bowl Champ, has started every gosh-darned game of the season at right guard for the Steelers. Yeah. Oh yeah.
Kevin Bentley, everybody's favorite linebacker for the Houston Texans (depending on your feelings on DeMeco Ryans), is a linebacker for the Houston Texans. He don't start, but he ain't doing too bad. In other "me potentially making things up" news, I thought I remembered seeing him recover a fumble and being like "hey, he went to NU!" but a quick check of the actual stats shows that this never happened. Sippinonpurple.com: where my journalism professors' fears of blogs killing real journalism come true!
Ike Ndukwe got traded from the Miami Dolphins to Kansas City right before the season started. Although initially super excited to go from a potentially decent team in a crappy city like Miami to a terrible one in a gorgeous metropolis like Kansas City, Ike saw he might not get any playing time. Then KC's starting right tackle got injured, and Ike started the first three games of the year, earning the love and friendship of many Kansas City natives. He's back on the bench now, though. You might think this is all totally boring, but it somehow started a 44-comment thread over at the Chief's SBN site.
Zach Streif totally started a game at left tackle for the Saints. I remember this, because they were playing the Jets, and I was watching because I'm a Jets fan, and I got really happy when I saw his name and "Northwestern" on the starting lineups, and then got really sad when I saw him celebrating in the end zone against my team. I may or may not hold a grudge. Anyway, he's played in every game this year, but is still generally a backup behind ex-Towson Tiger Jermon Bushrod, whose apparent only goal in life is proving that the Tigers' 47-14 loss to Northwestern earlier this year was a fluke, considering which school produced the more prodigious New Orleans Saint left tackle.
Tyrell Sutton is a player I pay special attention to, because he's the only person to fall into the middle of the Venn diagram for "Players in the National Football League" and "People Rodger Sherman has had a class with." He was signed by the Packers out of training camp, but they cut him, which turned out to be a smart decision, because injuries and a terrible-to-begin-with running back corps has forced the Pack to give heavy reps to the exhumed corpse of Ahman Green, and if he gets hurt, I hear their GM has Samkon Gado on speed dial. (The Ahman Green part wasn't a joke. He's playing for them. It's 2009.) Anyways, Tyrell caught on with the Carolina Panthers, where he was a fourth-string running back for a long time, but when fullbacks Brad Hoover and Tony Fiametta both got simultaneously injured, that guy who was supposedly undersized to be a Big Ten running back had to see playing time as an NFL fullback, getting three rushes for 15 yards and a catch for 11. And this past weekend against Tampa Bay, with DeAngelo Williams out, we was second-string, earning 6 carries for 38 yards, including a 20 yarder. He's generally been a kick returner - a pretty good one at that - and an occasional third-string back. I saw him get some late-game tick against the Jets a few weekends ago. Him blocking people isn't pretty, because he's like, 5'8, but I think he can stick in the league. He's clearly got the skills to elude people like he did in college, be it returning kicks or running, someone's just gotta give him a chance. For those of you intrigued, here's what he looks like in an NFL uniform - weird that they let him use the LaDanian visor, he never got one of those in college.
Jason Wright has barely played as a third-string running back for the Cardinals behind Beanie Wells and Tim Hightower- two rushes for eight yards, six catches for 38 - but two of those receptions were for touchdowns. This leads me to believe they're probably bringing him in as another blocker or random backfield body on goal line sets and every once in a while he swings out and happens to get open in the end zone. We at NU call this "The Brendan Mitchell".
Marquice Cole has caught on with my Jets. I noticed this when he had a pick in the preseason, and the announcer was like "he went to Northwestern" and I was like "word?" and then the announcer didn't say anything because he couldn't hear me. Anyway, after being cut by three teams in the offseason in the two seasons since he left NU, Cole finally caught on with the Jets after a preseason perfomance that included that pick I mentioned, as you can see here. But as you can see here, he got cut like three days later. But as you can see here, he got signed again like a week later, and has recorded six tackles on special teams. (at least I think they're on special teams. Haven't seen him on the field in actual play yet, then again, I don't get to watch every Jets game out here in Illinois.)

Now, the practice squadders, because being a technicality on an NFL roster is better than being nothing at all:

Brett Basanez, Northwestern's practice squad hero and the one person you can point to if someone ever says there are no NU QB's in the NFL, is spending his third year primarily on the practice squad of an NFL team. His first two were with the Panthers, but you can't spend three years on the same team's practice squad apparently, so he had to move on, and he did, to Chi-town. It doesn't look like he'll break the iron grip Jay Cutler has on throwing passes to Chicago's opponents anytime soon, and second-string Caleb Hanie has only thrown two passes on the season, so Basanez is deep bench.
John Gill has been rocking the Indianapolis Colts' practice squad all season long, making me wonder whether practice squads get rings.

The NFL may have a virtual monopoly on the football world, but that doesn't mean that there aren't other football leagues out there. Northwestern basically runs the UFL, after all.

Prince Kwateng was basically a star for the California Redwoods (jesus these team names are awful). The Prince picked up 20 tackles on a team coached by ex-Northwestern coach Dennis Green. The Daily covered it and stuff.
Tim McGarigle, the guy who somehow holds the NCAA record for tackles, purportedly had a great season for the Florida Tuskers (again with the names!) who went on to the UFL Championship. (then again, there were only four teams, so he had a one in two shot.) There were articles written about him and stuff.
A lot of people heard CJ Bachér was in the UFL and talked about it because the concept of your recent starting quarterback being in the UFL is inherently disappointing. What they didn't know is that Bachér didn't hang on in the UFL - after what was apparently a pick-filled preseason, Bachér got cut by the New York Sentinels, who opted to go with NFL has-beens Quinn Gray and Ingle Martin at the quarterback slot. However, this Sentinels blog (a concept even more depressing than the UFL itself) reports that Bacher got resigned towards the end of the season. Although lord knows whether or not they put the accent aigu on his jersey.
After being cut by the Browns, Noah Herron decided to play for the Sentinels about halfway through the season, and although he suffered a pretty gross injury apparently, he's doing fine. No word on whether or not he stuck out the season. The biggest thing I found searching for news on Noah on google is that he really got screwed over by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in terms of salaries last season.

