You're desperate for approval.
Spin it the way you like, there's only one reason for you to be trolling around here.
Predictions......
- Thread starter SunnyFL24
- Start date
You're desperate for approval.
Spin it the way you like, there's only one reason for you to be trolling around here.
GOUNUII doesn't seek approval. He knows the truth hurts, and he delights like I do in knowing that fact. Now strain real hard and taunt us with logic like how weak America was 200 years ago.
I prefer to have intelligent, honest discussions and am thankful a few of the Boiler posters here feel the same way. But when the likes of 85' and SB start up with their juvenile insults, small doses of reality are fair counter punches. More like jabs. No hay makers. No name calling.
FWIW ... I'm sticking with NU 27 ... Purdue 23. Game will likely be in doubt till the very end.
GOUNUII
Above my pay grade? Eff off, you arrogant, purple d-bag. I highly suspect my pay grade is higher than yours.
I fully understood the point of the exchange, but you seem to have trouble comprehending what I and others have said about your statement. That is, your line about Purdue ATS vs the Mildcats is irrelevant to the game Thursday. It’s a nice factoid that is meaningless because: 1) Brohm has only coached in 1 of the 8 games, 2) Darrell Hazell coached in 4 of those games and he won 3 BIG games in 4 years TOTAL (9-33 overall) and 3) Danny Hope had a losing overall record at Purdue, too, although he did manage to upset almighty Fitz at NW with a backup QB who could barely throw a ball over 20 yards (Rob Henry).
In the end, your stat is meaningless. After NW loses Thursday, will you come back and haunt this board again with your D-baggery?
There is no way in hell NW hangs 43 on us. Our offense is better and will ball control to even the tempo if need be. I expect it to be close in all honesty. NW is good and has solid program. I'm giving them credit. My homer heart says Purdue by 3. Turnovers & stupid penalties may open up the final score in either direction. I'm hoping the ball and luck bounce our way.
If NU loses Thursday night I will come back to Congratulate the Boiler faithful. All of them. Even you SB. Like I said from the beginning, Purdue getting better at football is a good thing for everybody in the West.
GOUNUII
I find the anger and keyboard warrior mentality in this thread hilarious.
I think the crowd will be a factor in this game. Its difficult to win on the road in the B1G. Big advantage to Purdue. The NW posters appear to be dismissing this as if its a home game for them, or a non-factor. The crowd will provide emotional lift for the Boiler D and help late in the game.
Give what I've read and such- I too believe Thor will play on Thursday- boost for NU. But honestly, how effective/mobile will he be? How trusting will he be with himself at game speed? What happens when he gets hit for the first time? You know he has taken ZERO hits in camp so far. I too have seen the twitter feeds of him practicing- but those are all in controlled environments. It would not surprise me at all if NU plays both QBs on Thursday to try and protect Thor. I'm just speculating of course- I'm expecting Thor to play- but I think we might only see him at about 80% effectiveness. Still a boost for NU, but a little boost for Purdue that he's not 100% yet.
Can the Purdue D stop NU run game? That will be the difference in the game for me. I think they will try to keep our offense off the field and control the clock. Plus, if my guess is correct and Thor is not quite ready- they will try to run the ball alot. Will Holt adjust and load the box to stop the run? According to Purdue coaches- our secondary is the best part of our Defense. It will be interesting to see what happens here.
Purdue on offense will be much improved compared to last season. Our offensive line is a year older and a year stronger, plus we added a WKU transfer who was a multi-yr starter. He is now a starter for us. NU front 7 will make running the ball difficult. But the big run stuffer graduated. NU is smaller and faster, similar to our style of front 7. We may have success running straight at them to keep them honest. The NU blogs/coaches admit they are not deep or experienced in the secondary. Assuming the OL holds, the secondary can be exploited in the passing game. We have quality at the WR and TE spots. It will be a great battle to see our OL against the NU front 7. I'm sure Brohm has schemed ways to get his QBs time in the pocket.
