Fresh off defeating a very goodย Penn State Nittany Lions team 23-21 in a game that had more plot twists than a James Bond film this Northwestern football team has a lot to play for even though a trip to Indianapolis for the Big Ten title game is now off the table.
Iowa would have to lose two of their last three in order for NU to have a chance at that, so let’s just remember Big Ten West title hopes are on life support. What’s very much alive is the hopes that they can break the Northwestern football school single season wins record.
https://twitter.com/PaulMBanks/status/663067742698868740
(Pictured above: The Northwestern football conjunction with the release of the new Bond film “Spectre” the night before)
TV: Big Ten Network (Cory Provus, Glen Mason, Kara Lentz)
SPREAD: Northwestern football -14
Like Max Zorn, the Bond super-villain played by Christopher Walken in “A View to a Kill” said- “improvisational intelligence is the hallmark of genius of Mr. Bond.” With a Big Ten championship not going to happen, now you must improvise your season goals. Ten wins is the school record. This looks #8 on paper, they did beat Wisconsin last year, but of course going to Madison usually means disaster for Northwestern football. We’ll call that a toss up.
They’ll be favored for sure in the season finale at Soldier Field versus Northwestern. Then you have a bowl game too as an opportunity to get win #10, or maybe #11.
Fitzgerald on where NU currently resides in the college football landscape:
“I’d be lying to you if I told you that I didn’t talk to the captains and the leadership council about coming into the College Football Playoff rankings at number 21. We’re in the mix for a New Years Six bowl.”
Very true, as representatives from the Citrus, Holiday and Foster Farms Bowl were in attendance last week.ย Justin Jackson had a career high 186 yards rushing on 28 carries versus Penn State.
“We’ve been really good against the run, but we weren’t today,” said Penn State Coach James Franklin, who owned up to his horrible clock mismanagement after the game.
NU quarterback Clayton Thorson got hurt last weekend, but he will be ready for this one.
The Illini rushed for a season-high 382 yards against Purdue last Saturday, while the Illinois offense put up a season-high 595 total yards on the Boilermakers. So………..how will Northwestern’s ground-oriented attack match up against this Boiler defense?
Purdue Boilermakers Preview:
Was it a weak Purdue defense, or the return of Illini play-maker Josh Ferguson that made the dramatic difference? We said so many good things about Purdue last week in our game preview. Then the Boilers go out and get completely owned in all facets by the Illini.
Illinois was dead last in the Big Ten in rushing offense heading into West Lafayette.
The Illini had just 138 total rushing yards in their three previous games. Last week in Boiler country Freshman Ke’Shawn Vaughn ran for a career high 180 yards on 16 carries and two touchdowns all by himself. Like the theme to 007 film “The Spy Who Loved Me, says “nobody does it better” than Ferguson in the Illini backfield, and he was the spark plug. However, it’s really the Purdue defense that made the difference for Illinois.
Their 2015 meeting was pretty much the same thing as the 2014, just with the teams reversing roles.
Prediction: Northwestern football 38, Purdue Boilermakers 7
Purdue’s run defense versus this Northwestern football team’s rushing attack- done. analysis. over. Unless you really want to talk about the Purdue offense too. The Boilermakers managed just seven first half first downs against Illinois last week.
When the initial CFB Playoff rankings came out this week, ESPN Analyst Joey Galloway named Northwestern as his “most overrated” team by the committee. Galloway said that he believes Temple is a better squad than NU. Of course, Temple’s only signature win was Penn State, and with Northwestern football having matched that last weekend, plus their signature wins over Duke and Stanford, maybe it’s time to reconsider that argument.
Still Galloway and Joe Tessitore are a massive upgrade over Lou Holtz and Mark May on ESPN’s College Gamenight Final this season.
Paul M. Banksย owns, operates and sometimes writesย The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered withย FOX Sports Engage Network.ย The website is also featured on News Now.
Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye. He also appears regularly on numerous television and radio talk shows all across the country. Catch him Tuesdays on KOZN 1620 The Zone.
Follow him onย Twitterย andย Instagram
