Thoughts On Yet Another Northwestern Bowl Loss

L8, you and I agree so much. I don’t know why more people don’t feel like you. People who say Stanford sold out and lowered admissions drastically are just jealous and mad. I’ll say it again, why are people so hell bent to have the #1 academic team representing NU? I can find MUCH smarter athletes than we have currently, too bad they can’t play D1 BCS sports.

the difference in our opinions is that, for me, the fact that our athlete admissions standards are higher than most (or at least several) peer schools is a source of great pride. Everyone knows that athletes aren’t held to the same standards as other students, and I’m okay with this. However, I’m proud of the fact that NU does not bend the bar as far as ND or Duke (or Stanford, if we believe the internet), and I want very much for things to stay that way.

Perhaps my views also stem from the fact that I also don’t think that the issue is strictly, or mostly, recruiting-based. I think it is coaching based first and foremost. Player development (outside the QB position) and game management are the problems I see with our football team.

Why does it matter if Stanford’s admissions IS NOT as strict at NU’s? When you watch football games, are you judging players by their GPA’s? Or are you judging by theiri performance on the field?

I’ll bring this up again, when you watched NU hoops, did you root for Sterling Williams more than you did Juice Thompson? Sterling W graduated with a 4.0 GPA, that is flat-out incredible, I don’t know a single person that did that in my time, let alone a varsity athlete. I commend him, am proud of him, and congratulate him, but I could care less that he had better grades than Juice. I’m watching basketball to watch (wait for it), good basketball.

Also, you do realize that NU bends its admissions SOME for its athletes? Why aren’t you up in arms about that?? We’re talking about an issue of degree on admissions.

Plus, remember NU won 2 Big Ten titles with the same admissions, so that clearly isn’t the hurdle.

If stoic Fitz was winning he would be cool, collected, and in control.
If stoic Fitz was losing, he would be aloof, dispassionate, and un-inspiring.

So, the answer is winning = good, losing = bad. I’m sure that comes as a shock to everyone.

There’s a part of me that would see 5-7 as the continuing decline of Fitz, but to be honest, I even have more faith than that. I do see a 7-5 to 6-6 being the most likely.

Then became depressed after reading Rodger’s reply. Maybe they can watch instructional video on tackling.

Our recruiting classes are getting better compared to EACHOTHER. But, is it better than the competition?

Carmody’s recruiting classes have gotten better than some of the garbage he brought in a while ago, so what, it’s not good enough.

Stop comparing to past Cats team, rather compare to current Big Ten teams.

but wake forest and uconn (especially wake) were both better than anyone weve played in non-conference since 2006.

of course, the way things have gone in the fitz era, all our non conference opponents will have terrible seasons.

I actually wrote an angry letter to our then-AD and told him that the calls were BS and we should never go back to the island trap. He wrote back and emphatically agreed.

Buckyor and Laxpuck, this is what I’ve been saying for a LONG LONG LONG time. I know that you all think I am a one trick pony, but my trick is right on and decisions like this make me feel even stronger.

There are many, many quotes of Fitz that I didn’t like this offseason and during the season, but the one that bothered me the most is when he thinks NU is close to Indy. That to me signifies a complete disconnect with reality (I know Chad will discuss close games, but Chad, every team has close games they win or lose, NU is losing them, so they are no where close to Indy). Bowl games, conference championships, rankings, etc are not determined by margin of victory, but by the black and white reality of wins and losses, so being happy that NU is competitive is flat-out loser talk.

But, as Buckyor said, “Does Fitz get it yet?” NO. “Will he ever get it?” NO. The blind love that this administration and Phillips gave him in his contract extension took away all oversight that Fitz needed. He knows that many fans are ‘content’ with making a garbage bowl game, so as long as he can trickle to six wins, he’s happy and will not be scrutinized.

Pat Fitzgerald’s record is 40-36 (21-27), and it is not getting better. Ohh 2020, what a terrible decision by NU? So unwarranted and not NU will have to pay with mediocre performances going forward.

Those backs were quick, could cut 1,000 times better than anyone on the roster today, and were a legitimate threat to catch the ball out of the backfield (which let’s you exploit a void in the defense without having to push a defender out of the way). It’s fair to criticize Fitz for not being able to recruit a similar player to the roster and passes to the halfback seem to have utterly disappeared from our repetoire (mostly becuase our RB’s can’t catch), but the O-Line back then wasn’t any better than they are today – we didn’t blow anybody off the ball, we were just better at exploiting space through speed.

I know I’m in the minority, but Chadnudj is right when he points out that we have been competitive in every game this season, and I think that means far more than the NU blogosphere is giving it credit for. I have seen many seasons, including so-called “good” seasons, where NU just looked like it didn’t belong in the arena for a couple of games. We’re upset this year because things were so close and it’s easy to identify a couple of mistakes that cost games. The ball didn’t bounce our way like it has sometimes in the past and we didn’t quite display the same killer instinct of previous squads, but we are getting deeper at many positions and I can easily see a scenario where next year’s squad converts a few of those close L’s into W’s.

Game management is not “TERRIBLE”. Fitz has shown that he will go for it on fourth down and short in the right scenarios, including a call that won the game at Nebraska. We convert a substantial number of third downs in the 4-6 yard intermediate range so somebody is calling the right play in those situations. Sure, we run it when it’s third and seventeen, but that’s probably saved at least six interceptions a year. Yes, people kick and scream about clock management toward the end of a half, but in most of those cases, NU is playing for a score and it’s usually a mistake like a penalty that ends up de-railing what we are trying to accomplish rather than a poor strategy from the get-go. That’s just bad defense and it has little to do with game management.

I think a lot of people are going to be surprised at how well we do next year – signs of program progress are there, even if the results haven’t been good for the past two years (special teams are much better, especially punting and kickoff scenarios, contrary to comments above, tackling is much better, we did have a semblence of a run game despite injury and playing a freshman). Now excuse me while Chadnudj and I share a glass of delicious purple Kool-Aid, and I’ll see you all at the Spring game.

Is that what you are saying?

When Fitz first came, I was a HUGE fan. I obviously love and respect Barnett’s tenure here, and thought that Fitz would not only be a great coach, but had a chance to be an elite coach. When Pat went 9-3 (5-3), I really felt that it was the start of something special, but over the past four seasons, I have seen a significant drop off, and when he got the extension till 2020, it seemed that he was interested in talking more than winning.

So, while I agree that I’ve set it up one way, understand that it is not to just be contrarian, but rather analyzing what I’ve seen.