At this point

[Wildcatfootball12]

There are really 3 possible outcomes

1) We lose out (50%)

2) We pick up a few bunny wins (purdue maybe?) and get to 6 or 7 (30%)

3) Fitz kicks some ***, we really turn it around and win out (20%)

I will hope for 3, expect 2, realize 1 is very possible

O and also, at some point I imagine Thorson will punch one of the WRs in the face (100%)

 

[iskaboo]

I think "4)" is the most probable: We beat a good team or two (Nebraska, Wisconsin or Penn State), but we lose one against Purdue or the Illini. Isn't that how it usually works?

As for Thorson, if he can punch a WR, then somebody on the defense should get a shot at Thorson.

 

[shakes3858]

Losing out is far less than 50%. We have a greater than 50% chance of beating Purdue. To be fair us winning out is far less than 20%. Even if each game gave us a 50% chance of winning that's about 3%.

So I'm going to say the most likely result is we win 3 out of 5 win 8 games, go some place nice for New Years and have a great time.

Also, talking about players punching each other, you're an idiot.

 

[uniFIGHTuniFIGHT]

NU could still easily finish well. Thorson's still too green for the timing on the option, but he threw a lot of great balls yesterday that were dropped against decent coverage. The NU D seemed to give-up yesterday in the second half unless their play prior to yesterday was all fluke. I don't think they're that bad.

 

[seavue617]

The D is not that bad. Seems to me the D is on the field about 60-70% of the time (haven't seen the TOP figures). Too many 3 and outs. Too many dropped passes.Too many bad punts. Result: too much bad field position and a tired defense.

 

[DrillCat]

We can win out. We can also lose out. The reality perhaps lies somewhere between.
This is the worst I have felt about the program in recent memory despite posting a 5-2 season so far.
I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Win out or lose out, I hope Fotz shuffles his staff after the season. Take a chance for once. Try to get some super star assistants. Can back fire with wrong choices and place the program into a crap hole. But take a chance for once.
But I'm afraid we will post 7-5 and go bowling. And if we beat a super star MAC team in the bowl game, all will be good and Fotz will get another 10 year extension.
Back to being complacent. Perfectly happy being a king of bottom half of BIG.

 

[stpaulcat]

We can win out. We can also lose out. The reality perhaps lies somewhere between.
This is the worst I have felt about the program in recent memory despite posting a 5-2 season so far.
I can't see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Win out or lose out, I hope Fotz shuffles his staff after the season. Take a chance for once. Try to get some super star assistants. Can back fire with wrong choices and place the program into a crap hole. But take a chance for once.
But I'm afraid we will post 7-5 and go bowling. And if we beat a super star MAC team in the bowl game, all will be good and Fotz will get another 10 year extension.
Back to being complacent. Perfectly happy being a king of bottom half of BIG.

"I hope Fotz shuffles his staff after the season" You meant Fitz, right? I'll tell you what, I wouldn't want to be one of your dental patients tomorrow. At least not with a cavity. IMHO, in either case, after the past two years and then these last two games, if Fitz doesn't do a complete shuffle of his offensive staff, like off to Buffalo, before or by the end of this season, then he should go. He now has a very short time to demonstrate that his decision to keep the coaching staff in place at the end of last season was the right one. And getting into a mediocre bowl game will not demonstrate that, nor perhaps even winning it. This team's performance needs to be stellar for the next five plus games in order to justify the status quo. I mean the coaches are the people responsible for recruiting the players they then coach, and they've been at this for 10 years now.

 

[Deeringfish]

I think we win two or three more and one will be a good one.

 

[DrillCat]

"I hope Fotz shuffles his staff after the season" You meant Fitz, right? I'll tell you what, I wouldn't want to be one of your dental patients tomorrow. At least not with a cavity. IMHO, in either case, after the past two years and then these last two games, if Fitz doesn't do a complete shuffle of his offensive staff, like off to Buffalo, before or by the end of this season, then he should go. He now has a very short time to demonstrate that his decision to keep the coaching staff in place at the end of last season was the right one. And getting into a mediocre bowl game will not demonstrate that, nor perhaps even winning it. This team's performance needs to be stellar for the next five plus games in order to justify the status quo. I mean the coaches are the people responsible for recruiting the players they then coach, and they've been at this for 10 years now.