The homer in me sees this as a close Purdue victory... something like 27-21. However, if Thor is truly 100% or if we lose one of the 2 battles listed above I can see NU flipping the score. Make no mistake, NU is the better team on paper. But its the 1st game of the year and a home game for Purdue. We are certainly capable of getting the W.
I think the crowd will be a factor in this game. Its difficult to win on the road in the B1G. Big advantage to Purdue. The NW posters appear to be dismissing this as if its a home game for them, or a non-factor. The crowd will provide emotional lift for the Boiler D and help late in the game.
Give what I've read and such- I too believe Thor will play on Thursday- boost for NU. But honestly, how effective/mobile will he be? How trusting will he be with himself at game speed? What happens when he gets hit for the first time? You know he has taken ZERO hits in camp so far. I too have seen the twitter feeds of him practicing- but those are all in controlled environments. It would not surprise me at all if NU plays both QBs on Thursday to try and protect Thor. I'm just speculating of course- I'm expecting Thor to play- but I think we might only see him at about 80% effectiveness. Still a boost for NU, but a little boost for Purdue that he's not 100% yet.
Can the Purdue D stop NU run game? That will be the difference in the game for me. I think they will try to keep our offense off the field and control the clock. Plus, if my guess is correct and Thor is not quite ready- they will try to run the ball alot. Will Holt adjust and load the box to stop the run? According to Purdue coaches- our secondary is the best part of our Defense. It will be interesting to see what happens here.
Purdue on offense will be much improved compared to last season. Our offensive line is a year older and a year stronger, plus we added a WKU transfer who was a multi-yr starter. He is now a starter for us. NU front 7 will make running the ball difficult. But the big run stuffer graduated. NU is smaller and faster, similar to our style of front 7. We may have success running straight at them to keep them honest. The NU blogs/coaches admit they are not deep or experienced in the secondary. Assuming the OL holds, the secondary can be exploited in the passing game. We have quality at the WR and TE spots. It will be a great battle to see our OL against the NU front 7. I'm sure Brohm has schemed ways to get his QBs time in the pocket.
The homer in me sees this as a close Purdue victory... something like 27-21. However, if Thor is truly 100% or if we lose one of the 2 battles listed above I can see NU flipping the score. Make no mistake, NU is the better team on paper. But its the 1st game of the year and a home game for Purdue. We are certainly capable of getting the W.
Heard an interview with Bobinski and he expects the crowd to be about 50k but with last minute ticket sales I'll push the number to about 51.5k. That's a large crowd and with it being the first game the students should be out in force...plus the weather is supposed to be cooler and will help keep people there (if the game is close or Purdue is leading).
Troll is as troll does.
Wrong.
This forum has been littered with a few thin-skinned NU fans demanding Purdue fans revere the NU program. It's probably the same person seeking validation.
Demanding? How about “here’s some facts that you don’t seem to particularly like.”
Good analysis overall. One thing you may have wrong is the degree home field will factor into the results. With its small student body, Northwestern rarely benefits from HF advantage, but in some ways has immunized itself (maybe because of the fact the visitors often are as numerous as the home crowd) from away game disadvantage. Over the last five years in conference, the Cats are 12-9 on the road and 10-11 at home. In the last 3 years, the Cats have lost 4 road conference games: in Madison, Columbus, Ann Arbor, and one possibly comparable game to a good Gopher team in the Twin Cities.
Since the weather forecast is for perfect conditions, I think whichever team wins can view the win as honest and not venue or conditions aided.
Something that may also be worth knowing and, if Purdue wins, encouraging to Boiler fans is that players on the Current Cat roster (that is, those who have played in the last 3 years) have in conference lost only to teams that finished with a winning conference record, so if Purdue does win, it is a bright omen for the balance of the season. I believe the last time Purdue had a winning season in conference was 2006.
I am looking forward to an interesting, close game.
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Nope. I got it right the first time.
It's one thing for it to state something, quite another to carp on it.
Young teams make a lot of mistakes. NW is very solid with the talent they're bringing. If PU wins or comes within 15, I'll eat a bit of crow...disguised as Chicken.
