Takeaways

[AdamOnFirst]

Not a ton of takeaways out of a game like this, but I think there are a few. To me, the mostly reiterate what we already know:

- Even against an overmatched opponent, the defensive performance was exceptional. WIU’s starting QB, who played the whole game until that last drive that was all backups, was 5/17 for 27 yards and a pick. Cats DBs were credited with 8 breakups, and that honestly undersells it. Each corner had 3. That was an overmatched WIU team but at least the defense took the challenge to heart and played like they wanted to dominate every single play.
- In general, the defense actually has some talent and has a bunch of players who could have excellent years and be NFL type guys if they play well. I’m not sure if it’ll actually be a great Big Ten defense in the end, but the building blocks are at least there to have a chance.
- On offense… I still don’t think that’s the case. The wide receivers other than Wilde are intensely unimpressive, and Wilde isn’t a field stretching guy. Stone was fine - good, even! - but we’ll see what it looks like again with less running game and overmatched WRs. It’s hard to tell on TV but I think I saw a lot of missed TE and WR blocks in the run game too, and the O line looked just okay. I just don’t think we have Big Ten talent outside like 3-4 guys on this side of the ball. We’ll see vs UCLA, but I just don’t see the talent.
- We need Porter back, he’s the best player on the offense.

 

[prez77]

I would call this a Tier 4 win if it were basketball.

 

[GECat2]

I was at the game and thought the o-line did not dominate an overmatched opponent. This does not bode well for next week.

 

[HawkCat]

I was at the game and thought the o-line did not dominate an overmatched opponent. This does not bode well for next week.

Agreed. I thought the pass protection was decent, but the run blocking—oof!

 

[phatcat_rivals223240]

Not a ton of takeaways out of a game like this, but I think there are a few. To me, the mostly reiterate what we already know:

- Even against an overmatched opponent, the defensive performance was exceptional. WIU’s starting QB, who played the whole game until that last drive that was all backups, was 5/17 for 27 yards and a pick. Cats DBs were credited with 8 breakups, and that honestly undersells it. Each corner had 3. That was an overmatched WIU team but at least the defense took the challenge to heart and played like they wanted to dominate every single play.
- In general, the defense actually has some talent and has a bunch of players who could have excellent years and be NFL type guys if they play well. I’m not sure if it’ll actually be a great Big Ten defense in the end, but the building blocks are at least there to have a chance.
- On offense… I still don’t think that’s the case. The wide receivers other than Wilde are intensely unimpressive, and Wilde isn’t a field stretching guy. Stone was fine - good, even! - but we’ll see what it looks like again with less running game and overmatched WRs. It’s hard to tell on TV but I think I saw a lot of missed TE and WR blocks in the run game too, and the O line looked just okay. I just don’t think we have Big Ten talent outside like 3-4 guys on this side of the ball. We’ll see vs UCLA, but I just don’t see the talent.
- We need Porter back, he’s the best player on the offense.

Stone made some plays and looked better, but also got away with being out of control. I hope they beat that to death watching film.

I didn't see the Porter injury, we were visiting some very old friends in the biergarten. Can anyone elaborate?

 

[AdamOnFirst]

Stone made some plays and looked better, but also got away with being out of control. I hope they beat that to death watching film.

I didn't see the Porter injury, we were visiting some very old friends in the biergarten. Can anyone elaborate?

It was not obvious what happened or even what part of his leg he hurt, to be honest, even in slow mo

 

[Zazzy]

Should note we had more yards and first downs than I’ll did against same opponent. I’m more optimistic that we’ll do ok next week but it does depend on O line.

 

[1830 Sherman]

Braun somewhat optimistic post-game about Porter, quoted in the Trib's game story:

“One thing I know about Cam Porter, one of the toughest, most resilient guys I’ve ever been around,” Braun said. “Staying optimistic that Cam will be back with us at full strength sooner rather than later.”

Nice to see the Trib found a body to staff the game.

 

[phatcat_rivals223240]

Braun somewhat optimistic post-game about Porter, quoted in the Trib's game story:

“One thing I know about Cam Porter, one of the toughest, most resilient guys I’ve ever been around,” Braun said. “Staying optimistic that Cam will be back with us at full strength sooner rather than later.”

Nice to see the Trib found a body to staff the game.

I don't feel like there is a huge drop after Porter but his leadership and blocking would be missed aot

 

[Bobmoy2999!]