Fitz is Fotz to me until he rights the ship. Fitz I know is a fierce fighter and a winner. Fitz doesnt stand for mediocrities. He wants to build a championship team at NU.
He doesnt give up his 100 players as sacrifice to football gods just to retain incompetent staff.
Then I shall reverse name calling back to Fitz.
For the sake of his fans and our beloved cats,
I really hope he does make some changes and deliver on his promises.
No worries for my patients. I am competent in my trade and I dont have to be concerned about any games for the remainder of the season.

 

[pawildcat_rivals209725]

The D is not that bad. Seems to me the D is on the field about 60-70% of the time (haven't seen the TOP figures). Too many 3 and outs. Too many dropped passes.Too many bad punts. Result: too much bad field position and a tired defense.

Offense hasn't been helping them at all, but we've got a problem if they were already worn out early in the third quarter when they gave up a crushing all-run drive to Iowa and in the first half when they were getting gashed by Iowa's reserve tailback (who ended up with more than 200 yards). I'm afraid Saturday's loss was pretty much a team effort. Not many bright spots to be found.

 

[shakes3858]

Fitz is Fotz to me until he rights the ship.

You're droolcat to me until you stop that.

 

[stpaulcat]

I think we win two or three more and one will be a good one.

Yeah, and you also thought you were going to make it home safely on your bicycle.

 

[Deeringfish]

Yeah, and you also thought you were going to make it home safely on your bicycle.

People keep telling me that accidents happen but there is a little voice in my head that says, "Never get on a bicycle again."

Funny thing is, it was Glade's bike trip across what ever he crossed that got me posting on the board, Prior to that I held back. So of course blame Glades for everything.

 

[stpaulcat]

People keep telling me that accidents happen but there is a little voice in my head that says, "Never get on a bicycle again."

Funny thing is, it was Glade's bike trip across what ever he crossed that got me posting on the board, Prior to that I held back. So of course blame Glades for everything.

You didn't know that Glades is the anti-tooth fairy?

 

[Cat In The Cradle]

We won't win another game this season.

Evidence: what we've seen the last two weeks. Collapse of focus, effort, and morale from top to bottom, much as what we witnessed in 2013.

 

[phatcat_rivals223240]

We won't win another game this season.

Evidence: what we've seen the last two weeks. Collapse of focus, effort, and morale from top to bottom, much as what we witnessed in 2013.

I actually think we will win a couple more games, somehow, mostly because of mediocrity. But remember the 2013 team had some razor thin losses, not like these last two

 

[GlideCat]

We won't win another game this season.

I am not there yet. We had similar posts after the Iowa game last year. We were angry, stunned, shocked and confused. Yet, we went 2-2 after the Iowa game.

Here is where I make a bunch of completely ignorant suggestions. Please know that I am making no claim to knowing any of this.

In previous years, Fitz seems to have been coaching a very business-like style of handling the stress of playing college football. This year seems to have changed. It appears that he may have assumed that the kids would play better if they were more relaxed so he actively supported the dancing, fun, and more emotional aspects of the game.

I worry that the down side of that change might be a steeper climb out of a negative slide.

Start calling me an ignorant idiot now.

 

[SimpsonElmwood]

While a bye week would be ideal at this point, we only have to hope that a trip to Lincoln will be as rejuvenating as the visit there back in 2011. Can't believe it was that long ago. Over the past two weeks there's no reason to believe we could bounce back, but I was similarly pessimistic back then.

