in today's column, Stewart Mandel notes that right now, NW has the best defense in the country:
"Northwestern has the best defense in the country
What, you think I’m joking? This is a factual statement.
The 3-0 Wildcats are currently allowing 5.3 points per game, No. 1 nationally. Stanford, which put up 41 points on USC last weekend, could not get in the end zone against now 17th-ranked Northwestern in a 16-6 Week 1 loss. Duke, which averaged 46 points in its first two outings, scored just one touchdown in Saturday’s 19-10 loss. Linebacker Anthony Walker and defensive end Dean Lowry have been absolutely dominant in both games.
“It’s the most athletic defense overall that we’ve had, and it always starts up front,” said 10th-year Northwestern coach Fitzgerald, who himself played linebacker on a No. 1-ranked scoring defense (12.7 ppg) in 1995. “The chemistry and the camaraderie is back to where it was when we were going to bowl games every year [from 2008-12.]”
Will the aforementioned statement still hold true in November? Probably not, but then, what do I know? Two weeks ago I thought Auburn’s defense was much-improved and Stanford’s offense was a trainwreck. Wrong on both counts.
But now that we’ve got a whopping three weeks of data, you can definitely take the declarations above as gospel."
So that being said, if Northwestern is on an upward swing (to be seen, of course), is this the season that Fitzy uses to jump up into a job that is in the upper echelons of college football?
Maybe Texas has an opening this year. Almost certainly, Miami will be open. Maybe even South Carolina, as the ol' ball coach looks his age. What if a highly ranked Georgia team chokes again this year? Who knows what other "high profile" jobs will open?
Seems to me there is a ceiling of how good you can get at NW. He might be able to find a job that doesn't share that attribute.
Am I crazy on this?
http://www.foxsports.com/college-fo...notre-dame-fighting-irish-forward-pass-092115
"Northwestern has the best defense in the country
What, you think I’m joking? This is a factual statement.
The 3-0 Wildcats are currently allowing 5.3 points per game, No. 1 nationally. Stanford, which put up 41 points on USC last weekend, could not get in the end zone against now 17th-ranked Northwestern in a 16-6 Week 1 loss. Duke, which averaged 46 points in its first two outings, scored just one touchdown in Saturday’s 19-10 loss. Linebacker Anthony Walker and defensive end Dean Lowry have been absolutely dominant in both games.
“It’s the most athletic defense overall that we’ve had, and it always starts up front,” said 10th-year Northwestern coach Fitzgerald, who himself played linebacker on a No. 1-ranked scoring defense (12.7 ppg) in 1995. “The chemistry and the camaraderie is back to where it was when we were going to bowl games every year [from 2008-12.]”
Will the aforementioned statement still hold true in November? Probably not, but then, what do I know? Two weeks ago I thought Auburn’s defense was much-improved and Stanford’s offense was a trainwreck. Wrong on both counts.
But now that we’ve got a whopping three weeks of data, you can definitely take the declarations above as gospel."
So that being said, if Northwestern is on an upward swing (to be seen, of course), is this the season that Fitzy uses to jump up into a job that is in the upper echelons of college football?
Maybe Texas has an opening this year. Almost certainly, Miami will be open. Maybe even South Carolina, as the ol' ball coach looks his age. What if a highly ranked Georgia team chokes again this year? Who knows what other "high profile" jobs will open?
Seems to me there is a ceiling of how good you can get at NW. He might be able to find a job that doesn't share that attribute.
Am I crazy on this?
http://www.foxsports.com/college-fo...notre-dame-fighting-irish-forward-pass-092115
