Michigan 42, Northwestern 24: Postgame Thread
by Loretta8 on Oct 8, 2011 9:31 PM CDT
in 2011 Northwestern Wildcats Football
Email
PrintAnother double digit lead, another loss for Northwestern.
NU had a 24-14 lead at the half, thanks to a balanced offensive attack and Denard Robinson gift-wrapping three interceptions, but in the second half Northwestern had two costly turnovers, Denard went back to playing like an All-American, and NU just couldn't keep pace. The 'Cats are under .500 for the first time since starting 2007 2-3, and badly need a win next week against Iowa if they want to be bowl eligible.
Rant away.
36 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Any word on Persa?
He looked a little shaken up at the end?
A win next week at Iowa?
Umm, yeah. Not gonna happen.
I just hope we hold serve against the unholy trinity of Minnesota-Indiana-Rice. Right now I think it’s less than 50% we win all 3.
I'm not as pessimistic
The Hawkeyes did not look very good today, and I think NU has a definite chance to win.
they won't be as big underdogs
as any of their last 4 wins vs iowa
Dude
No WAY you lose to Minny. That team is on life support.
Persa should be fine against Indiana. Look what Scheelhaase and Co. did to them.
NU will finish with at least 6 wins. Iowa is a loss (Vandenberg will feast on the NU secondary), but PSU will be a tossup because their offense blows.
-From a Michigan fan
GO CUSE, BLUE, AND EAGLES!
I wish I were as confident
I think it’s likely we win each one individually. Perhaps 90 % chance against Minnesota, and 80% against Purdue and Indiana. Not a math major, but that adds up to less than 60% of winning them all.
More problematic is that this team does not seem to be improving week to week, but actually seems to be regressing.
p.s.
JESUS CHRIST HOW DOES THIS HAPPEN EVERY WEEK HOLY CRAP
by Rodger Sherman on Oct 8, 2011 9:48 PM CDT up reply actions
On the bright side tonight had the best student section of any home game that Ive been to at Northwestern. On the downside we blew another double digit lead. This week did feel a lot different than last week though. This week it just felt as though Michigan;s athleticism and their play making beat us instead of coaching and play calling. Just an initial reaction though
I respectfully disagree with JerseyShore@NU
The play calling and coaching was just as bad this week as it was last week. How many times did Michigan punt in the second half? How do you keep a ranked team to 10 points in the first half and ONCE AGAIN, fail to stop any of their drives in the second half of the game? This one was just as bad as last year’s losses to Penn State, Michigan State and Purdue. And it was just as ugly as last week’s loss to Illinois.
Imo the turnovers were the key
In the first half we only forced one punt, but Robinson handed us three picks. In the second half our best players gave the ball away. I wouldn’t even say that Michigan made better coaching adjustments at halftime its just that they stopped handing us the ball. And I had no issue with the offensive playcalling for the most part, Ebert Colter and Dunsmore were all involved in the passing game and I liked how much they brought in Colter under center. After last week’s game I felt as tough we were a better football team than Illinois. After this week I do not think we are a better team than Michigan.
by JerseyShore@NU on Oct 9, 2011 12:48 AM CDT up reply actions
post below from Buckyor says it best....
13 for 17 on third down conversions. When your defense won’t allow themselves to come off the field and keeps giving up first downs and let’s the other team eat the clock, you aren’t going to win. I don’t think that Illinois or Michigan are that good, and the real test will be when they play the likes of Michigan State, Wisconsin or Nebraska. There’s no reason we shouldn’t have won in Champaign and I would have felt a little better about losing last night if we had kept it close in the second half. Then I would sit back and say “we lost to the better team.”
oh, and by the way
So is Army a better team than we are? We didn’t beat them either!
Ummmm I don’t think that at all and I don’t understand why you would think I would. I said I thought we were better than U of I and I definitely think we are better than army. Football is a game where the best team doesn’t always win due playing a bad game or the underdog playing lights out. I stand by my opinion that Michigan is better than we are and we are on the same level of Illinois.
by JerseyShore@NU on Oct 10, 2011 12:02 PM CDT up reply actions
Here's a stat to chew on
Michigan was 13-17 on 3d down. Not gonna win too many games when the D can’t get off the field.
What I don’t know is how many of those 3d downs were passing downs where we rushed three. The easy answer is: too many- but seriously.