 

[DrillCat]

I hope a bye week helps the team. To regain confidence and place some new wrinkles on our offense.
It will great if I read about cats victory.
PS- did my post calling shakes, a cheerboy get sensored? In case you missed it, shakes. I posted " whatever, cheerboy " after you called me a droolcat. Clever.

 

[stpaulcat]

I hope a bye week helps the team. To regain confidence and place some new wrinkles on our offense.
It will great if I read about cats victory.
PS- did my post calling shakes, a cheerboy get sensored? In case you missed it, shakes. I posted " whatever, cheerboy " after you called me a droolcat. Clever.

I think it is cool that Shakes was a cheerleader. It's at least as cool as being a dentist. Plus you don't get to grab *** (or maybe you do ). I wish they hadn't done away with male cheerleaders. They even had them back when I was in school, and that's a long tradition to end.

 

[Sheffielder]

While a bye week would be ideal at this point, we only have to hope that a trip to Lincoln will be as rejuvenating as the visit there back in 2011. Can't believe it was that long ago. Over the past two weeks there's no reason to believe we could bounce back, but I was similarly pessimistic back then.

Regarding 2011...I remember staying at home to watch the game that year, which is very, very unlike me, but being disgusted with the team at the time enough that I didn't want to be seen in public wearing purple. I will also be staying at home to watch the game on Saturday...for the first time since our first trip to Lincoln four years ago.

 

[Deeringfish]

I hope a bye week helps the team. To regain confidence and place some new wrinkles on our offense.
It will great if I read about cats victory.
PS- did my post calling shakes, a cheerboy get sensored? In case you missed it, shakes. I posted " whatever, cheerboy " after you called me a droolcat. Clever.

I think the Bye week will allow them to regroup. I don't anticipate a great game this week but after the Bye we have two of three B1G games that I felt we would win at the beginning of the season. All we need is two for this to be a successful season but the standards we had 8 weeks ago.

 

[willycat]

I think it is cool that Shakes was a cheerleader. It's at least as cool as being a dentist. Plus you don't get to grab *** (or maybe you do ). I wish they hadn't done away with male cheerleaders. They even had them back when I was in school, and that's a long tradition to end.

From what I understand NU did not do away with male cheerleaders, they couldn't get any to come on board.Shakes? It's the same problem with the size of the band, dismal and not enough people to carry the flags for every school. I don't have answers for this kind of non-participation but maybe a scholarship or least a credit or two could help.

 

[soybean]

From the outside looking in it appears to me that Northwestern is soft again this year, really soft. This surprises me because I have previously though of Northwestern as anything but soft under Fitz. I think that something is seriously wrong in Evanston but I have no idea what it is.

Northwestern should not have struggled as badly as they did against both Michigan and Iowa. Losing is one thing, but folding and giving up is another. I can only imagine how frustrating this is to you guys as you have been a very stout program now for the past couple of decades.

 

[shakes3858]

I hope a bye week helps the team. To regain confidence and place some new wrinkles on our offense.
It will great if I read about cats victory.
PS- did my post calling shakes, a cheerboy get sensored? In case you missed it, shakes. I posted " whatever, cheerboy " after you called me a droolcat. Clever.

Oh I saw it DroolCat and even responded. It went something "great another cheerleader commented. I don't know why people think I'm embarrassed to be a cheerleader."

 

[phatcat_rivals223240]

From the outside looking in it appears to me that Northwestern is soft again this year, really soft. This surprises me because I have previously though of Northwestern as anything but soft under Fitz. I think that something is seriously wrong in Evanston but I have no idea what it is.

Northwestern should not have struggled as badly as they did against both Michigan and Iowa. Losing is one thing, but folding and giving up is another. I can only imagine how frustrating this is to you guys as you have been a very stout program now for the past couple of decades.

While this is on the border of trolling, a lot of us have similar concerns. WTH happened in the space of 2 weeks? I think Mich and Iowa are both very good, and I could see laying one egg in A2, but 2 weeks in a row and a listless performance to boot. Also don't talk to be about injuries, Iowa resembled a M.A.S.H unit. The AIRBHG struck again. Beat.hard could hardly move because of his pulled groin (that sounds a little weird).

