Game Thread: Northwestern vs. Illinois
- Thread starter mshelton33
- Start date
I think it comes down to what you’ve seen the kicker do in warm up. If it’s out of his range, it’s out of his range. Honestly, I’m more annoyed that they couldn’t get more yards running the ball on first and second downs.
That's not a surprise. Illinois stacked the line knowing we wanted to keep the clock running. The ball was at the 30 which would have made the FG a 47 yarder. That's the exact distance of the FG Olsen had made a few minutes earlier. Even if you think it's only a 50/50 proposition, you kick the FG to end the game rather than punting. The punt only netted us 10 yards off of field position.
It would not surprise me if Braun was worried about a block on a field goal. On a punt, the punter can eat the ball if there is a breakdown in blocking, which is not really a possibility on a placekick.
He played Fitzball and managed to walk away with a 2-point win on the road. Not pretty but got the job done.
I agree. Said the same thing earlier in this thread. Olsen's kicks were low all night. If that kick gets blocked and scooped with your field goal unit on the field, you've got nobody that can run down the illinois player. The Bears lost a game to the Lions that way about 45 years ago.
I also agree. As I mentioned earlier this week, the Illini were leading the nation in blocked kicks. I think that factored into the decision.
I have to agree, that is why I won't be sad when he is gone. Our offense has flashes of greatness, then it is rather lackluster. Can't advance the program with an offense like that. You can't keep relying on the D to bail you out every series. The D is good, but not Hankwitz great. McCall was better in that he ran a rather efficient offense it seemed.
I didn't see that interaction, good catch.
Braun confirmed postgame it was about fear of a block. Probably a good learning experience for a first time head coach, he's never had to make decisions like that before. He's made plenty of good strategic decisions over the course of the year, including the great one that paid off big to put the ball right back in Bryant's hands at the end of the first half, and we won the last game of the year so WHO CARES BABY
Yeah, this team just found ways to win; no idea why but I felt like we'd hold on the whole way even as Illinois got their chances.
Been that type of year.
Almost incredible to think we were that close to winning the West; the 10-7 Iowa game ended up being the whole difference on a made FG to avoid OT and in a game where we could've easily put up more points.
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If not for multiple INTs and the 2 special teams turnovers we would’ve been blown out by their offense who we almost never stopped otherwise, and our inconsistent offense was a part of the problem.
I said in the chat that we would not win a shootout. That was correct even though we won - I did not expect basically 2 special teams TDs in 10 seconds.
Braun is a new HC. I don’t think he will be faulted for the punt call but it was the wrong call. The chance of pinning them inside the 5 was probably the same or less than the chance of making the field goal.
Moreover, field position meant nothing as we were conceding them 10+ yard passes on every play, so it probably made only 15 seconds of game clock difference if they started at their 5 versus the 30 if we miss the FG. Chance of a FG block return for a TD is like 1%.
We had an opportunity to score to end the game with a very small % that it would go badly. Should have taken it. Look what happened. Very, very lucky not to lose that game which I think is what would have happened if it went to OT. At home with huge momentum and their offense working much more consistently than ours, better FG kicker on the day, and taking special teams out of it which is where most of our second half points came.
Olsen had missed from 42 and juuuust made it from 46. Realistically, his 46-yarder wouldn’t have been good from 47, which is where he would’ve kicked the potential game-clincher from.
A shame the game-clincher couldn’t have just been a ******* first down…
Or…not a ******* 80-yard touchdown (which would’ve just been a 63-yarder if he’d missed…)
Or…if Gallagher had guarded the dude instead of…holding him…
But it had been a made kick, or if it had been a first down, or if it had been an easy stop after the punt, or if the two-pointer had been cleanly stopped, then it would have been slightly less of a Cardiac Classic.
Ugly and wonderful and fun. GO CATS GO CATS GO
A shame the game-clincher couldn’t have just been a ******* first down…
Or…not a ******* 80-yard touchdown (which would’ve just been a 63-yarder if he’d missed…)
Or…if Gallagher had guarded the dude instead of…holding him…
But it had been a made kick, or if it had been a first down, or if it had been an easy stop after the punt, or if the two-pointer had been cleanly stopped, then it would have been slightly less of a Cardiac Classic.
Ugly and wonderful and fun. GO CATS GO CATS GO
It was a win, which is the bottom line. Not sure if you can put ugly and fun in the same sentence to really describe something. You should substitute lucky for fun and that would be a more realistic way to describe the game. Our vaunted defense was shredded, the very defense that is usually heart of the team. Bajakian needs to go regardless of what happens in the bowl. I know we put up 45 points, but this offense has been Jeckyl and Hyde for most of the season. We did manage to win in the end, but we can't afford the Cardiac Cat stuff anymore. Next season, no more divisions and 4 new opponents have joined the Conference. Opponents which are usually varying degrees better than most of our Western Division competition.
Sports are fun.
It was a silly game and NU won. NU got a touchdown from a dude who was not on any depth chart. Our five-foot-nothing walk-on made a huge play on special teams. An OL collected a touchdown.
It was not a pretty game. It was two average teams in the worst division in P5 football playing really hard, and playing to their relative skill levels, and giving us 60 minutes worth watching.
Ugly: turnovers, failures, mistakes by veterans
Wonderful: Unknowns making plays
Fun: Close til the end
It was great fun, and 7-5 is cool.
Ok, whatever you say, but I am just glad they got the W. We do need to quit winning ugly though and just outright win.
NU was noticeably better against Maryland, Wisconsin, and Purdue. This one was ugly and fun. Minnesota was flukish.
But, by and large, NU’s wins this season have been solid, steady, and comfortable (until they made it interestingish at the end).
Yes, still it's 7-5, and with Bryant healthy, it likely would have been 9-3.
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And Hollis just quoted that he thought that him and Johnson were the best cornerback duo in the league
We will need an uptick in offensive production from here on out. The defense will not be able to bail us out every game. Our D isn't anything like it was in 2020
Cardiac Cats is a great moniker for a team when you pull off an amazing come from behind win a' la this year's Minnesota game. The last thing you want to do is earn the nickname because you struggle putting games away when you are 2 scores ahead late in the fourth quarter as per Howard, Maryland, Purdue, and Illinois.
But I will take almost blowing it over actually blowing it, every time. The next program step is to leave no doubt, like the Wisconsin game.