Leatherneck Nation

WIU at Northwestern
Friday, September 5 at 6:30 PM
Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium (their temporary lakeside stadium while new Ryan Field is being constructed)

Northwestern is 0-1 after a week 1 loss at Tulane to the tune of 23-3. In the game, Northwestern had a total of 76 rushing yards on 27 attempts and 161 passing yards on 36 attempts with 4 interceptions and a lost fumble.

Obviously we are unlikely to win this game...Northwestern is still a Big 10 team...but while Illinois is expected to compete strongly for a spot in the Big 10 Championship game this year, Northwestern is expected to compete with Maryland and Purdue for the last spot in the conference. So, it's likely we'll do a bit better against them than we did against the Illini. Massey Ratings is predicting 41-7 for the Wildcats: https://masseyratings.com/game.php?gid=1836034 and giving us about a 2% chance of victory.

Anyone going to the game? Thoughts on Northwestern?

31 point underdogs. Offensive play calling is a concern after playing in fear at illinois. Good teams win, great teams cover. Hoping that we show some semblance of life this week.

jtrinaldi wrote: Wed Sep 03, 2025 12:58 pm 31 point underdogs. Offensive play calling is a concern after playing in fear at illinois. Good teams win, great teams cover. Hoping that we show some semblance of life this week.

 

Have you seen our defense??? 

Offense play calling was fine last week, going against a top defense in the B10.

Although last week was a blowout, Davis has mentioned multiple times in media that we won't know this team's identity until we get into FCS play.  Not sure if Davis or OC calls plays but it's sort of funny that after years and years of offensive futility we finally have the top offense in our league in '24 and it's criticized after 1 Power 4 game. 
 
 

4EverPurple&Gold wrote: Wed Sep 03, 2025 2:47 pm

jtrinaldi wrote: Wed Sep 03, 2025 12:58 pm 31 point underdogs. Offensive play calling is a concern after playing in fear at illinois. Good teams win, great teams cover. Hoping that we show some semblance of life this week.


 

Have you seen our defense??? 

Offense play calling was fine last week, going against a top defense in the B10.

 

Defense looked much improved considering that we gave up 77 to Indiana last year. We won’t know what we have this year until the EWU game 

jtrinaldi wrote: Wed Sep 03, 2025 3:25 pm

4EverPurple&Gold wrote: Wed Sep 03, 2025 2:47 pm

jtrinaldi wrote: Wed Sep 03, 2025 12:58 pm 31 point underdogs. Offensive play calling is a concern after playing in fear at illinois. Good teams win, great teams cover. Hoping that we show some semblance of life this week.



 

Have you seen our defense??? 

Offense play calling was fine last week, going against a top defense in the B10.


 

Defense looked much improved considering that we gave up 77 to Indiana last year. We won’t know what we have this year until the EWU game 

 

ILL's 440 yards would have been our 4th lowest total of last season.  390, 431 and 432 being the lowest total.  Didn't get them to many 3rd downs but held them 4 out of 9.

Limited the big plays with first unit and that was not the case in most of our games last year.

Haven't seen a depth chart, but thinking we might have been down a guy or 2 and had a bunch of young dudes getting valuable reps.

NU is going to be tough, but every game going forward will be easier than week 1.

NewNeck wrote: Wed Sep 03, 2025 3:19 pm Although last week was a blowout, Davis has mentioned multiple times in media that we won't know this team's identity until we get into FCS play.  Not sure if Davis or OC calls plays but it's sort of funny that after years and years of offensive futility we finally have the top offense in our league in '24 and it's criticized after 1 Power 4 game. 
 
 

 

And not just any P4 team...a top-15 ranked P4 team. Illinois was ranked #12 when we played them last week. For comparison, #22 Iowa State beat FCS #4 South Dakota, 55-7. #21 Ole Miss beat Georgia State (an FBS team) 63-7, #7 Oregon beat then FCS #2 Montana State, 59-13. It's the first week, blowouts are going to happen. South Dakota, Montana State, and Georgia State are all teams that are, on paper, better teams than we are, and they also got blown out by teams in the Top 25.

We should do a little better this week, but we won't really know anything until games 3 (Valpo) and 4 (Eastern Washington). If we struggle against Valpo and lose by quite a bit to EWU, then we have problems. If we beat Valpo by quite a bit and pull out a win at EWU, then we're cooking.

Wow what a piece. 

I used to consider my self strong. I was diagnosed with Chronic Sarcoidosisis in 2013 it is insidious it just keeps taking to the point that I am a shell of my former self. 

Tonight's game will be on The Big Ten Network.

BTN has 2 games at 6:30 PM:
Western at Northwestern
Northern Illinois at Maryland

Both games will be televised.  One game will be on their main channel.  The other game will be on one of their alternate channels.

To find the correct channel for the Western game in your area, go to the BTN Game Finder:  Enter your Zip Code and your TV provider.
https://bigten.org/btn/game-finder/