By Paul M. Banks Chicago’s hometown Big Ten team, the Northwestern Wildcats, began the season in a manner that most predicted they would. Granted it was against Towson, an FCS (formerly I-AA) opponent, but a 47-14 win is still a 47-14 win.Quarterback Mike Kafka made a lot of plays, starting 7-8 passing and finishing 15-20 for 192 yards. The strength of the team, the … [Read more...] about Northwestern 09 Season off to Fantastic Start
northwestern safeties
Senior Safeties Lead Way for Wildcats
By Paul M. Banks Watching Illini football closely for the past couple of decades (wow did that sentence sound masochistic) I’ve noticed that the seem to have a good season, at least defensively, when they have to good senior safeties. When they don’t have that talent and experience at that position, they struggle mightily on defense. I wonder if that can be extrapolated … [Read more...] about Senior Safeties Lead Way for Wildcats
Northwestern led by Stellar Secondary
By Paul M. Banks With the college football season set to kick off on Saturday, time to forecast how I think Northwestern will finish. But before that, I’ll profile the team’s biggest strength: the DBs. Very few secondaries in the nation return four starters, who each earned postseason recognition in 2008. Northwestern has both its cornerbacks (Sherrick McManis and Jordan … [Read more...] about Northwestern led by Stellar Secondary