Northwestern Takeaways

[Huskers93-97]

Northwestern has the 38th ranked toughest schedule in the nation.  Great argument smh...

Pre-season ranking? Cause no way in hell that is the case with current results. They have 1 ranked team. 

I think I found the website you are quoting. Looks a little bogus to me. Their strength of schedule last week was 52 and jumped to 38 this week even though pretty much everyone on their schedule is losing every week. Looks legit. 

But hey it shows Nebraska as #1. So that must mean we are the best 0-2 team in the country?

Better way to look at this. Look at the Northwestern schedule I posted. How many of those teams would be favored in a non conference P5 game? Wisconsin is the only one.

 

[Husker in WI]

The only way to PROVE how good you are is by your competition.

Teams Alabama has played that plays into their YPP. Texas A&M, Georgia, Tennessee, Auburn. All top 25 teams. The other half of their schedule is not rated but they have significantly more talent coming from the south. What makes you think Northwestern would slow down Alabama better than the horses those teams are running out on the field? Pipe Dream.

Northwestern does not have the horses any of these teams have. Northwestern is slow and not athletic enough to compete with those teams. Alabama would score 50 on Northwestern. So would Ohio State and Clemson.

This is exactly my point. It will become clearer with more games, but that's what advanced stats do. Everyone can't play everyone, but what we can do is figure out how much better/worse your defense does than others playing the teams on your schedule. And with enough games being played, that can account for teams with extra easy/difficult schedules. If Maryland actually really sucks and gets totally shut down the rest of the year, their average will drop and it will be shown NW holding them to 4.1 or whatever YPP wasn't that great. But considering only the literal worst offenses in the country averaged 4.1 YPP last year, and that Maryland has 2 games much higher than that against P5 schools, I think it's safe to say it's impressive without waiting for the end of the year. 

What I was doing looking at YPP given up by NW vs. YPP by others is a crappier version of that. But it actually has some data to back it up, unlike the claims that they're bad just because you think they're bad. How about this - I bet every single team NW plays averages less per play against NW than their season average by a full yard. You can only prove yourself against who is on the schedule, and that would easily do it. Comparing it to their averages there's no "but they were bad offenses" excuse - this is holding them to even less than they normally get, whether their normal production is good or bad.

 

[runningblind]

But hey it shows Nebraska as #1. So that must mean we are the best 0-2 team in the country?

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I don't really care if we are or aren't,  just wanted to post that.

 

[UniversalMartin]

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I don't really care if we are or aren't,  just wanted to post that.

Love it

 

[Lawson]

Could you expand on your thoughts there? I'm curious what kind of ideas you have for the outside the box thinking.

Let me say first off that none of us have all the facts as to what Frost is up against in his efforts to improve the Huskers. What I am saying is it seems that he is missing out on potential quality players from the transfer portal that may well help in his quest to bring his team back to national recognition. Perhaps he has made efforts to convince some of these players to come to his program with no success. The other possibility is that he is so locked in to certain players that he has neglected to consider players that may give his team a better chance to win on a consistent basis. Case in point....Joe Burrow and quite frankly the QB who beat his team last Saturday.....a transfer that the Northwestern head coach had the vision to bring into his program and has so far proven to be a positive addition to their team. Here is some "thinking outside of the box" that I would submit....... Go find a quarterback who can play the position in a consistently positive way either in the transfer portal or by whatever rule abiding  means are possible and coach up his starting and backup quarterbacks to switch to positions that would most benefit the team and quite frankly their own  long term self interests. Both Adrian and Luke are terrific athletes and valuable to the team but I am suggesting that they would be far more dangerous to our opposition and more marketable to the NFL if their athletic talents were utilized at perhaps running back and or receiver. I do believe Frost is the right choice for the Husker's and again none of us have all the facts when it comes to his challenges and efforts. These are just some thoughts and are given with only the best of hopes for our beloved Huskers.