There are a lot of possibilities but I fear the worst - that Fitz is just not a very good coach. Sure he can wave his arms and shake hands and kiss babies, but you can't go from beating Stanford, Duke on the road, and then pummeling Minny to "dark ages losses". WTF? Did they forget how to catch, block, tackle, break tackles in 6 days?

 

[shakes3858]

From what I understand NU did not do away with male cheerleaders, they couldn't get any to come on board.Shakes? It's the same problem with the size of the band, dismal and not enough people to carry the flags for every school. I don't have answers for this kind of non-participation but maybe a scholarship or least a credit or two could help.

Yeah, it was kind of a self fulfilling prophecy. Once you start losing guys and the numbers start to dwindle, no one wants to be the only guy. Two things that people probably don't realize.

1. In 2004, we had a lot of senior guys. A few I suspected would've quit before their senior year if we weren't playing at Hawaii. There were several bad attitudes that festered as well. 2 guys quit before the year and 2 after the year. Combine that with 5 or 6 guys graduating, and the number took a huge hit. Then it became the prophecy where the numbers when 6 to 4 to 2 to 1 to 0.

2. I'm not sure when the rule came in, but in order to try out for a varsity sport, you had to have a physical. Then after you make the team, the team's doctor had to give you a full sports physical before they'd insure you. Every freshman has to have a physical before they come to NU. For some reason Searle didn't give these out. They made you get a new one. Basically, you'd have to get a physical to come to NU, then get another to try out, then get a third one like 5 days later. If you really want to be a cheerleader, you'd do it. If you're showing up to tryouts because a cute girl asked you to (which is like 90% of the guys I know from all over the country), not a chance you're going to make a doctors appointment first. I slipped through the cracks and didn't bring a physical to tryouts or know anything about having to. As liability involved with cheerleading increased, we started having trainers at practice. This was a great thing as injuries did happen. It also meant that we couldn't have random guys just show up and have a pseudo tryout. We had to get them to bring physicals or not participate. Then it was physicals, waivers, medical histories, insurance forms copies of insurance cards... That coincided with the guys falling out.

 

[stpaulcat]

While this is on the border of trolling, a lot of us have similar concerns. WTH happened in the space of 2 weeks? I think Mich and Iowa are both very good, and I could see laying one egg in A2, but 2 weeks in a row and a listless performance to boot. Also don't talk to be about injuries, Iowa resembled a M.A.S.H unit. The AIRBHG struck again. Beat.hard could hardly move because of his pulled groin (that sounds a little weird).

There are a lot of possibilities but I fear the worst - that Fitz is just not a very good coach. Sure he can wave his arms and shake hands and kiss babies, but you can't go from beating Stanford, Duke on the road, and then pummeling Minny to "dark ages losses". WTF? Did they forget how to catch, block, tackle, break tackles in 6 days?

Regarding the possibility of Fitz not being a very good coach, he (they) did get to 5 wins, against a couple pretty good teams. And they beat ND last year (in SB, no mean feat). Like soybean, I have no clue what's going--this is baffling. This is beginning to look like the continuation of a three year trend now. I'm reserving judgement until after Nebraska and PSU.

 

[StreamCat]

Regarding 2011...I remember staying at home to watch the game that year, which is very, very unlike me, but being disgusted with the team at the time enough that I didn't want to be seen in public wearing purple. I will also be staying at home to watch the game on Saturday...for the first time since our first trip to Lincoln four years ago.

Reminds me what my neighbor who is a Nebraska fan told me once, "True fans fly the colors the day after a loss."

 

[SimpsonElmwood]

Reminds me what my neighbor who is a Nebraska fan told me once, "True fans fly the colors the day after a loss."

+1000000000%.

