The total lack of ability to accurately predict what our team is going to look like from year to year always has me really nervous leading into the first game of the year in a way I don't really get nervous watching other teams. It's not a "oh man I hope we win" nervous it's more of a Christmas morning "let's look in the mystery present and find out if Fitz Claus brought us all the toys of our dreams or a lump of coal this year" nervous.
All you can do is hope for the best and cheer for the purple
. This is pivotal for Fitz to at least get back to a winning record after the disaster that was last season. Personally, I think we will see improvement on the defense if the guys have had more time with I'm Neil's defense. Not so sure about the offense though. That was a disaster, just as bad as the D. Fitz needs to install a much more dynamic offensive system to get the heavy hitting recruits. Yes, we have all been excited about our new recruits every season, but few ever pan out to be worth much in terms of real quality. We need to land more 4 star recruits is the bottom line, and you won't be doing that anytime soon running an almost non existent offensive scheme. Hilinsky isn't the answer either, and if we can't develop QBs that did choose NU, what does that say about the quality of the staff.Is that your first post in a while VIllox? Where the hell have you been?
I'm kind of in the opposite camp. I agree the offense was terrible last year but I think our running game will be solid this year with an improved OLine and a healthy Porter added to Hull, Clair, Tyus. If Hilinski or Sullivan can be capable game managers and minimize the self-inflicted wounds that killed us last year, we might have a chance.All you can do is hope for the best and cheer for the purple
I had a really good feeling going into 2020 because of Peyton Ramsey, but not 43-3 good against MD. Last year, I was more hopeful than confident, drinking the Kool-aid on the Hunter Johnson renaissance story. This year I'm slightly less optimistic than last year but hoping that Sullivan will be a breakout star, as I'm still skeptical about Hilinski (please prove me wrong).
Right, and I think many of us felt the same way. That's what made those opening games so unexpected. We might have had a "good feeling" but a 43-3 blowout with our offensive line run-blocking better than ever was shocking (though obviously a pleasant surprise).
Agreed. I didn't think the JON defense would be that bad, compounded by an incompetent offense. One of the least enjoyable seasons in recent memory, and that's coming from a survivor of the Dark Ages. The hope for this season is for the offense to keep the defense off the field by controlling the ball and eating up the clock.
I agree with the nervous but hopeful. I think Hilinski should be adequate with Porter as the first and second down back and a more mature O-Line. Getting 3 or more yards running on first down would have a big effect on his efficiency, as I think he sees the field pretty well and on 2nd and 3rd and reasonable, and will find an open short yardage receiver pretty consistently. He gets in trouble when he needs to wait for a receiver to get open 10 or more yards downfield. I appreciate the hope for Sullivan, but I really think the best player on every team is the back up QB, and preseason hope for an inexperienced QB often turns mid season disappointment.
This year, I have no confidence. As long as JON wears purple, I will presume a terrible defense until proven otherwise. Since, we lost our best 2 defensive players. Meanwhile, nobody noticed that the offense was "2019 bad" because we were so alarmed at the bad D. Look it up, we scored around the same as 2019 per game, and did NOT improve. Illinois kicked our asses. Re kicking, I will sarcastically say that I will have to trust Fitz that the remaining kickers must be worse than a five year starter who was easily the worst in the conference.
Face it, both sides of the ball are somewhat scary, but not being able to properly develop any QB we have recruited is also scary. Picking up table scraps and making them starting QBs hasn't been so great for us. The one time it worked, the guy was just an efficient game manager, and it showed as he couldn't get a gig on a NFL roster. Fitzgerald needs to hire coordinators with vision and a resume to back it up.
A lot of our best QBs not named Otto Graham haven't exactly lit up the NFL rosters, and that's irrelevant to how well they perform for NU. Ramsey was a winner, I would take him as our QB just about any year.
As far as the unique travel situation, didn't the bugeaters play in Ireland trip last year v. Illinois? Travelling this far and east, not west, is something NU hasn't done before at all, I think. Eastbound jetlag is rougher than westbound, generally. Just ask Stanford. That said, disclipine and organization should(?) be factors in NU's favor.
There’s the jet lag, there’s the focus from the travel opportunity, all that. I’m not a big believer it’s much of a factor, but if one was a believer it would be all of that broken routine.
Sorry just saw this. I moved to London in January and Rivals blocks themselves in europe so i can't get back into the habit of just clicking all day. I can access with VPN but slightly pointless until we get closer to the season.
No, they were scheduled to at one point but it got cancelled due to Covid rules. Our game is effectively replacing the one that had been scheduled against Illinois last year. They bribed us to give up one of our home games... Nebby is playing IL at home this year so didn't want to give that one up.
It's at +12 right now on my site.
Why? He was more of a game manager than QB with his stat sheet. NU needs a real ball slinger to get back to 2018 form, or better yet to improve over 2015-18. The program will not move forward with a game manager at the helm of the offense. You want to get better/bigger Wrs to come? Best to get a real QB that can get the ball to them or make things happen.
I guess you didn't pay attention that much to the 2020 season then. Ramsey was more than a game manager, he was a playmaker and clutch as hell. He capped off a championship season with an emphatic 35-19 win over Auburn in the Citrus Bowl. Down 14-13 in the 3rd quarter, Ramsey scored on a 30 yard TD run to put NU up for good. He was definitely more than just a game manager, although he was a damn good game manager too. His stats that game: 24-35, 291 yds, 3 TD, 0 Int. To me, that's Peyton Ramsey. I would take him over Thorson, who was also a good QB.
The last line is the key here, taking Ramsey over Thorson. Ramsey was definitely more than a game manager, look at his stats at IU… and then his lesser stats and NU. Thorson had a lot more tools and talent than Ramsey and should have been able to exceed Ramsey at NU, but Ramsey looked maybe better than Thorson. Why? I criticize our offensive approach more than either of the two QBs, both of whom did amazing things for NU.
Thorson was better than Ramsey. No doubt in my mind. The good news is Ramsey did exactly what he was brought in to do for one year. A perfect transfer.
Again, if that’s true, consider why Ramsey had numbers at Indiana that were far superior to Clayton’s best NU years and Peyton also statistically regressed considerably at NU
Far superior? That’s not true. CT’s SO year was better than any year PR had. In fact, I would argue CT had a better year or at least as good every class year than PR.
I think Thorson clearly had more raw QB talent than Peyton Ramsey, but Peyton was more of a gamer. If I had to pick one starting QB to win a game for us I would take Ramsey over Sr year Thorson (or So year Thorson, take your pick).
The only stat that matters for a QB is wins. NU’s offense is designed not to maximize offensive stats. It’s designed to complement a dominant defense and strong special teams play to win games. Score enough points while prioritizing ball possession and field position over risk taking. That’s the way FItz wants to play. That is why it’s hard to judge an NU QB by any other stat than wins.
Part of the discussion was getting top WRs to come to NU. With our offensive system and output neither of them were exactly lighting up WRs stat sheets. We haven’t gotten a 4* WR out of HS maybe ever (not counting transfer Kyle Prater)? As opposed to every other position group where we’ve gotten 4* kids.
