MnB Q&A with Inside NU
Thought this was pretty interesting. A few choice quotes:
1. Against Rudock, the Wildcats won't change their game plan: they'll hope to get pressure with their front four while allowing short yardage passes underneath and tackling consistently. Northwestern has been very good about not allowing people get behind the defense, and once the pass goes short, tackling has generally been solid.
2. [Quarterback] Thorson's biggest issues have been turnovers and short pass accuracy. But he's improving, and any Northwestern fan has to be optimistic for his future in the program. I would expect something like this from Thorson against a very good Michigan defense: 14-for-24, 155 yards, one touchdown, one interception.
3. I'm taking Northwestern, 16-13. There's something special about this team. They have a certain mental toughness that has been missing the past two seasons. At halftime, it's 10-7 in favor of Northwestern. Heading into the fourth, it's 13-10 and the Wolverines tie it up at 13 about midway through the quarter before Jack Mitchell (who's great in clutch situations and not quite as great in other situations) comes through with the game-winner. The Wildcats' luck finally changes on the back of another solid defensive performance.
October 8th, 2015 at 6:43 PM ^
October 8th, 2015 at 11:02 PM ^
October 9th, 2015 at 11:22 AM ^
"I'd say it's more likely their defense scores than their offense."
At first I laughed at this but then after thinking about it briefly i came to the conclusion that I agree. Says alot about the quality of defense and lack of offense on both sides.
October 8th, 2015 at 6:45 PM ^
"There's something special about this team"
This usually tranlates to "This team isn't that good but has been lucky as hell so far."
October 8th, 2015 at 6:48 PM ^
...unfortunately, some teams can sustain that luck across a full season (*cough* 2011).
Even still, I think we're taking it.
October 8th, 2015 at 6:49 PM ^
Not quite all year - remember the uncalled pass interference on Iowa on 4th and goal?
October 8th, 2015 at 7:30 PM ^
October 9th, 2015 at 11:02 AM ^
has been stingy not only in sudden change situations but also in scoring drives especially since the opener. Not seeing how the Wildcats produce four scores, but the booster indicates they'll get three successful field goals plus a TD with a qb who even suggests in his opening paragraph has accuracy issues in the short passing game.
If you have to string together a bunch of drives and you aren't going deep and the running game is not moving the chains, the short passing game becomes harder to execute as well.
I just think Michigan's defense will stifle the Northwestern offense and the Rudock-led offense will do enougn to win this game. I am expecting Rudock to have a very solid game while facing a very strong Wildcat defense.
October 8th, 2015 at 6:48 PM ^
October 8th, 2015 at 6:47 PM ^
October 8th, 2015 at 6:54 PM ^
Northwestern scored 16, 19, and 20 in their three P5 games thus far. I'm afraid of how confident I am that their offense is going to flounder helplessly
October 8th, 2015 at 6:49 PM ^
I mean, we could win this 3-0, but unless their defense scores...
October 8th, 2015 at 6:52 PM ^
Not sure he's really thought Northwestern's offense and Michigan's defense through
Thorson passed for 105 and 0 TDs vs Stanford, 70 and 0 TDs vs Duke, and 128 and 0 TDs vs Minnesota. He's not going to go on the road against the best D he's faced all year and pass for 155 and a TD unless we just have a massive 80 yard TD bust in coverage
I just really don't think Northwestern will score without some help from our offense
October 8th, 2015 at 7:47 PM ^
How creative is their o-coordinator? I'm guessing s solid gameplan guy but not chessmaster 3000 level like Harbaugh. Can they possibly unveil something that totally catches us by surprise and finds the undefended exhaust port?
October 8th, 2015 at 8:35 PM ^
October 8th, 2015 at 8:53 PM ^
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October 8th, 2015 at 6:54 PM ^
October 8th, 2015 at 8:14 PM ^
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October 9th, 2015 at 12:55 AM ^
October 9th, 2015 at 11:15 AM ^
than was initially proferred as a final score. Here's my take: NU isn't even as dynamic offensively as BYU and it operated with a first-year qb who could throw deep and run like Thorson who isn't considered a great passer, period, like Mangum was.
The only difference between BYU and NU is that the Wildcats run a lot of bubble screens, rub routes on short crossing patterns, and try to break plays on the perimeter, It's not like Trevor Simian is back in the pocket scanning downfileld. He was a good college passer.
I mean Michigan gave up 9 points on the road to these guys last year. They couldn't get a TD even with all the turnovers they got a year ago. So, now, when Michigan is playing with so much greater confidence at the LOS and secondary, suddenly this team is going to do on the road what it couldn't do at home. I don't think so.
October 8th, 2015 at 6:55 PM ^
Stadium. How he handles it will be a determining factor.Playing at Duke is nothing like playing at Michigan.
I also think the permissive attitude towards short passes plays to Rudock's strength.The appropriate strategy would be to go to press coverage and dare Michigan to complete deep throws. (MSU will most certainly do this)
For NU to win they need a x-factor and turnovers. They need someone to go off that no one expects to.They need a Rudock meltdown which is certainly possible.
UM has a larger margin of error because they have more talent and are at home. NU's is slim.
October 8th, 2015 at 7:13 PM ^
and when exactly has rudock shown he will melt down?
October 8th, 2015 at 7:30 PM ^
pretty damn melty.
EDIT: nice join-date by the way!