Our run game was solid all day. I think we needed to establish the run better against Tulane.

 

[bringbacktherantboard]

Our run game was solid all day. I think we needed to establish the run better against Tulane.

It was horrible in short-yardage situations.

 

[CatManTrue]

It was horrible in short-yardage situations.

We have a big OL. Bigger than the Bears’!

How can this be?

 

[phatcat_rivals223240]

We have a big OL. Bigger than the Bears’!

How can this be?

I don't get it. We have 3 inbound transfers and a recovering one (Bailey). All were hyped by the staff but aren't doing much. Bad choices or bad coaching?

 

[TheC]

We have a big OL. Bigger than the Bears’!

How can this be?

Big, but not necessarily strong. Plus, they look slow which is why quicker more athletic DL seem to get around them… at least in that Tulane game.

 

[prez77]

The transfers were either playing at a lower level or sitting at a higher one. Obviously none of them was a P4 difference-maker. Size does not automatically equate to strong, quick or talented.

 

[AdamOnFirst]

I don't get it. We have 3 inbound transfers and a recovering one (Bailey). All were hyped by the staff but aren't doing much. Bad choices or bad coaching?

I don’t think we’ve seen enough, or read energy analysis, to parse out who is and is t doing well either. To my eyes, the RT position is where we have a glaring issue.

 

[Smokejumper]

Did anyone see that Tiernan was playing on the right side of the OL (presumably RT) on at least a few running plays when we lined a TE to the left. Couldn’t see who was LT, but definitely not 72.

Very curious about what was behind this alignment

 

[CatManTrue]

Did anyone see that Tiernan was playing on the right side of the OL (presumably RT) on at least a few running plays when we lined a TE to the left. Couldn’t see who was LT, but definitely not 72.

Very curious about what was behind this alignment

That is a standard unbalanced front. Teams do this all the time to overload one side for run blocking while also throwing off coverage as the TE in the LT spot is an eligible receiver.

 

[hdhntr1]

Not a ton of takeaways out of a game like this, but I think there are a few. To me, the mostly reiterate what we already know:

- Even against an overmatched opponent, the defensive performance was exceptional. WIU’s starting QB, who played the whole game until that last drive that was all backups, was 5/17 for 27 yards and a pick. Cats DBs were credited with 8 breakups, and that honestly undersells it. Each corner had 3. That was an overmatched WIU team but at least the defense took the challenge to heart and played like they wanted to dominate every single play.
- In general, the defense actually has some talent and has a bunch of players who could have excellent years and be NFL type guys if they play well. I’m not sure if it’ll actually be a great Big Ten defense in the end, but the building blocks are at least there to have a chance.
- On offense… I still don’t think that’s the case. The wide receivers other than Wilde are intensely unimpressive, and Wilde isn’t a field stretching guy. Stone was fine - good, even! - but we’ll see what it looks like again with less running game and overmatched WRs. It’s hard to tell on TV but I think I saw a lot of missed TE and WR blocks in the run game too, and the O line looked just okay. I just don’t think we have Big Ten talent outside like 3-4 guys on this side of the ball. We’ll see vs UCLA, but I just don’t see the talent.
- We need Porter back, he’s the best player on the offense.

The OL is a huge concern. How many plays where they needed a yard where the unable to get it? On the one 4th and 1 they were stuffed but we got to continue the drive to a score because they were offsides

 

[hdhntr1]

Should note we had more yards and first downs than I’ll did against same opponent. I’m more optimistic that we’ll do ok next week but it does depend on O line.

Without Porter? It might get ugly fast

 

[hdhntr1]

I don't get it. We have 3 inbound transfers and a recovering one (Bailey). All were hyped by the staff but aren't doing much. Bad choices or bad coaching?

Yes?

 

[Gatabowl]

We have a big OL. Bigger than the Bears’!

How can this be?

Feet.

 

[NU'06er]

Without Porter? It might get ugly fast

On the one hand, I'm a buyer on Himon being underrated. There are only 15 other players in Northwestern history with as many carries as him that still average 4.7+ yards per carry.

On the other, I think that even with Porter it might have gotten ugly fast. So being without him certainly can't help...

 

[TheC]

Without Porter? It might get ugly fast

-ier

 

[Cool Cat]

We need to be able to run the ball off-tackle. Will have to rotate the backs. There needs to be a coming out party for Caleb. I'm not sure that we will have an advantage with speed out of the backfield.

