Northwestern football needs to win two of their last three to go bowling. Luckily, two of their last three are against the B1G’s soft underbelly in the West division, so it can still all work out for them.
Despite the atrocious first month of the season, there’s plenty left to accomplish in 2016, and make this a decent season. 2016 Northwestern football is 2-1 on the road this season, 2-3 at home. While their two (arguably) best performances have come away from Ryan Field, their two worst outings have definitely come at home. Their dominant win to spoil Michigan State’s Homecoming seemed somewhat impressive at the time, but that W has certainly not aged well.
The only team worse than MSU this year is Rutgers, and that will “be settled” on Saturday.
Special #Northwestern Marching Band performance of #GoCubsGo and @cubs logo formation #b1gcats #flythew #worldseries pic.twitter.com/4GlRk5XABd
— Paul M. Banks (@PaulMBanks) November 5, 2016
For, NU, they’re lucky to have two of their last three on the road since they are no doubt a road team. The home stretch starts Saturday in West Lafayette, where the Wildcats are a two touchdown favorite.
TV/RADIO: 11 a.m. — Northwestern vs. Purdue, Ross-Ade Stadium (BTN, WGN Radio AM-720)
SPREAD: Northwestern football -14
Northwestern football preview:
You could argue that the best performance turned in by this team this season came last week at #6 Ohio State. The Wildcats didn’t win that won, but it was an impressive, gutsy performance against one of the B1G’s two big time blue bloods.
It was a much better showing against the Buckeyes than we’ve seen lately from any Northwestern football team and Ohio State in 2016 is as strong as you’d expect to #6 Ohio State to be. If the Oct 29th 24-20 loss at Ohio State wasn’t/isn’t the best four quarters that NU has put together, then surely the October 1st 38-31 win at Iowa is.
Now while Northwestern’s most impressive showings have come on the road, their ugliest outings have also been at home. No doubt the 9-7 decision they dropped in week two to FCS foe Illinois State was the lowest point of the season.
The Homecoming win over Indiana was nice and there’s certainly no shame in losing by just one to a very good Western Michigan team at home, but last Saturday’s 21-7 loss at home to #8 Wisconsin was not pretty. They got beat rather decisively, as the Badgers owned a 190-39 rushing yards advantage.
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“We didn’t run the ball, said Northwestern football coach Pat Fitzgerald.
“We’ve had more drops than we’ve had recently,” he continued before adding “played right into their hands and that’s a credit to why they’re ranked 8th in the country. They’re a good football team.”
The B1G’s leading receiver, Austin Carr added “there’s a reason why they’re a top ranked team,”
“They’re very good and we saw that on film, and that’s kind of what we expected,” chipped in quarterback Clayton Thorson, specifically in reference to Wisconsin’s fearsome front seven. The Badgers defensive front is probably the second best that they’ll face all season. Number one still belongs to the Ohio State Buckeyes
Yes, you can say that the strength of the opponent is part of the reason that NU looks better on the road than at home. However, it doesn’t tell the whole story. Ohio State is better than Wisconsin, but not by that much. Yet the Wildcats result versus the two opponents was quite different. Also, NU’s home game against Nebraska was also one of the poorest results they’ve put up this season.
Purdue football Preview:
The key for the Boilermakers in this one? Be prepared for Northwestern’s all-or-nothing offense this season and hope the latter shows up/do whatever you can to facilitate the latter. Purdue might be heavy underdogs but this is still the best chance for a win that they have left in 2016.
I guess we’ll see Saturday morning who truly inspired the Boilers are to play and try to win for interim coach Gerard Parker.
Parker breaking down the match-up this week:
“On offense, they play in space more. They’ve had to throw it more than what they have in the past. They put you in space, and that’s going to be a challenge for our defense. They’re going to play fast and put the ball in the air and attack you in ways and try to put the ball over your head.”
“So we have our hands full once again in the Big Ten this week. We’re up for the challenge.”
“They’re a very similar football team. They’re really good in the red zone in making you have to throw the football, but they’ve got more hats there around it and those things. So I think more than anything, they stop the run, force you to throw it, and keep everything in front of them. Make you earn every first down and try to not let the ball over their head, which gives you a chance to stay in games.”
The Boilermakers have led at the half in two of the three games Parker has coached and were tied after 30 minutes in the other.
Series record: Purdue leads 50-29-1
Purdue points: 1,694 Northwestern points: 1,195
Series record in West Lafayette: Purdue leads 22-1
At Ross-Ade Stadium: Purdue leads 20-7
Prediction: Northwestern football 34, Purdue 17
So why the home and road disparity for NU? I can’t pretend to know the answer I just know that it doesn’t matter anyway since the Wildcats have two of their last three on the road, which is exactly the way they would want it.
Paul M. Banks runs The Sports Bank.net, partnered with FOX Sports Engage Network. and News Now. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes regularly to the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye publication and Bold Global.
He also consistently appears on numerous radio and television talk shows all across the country. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram and Sound Cloud.