And now, for my final act, I'll discuss what was in my opinion my weirdest post of the summer: this one, originally written back on my blogspot account about how three ex-NU players - David Oredugba, Demetrius Eaton, and Deante Battle were playing professional football in Finland, of all places. No updates on Oredugba - for all I know, he's still balling in Finland - but I did receive a very cryptic message from Eaton a few weeks after that post.

No hit me up, I have all the answers you need. This is Demetrius. I've been back for the last month and Deante is actually still out there and wont return until the 14th. Some bs happened out there which sent me packing. Hit me for the exclusive!

I hit Demetrius up for the exclusive, but didn't get any further information. According to this post, Battle was back in Evanston tearing up IM football, but I wasn't there to witness it.

So that's that. If you made it through this whole thing, you're a champ. I stay grinding, so, keep coming back for more.

Wha Happened? Week Nine

RossWB — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 11:44:48 -0000

Sooo... that was an uneventful day in the Big Ten, right? A blowout here, an unexpectedly tight game there, wins by two of BHGP's favorite embattled coaches, and a flawless day of work by the league's refereeing and replay officials. Yep. Nothing to see here. Just the usual. But if you insist... here's Wha Happened.

Come to think of it: has anyone ever seen Batman and Ron Zook in the same place? HMM.

Illinois 38, Michigan 13
Not a dream, not a hoax, not an imaginary story -- Illinois really did crush a conference rival by 25 points. The same sad-sack Illini outfit that hadn't cracked 17 points in a single game against FBS competition this year scored more than that by the ten minute mark of the third quarter; then tacked on another 17 points because they were feeling frisky. Much-maligned (and deservedly so) Juice Williams had a quiet but efficient day passing the ball (8/11, 123 yards), but he took care of the ball (no turnovers) and he helped key an Illinois rushing attack that churned out 377 yards on 56 carries (Juice had 97 yards and a score on 21 attempts), numbers would that make even the potent Illinois rushing attack of 2007 envious. Jason Ford and Mikel Williams both finished with over 100 yards rushing, including a 70+ yard touchdown run by each man. This was a very nice and much-needed win for the embattled Zooker, which makes the BHGP joke writers (we pay them in collector's edition STANZI 4 HEISMANZI t-shirts) very pleased. But, hell, after the ongoing nightmare that this season has been, a win like this is a nice port in the storm; so sit back, relax, and do the Batusi, Ron -- for one night, you've earned it. Wha Happened? was all prepared to write the official obituary for the 2009 Illinois season as they became the first B10 team to clinch bowl ineligibility, but that will have to wait for at least one week.

Meanwhile, former wunderkind Tate Forcier continued his brutal October; he did go 13/23 for 257 yards, but he fumbled three times (losing two), failed to throw a touchdown pass, and failed to lead Michigan to touchdowns of any kind after the first quarter (and failed to lead them to any points whatsoever in the second half). In fact, Forcier hasn't thrown a touchdown pass since the end of the Michigan State game. Whether it's his ailing shoulder, the increasingly cold and nasty midwestern weather, or just the physical grind of Big Ten football on an undersized true freshman's body, Forcier's play has clearly taken a dip. That 4-0 start looks more and more like a mirage and with a pair of home games (against Purdue and Ohio State) sandwiched around a road game at resurgent Wisconsin, achieving more than a 6-6 record may be difficult for the LOLverines. Good thing it's a short road trip to Detroit for the Pizza! Pizza! Bowl.

Finally, a sad farewell to the gloriously-named Boubacar Cissoko, unceremoniously booted from the Michigan team earlier this week for the always-mysterious "violation of team rules" (BHGP theory: swindled Rodriguez out of seed money for City Boyz, Inc. 2.0); between this loss and the impending departure of Zoltan Mesko, Michigan is losing ground in the "totally awesome names" department. At least they still have Martavious Odoms.

Only a quarter as insane as this actual game.

Minnesota 42, Michigan State 34
If Iowa-Indiana wasn't the wildest Big 10 game of the day, then this one almost certainly takes that honor. Over 800 total yards of offense, 76 points, five touchdowns of longer than 30 yards, and, oh yeah, 17 penalties for 157 yards for Minnesota (they tacked on 9 penalties for 73 yards against Sparty; needless to say, the officials had some busy whistles). Absolute lunacy. And words can't even begin to describe how preposterous some of the touchdowns were: Minnesota opened up the scoring with a 62-yard bomb that featured Duane Bennett doing one of the best tightrope walks you'll ever see; Brandon Green followed that up by hauling in an acrobatic 37-yard score. MSU scored their first touchdown on one of the wackiest, most schoolyard-looking scramble-and-chuck-it-downfield plays. MSU then attempted to trump that by having Keshawn Martin rattle off a 93-yard kickoff return touchdown and an 84-yard rushing touchdown within a ten minute span in the third quarter. But the icing on the cake was Minnesota's clinching touchdown: Duane Bennett plucked the ball out of the air after the initial receiver, Nick Tow-Arnett, got cracked by brutal hit and coughed the ball up, then scooted 59 yards. Like I said: pre-fucking-posterous.

