Call me crazy, but I dont sweat Northwestern
- Thread starter hawkit3113
- Start date
I actually second this....
I think we come out and punch them in the mouth.
I see a Hawk win
The Michigan defense will cause havoc, they can only hope Jake plays his arse off though. The NW defense isn't going to make it easy for them. It will be a very telling game.
Like that matters when the Hawks play in Evanston. You must be new here.
I am glad Michigan plays them the week before we do. Michigan will soften them up.
I was on the fence at times. But thought he at the least deserved this season to right the ship. I didn't think he would, but he deserved the chance. And boy, was I wrong about this team, and KF. The Captain has his fire back. He is excited again.
To the OP's point...NU's offense, led by a RS frosh doesn't scare me. Btw, was at the Stanford game and it appears they cut the grass high on that field...underscoring the need to win in the trenches.
I would feel better if the game were not in Evanston. The Hawks almost never play well there. And I'm just assuming it will be sh!t weather like always.
I sweat this damn game every year we play them. It has an Iowa State game feel to it. Fitz has whipped them into a frenzy trying to make this a rivalry game for NW. Man I don't like that guy.
Broken plays by their QB's have always been problematic plus receivers coming out of the back field. If we can keep their QB in the pocket we stand a much better chance.
Iowa is probably a bad match up for NW. I am in no way suggesting that Iowa will win the game, but any team that is balanced on offense, and very good at stopping the run is a bad match up for the Wildcats. Iowa is probably the best example of that formula in the West, if not the entire conference.
Not every competitive game Iowa plays in a series constitutes a rivalry game. This is in no way a rivarly game like Neb, Minn, ISU or wisky.
Its more of a rivalry than Nebraska at this moment. Only because of the lack of games recently. With Nebraska, there is really something there. The fans hate each other.
I was at Dyke Stadium in '95 for the Iowa-Northwestern game. We got extremely crocked on the bus ride there so I don't remember much. There was a blizzard the night before so we pelted Northwestern fans with snowballs after they won (not one of my prouder moments). During that game both Iowa fullback Rodney Pfiler and NW LB Pat Fitzgerald broke their legs, so Fitz missed the Rose Bowl. I suspect this is why he hates Iowa so much. Please take this with a grain of salt because we smuggled liquor into the game and I couldn't even find the right bus following the game. Fortunately, it found me.
The game is really going to be about who comes out of this week stronger, and more, which team can approach the game with the right amount of emotion. My gut feeling before THIS weekend plays out, is NW will come out amped, probably go up, but will lose that momentum by the fourth quarter. Hawkeyes win the second half.
I sweat Northwestern. They're playing some damn good D. We've made a lot of their young QB's look like they're all-Big Ten over the last decade.
I always worry about playing them. Fitz seems to have designed his team's entire philosophy behind beating a team like Iowa. And as mentioned given his broken leg ending to that year, he hates Iowa with a passion.
This year though, their QB is a game manager at this point (their websites devoted to them admit this as such) and is not nearly as dynamic a QB (yet) as they have in the past. However, they do run the ball pretty well and if my memory is good, Jackson didn't play last year against us. They also appear to have a damn good defense, which usually isn't the case.
But I always like Iowa's chances when a team can only run or pass and not both. One dimentional seems to not do well with Iowa's defensive schemes through the Ferentz years. Running QB's that can pass though gives Iowa fits.
This year though, their QB is a game manager at this point (their websites devoted to them admit this as such) and is not nearly as dynamic a QB (yet) as they have in the past. However, they do run the ball pretty well and if my memory is good, Jackson didn't play last year against us. They also appear to have a damn good defense, which usually isn't the case.
But I always like Iowa's chances when a team can only run or pass and not both. One dimentional seems to not do well with Iowa's defensive schemes through the Ferentz years. Running QB's that can pass though gives Iowa fits.
Beat me to it. I don't think there is a team on the schedule that is a automatic win. We struggled with Iowa St, and we were fortunate to beat Pitt and Wisconsin.
I do miss the days when NW was looked at as automatic win and the only question is by how many points.
I think i get it now--You went 2002 for TBT--right?!?!
Edited here--sorry meant that for OP...
Yep..that's it. Kirk had lost his fire. Has nothing to do with the new facilities, a renewed focus by players, a quarterback change, or anything else. Just his fire and excitement.
