Impressions from NU-ILL Game

Trumpy isn't the best back, but he has grit. He'll fight for yards after contact like it's for his life. So I think the drop-off is probably in grit and a little talent. I guess it could be a little unpredictable because I don't think anyone really knows which back will step up in his absence, and if a back doesn't step up Persa might go Air Raid on us. Could be a long day for the secondary. I think Michigan wins, but it will be a good test on the road against a opponent that isn't as bad as Minnesota is.

Impressions you got while not watching the game.   I can think of many better titles to put on your idle speculations.

5:00 p.m. (ET) this Thursday, 10/6.

Another interesting piece of data here is that because Persa is playing, Northwestern essentially loses their best two backs for the game.  Trumpy is gone with the ACL injury, and with Persa in it keeps Kain Colter, their leading rusher, on the sidelines too.  So you have a QB with a partially recovered achilles injury and backup RBs.  I wish I had a good image for "one dimensional."  My guess is they are going to work like crazy this week on packages that have both QBs on the field at the same time.

Just one.  Michigan will be 6-0 by 9:30 PM Saturday.

I've watched a couple of Northwestern's games this season, this game and the BC game. Northwestern has a good well coached team, but their main difference maker is Persa. They really should have taken it to BC, but Colter isn't the QB that Persa is yet. He could be in the future, but he isn't right now. When Persa is on the field, that whole team ratchets it up a notch. If you look at their drive chart, once Persa went out, their drives just weren't as good both in terms of scoring points and taking time of the clock. They sort of stagnated even though they had an 11 point lead. Part of it is balance. Northwestern is a rush heavy offense, but it seemed they rushed the ball even more once Persa was out. 

I've felt that Northwestern has been an overlooked team the last couple seasons, so I think this will be a test for our Wolverines. However, I think it's a test that we will pass with flying colors. 

Michigan 34, Northwestern 13.

Lets just hope the coaching staff can keep this squad focused.  Looking ahead to MSU seems like a very likely achilles heel and I'd hate to see the team miss a chance to beat a good Northwestern team.  Saturday can't come soon enough.

and neither one impressed me too much. Persa is a wildcard. If he is healthy and ready to go he could make a big difference, but with him being limited, I think it takes a lot out of their offense and makes them too one dimensional.

Even if he were healthy though, we practice week in and week out against the best dual threat QB in the country so I think we would handle them either way. I was worried about this game early on, but after watching the way our defense has played so far I think they give up a number of long drives but force a couple turnovers and fieldgoals that lead to a lopsided victory. UM 42- NU 10.

That's freaking scary, I don't care who you're playing.

And that's before considering his 71% completion rate.  It's sad about his injury, because he was a very exciting runner in their spread option attack.

What's not scary is NW's offensive line in pass protect: 10 sacks ytd and no significant run threat remaining for the team except the other quarterback, Kain Colter, who will likely be on the sidelines to start the game wearing a Motorola headset.

At one point earlier this season, I thought Michigan might lose this game. Serously.  But now Michigan has a lot more momentum.  And Michigan is healthy (knock on wood).

Also, either Illinois' rushing offense is regressing, or NW made some major corrections in one week. They held the Illini to 82 yards on the ground. Not too shabby vs. Scheelhaase, Ford and Co.

Is Pam Ward calling the game? If so, we will all lose.

I think this is going to be a big test for our secondary. My guess is that, due to Northwestern's porous OL and average defense, they're going to fall behind early and have to pass a lot. If Persa is able to play the whole game, he'll give our secondary a run for their money. Because of that, I think we'll see Floyd/Avery/Countess emerge from this game with a lot of confidence because they defended the pass well against a very compitent passer (giving them a big boost heading into the matchup against Cousins), or they'll drop the ball (figuratively) and there will be a lot of question marks heading into East Lansing. Three weeks ago, I would have hesitated before saying our secondary has what it takes to rise to the occasion, but from what I've seen lately, I feel pretty confident that our secondary will do very well.

Sorry, you lost me at "I did not watch the game"...

Michigan will hang 40 on NU. We won't shut them out. But 41-14 is still a beat down, and Michigan is going to be jacked and focused to kill Sparty the week after.

Taking a look at Northwestern's stats on ESPN, it looks like they'll have a hard time rushing the ball this week against us.  Last week, Persa had 9 rushing attempts for -3 yards, meaning his sack yardage was greater than his positive rushing.  Last year he averaged about 50 rushing yards per game, meaning he's either not looking to run because of his achilles or he's not able to.  Either way, this is a positive. 

Outside of Persa, there won't be much of a threat.  With both Kolter and Trumpy on the sideline, this leaves freshman Treyvon Green, Jacob Schmitt and Adonis Smith as their main options at RB.  The three of them combine for 354 yards and 4 TDs between them, which isn't bad.  However, that's over 89 carries which is just under 4 yards per carry.  Not much of a homerun threat as the long between the three of them is 15 yards. 

Against Illinois, it seemed that Green was the main guy, when Kolter or Trumpy weren't getting the ball.  Green carried the ball 17 times for 67 yards (3.9 per), no TDs and a long of 8.  Jacob Schmitt carried the ball 6 times for 14 yards (2.3 per) and a TD.  He also had 3 catches for 40 yards.  Adonis Smith only had one rush and it was for a loss of one yard.  Against Illinois, that trio rushed for 80 yards on 24 carries, 3.3 yards per rush, and one TD.

Being 5-0 going in to the Northwestern game gives me flashbacks to horrible memories of 1995 and 1996 with epic 4th quarter collapse games against the Wildcats.  I can still remember Lloyd looking relieved after the final seconds ticked off in the 97 game when a 4-0 start was finally saved. 

Granted, those NU teams were much better than the one we are facing this weekend, the memories don't go away. 

We have no idea how we are going to look on the road.  But I don't think we could have asked for a better road opener in that high school like stadium which will be filled with a ton of Michigan fans.  With the exception of the Eastern Illinois game, Northwestern has been in a dog fight every week.  I feel good about our chances.     games

Persa is a good QB, but he's not the best we've faced so far this year, at least according to CBS sports. In terms of NFL draft rankings, they list Lindley at #8 and Persa at #34 in terms of likely QBs coming out.  Granted, being a good college QB and being a good NFL prospect aren't exactly the same thing, but there's a pretty decent correlation. I think that we shouldn't overlook NU, but we should feel pretty confident that if our defense plays up to their potential, they can handle the NU offense. 

Due to lack of RBs, NW will come out in a suprise Mike Leach-style offense with 4 WR on each play and all parts of the field treated as 4-down territory.