Meanwhile, the Iowa-Indiana game wasn't the only one that featured some questionable replay calls; moments before Minnesota's clinching touchdown, the replay booth inexplicably overturned a critical fumble call after a Minnesota receiver appeared to catch the ball, take 1-2 steps, and then get hit and fumble the ball. I have no idea what the replay official saw there to change that call. Regardless, Adam Weber had a career day -- 19/31, 416 yards, 5 TD/1 INT -- and the fact that this happened a week after he lost his safety blanket in Eric Decker seemed somehow appropriate on a thoroughly wild and woolly day of Big Ten action. A week after Ricky Stanzi made the Spartan secondary look good for 58:23, Adam Weber confirmed what we all knew to be true: they kinda suck. As for the rest of Spartans, it's hard not to look at the catastrophic opening of the game and not conclude that there was a hangover effect from the Iowa game a week ago; whether there was or not, they're 4-5 and may need to win out to guarantee themselves a bowl game (which could be tricky since they end the season against Penn State), which is not exactly how you want to follow up a 9-win campaign that finished up in the Capital One Bowl. All five of their losses have been by single digits, but close losses don't do anything but keep you up at night. But what to make of the TRY FIGHT WIN HEAVILY PENALIZED Gophers a week after losing their top offensive weapon (Decker) and nearly getting shut out in back-to-back games by Penn State and Ohio State (only a garbage-time touchdown against OSU's reserves prevented that ignominious fate)? Was this an aberration? A sign that the Gopher offense may not be quite as woeful as we thought? Considering that Weber hadn't thrown for a TD pass since the Wisconsin game 28 days ago and that he nearly doubled his season total for TD passes in one game, we lean towards the former explanation.

The Nittany Lion got moves, yo.

Penn State 34, just Northwestern 13
At halftime, jNWU was actually winning 13-10. After three quarters, the game was still tied, 13-13. Then came ~~STANZITIME~~, er, the fourth quarter and Penn State absolutely blew up, scoring touchdowns on three consecutive drives to take control of the game. Daryll Clark continued to cruise towards 1st-team All-Big Ten honors, going 22/31 for 274 yards and a touchdown; just another fine day at the office for him. Evan Royster tacked on 118 yards and a touchdown on just 15 carries. The bad news from LOLcat land is that starting quarterback and existential warrior Mike Kafka left the game with a hamstring injury, which puts into doubt his availability for the Iowa game this coming weekend. Back-up Dan Persa wasn't bad, per se (14/23, 115 yards; 14 carries, 42 yards; 0 TDs), but he didn't exactly do much, either. Once again, the jNWU running backs were a no-show: their top two leading rushers were Persa and Kafka. Actual running backs ran the ball 14 times for 33 yards. These are not exactly the proud descendants of Darnell Autry, Damian Anderson, and Tyrell Sutton.

Is there anything that muppets don't make better? Of course not.

Wisconsin 37, Purdue 0
Two weeks ago, Purdue was on top of the world after engineering a wildly improbable upset over Ohio State. They followed that up with a tidy win over a reeling Illinois team. It's safe to say the honeymoon is over now. John Clay carried the load on offense (123 yards and three touchdowns on 24 carries), a blocked punt returned for a touchdown late in the first half deflated Purdue, and the Badger defense squeezed the life out of Purdue, holding them to a measly 141 yards on 62 plays, or barely more than two yards a play. This was vintage, Alvarez-era Wisconsin football.

Honestly one of the first three returns on Youtube on a search for "new mexico state"; maybe they were just playing Ohio State in the wrong sport...

Ohio State 45, New Mexico State 0
Even this seemingly innocuous blowout is still further proof of what a thoroughly insane day it was in the Big Ten. When the fuck does Senator Sweatervest (who is now getting actual political advice from someone who knows a thing or two about moving from coach to politician) ever beat someone 45-0? Especially with an offense that, prior to the past few weeks, had been one of the most anemic offenses of the Sweatervest Era? Has Terrelle Pryor truly turned the proverbial corner? Well, let's not get too hasty -- he was just 11/23 for 135 yards and a touchdown, plus 83 yards and a touchdown on nine carries -- and New Mexico State (who, it should be noted, is not the New Mexico school with the "fists of fury" coach) does have one of the worst defenses in the nation. They also have one of the worst offenses in the nation, which is just making it a little too easy for the stout Buckeye defense; that said, anytime you can hold FBS competition to just 62 yards of total offense, well, you're doing something very, very right. Either way, Ohio State did exactly what a good team is supposed to do at home to a horrifically overmatched team: beat the everloving shit out of them.

Malicious Internet Interrogation With Lake The Posts

BSD — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 13:30:25 -0000

More photos » by Jim Prisching - AP

2 months ago: Northwestern's Sidney Stewart (5) and Brendan Mitchell (80) celebrate with fans after Northwestern's 29-28 victory over Indiana in an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 24, 2009, in Evanston,Ill. (AP Photo/ Jim Prisching)

Browse more photos »

This week Lake The Posts, a very fine Northwestern blog, was kind enough to tell us about the Wildcats and give us his perspective on the game this Saturday. He promised not to use any smart school words us state university educated people can't understand.

You guys aren't still mad about that whole 2005 thing, are you?

Not nearly as much as 2001! You'll see how the '01 game is the most underrated part of the demise of the most promising season we had. But yes, I was in the Cincinnati airport listening to the play-by-play of the Robinson-fumble game and nearly had police take me in to custody in the final minute of that game. Thanks for opening up that painful scab. Can we revisit 1995 please?