The past two weekends we have had to jump on planes from Detroit and Chicago wearing our NU sweatshirts after these uninspiring losses. While we are not wearing them as proudly as we would have if we had won, there was never any thought of packing them in the suitcase!

Wish we could make the trip to Lincoln this year! Go Cats!

 

[phatcat_rivals223240]

+1000000000%.

The past two weekends we have had to jump on planes from Detroit and Chicago wearing our NU sweatshirts after these uninspiring losses. While we are not wearing them as proudly as we would have if we had won, there was never any thought of packing them in the suitcase!

Wish we could make the trip to Lincoln this year! Go Cats!

well put. there was nothing worse than facing this obnoxious michigan a-hole at work the week following but, purple was the order of the day.

I've seen far worse beatings. But it still sucks eggs

 

[GlideCat]

well put. there was nothing worse than facing this obnoxious michigan a-hole at work the week following but, purple was the order of the day.

Yep. Me too. I work with a guy who has a Michigan "M" tattooed on his arm. I came in to "38-0" written on the white board. I left it up all day. Second day?... no.

 

[soybean]

While this is on the border of trolling, a lot of us have similar concerns. WTH happened in the space of 2 weeks? I think Mich and Iowa are both very good, and I could see laying one egg in A2, but 2 weeks in a row and a listless performance to boot. Also don't talk to be about injuries, Iowa resembled a M.A.S.H unit. The AIRBHG struck again. Beat.hard could hardly move because of his pulled groin (that sounds a little weird).

There are a lot of possibilities but I fear the worst - that Fitz is just not a very good coach. Sure he can wave his arms and shake hands and kiss babies, but you can't go from beating Stanford, Duke on the road, and then pummeling Minny to "dark ages losses". WTF? Did they forget how to catch, block, tackle, break tackles in 6 days?

I'm sorry if I came off as trolling in any way. I was simply trying to be blunt about how the Wildcats unexpectedly just quit after Iowa punched them in the mouth - no fight whatsoever...and that surprised me because that is not the image I have of Fitz's teams.

However, if straight talk from outsiders annoys you, and I get how it could, I would direct my anger not at an outside observer, but at the Northwestern staff and team instead. Iowa went through a very through self examination last winter after a very disappointing finish to the season - I'm thinking that might be in order in Evanston this off season too. But do what you will...I kinda enjoy knocking the snot outta your guys.

 

[Sheffielder]

Reminds me what my neighbor who is a Nebraska fan told me once, "True fans fly the colors the day after a loss."

My allegiance to NU is very, very well known. In most cases, I am the only NU fan most of my friends and acquaintances know, and my phone blows up during upsets...and blowouts. This is the first away game I won't be at a bar for (unless I traveled to the game) since Lincoln in 2011. I don't have anything to prove.

 

[xxxbobxxx]

You're droolcat to me until you stop that.

So says AwShucks.

 

[DrillCat]

Reminds me what my neighbor who is a Nebraska fan told me once, "True fans fly the colors the day after a loss."

My NU flag is flying 24/7 365 in my front lawn along with an American flag.

 

[GlideCat]

My NU flag is flying 24/7 365 in my front lawn along with an American flag.

My NU poster remains on the front door (the street is about 10 feet away so it is clearly visible).

 

[stpaulcat]

My NU poster remains on the front door (the street is about 10 feet away so it is clearly visible).

My NU football helmet is sitting in the front window, with a purple candle burning in it. Oh, and 24/7/365.

 

[StreamCat]

My allegiance to NU is very, very well known. In most cases, I am the only NU fan most of my friends and acquaintances know, and my phone blows up during upsets...and blowouts. This is the first away game I won't be at a bar for (unless I traveled to the game) since Lincoln in 2011. I don't have anything to prove.

Settle down, I just said it reminded me of what he said because it did. You don't have to prove anything to me, well, except you might have to prove to me that you're not overly sensitive.

 

[GlideCat]

except you might have to prove to me that you're not overly sensitive.

I am not overly sensitive and I am offended that you would accuse me of being so.