Gophers @ Wildcats Post Game - What we learned

Another solid win for this burgeoning program last Saturday. I had the good fortune of being able to attend this road game in person, surrounded by friends and family. And yes, when NU went up 24-21 at the end of the 3rd, we all got that feeling of deja vu. Ugh.

But wait a minute... ...the defense didn't collapse, they stiffened and made big plays when it counted. And the offense? Well they didn't run a bunch of desperate 3-and-outs making us look like we were more concerned with just running clock than actually winning. The 4th Quarter belonged to us. And it felt damn good. Maybe its tough for us to accept that this just might be a good 2nd half team? A team that makes the correct adjustments and does what it needs to do. After all, we've been the opposite side of that concept for so many years. How many times have we jumped out to early leads, only to see other teams gradually take the game away from us? Too many.

And aside from a strange instant replay foul-up on an apparent non-catch by Eric Decker (explained here by the Minnesota Daily), there wasn't any Northwestern 'weirdness' that always seems to pop up at the worst times.

The running game got off pretty well, hopefully a sign that the O-line is continuing to progress. Weber's play was again inconsistent, and he had some hair-pulling moments to be sure (that roll out pass into the grass still kills me), but once again he got it together on the really important drives. I have to wonder what his numbers will look like if he can put 4 quarters together. Decker was Decker. Nothing more to be said there. It was nice to see Kevin Whaley get some touches between the 20s, and Bennett hit the holes hard, but with patience on the outside runs - letting the holes develop. And every week we get a little better peak at MarQuis Gray's talents. I can't wait to see how we unleash him on Wisconsin.

Defensively, things were rock solid against the run, and Kafka's legs were made a complete non-factor. Against the pass things were less rosy - and NU was able to convert on 9 of 17 3rd downs, almost exclusively thru the air (20 of 22 1st downs). There always seemed to be a receiver open over the middle for Kafka to dump off to and move the chains. But right before the half Kim Royster made a fantastic leaping INT that I feel might have been the difference in the game. It completely stole the momentum from the 'Cats, and preserved our lead into the 3rd quarter. And the front four rotation finally made the difference in the end, dropping Kafka twice for turnovers inside their own 20.

So what did we learn? Well, Northwestern can't fill their stadium (but we already knew that). They have an annoying, screeching wildcat sound effect (but we already knew that too) And maybe they (the Wildcats) just aren't that good this year. Like not even Motor City Bowl good (now apparently the Little Caesar's Bowl). But also that we seem to be consistently able to make adjustments after the half and close the deal (this has happened in all three wins so far).

And while I'd like to beat Wisconsin by 10 touchdowns this coming weekend, I'd be just fine with having the coaching staff make some late game adjustments and steal one from them for once.