No. I don't remember anything between 1994 and 2005.

Before the season, Northwestern fans were pretty upbeat coming off of a 9-4 season and a narrow loss to Missouri in the Alamo Bowl. How would you say this season to date has met your expectations?

Abysmally short. The "realistic worst case scenario" heading in to the marquee home game of the year - Penn State - was 6-2. Most of us felt 7-1 was likely with the loss to Sparty being the lone loss. The reason for the optimism was the return of almost our entire defense including what was touted as the best secondary in school history. However, we've been absolutely decimated by injuries. By now you know we have likely 3 starters of our secondary out for Saturday and several back-ups out. No joke, Ricky Weina, an unrecruited walk-on played the entire second half at CB. Hence Fitz's predictions "guaranteeing" Penn State will throw "at least 10 deep balls" on Saturday. Our pre-season All-American Corey Wootton, an absolute DE terror last season has been painfully slow to recover from his blown knee in the Alamo Bowl. It is tough to watch as he hasn't been able to come close to playing to his '08 level.

When I saw Northwestern's poor rushing statistics I thought they must not be trying to run the ball much. But it turns out as a team they have 313 rushing attempts versus 305 passing attempts on the season, so they are trying to run the ball. Would you say the lack of production is more a function of the offensive line struggling or the lack of a feature running back to carry the load?

Wow. That number surprises me. The answer is both. Our OL has been terrible - again, a perceived strength since we return most of the starters but we also lack a traditional Damien Anderson/Jason Wright/Tyrell Sutton playmaker at RB. Mike Kafka, our QB is our best rusher, however our 4^th string RB, Scott Concannon showed the first glimpse of hope at that spot last week by making guys miss and he was brilliant on the game-winning drive. He earned the starting nod this week. Kafka is getting 15 or so rushes per game so you can significanty reduce the touches by our true RBs.

Northwestern's passing defense is middle-of-the-road in the Big Ten right now. Being a defensive-minded coach, this has to be driving Fitz nuts. Is the problem a lack of experience? Is it a lack of talent? Is it injuries? What does Northwestern need to get better?

See above. Injuries. When we're healthy, we're very good. Sherrick McManis is a star CB - a true star on any Big Ten team, yet he's now out for Saturday. It's all injuries. When we lost one of our starters in the secondary for the ‘Cuse game, they just picked on then 3^rd string Demetrius Dugar and Mike Williams picked him apart for nearly 200 yards. I can't remember a unit being so plagued by injuries. Despite the alleged upgrade in recruiting under Fitz, depth is still not our strength. If our 4 starting DBs were playing, I'd actually feel promise for Saturday. With the injury-depleted replacements (we have 2 back-ups out with injury) I fear for a long day. Clark should throw all day downfield.

I'm assuming some Penn State games this year. Where do you think the Wildcats will try to exploit the Nittany Lion defense when they have the ball?

NU hasn't really altered the offensive gameplan against anyone, other than throwing downfield more last week vs Indiana. We are extremely deep and talented at WR and walk-on, turned scholarship senior Zeke Markshausen is one of the surprise stories not only at NU, but in all of the Big Ten this season. He had 1 catch in his career prior to '09 and he has 58 this season, including 16 in a game at Michigan State. Kafka is extremely accurate until the 2^nd half of last week when he threw 3 really bad INTs. We dink and dunk downfield and take the occasional 20-30 yard strike. Andrew Brewer has finally emerged as the true playmaker we knew he could be. I expect us to continue to throw 45+ times this weekend and see if Concannon can establish any kind of a ground game. We've yet to face a D anything close to Penn State, so we shall see.

And how do you think Fitzgerald will scheme to stop the Penn State offense?

I've got to believe you'll see one of the more aggressive blitz packages to date. If we give Clark any time it's over early. We're going to have to create a slew of turnovers - a la 2005 - to have any shot.

Care to make a prediction?

Penn State 41 NU 20

Thanks LTP. Good luck on your season.

Q&A with Lake the Posts.

John M (The Crimson Quarry) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 02:30:09 -0000

via www.sportslogos.net

Earlier today, I posted a link to Lake the Posts, where I answered some of LTP's questions in anticipation of tomorrow's game. LTP's answers to my questions are below:

1. Northwestern has typically been able to run the ball successfully, but> not this year. What's the problem? I expected Tyrell Sutton to be a big loss, but it must be bigger than that, right?

Much bigger. It has been a bizarro year to be understated. Essentially everything we thought would be a strength has been a weakness and vice versa, EXCEPT the ground game. We feared it was this potentially bad, however, our OL was solid last year albeit extremely green. The big assumption was they'd improve -many had our O-line picked as one of the better in the Big Ten - and thus, the ground game wouldn't be as bad as we thought. It's beyond bad. Our OL has been brutal and we have no one in the backfield with any degree of elusiveness which makes for a disastrous 1-2 combo. Kind of like Orange juice and toothpaste.

2. Given Mike Kafka's numbers, it's not surprising that the Wildcats have a number of receivers with impressive stats. Which Wildcat receivers should Hoosier fans worry about the most?

Andrew Brewer reawakened last week and can be a downfield threat. Zeke Markshausen is having a tremendous season and is coming off a 16 reception week vs MSU (not a misprint) and is our clutch receiver, although usually short yardage. We're loaded with great hands across the board including Sidney Stewart, but lack a true gamebreaker.