The advantage NU has over everyone at the home field is that it is the worst place to warm up at. There is literally zero atmosphere to the stadium and it isn't helped by the fact NU fans frequently aren't at kickoff and wander if somewhere between the 8-12 minute mark. It's a place that because of that lack of environment, NU can get out on you quick before a team can get itself going and by that time NU has built momentum that is hard to overcome as the stadium starts to fill.
Also, some of your road games have been against some pretty awful Cal, Purdue, and Illinois teams over the last 5 years (sprinkled in with some very mediocre Duke and Nebraska teams. NU's away games the last 5 years.
2017: Illinois (3-9), Nebraska (4-8), Maryland (4-8), Wisconsin (13-1), Duke (7-6) --> 3-2
2016: Iowa (8-5), MSU (3-9), OSU (11-2), Purdue (3-9), Minnesota (9-3) --> 3-2
2015: Duke (8-5), UM (10-3), Nebraska (6-7), Wisconsin (10-3) --> 3-1
2014: PSU (7-5), Minnesota (8-5), Iowa (7-6), ND (8-5), Purdue (3-9) --> 3-2
2013: Cal (1-11), Wisconsin (9-4), Iowa (8-5), Nebraska (9-4), Illinois (4-8) --> 2-3
Total away game record over last 5 years: 14-10
Away opponent total record last 5 years: 163 - 140 (53.7% win percentage)
You have also not started a season with an away game since 2012 at Syracuse and narrowly escaped a win there (42-41).
If this game was in late October or November when NU has a proven history of getting better and peaking, then I would be much more worried about this game. It is not and it is being played at what should be the largest opening game crowd for Purdue in nearly a decade or more. Your schedule has some nice away game years to it (2015 for example), but mostly the away games NU has had are to middle of the road or slightly better teams. In essence, NU is playing teams comparable or worse than them in most of their away games. Purdue, this season, should be in that category and I believe NU's win percentage over the last 5 years reflects what most fans believe to be the true odds of Purdue winning.....NU with a slight advantage but Purdue could easily win. It's a coin flip in essence.
Thanks. I will clarify better. I meant the home field will benefit Purdue more than it will hinder NU. NU is a solid veteran team- the home crowd will not effect them or their play at all. Our young team will feed off the crowd and it could potentially raise our level of play...especially with our young defense.
As I mentioned at the end of my post- NU is the better team on paper- but the home crowd, playing under the lights, etc, etc... I'm speculating that those 'home field advantage' factors will narrow the gap between Purdue and NU. That is what I meant by the home field advantage. I think it will give our team the boost needed to make it an even game- which will keep the crowd engaged.
Boiler Up!
So Ryan Field is an awful place to warm up for opposing teams but not for NU? Boy, you are really reaching deep on this one.
Twin’s standard for coaching excellence is:
1. The Legendary Robert Montgomery Knight
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1077. Everyone Else
1078. Hazell
I have to agree about 1078.
NU is used to the warmup and used to having to get itself ready and amp'd up. That is a sentiment shared to me by a number of former Purdue players and one shared by Stu Schweigert on the Hammer Down show on Monday as well. A few guys I have known have likened it to playing basketball at Penn State.
A lot of detail here, but at risk of a pun, let me boil it down. If you look at the five year detail you provided, the Cats have had 2 meltdowns on the road (against Good Michigan team in 15, last year against Duke.) You Go on to pretty much confirm my main point. On the road the last 5 years, the Cats have almost always beaten teams that turned out to be lesser or equal. If Purdue wins, I think it will be because they are a good team that matched up well, not because of a hostile road environment.
And I don't think I disagree with you. If this was at NU, I'd give the nod to NU and a big factor would play in to the poor gameday environment. It's why PSU has traditionally beaten some teams in basketball when they play at PSU that they shouldn't have.
I think this year, more so than the last 10 years or so, Purdue matches up better with NU. This could end up being the game for runner up in the West and a 'meaningful' NYD bowl game. Either way, the game is big for both programs (extending NU's winning streak to 9...would that be a program best?) (showing continued growth for recruiting and getting a jump of a very hard schedule this season).