October 8th, 2015 at 7:54 PM ^
as i remember he played damn good over all in that game and didnt fall apart. and i havent seen a melt down once this year . mistakes, yes but he keeps a pretty cool head. all nw fans remarks seem to center on him being forced into alot of bad mistakes. wishfull thinking?
October 8th, 2015 at 8:41 PM ^
given how well their D is playing.
Rudock may not have had a classic meltdown vs Utah but he played like ass.
3 picks,(even if one was on a reciever) the p6 and bunch of his yardage was a late drive in garbage time to make the score closer than the game actually was.
I don't dislike Rudock but he has yet to "win" a game for us, and has often made some iffy decisions.
He doesn't suck, but he hasn't been as good as advertised so far either.
This will be his toughest test yet & I don't think it's unreasonable to be nervous about his performance against such a dominating defense.
Thankfully he IS getting better . .
All Michigan has to do is beat NW deep over the top . . .oh wait!
October 8th, 2015 at 8:48 PM ^
Sure, Utah missed two field goals, but UM missed one and had two overthrows on passes that would have lead to at least one for sure TD and at least great field position.
The pick six came with UM down a TD and near midfield.
The game was pretty evenly played if you factor in everything.
October 9th, 2015 at 10:42 AM ^
the game was not "closer than I think".
The game was exactly as not close as i think but thanks for the suggestion.
We moved the ball poorly all night, including missed field goals, turning it over on downs etc.
We trailed the whole game, had a back breaking pick 6 halfway through the 4th quarter, and finally managed our 2nd TD with 54 seconds on the clock.
Was there a chance we could pull it out with a successful onsides kick and a deep ball from Rudock (lol)?
Utah made plenty of mistakes too, so sure, there was a chance at the end.
but there was nothing in the previous 59 min that indicated it was going to be likely.
So pretty evenly matched except for the whole "never was in a position to win the game" thing.
October 8th, 2015 at 9:13 PM ^
ive heard other people say that to. but when a td puts you within a score of tying or winning a game i wouldnt call that garbage time.
October 8th, 2015 at 9:35 PM ^
Not garbage time, but Utah does not defend that drive the same way they do a normal drive. It's meaningful points, but not as meaningful as if they were scored, say, at the start of the 4th quarter.
October 8th, 2015 at 7:55 PM ^
The first one in that game was on Perry 100%, the last one was 50/50.
October 8th, 2015 at 8:56 PM ^
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October 8th, 2015 at 7:41 PM ^
October 8th, 2015 at 7:40 PM ^
MSU actually hasn't been playing as much press coverage this year (probably because their secondary is not very good overall). Rudock is pretty comfortable with the short game, but he is also prone to throwing some interceptions this year so I think some creative zone play could really hurt Michigan.
October 8th, 2015 at 7:53 PM ^
the past two games. The INT vs Maryland was on Houma
October 8th, 2015 at 8:03 PM ^
INT most of the time.
October 8th, 2015 at 11:02 PM ^
You're trying way too hard to cover up Rudock's mistakes. The fact that Houma managed to get a few fingers on it, donest change the fact that it was a bad decision from the start.
There's no way that Harbaugh looked at that on tape and told Jake "Good throw, keep it up."
October 9th, 2015 at 12:48 AM ^
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October 8th, 2015 at 9:59 PM ^
October 8th, 2015 at 7:06 PM ^
October 8th, 2015 at 9:35 PM ^
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October 8th, 2015 at 10:29 PM ^
October 8th, 2015 at 7:47 PM ^
Yeah I gotta feeling we play about as well as we did against BYU. The talent level will close the gap some, but this should still be a rude awakening for NW's little dream season so far. They'll get into Michigan territory a couple of times on a penalty sustained drive and maybe one well-timed RPS play but I can't see more than 6 or 7 points from NW. I'm wondering if Fitzgerald opts to play a fast and loose type gameplan trying to change their mojo and go for the jugular so to speak. i.e. attemping to go against trend on offense and unveiling some crazy wrinkles. Or does he play the grind it out on D, run-the-ball low variance strategy? My hope is the latter. M's talent should win out barring any trolling from the turnover gods.
October 9th, 2015 at 11:29 AM ^
and beating this defense. He will face an array of coverage that will change from presnap look. Michigan will be spying and taking away natural tendencies on short routes and they will probably be in dime most of the time, sending their linebackers and safeties on second and third down.
I just don't see how this offense moves the ball consistently on Michigan's defense. They may find something initially but then it will get shutdown.
October 8th, 2015 at 7:49 PM ^
The flashbacks are terrible. Awful. Northwestern has "Northwesterned" each of the past three contests against the Wolverines, but they have to be due for some luck eventually, right? Right?
It has been said in HTTV and on the board, but it is the case throughout recent history, because they are Northwestern, they can beat anyone, but because they are Northwestern, they can also lose to anyone. I am personally betting on the latter Northwestern myself.
October 8th, 2015 at 7:53 PM ^
One more random thought. Is there any way Harbaugh allows us to lose to an upstart NW during his first Homecoming game? Especially to Pat Fitzgerald. I know he respects Fitzgerald but you know there's no way he loses to the keynote speaker of Exposure U at home in front of recruits and former players. He's too competitive. If he has to, he pulls out the big guns in the playbook. But I think it will be modestly needed.
October 8th, 2015 at 8:05 PM ^
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October 8th, 2015 at 8:13 PM ^