3. How about on defense? Which part of your defense presents the biggest problem for the Hoosier offense?

The secondary is our strength, but they're dinged badly. Preseason All-American Corey Wootton, our Greg Middleton (but better in '08) has not recovered well from the torn ACL and has yet to register a sack.It's been sad to watch him struggle so. Our DL has recently comealive, but Sherrick McManis, our CB is the clear difference maker on D. Both our senior starting safeties - Brendan Smith (out) and Brad Phillips (likely out) are huge losses. MSU exploited this once Phillips went out of the game after we pitched a 1st half shutout.

4. If there is any Big Ten fan base than can sympathize with Northwestern's
attendance woes, it's IU's. But over the last couple of years, despite
plenty of success and optimism, you guys have been making us look like Ohio
State. I know you have dedicated many posts to this topic, but what's the
problem in a nutshell?

NU is infamous for playing to the level of the opponent - both the very good and the very bad. For us to take the next step, we need to learn how to step on teams' throats when we get up. We almost emit a"nice guy" image and lack the OSU kick your ass instinct. This applies to IU. No offense, but we've actually had more talent most of this decade, but you always play us tough. We don't take IU lightly, although we did last year - as a fan base anyway. We both look at this as "W" every year the schedule comes out, but the confidence is clearly lacking in Wildcat Nation. I can't remember a more disappointing season since 2001 - our post Big Ten champion year when we returned most of our weapons.

5. And finally, what's your prediction for tomorrow?

Possibly wishful thinking but the revenge factor from 08 + homecoming+ must win for bowl hopes gives us the slightest of edge:NU 30 IU 27 (OT).

Thanks, LTP.

Matchup of the Week: Northwestern Offense v. Michigan State Defense

grahamfiller10 — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 21:36:38 -0000

Two installments of MOTW's have preceded two disappointing Michigan performances. Two weeks ago, bad scheming in the secondary allowed Michigan State to drive for two early touchdowns against the porous Wolverine defense. Last week, Tate Forcier was concussed during a horrendous performance in Iowa City.

Who will be cursed by my MOTW this time? I chose to take a look at the Wildcat offensive attack and how they will scheme against an improving MSU defense. Northwestern''s schedule has been cake so far - which is why we predicted a 5-1 start.. But the 4-2 Wildcats cannot continue struggling against cupcakes ('Cuse, Miami OH, Eastern Michigan) and expect to suddenly become an improved team against the Spartans.

NW's Spread Scheme: Expectations, Results

As Chris from SmartFootball wrote on TRE last week:

SmartFootball: Well Northwestern is a true spread team and has traditionally done a nice job with all the typical short spread passes that can be completed at a high clip...

I know a lot of Northwestern fans haven't been too pleased with the team's early struggles, but Kafka's passing efficiency has to be encouraging. He is averaging over a full yard more per attempt this year than C.J. Bacher did last year (7.2 compared to 6.0).

Kafka has followed in the steps of Basanez and Bacher, completing a Big Ten leading 67% of his passes. The effective short passes have also been damaging on third down, as the Wildcats have the second most effective 3rd down % in the Big Ten. On the flip side, the shotgun draws that sprung Tyrell Sutton so many times have been flat. Northwestern is 10th in the Big Ten in rushing at a paltry 122 yards per game.

Are the Wildcats doing anything different scheme wise? Not particularly. Kafka has run more in the last two games (18 carries against Purdue,15 against Miami OH), although not with the success people may have expected. Because of his tremendous athleticism, Fitz has been attempting to unleash him via draws, option runs, or outside quarterback sweeps. The NW Spread still attacks from a 3 wide or 4 wide set and Kafka has the potential to make every throw, including:

The quick outs

The five yard sideline outs

The bread and butter crossing patterns, both short and deep

I remember Northwestern running some great wide receiver screens and halfback screens in the preceding years, but I feel like there has been less of that this year. Maybe someone can correct me or fill me in on this.

MSU Defense: Maligned Early, Repairing Image of Late

If we want to talk about improved defenses, let's talk about the Spartan unit under Pat Narduzzi. Narduzzi, weary of his inexperienced secondary, decided to play some soft coverage against Central Michigan and Notre Dame. This backfired tremendously, as Narduzzi failed to realize that both Dan Lefevour and Jimmy Clausen can throw six yard outs and dump downs to running backs or tight ends. Let me give you the play by play on the game winning CMU drive:

D. LeFevour passed to P. Cotton to the left for 9 yard gain
D. LeFevour passed to A. Brown to the left for 5 yard gain
D. LeFevour passed to A. Brown to the left for 8 yard gain

The Spartans cornerbacks began the play 5-7 yards off the LOS and retreated more when the ball was snapped. Needless to say, the underneath routes were open.

After a 1-3 start in which the defense allowed 29, 33, and 38 yards, Narduzzi finally rolled up his cornerbacks and decided to take away bubble screens and quick throws. It worked - Forcier and Williams/McGee were both forced to throw deeper into coverage. Jerel Worthy (a probable Freshman All-American selection at DT) began destroying offensive lineman, using a great swim move and some quick feet to help stuff the run games of both Michigan and Illini. The front four, passionless early, came around in a big way in Champaign-Urbana, sacking the Illini quarterbacks six times last week.

The Spartan 4-3 with soft zone coverage was a bad scheme. The Spartan 4-3 with rolled up corners and imaginative blitzes is a better defense.

What Can We Expect Saturday?

We predicted a 6-6 Northwestern team this year. Their schedule is so charmin' soft, I felt this was an insult from TRE. It looks like we were somewhat on target, but why?