 

[Wistrom Disciple]

Let me say first off that none of us have all the facts as to what Frost is up against in his efforts to improve the Huskers. What I am saying is it seems that he is missing out on potential quality players from the transfer portal that may well help in his quest to bring his team back to national recognition. Perhaps he has made efforts to convince some of these players to come to his program with no success. The other possibility is that he is so locked in to certain players that he has neglected to consider players that may give his team a better chance to win on a consistent basis. Case in point....Joe Burrow and quite frankly the QB who beat his team last Saturday.....a transfer that the Northwestern head coach had the vision to bring into his program and has so far proven to be a positive addition to their team. Here is some "thinking outside of the box" that I would submit....... Go find a quarterback who can play the position in a consistently positive way either in the transfer portal or by whatever rule abiding  means are possible and coach up his starting and backup quarterbacks to switch to positions that would most benefit the team and quite frankly their own  long term self interests. Both Adrian and Luke are terrific athletes and valuable to the team but I am suggesting that they would be far more dangerous to our opposition and more marketable to the NFL if their athletic talents were utilized at perhaps running back and or receiver. I do believe Frost is the right choice for the Husker's and again none of us have all the facts when it comes to his challenges and efforts. These are just some thoughts and are given with only the best of hopes for our beloved Huskers.

Thank you for the response. I would point out that they did watch the transfer portal and have added at least 6 guys in the past year (Falck, Martin, Bubak, Nouili, Culp & Miller). I think they have been fairly solid with scanning the transfer market.

I think we will have to disagree about Ramsey the NW quarterback. He did not impress me as any better than either Martinez or McCaffrey last weekend. His fit into our system would not have been very good, given what Frost asks of his QBs. As Frost pointed out early on, he's trying to build the program up in the right way. Could he have had Burrow? Sure, but he would've had Joe Burrow, the third year transfer out of Ohio State who had not cracked the lineup. Burrow didn't reach his full potential until he had a shot down at LSU. I think it worked out best for him the route he took and hopefully we don't miss out on the next opportunity of a hidden stud again.

 

[Lawson]

Thank you for the response. I would point out that they did watch the transfer portal and have added at least 6 guys in the past year (Falck, Martin, Bubak, Nouili, Culp & Miller). I think they have been fairly solid with scanning the transfer market.

I think we will have to disagree about Ramsey the NW quarterback. He did not impress me as any better than either Martinez or McCaffrey last weekend. His fit into our system would not have been very good, given what Frost asks of his QBs. As Frost pointed out early on, he's trying to build the program up in the right way. Could he have had Burrow? Sure, but he would've had Joe Burrow, the third year transfer out of Ohio State who had not cracked the lineup. Burrow didn't reach his full potential until he had a shot down at LSU. I think it worked out best for him the route he took and hopefully we don't miss out on the next opportunity of a hidden stud again.

I appreciate your very valid points. Having said that, Ramsey did find a way to win the game and his team is so far undefeated for the "season"....such as it is. When the game was on the line he made the plays necessary to win, not just with his arm but also his legs. Time will tell if he was a good choice for Northwestern and I am not saying he specifically would have been a good choice for the Huskers but only that it may be necessary to "look outside the box" to find a young man that would fit the bill. Not to belabor the point but that is what the Northwestern coach did and all I am saying is that perhaps Frost should pursue the same option.....for the quarterback position. Perhaps he has, I simply don't know, but I point to the loss of an opportunity to have a player of Joe Burrow's caliber with Nebraska ties slip away is quite telling. I also would add I am pulling for Adrian and or Luke to succeed at quarterback. As to Adrian all I am saying is so far he has not shown himself to be up to the task of consistent enough play to create winning seasons for the Huskers and his athletic abilities may serve the team better at a more suitable position, and that perhaps there is a player out there who might fit the bill to get the job done. I hope he turns it around and proves me wrong but so far his record and performance is lacking. I also don't want to just give up on Luke, perhaps he will prove to be fine quarterback material....to early to tell but he is a great athlete and without a doubt needs to be on the field as best Frost can work him into the game plan. Also as an example of utilizing talent I would mention that I watched and loved Frost's efforts as a player at quarterback for Nebraska but when he moved to the NFL he ended up not playing quarterback but at positions that utilized his considerable athletic abilities. Regarding Burrow I agree....who knows how he would have performed for the Huskers but remember he had Nebraska ties and would have brought his ties and affection  for the program to the team. Hard to quantify those factors but I believe it would have been a major plus.