I want Fits to tell Hankwitz that the next time he rushes three on an obvious passing down, he’s automatically fired. No waiting til the end of the game, just hand over your clipboard and your headset, clean out your office, and call a cab.
watched the game in ffwd
and it was still too much a waste of my time. How many downfield throws did we make? honest queestion because i watched most of the game in a drunken haze. This team is worthless, except for persa and ebert. Pizza pizza or bust!
I still believe this is a bowl team.
Beat Indiana, Minnesota, Rice and somebody else (Iowa, PSU, Mich. State) and that’s six wins. Detroit would be a disappointment, but it would still be a bowl.
MTXEMurph, I like your optimism, BUT..........
this team is 4-8 or 5-7 unless something major changes on the defense. The only two games I look at and think “w” is Rice and Minnesota……….and after Army, I wouldn’t bet money on that. Sorry, to sound doom and gloom. I love my Cats, and I’ve sat through some bad seasons in the past, but this team is frustrating because we are more talented than this. Mike Hankwitz needs to go!
Are we more talented than this?
I don’t see too many difference makers in our defense.
Honestly, I think they win next week
Matt McGloin had a good day against the Iowa D, so I think Persa will be able pick them apart. Stop the run, and the Cats are in position to win.
I don't really worry too much about our offense against any D
Our offense is potent. It just comes down to execution. Even in the second half, when we got shut out, we had promising drives wiped out by bad turnovers. Poor execution, not gameplan.
Our defense is another story. They haven’t proved in any game that they can play a full 60 minutes.
whoa...
…you missed Venric Mark in your non-worthless list. Persa and Ebert are playing their hearts out but Mark has a level of talent-level that most of us are actually not even comfortable with…ha…he’s a total baller and let’s give him credit.
by the way Roger.....
I think it’s time for the puking boy logo……..
No love for the unis?
I thought the black was fantastic! Why did they wear them?
we need to get the striping pattern right
Our purple home jerseys should be white, black, white. Our black alternate jerseys should be white purple white.
i think we shouldve been wearing purple pants last night
by LincolnParkWildcat on Oct 9, 2011 2:18 PM CDT up reply actions
Here's the deal...
…we lost another game that we had in hand at some point but we didn’t….it happens, it sucks.
We’re gonna win next week since it’s Iowa, that’s a given, and then we have to get back on track and take care of the rest of our sched and we still have a sold chance at 6+ wins…let’s focus on what’s achievable…a bowl win against a MAC team is still – in the end – what we wanted out of this season…our first bowl game victory in over half a century.
next week is not a given....
you don’t think Iowa is going to be gunning for us? You don’t think Iowa is pissed off about 4 of the last 5 years? Hey, I’d love to see us beat Iowa and hope we do. But next week’s game is anything but a given. Iowa’s going to fight hard for this one.
Just a M fan's perspective...
But a 10 point lead going into halftime doesn’t really mean the game is in hand, especially when most of our drives were only stopped by Denard forcing bad throws. You guys did move the ball well on us in the first half, but that’s been the theme for our season. Aside from Minnesota, we’ve looked weak (especially on defense) in the first half of every game so far this season, then come out the second half firing after some coach talk and good adjustments. They had the stat up during the game, but I believe we’re outscoring the opposition like 140something-28 in second halves so far this year. It wasn’t a second-half collapse for you guys as much as it was just how our team seems to play games so far this year.
FWIW, I think NU is a solid team, and you guys can easily beat Iowa, I’d be surprised if you guys weren’t bowl eligible by the end of the year (and disappointed, because I really like Persa as a player, and hope he gets a nice bowl game his senior year)
No
I understand Michigan has played well in the second half so far this season. But that does not mean NU did not collapse. NU’s turnovers were basically unforced errors.; Credit due to the Wolverines, but right now that Cats are circling the drain, playing worse every week.
Fair enough,
The interception could probably be chalked up to an unforced error, but that fumble was a beautiful strip by Thomas Gordon. The ball was well protected and he just ripped it out of there. We’ve been getting a lot of those so far this season, Mattison really seems to be coaching up forced turnovers.
I agree NU did have a weaker second half, but my main point was that he can’t really say the game’s in hand when you’re up 10 at halftime against a team that’s outscoring the opposition 140-28 in second halves so far this season.
You realize Iowa lost to Penn St, right?
That means the magic spell Wiz has on us is broken.
by HawkeyeRecon on Oct 10, 2011 11:27 AM CDT up reply actions
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
