1. Cardiac Cats shock the world again! Of course if one play goes the other way and we lose a nail biter, the whole tone and narrative would change but that's what Cardiac Cats are all about. Before the game and during the first quarter I thought Nebraska was going to steamroll us, but somehow we dominated the LOS by the end of the game on both sides. DL I've seen before, but an OL that can maintain a pocket for a non-mobile QB--that's a new one!!
2. We have a QB!! We've always played smart, tough, disciplined, resilient football and the biggest difference in recent years has been whether we had a good QB. We might have one!
3. RB room is as advertised.
4. OL much better than expected.
5. WRs are pretty good--still wait and see if they can get separation against the big boys, but looked fairly solid--good hands, good routes, pretty good athletes. Nobody jumps out as a game-breaker, so we'll need to be very consistent.
6. DL--worked their assess off with the 4 man pass rush all day and great job stuffing the run after the early drives. Can the defensive culture be resurrected post-Hank?
7. LBs--looked solid all around.
8. DBs. We lost our best and for a while our second best DB and yet we still played great pass defense. Our secondary has been deep and impressive for the better part of a decade, despite it being a glaring weak spot in the prior years.
9. ST: Punter is a stud and maybe the MVP of the game? Can he keep it up--seems like he knows what he's doing.
So impressed with Fitz and Co. When you consider our facilities, the recruiting momentum we have, the big ten media contracts recently signed and Northwestern's unique position in college football--top private academic school with excellent football program in one of the 2 most lucrative conferences we may be nicely positioned into the future. If we can leverage the Chicago market for NIL purposes, then we are on to something!
2. We have a QB!! We've always played smart, tough, disciplined, resilient football and the biggest difference in recent years has been whether we had a good QB. We might have one!
3. RB room is as advertised.
4. OL much better than expected.
5. WRs are pretty good--still wait and see if they can get separation against the big boys, but looked fairly solid--good hands, good routes, pretty good athletes. Nobody jumps out as a game-breaker, so we'll need to be very consistent.
6. DL--worked their assess off with the 4 man pass rush all day and great job stuffing the run after the early drives. Can the defensive culture be resurrected post-Hank?
7. LBs--looked solid all around.
8. DBs. We lost our best and for a while our second best DB and yet we still played great pass defense. Our secondary has been deep and impressive for the better part of a decade, despite it being a glaring weak spot in the prior years.
9. ST: Punter is a stud and maybe the MVP of the game? Can he keep it up--seems like he knows what he's doing.
So impressed with Fitz and Co. When you consider our facilities, the recruiting momentum we have, the big ten media contracts recently signed and Northwestern's unique position in college football--top private academic school with excellent football program in one of the 2 most lucrative conferences we may be nicely positioned into the future. If we can leverage the Chicago market for NIL purposes, then we are on to something!