LTP pointed out that NW seems to lack the killer instinct that separated the Wildcats from mediocre teams in 2008. Most of you didn't watch the Miami OH game last week, but that game exhibited a penalty laden NW squad that got pushed around by the worst in the nation RedHawks. Kafka threw high all day in good, non windy conditions, while the run game was hampered by bad blocking.

Here is my advice for Fitzgerald's game planning:

- Run early and if it fails, abandon it. CMU and Michigan couldn't run on the Spartans, thanks to the solid LB core led by Greg Jones. But when teams turn to throwing against the Spartans, things usually open up.

- Tell Kafka to get rid of the damn ball. His fumbles have come at the most inopportune times and he's been sacked second most in the Big Ten.

- Figure out early if Michigan State has rolled up cornerbacks onto the LOS. If they haven't, pound that short out and force them up.

Sparty, backed by a 14 point Vegas line and a rowdy crowd of 70k, is the obvious favorite. But Narduzzi and Dantonio must show a willingness to continue forcing quarterbacks to throw over linebackers and cornerbacks, instead of falling back into the soft zone. Michigan State has faced two ridiculously accurate quarterbacks and Kafka will be no different.

I hate when the other team is good at football.

Rodger Sherman — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 20:07:51 -0000

So, third post of the day. (scroll down. The other two are still there.) Anyway, the most important thing I can say in this post is drop by for the game thread tomorrow. Two weeks ago, for the road game, we had a genuinely good discussion between five or six of us that generated about 150 comments, so let's try that again. I can say pretty confidently that I'll never have the best Northwestern sports blog out there - lookin at you, LTP - but I do hope to make the game threads here bangin', because the fact that your comments update automatically is just too good. So even if you hate everything else I ever do, comment along tomorrow.. It should be good.

By the way, check out SBNation's MSU blog, The Only Colors, for an MSU perspective. (those only colors are green and white by the way, in case you were wondering.

Anyway, on to the previewin'.

Oh, goodness, we're screwed, aren't we.

When we got the ball: Pass. Pass pass pass. Pass pass pass, pass pass pass.

We might have Stephen Simmons back, but, let's be real. Mike Kafka is our only hope for a productive offense. It's not so much that I don't trust our running backs - although, I don't - it's that Michigan State's run defense is absolutely stout, and our running attack, quite frankly isn't. Blame injuries, blame our o-line, blame Tyrell Sutton if you want, but we can't trust us to get us a W at this point in the year against a good team.

When they got the ball: I know that I know nothing about football, but I also know that we're not a good enough defense to do anything good if we're not aggressive, and never will this be truer than against a team with two rookie injured quarterbacks and a running back who is essentially out there by himself for the very first time. Blitz early, blitz often.

People I'm watching:

Offense: Andrew Brewer. Brew started off the year as our #1 target, but he's sort of disappeared as of late. Since Syracuse, I don't remember him making any big play outside of drawing some downfield pass interference calls. We're going to be passing a lot, and although Markshausen and Dunsmore have been great for that short stuff, who's our big play target? Last week, it was, uh, Jacob Schmidt. Get open, big man.

Defense: Brian Peters. Duh. We're playing our biggest opponent yet, and one of our three best defensive players is out with an injury. Peters has looked meh up until last week against Miami - last week was the first time I've ever seen him tackle somebody, let alone make multiple great defensive plays. If he doesn't get burned deep once, I'll consider his performance a success, and we might have ourselves a game.

Pick in a mascot fight to the death: The Spartan has two arms, two legs, lots of armor, a shield, a sword, a spear, and decades of military training. The Wildcat is a cat with sharper teeth than those of your average domestic house cat, but whose diet still consists of small rodents. Game, MSU. (mascot death fight records: MSU, 7-0, NU, 2-5. It should be noted that they're 4-0 on the field in games I've said their mascot would lose the mascot death fight, so that's a good sign.)

Prediction:

After the jump!

Michigan State, 34, Northwestern, 24

You remember that one scene in 300 where the guy is like "Hey, dude from that other city, what is your profession?" and that other guy is like "well, sir, I'm a potter." and then he turns to the Spartans and they're way more jacked and then he's like "you see, I did bring more soldiers!"

I have a funny feeling we're the potters here. We haven't really played any good opponents. I mean, not one. MSU is our first real toughy, and they really want this win to prevent from sinking below .500, plus it's at home, plus it's homecoming, plus they seem way better than us. This is the first time I've picked the other team, so let's hope they prove me wrong.

Get To Know Northwestern

Sean Keeley — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 18:20:46 -0000

More photos » by Stephen J. Carrera - AP

4 months ago: In this Nov. 1, 2008, photo Northwestern quarterback Mike Kafka (13) moves the ball against Minnesota during an NCAA college football game Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Northwestern University, Stephen J. Carrera)

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Last year I traded Q&As with Lake The Posts, the premminent Northwestern blog in all of the land. It was so much fan we decided to do it again. (Jealous?)

Read on below to find out more about these Northwestern Wildcats, what they're all about what we can expect from them on Saturday. And be sure to keep an eye on Lake The Posts over the next few days for updates.

Eastern Michigan, huh? Explain thyself.

Hmmm...not sure there is an explanation. Some things in the universe lack explanation - BUT, I'll try. Here's the concise thought: The 'Cats lack killer instinct. We were dominating up 21-0 and in full control. We had 3 TOs including two within our 30 (one at the 11). More importantly for the 2nd straight week we looked lackluster after halftime. Complacency was obvious. There is absolutely zero home field advantage as we make your attendance look enviable and the flat atmosphere was mirrored by the on-field play. The most scary part was EMU ran it right down our throats. Our D-line wouldn't have stopped a Pop Warner team. If I were Marrone, I'd run it for the first 20 plays right up the gut.

