An onside kick bounce away from a real shot. Chiles is the real deal. What a TE find. Great clock management. Not much to complain about. Should get more votes this week after a loss ironically.
No moral victories but what a heroic effort
- Thread starter wildcatcoaster
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Besides the onsides kick what also killed us was the face mask right after we scored and had stopped Indiana but oops, facemask and that very long run we let them get right when they got the ball back in the next series (where they stopped to see if he stepped out at the five or 11). And I didn't like the two point conversion call, their line beats our line when we line up cap vs cap.
But yes, a heck of a game and effort. No moral victories but nothing to be ashamed of.
GO CATS!
But yes, a heck of a game and effort. No moral victories but nothing to be ashamed of.
GO CATS!
It doesn’t have to be a moral victory. Honestly overall we were at least an equal to the top 5, defending national champ at home and it was a toss up based on a few big plays. We needed to make just a couple less self inflicted mistakes and we probably win this game. The safety. The facemask. Aside from a few broken assignments we allowed for big gains, we honestly drove the ball better than they did. If this game was at our home and the O didn’t have the disastrous first 2 drives due to noise and nerves, we probably win.
The guys repped the University outstandingly.
Long way from perfect. Run game nonexistent. Injuries really depleted our secondary. Very little pressure without blitzing.
That said, I think excepting the drop off at QB that Indiana team is better than last year. Bunch of guys who are going to play on Sundays, including at least two first rounders. Considering we gave away the first quarter, I loved a lot about these ‘Cats.
We will win more than we lose this year. I don’t think 8-4 is crazy with what we’ve showed. We have real weapons all over. Hope Dehnicke is OK and Fussell, too.
That said, I think excepting the drop off at QB that Indiana team is better than last year. Bunch of guys who are going to play on Sundays, including at least two first rounders. Considering we gave away the first quarter, I loved a lot about these ‘Cats.
We will win more than we lose this year. I don’t think 8-4 is crazy with what we’ve showed. We have real weapons all over. Hope Dehnicke is OK and Fussell, too.
It was heroic effort given how many injuries we had on D. Those goal line stands. The heavy pressure. If they could’ve just forced one turnover in plus territory we probably win. And Chiles’ performance to recover from the opening 2 drives and almost get to a game winning drive - heroic.
Didnt mean it to sound that negative! Just want to temper my own expectations after a coulda shoulda woulda type road loss against a top opponent.
I would say based on tonight, we are now in the middle tier and peers of Iowa, Washington, Illinois, last year's Penn State, and Michigan (has no offense). Those we have scheduled should be toss-ups. (would be very helpful to get some of our secondary back)
OSU, Oregon, Indiana and probably USC are strong most everywhere with depth and I think are the top tier. Tonight Indiana could run or pass when they had to/wanted to; we had almost no running game and let their runners get outside way to easily and often.
I think we should beat all of the bottom group.
OSU, Oregon, Indiana and probably USC are strong most everywhere with depth and I think are the top tier. Tonight Indiana could run or pass when they had to/wanted to; we had almost no running game and let their runners get outside way to easily and often.
I think we should beat all of the bottom group.
Agree...though I harbor suspicions that Oregon might be more mid than top, so a potential upset.
Fox: Northwestern is a good football team, and it shows you how deep the B1G really is.
ESPN: Indiana struggled past Northwestern, and it shows you how down the B1G really is.
ESPN: Indiana struggled past Northwestern, and it shows you how down the B1G really is.
So what was going on with the penalties against the Indiana center on their first 2 plays. Coach C seemed really pissed off that he should have been informed by the refs prior to the game about this. Will be interesting to know more.
That was quite the game last night. Just a difference in a couple of plays would have made the outcome go the other way. I am proud of this team and the way they fought. The loss is too bad, but hopefully they take what happened here and use it as motivation to beat Penn State.
There is a fairly good explanation on the Rock. I was at first going to explain it but then felt like I wanted to support Lou and Matt. Rock subscriptions aren't very expensive.
Seeing clips of Cignetti's press conference. Lot of whining about the refs. Not a good look. He comes across often as such an arrogant prick. I suspect most college football fans will learn to dislike this guy quickly.
The kid made a great play, he just happened to drag his fingers across the face mask. It was just bad luck, and I'm sure the team/coaches are rallying around him. I look for more great plays from him
That’s disappointing. His on field postgame interview he almost exclusively talked about how good Northwestern is. I’m not sure what he had to complain about unless he just couldn’t get over them not alerting him to the snap issue before the game.
They already do. He’s a clown. And Indiana is not a good story at all. They just bought players because they were third in NIL. It’s not like they developed talent and found hard working players who played above their level. It was cash and age exploitation. Gross. They are everything that is wrong with college sports in today’s day and age.
Yeah he wasn’t complaining about NU, he was mad that the refs didn’t give him a heads up, which is customary. And they weren’t giving him an explanation once they flagged it so he didn’t know what he needed to change.
At the risk of being a Cig defender, this is a gross exaggeration even for a sports forum on the internet. Many of the key pieces on his roster were guys he brought from JMU. Many others were guys moving up a level from other G5 schools to Big Ten. Outside of Mendoza, they weren’t full of huge blue chip signings like Texas A&M and other huge money programs who buy top of market. IU didn’t do anything that the other top half of the Big Ten teams are doing, they just did it way better.
Those teams the last two years were very, very well coached. They seemed to have guys in the right spots on every play and executed consistently.
Yeah I hated the loss but they are one of the least obnoxious good teams/coaches around. They play clean, disciplined football, they don't preen, and, as you said, a ton of the guys originally came from FCS. IU is a forever bottom feeder that made good. Compared to recent others: Kiffin, Day, Franklin, Fleck et al, cig is ok
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