 

[ricko6543211]

The OL is a huge concern. How many plays where they needed a yard where the unable to get it? On the one 4th and 1 they were stuffed but we got to continue the drive to a score because they were offsides

Not that this is a total excuse, but on the 3rd or 4th and shorts, WIU often had 9-11 guys in the box and were blitzing about 7-8 of them with the others keying on the run it seemed. I am not saying that it bodes well for the OL but at some point 7 guys can't block 10, it's just a numbers game. It was screaming for us to run a play action in those situations. I think we wanted to keep it simple and win straight ahead / save the creative plays for a later day, but still it was definitely frustrating. I am hopeful that our short distance and red zone play calling will get more creative against more serious opponents.

 

[ricko6543211]

Not a ton of takeaways out of a game like this, but I think there are a few. To me, the mostly reiterate what we already know:

- Even against an overmatched opponent, the defensive performance was exceptional. WIU’s starting QB, who played the whole game until that last drive that was all backups, was 5/17 for 27 yards and a pick. Cats DBs were credited with 8 breakups, and that honestly undersells it. Each corner had 3. That was an overmatched WIU team but at least the defense took the challenge to heart and played like they wanted to dominate every single play.
- In general, the defense actually has some talent and has a bunch of players who could have excellent years and be NFL type guys if they play well. I’m not sure if it’ll actually be a great Big Ten defense in the end, but the building blocks are at least there to have a chance.
- On offense… I still don’t think that’s the case. The wide receivers other than Wilde are intensely unimpressive, and Wilde isn’t a field stretching guy. Stone was fine - good, even! - but we’ll see what it looks like again with less running game and overmatched WRs. It’s hard to tell on TV but I think I saw a lot of missed TE and WR blocks in the run game too, and the O line looked just okay. I just don’t think we have Big Ten talent outside like 3-4 guys on this side of the ball. We’ll see vs UCLA, but I just don’t see the talent.
- We need Porter back, he’s the best player on the offense.

Agreed. Defense was strong. LBs look pretty solid. Our starting CBs were good - they will have to play much better WRs in the coming weeks but they mostly locked down the WIU wideouts. Fussell still has a bit of learning to do, but shows potential. Davis, Tatum looked decent. Fitzgerald flies around the field, hopefully he can create some turnover this year. DL got a solid amount of pressure, granted it's WIU but it was nice to see. We even sent a blitz once on the play we created the INT. Hubbard looks really solid. Hagarty and Bastone pretty good. Still waiting to see more from Saka tbh, bit of a slowish start to the season.

Offense - 17 Griffin Wilde I'm hoping can have a breakout season a la Austin Carr, he has a knack for creating a bit of separation and then can make tough catches (although there was one in the end zone he probably wants back). Outside of that WR looks tough, although Ahumaraeze 10 had a much better game I thought. Komolafe and Himon is going to be our RB competition - 5 is more the power runner and 6 is more the speed guy. We will miss Cam but I think those two aren't bad. OL aside from Tiernan is going to be a concern. Stone certainly played better, and 0 picks is great to see. Next test is against a real defense in Oregon... hopefully he does better than vs Tulane and doesn't throw balls up for grabs when pressure comes. Sick stiff-arm and run by Boe.

Onto Oregon - hopefully we can make it interesting for at least a half.

GO CATS

 

[Catreporter]

With Porter out, how about for short yardage bring in Boe and create a RPO dilemma for the defense? Stone just doesn't present that option.

 

[AdamOnFirst]

Not that this is a total excuse, but on the 3rd or 4th and shorts, WIU often had 9-11 guys in the box and were blitzing about 7-8 of them with the others keying on the run it seemed. I am not saying that it bodes well for the OL but at some point 7 guys can't block 10, it's just a numbers game. It was screaming for us to run a play action in those situations. I think we wanted to keep it simple and win straight ahead / save the creative plays for a later day, but still it was definitely frustrating. I am hopeful that our short distance and red zone play calling will get more creative against more serious opponents.

I agree with this somewhat. I was trying to watch this closely and I saw a lot more missed blocks from tight ends and even WRs in short yardage situations than from linemen. Several times I repeatedly rewound a blown up short yardage play to see where the leak from and it was often one of these blocks missing followed by an extra defender following up. That said, there were also several situations where the interior line simply failed to produce any push or even got pushed back by a poor FCS front.