What's the big difference that Syracuse can expect from Northwestern this year from last?

Great question. We don't know what we have. NU fans are very frustrated that we've been keeping our play-calling so close to the vest. We need to have Kafka open it up on the run game as he's so good at it. The biggest difference is the names at WR. The offense has looked solid, which was the big question mark - but again, consider the opponents (Towson, EMU). Our "D" looks horrible and we (and Fitz) have been talkinga about this "D" being the best and possibly better than the '95 team that led the nation in scoring defense.

Last year it was Tyrell Sutton and C.J. Bacher lighting up the Orange. Who's going to try and emulate that this season?

Kafka is a very solid QB. I hope we take the schackles off this week. Our RB game is suspect at best. Keep an eye on Andrew Brewer, our primary WR. We had high hopes for Jeremy Ebert who was great as a frosh, but he's been getting little playing time. Demetrius Fields has showed promise at WR.

You guys started last season 5-0 and ended up 9-4, losing a heartbreaker in the Alamodome. How do you look back on the season? How does this team stack up?

We look back at it as a great season. We had one bad loss - at Indiana, which is inexcusable and the next notch for us to get to the next level - we can't lose any games like that we're supposed to win. Yes, we had a soft non-conference schedule (sorry!), but we played well and improved nearly each week with two exceptions. Our win over Illinois at home to end the season was an impressive showing and our Alamo Bowl near major upset gave everyone high hopes -specifically on D - for this season. Again, we now have no clue. Consensus is anything less than 8 wins would be a disappointment as we have a soft non-conference schedule and rotate Ohio State and Michigan off the schedule. Talk to me after Saturday and I'll tell you what we have!

Northwestern is going to beat Syracuse because...

The "D" gets its collective head out of the sand and Mike Hankwitz actually opens up the playcalling and schemes. Corey Wootton, our all-american DE finally gets comfortable (he's been non-existent) with his knee which he blew out in the Alamo Bowl and regains his terrorizing ways to free up the rest of our line. We play mistake free ball on offense and we let Kafka open up the playbook and let him run, which is the key to making our spread work. Our special teams coverage on kicks actually makes an opponent start consistently at their 20. The line continues to slide in the Orange's favor and NU assumes its more favorable role of underdog.

Syracuse is going to beat Northwestern because...

The 'Cats D-line and secondary play like they did last week, which means "not well". Doug Marrone takes a play out of the Ron English playbook and runs off-tackle rushes for 20 straight plays in the 3rd quarter and the 'Cuse leverage Greg Paulus' winning instinct to pull out a win. Mike Williams runs amok and takes advantage of our star CB's injured wheel (Sherrick McManis). The 'Cuse continually take kickoff returns after FGs out to the 45. Marrone adjusts and continues to outscheme NU's coaching staff which has been out play called, and outplayed in the second half.

How many Northwestern fans can we expect in the Dome this weekend?

500. Tops. Despite the relatively huge alumni base in NY/Fairfield County, the trek to Syracuse is enough of a barrier for folks to not travel. Considering our current home attendance is dreadful, I highly doubt a strong travel game. Sad, but true.

Week 2 in the Big Ten and for other IU opponents.

John M (The Crimson Quarry) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 02:02:52 -0000

More photos » by Paul Battaglia - AP

Minnesota opened its new stadium and Michigan beat Notre Dame, but most Big Ten teams lost or flirted with disaster.

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Illinois 45, Illinois State 17: Juice Williams was injured in the first quarter, but experienced backup Eddie McGee stepped in, and thanks to 384 yards on the ground, the Illini handled an in-state I-AA team with ease. Hail to the Orange is a bit concerned by the Redbirds' 354 yards passing.

Iowa 35, Iowa State 3: Not much to say about this one. The Hawkeyes whipped up on their overmatched rival.

Michigan 38, Notre Dame 34: Remember a couple of weeks ago when Michigan was expected to be a middle-of-the-pack team that IU might kinda sorta be able to play with if we were, say, on par with the 2007 team? That's not likely. I have said before that I thought the Rodriguez critics were going to be disappointed, but I didn't expect them to be disappointed so soon.

Central Michigan 29, Michigan State 27: One of the MAC teams that beat IU in 2008 tripped up an in-state opponent. The Chippewas recovered an onside kick and kicked the game-winning field goal after a Spartan penalty on a missed field goal gave CMU a second chance.

Minnesota 20, Air Force 13: The Gophers opened TCF Bank Stadium with a comeback win over Air Force.

Northwestern 27, Eastern Michigan 24: Northwestern kicked a late field goal to avoid overtime with one of the dregs of the Big Ten. It will be interesting to see how Northwestern will respond to the loss of CJ Bacher and Tyrell Sutton.

USC 18, Ohio State 15: This week's game of the year ended with yet another USC win over a Big Ten school and yet another OSU loss to an elite team. Great game, though.

Penn State 28, Syracuse 7: While not against the strongest competition, Penn State has been the steadiest of all Big Ten teams so far. They are the only conference team that hasn't so much as flirted with defeat.

Oregon 38, Purdue 36: Purdue played well in one of the country's most hostile environments, but a missed extra point and subsequent missed two point conversion prevented the Boilers from forcing overtime with the Ducks, who bounced back after losing at Boise and losing their best running back, LaGarrette Blount, to a suspension. Boise and IU remain the only non-conference teams that have won at Autzen Stadium in the last 15 years.

