Every Northwestern fan who caught the end of the BYU-Nebraska game had the same thought: Again?!?
This was the scene: Memorial Stadium, final play, the quarterback in jersey No. 12 has tons of time, he fires a Hail Mary toward the south end zone and a receiver snags it inches from the goal line for a can-you-believe-it touchdown.
One more similarity from 672 days earlier: Nebraska rushed three against BYU’s Tanner Mangum. Northwestern rushed three against Nebraska’s Ron Kellogg.
When will these coaches learn? Why give Mangum a free look, 5.3 seconds to throw?
“Maybe the next time,” Huskers defensive coordinator Mark Banker told Omaha.com, “we’ll just try to go knock the quarterback’s head off.”
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Yes, instead of: Knock the ball down. Try this: Knock the quarterback down.
Rough start: Through Saturday, the Big Ten had one impressive victory (Northwestern over Stanford) and one morale-boosting loss (Minnesota to No. 2 TCU).
Illinois and Iowa provided nice wins, albeit over Kent State and Illinois State, respectively.
Against Power Five competition (I’m including independent BYU), the Big Ten went 1-4. And Temple (AAC Conference) throttled Penn State, sacking Christian Hackenberg 10 times.
“I’ve never called a game like this in 10 years,” ESPN analyst Brock Huard said of the sack fest.
Penn State’s offensive line was a human turnstile, with left tackle Paris Palmer having a particularly rough time.
But the sacks were a result of every offensive sin imaginable, including Hackenberg’s lack of blitz recognition and escapability.
Bottom line, the Big Ten needs top-ranked Ohio State to post a solid victory at Virginia Tech on Monday night. And for Michigan State to take down Oregon at home Saturday. ESPN’s “College GameDay” will be there.
Brainpower: Northwestern thrives against its academic comparables, the schools that double as recruiting rivals.
Since 2008, the Wildcats are 9-0 against Vanderbilt (2-0), Boston College (2-0), Rice (2-0), Duke, Stanford and Notre Dame and 13-2 if you include Syracuse (3-1) and Cal (1-1).
After outrushing Stanford 225-85 yards Saturday and keeping the Cardinal from scoring a touchdown for the first time since 2007, NU coach Pat Fitzgerald said: “We talked to the guys about dominating up front to make this a statement game about recruiting.”
That they did. The next such test comes in Week 3 at Duke, which clubbed Tulane 37-7 in its opener.
House of pain: We knew injuries would wreak havoc on Wisconsin’s offensive line. But it turned out that receiver Tanner McEvoy also was banged up entering the game. And tailback Corey Clement (16 yards on eight carries) tweaked his left groin in practice. Then standout safety Michael Caputo was lost to an apparent concussion four plays into the game.
It’s almost surprising that the final score wasn’t worse than Alabama 35, Wisconsin 17.
At least the Badgers get three breezy home games (Miami of Ohio, Troy and Hawaii) before Big Ten play begins.
Sweet 16: I vote in the FWAA-NFF (Football Writers of America-National Football Foundation) Super 16 Poll. If I had to turn in my ballot Sunday, it would go like this: 1. Ohio State, 2. Alabama, 3. Notre Dame, 4. TCU, 5. Michigan State, 6. Texas A&M, 7. Oregon, 8. USC, 9. Georgia, 10. Clemson, 11. Ole Miss, 12. Oklahoma, 13. UCLA, 14. Baylor, 15. Auburn, 16. Georgia Tech.
Game ball: Goes to Northwestern defensive backs coach Jerry Brown. Not only did his crew limit Stanford veteran Kevin Hogan to 155 passing yards on 35 attempts (20 completions), the 64-year-old did a pseudo “Running Man” dance to thrill his grandkids — I mean, Wildcats — in the locker room.
Second game ball: Notre Dame quarterback Malik Zaire sizzled against Texas, completing 19 of 22 passes for 313 yards. How many Heismans will this kid win, Beano Cook?
The final word: From the slumping Jordan Spieth, on Twitter, regarding his beloved Longhorns: “Texas’ offense looking about as useful as my last 4 rounds.”
Twitter @TeddyGreenstein
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