That being said, I think Sindelar gets the start because of the weaknesses in NU's defense is going to be in the deeper middle of the field against the new safeties. Those can be exploited by a QB who can push the ball down the field...but to do that effectively Purdue will need to run the ball effectively and that may be done with the WR's (Moore and Anthrop) as well.
All Homerism aside I am elated that the first game of the year actually has relevance. Everybody Thursday night should have an idea on what to expect from their team afterwards. Until then all the chest pounding in the world won’t help PU or NU win.
Also, ironically, ESPN's FPI has NU currently as a 53% favorite to win the game on Thursday. That matches up with the 5 year W/L record for away games NU has had.
<Pats self on back>
Thanks again for the thoughtful responses. One question I had is, among the seven or so new starters on the Purdue defense, how many have had significant game experience? The pumped up environment is undoubtedly going to have them flying to the ball in the first quarter. The downside of that, with a lack of experience, is over-pursuit that can be exploited by a veteran team with misdirection and delays.
With regard to your observation of the Cats being veteran, the one huge wildcard is, as everyone says, whether Thorson plays. If T.J. Greene is under center in the first quarter, the risk of full fledged breakdowns in the face of an amped up defense goes from little to defcon 5.
On the Cats side on defense, even though 3 secondary starters are being replaced, all have seen significant game experience.
Thanks again for the thoughtful comments I have come across here. They have been helpful in bettering my understanding of how the game might go tomorrow.
The CB's both saw significant time over the course of their careers with Cason being a starter two years ago and serving as the nickel last season. Blackmon has seen significant time as well and both may be an overall upgrade vs. just having one good CB last season.
At LB, Barnes played some spot minutes but played like a true freshman in his single start at Rutgers by allowing a big run on the first drive to allow Rutgers to score a TD. Jones didn't see much time at LB but did get significant experience on special teams.
On the DL, Higgins got some time last year along with Watts but both are a bit unproven when talking about playing a full game and not being placed in specific situations.
That being said, the defense will be strong up the middle with Neal and Bailey but may be susceptible to the RB's and TE's leaking out on play action. The safeties should be a relative strength with returning starters in Thieneman and Mosley. The defense, as a whole, should be just as good as last year as long as there aren't injuries. Luckily, the injuries last year happened in relative positions that could afford it (LB) and when one of the players at CB went down against Nebraska, you saw how thin the margin of error was (ended up losing on a final drive where Nebraska went directly at the replacement).
I was in the middle of typing a response... but JDB's post is better than mine! So I erased everything I was typing. LOL...
JDB hit the nail on the head- we are replacing 7 starters- but 3-4 of the replacements for this year saw alot of playing time last season. The CBs in particular have extensive PT and experience- which is one of the reasons why our coaching staff has said in an interview that our secondary is the 'strength' of our D right now. The RS frosh CBs even pushed the seniors for the starting CB roles, so we have alot of quality/depth in the secondary this season.
Personally, I'm comfortable/happy with the secondary and depth. I'm also happy with the quality of the LBs- but worried about the depth- hopefully the LBs stay healthy. The question mark for me is the DLine. We have 1 solid returning starter, and 2 players with game experience who are now starters. The DLine has some depth, but its unproven. The coaching staff has said this years D is younger and more athletic/faster than last year, but also smaller/not as strong.
It will be exciting to see how Coach Holt molds this D. I think our D takes a step back from last season, but not a big step. If last season our D was an 8/10...I think this year we are a 6.5-7 out of 10. Still solid and above average.
Quite the thread here. Looking forward to the game tomorrow and stopped over to see your perspective, I was not expecting such hostility between the Northwestern and Purdue fan bases.
Now, if both sides can admit that this game doesn't matter as you will both ultimately get steamrolled by MSU, then maybe we can get somewhere.
Now, if both sides can admit that this game doesn't matter as you will both ultimately get steamrolled by MSU, then maybe we can get somewhere.