Wisconsin 34, Fresno State 31: The Badgers struggled with illness all week, but the Badgers held on and defeated Fresno in double overtime.

Akron 41, Morgan State 0: I'll have much more on this one as the week transpires, but Akron opened its new stadium with a 41-0 win over I-AA Morgan State.

TCU 30, Virginia 14: TCU is better than any team IU has played, but Virginia is really struggling. A week after losing to I-AA William & Mary, the Cavaliers were dominated at home by the Horned Frogs. I have no idea how many games IU will win from this point forward, but the UVa game is shaping up as one of the most winnable.

WWAHT Preseason Big Ten Power Poll

Sam @ WWAHT — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 16:00:29 -0000

1. Penn State

2. Ohio State

3. Iowa

4. Michigan State

5. Illinois

6. Michigan

7. Northwestern

8. Wisconsin

9. Minnesota

10. Purdue

11. Indiana

Bulleted explanations, ho!

The difference between Ohio State and Penn State is this: State College. If the game were anywhere else, I'd probably like the Buckeyes - slightly - but until then, the Nittanies edge the Good Guys.
Had the Pakibomb detonated just a bit earlier, I'd have moved Iowa down a spot. The Sparties and the Hawks are probably still relatively interchangeable, given that MSU just figured out its QB situation the week before its first game.
I stand firmly by my belief that Illinois is an 8-win outfit at the worst.
I am still bullish on Michigan for this year, regardless of how practicegate ends.
I have no idea what to make of Northwestern, so I'm just assuming they won't get better with the loss of Tyrell Sutton and five other guys on offense.
Wisconsin is a .500 football team in a good conference. Is the Big Ten a good conference? How the Badgers do this year will tell you quite a bit. I am no less high on John Clay than I was five months ago; I'm just getting less and less high on the Badger defense and Bielema in general.
Minnesota, Indiana and Purdue could all end up being the league's worst teams this year. Out of 66 starters on those teams, I'd wager only 15 or 20 are legitimate Big Ten athletes. This might be the worst set of lower tier teams in a BCS conference outside of the Pac-10 (the Washington squads) and the Big East.

No changes can be made until next week, of course, but I'd like to hear your thoughts nevertheless.

An early look at the Northwestern Wildcats.

John M (The Crimson Quarry) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 14:00:11 -0000

More photos » by Stephen J. Carrera - AP

Why this photo, AP? We won!

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Northwestern Wildcats
Last meeting: 10/24/2008 (IU 21, NU 19 in Bloomington)
Last NU win: 11/10/2007 (NU 31, IU 28 in Evanston)
Series: Northwestern leads 42-34-1
Coach: Pat Fitzgerald (4th year, 19-18)

Northwestern is the only Big Ten team on the schedule that owes IU any revenge. Thanks to last year's carnage and our historical futility against Michigan and Ohio State, IU is on a losing streak against 9 of 10 conference opponents. Last season, IU provided one of the few disappointing moments in Northwestern's 9-win season by upsetting the Wildcats 21-19 in Bloomington. The 2008 game was the fifth consecutive IU-NU game decided by a touchdown or less, but the first of those five that IU managed to win.

How did we do it? Here's the game in a nutshell:

The box score reveals a fairly even game statistically, although Northwestern's five turnovers certainly stand out. Still, IU modestly outgained the Wildcats (319-316). NU ran the ball more effectively than IU, but neither was great: NU ran for 152 yards and 3.2 per carry; IU managed only 72 yards and 2 yards per carry. Both teams were 22-35 passing, but IU threw for 247 yards and no interceptions, while NU passed for 164 yards and threw two interceptions. Kellen Lewis was dressed but did not play. Chappell went the distance. Also, IU was without senior WR Andrew Means.

Obviously, the most encouraging aspect of the IU-NU game was the fine performance of Ben Chappell. The Illinois game that I recapped yesterday was one of Ben's worst days as a Hoosier, but last year's NU game was his best so far. It must have been sweet revenge for Chappell: as a redshirt freshman, Chappell saw his first meaningful game action with 5 minutes left in the first half at Northwestern when Kellen Lewis missed a play because he was shaken up. IU led 14-3 and faced 3rd down and 6 to go. Instead of playing it safe, the coaching staff allowed Chappell to throw the ball downfield. He locked onto James Hardy and threw an interception that NU returned to the house. That play was 99 percent the coaching staff's fault, but because of that play I'm sure it was gratifying for Chappell to get his first Big Ten win against NU.

The Northwestern offense, like IU's, will be replacing several key players at the offensive skill positions. Quarterback CJ Bacher is gone, and Mike Kafka will be the starter. Kafka played late in the IU game because of an injury to Bacher and played poorly. Late in the game, while trying to avoid a sack, Kafka threw the ball away--backwards. It was, of course, a live ball, and ended up as a 24 yard loss for NU. Kafka fumbled on the next play, and IU recovered, effectively sealing IU's victory. Nevertheless, Kafka started the next two games and played reasonably well, particularly in a win at Minnesota, in which he completed 12 of 16 passes and also ran for 217 yards, so he's no pushover. At tailback, NU loses the excellent Tyrell Sutton and replaces him with Stephen Simmons, who was injured and less-than-impressive last season. NU also is breaking in a new crop of receivers, but the O-line is experienced. Like IU's, the defense is NU's more experienced unit, and most starters, including the entire secondary, return. Here is NU's NCAA stat report. The Wildcats were particularly effective at rushing the passer.

NU will be seeking revenge, but hopefully IU isn't done exacting payback for the four heartbreakers that preceded last year's win.