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For Northwestern WR Kyle Prater, “it’s now or never.” (Apologies to Elvis Presley on that)
He had a breakout game Saturday, 87 yards receiving and his first collegiate touchdown. Unfortunately, it came in a very bad loss to a mid-major school, so it was a very bittersweet day for Prater.
“Unfortunately, I had to get my first touchdown with a loss, but like I said I’m humbled,” Prater said.
“I’ve overcome a lot.”
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In some ways, the Northwestern Wildcats and Chicago Cubs were meant for each other. Both had/have major droughts. The NU college football team just won their first bowl game since 1949, and the college basketball has never ever made the NCAA Tournament, 70+ tries. As you’ve heard a million times, the Cubs haven’t been to the World Series since 1945 and won one since 1908.
The last time they joined forces, Wrigley Field hosting Northwestern vs. the Illini in 2010, the national media was all over it. For good reasons and bad. The snug fit between the back of the east end zone and the field wall, forced both teams to go the same way on offense. This gaffe generated a ton of national publicity, and a lot of it was negative. When they do this again in 2014, hopefully they’ll get it right this time. There was talk of Wrigley hosting a bowl game after this, and if the next games go off without a hitch, maybe there will indeed be a bowl game.
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Today, the Northwestern Wildcats ended their 64 year old bowl drought. They upped their record in bowl games to 2-9. And they did it over an SEC team no less, the once 11th ranked Mississippi St Bulldogs. In 2010, the Chicago Blackhawks ended their 49 year old Stanley Cup drought. In 2005, the Chicago White Sox ended their 88 year World Series drought. So now that leaves only two: Northwestern basketball, who’ve never made a NCAA Tourney. Well, with how they’ve played at home lately, their injuries and a RPI of 105, I’d say they have to wait a year- at least. And the Chicago Cubs 104 year Sahara like drought? They lost 101 games last year, so don’t expect that to change anytime soon.
Let’s get back to what the Cats accomplished today.
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When the Northwestern Wildcats look to end their bowl game drought tomorrow (you might have heard a thing or two about it in the local media) they’ll do so with these new helmets on. Expect to see a lot of running with Venric Mark and Kain Colter at the Gator Bowl vs. Mississippi State, MSU has a cornerback named Johnathan Banks who will be a top 15 pick in the NFL Draft.
So they’ll be less passing with Colter and Trevor Siemian.
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Here’s a post that just reinforces all stereotypes. A Northwestern student brought a book to Ryan Field to keep himself occupied during a college football game versus the Iowa Hawkeyes. After the jump, you can see him reading it in the stands during crunch time.
The fan responded on the comment threads in the original post, and informs us the book is sports related- “The Book of Basketball” by Bill Simmons.
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When Venric Mark of Northwestern returned this punt 75 yards for a TD, the Wildcats took an 11 point lead at Penn State. It looked like NU might get their first 6-0 start since 1962 and Pat Fitzgerald would get his first win over PSU.
But the NU defense collapsed in the second half, tired from being on the field most of the day, as Penn St. dominated time of possession, and PSU went on to win 39-28.
[Read more…]
You may say it’s too early to talk of such things and that I need to calm down after only one conference game in the books, but this could be a great year for the Wildcats!
Their 5-0 record may not have come against the best of opponents (Syracuse, Vanderbilt, Boston College, South Dakota, Indiana), but Northwestern has shown the ability to score, almost on demand. They have scored over 40 points in two games and scored 38 in another.
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In their 44-29 victory over Indiana Saturday, Northwestern had an extremely balanced attack on offense: accruing 310 yards passing and 394 yards rushing (704 overall on 93 plays). The first and only 700 yard total offense day in school history just says so much about how a very bad Hoosier defense was just so over-matched all day.
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Earlier this week, Pat Fitzgerald told the Vanderbilt passing offense to “bring it.” But it was his own defense, not the Commodores’ offense, that got the memo Saturday night.
The same Northwestern defense that made Syracuse quarterback Ryan Nassib the nation’s leading passer last week stymied Vanderbilt quarterback Jordan Rodgers for 86 second half passing yards — and the entire Commodores offense to just three second-half points — en route to a 23-13 win.
From InsideNU.com
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The Louisville Sports Commission announced that Northwestern junior Venric Mark is one of 49 Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) players named to the Paul Hornung Award Preseason Watch List, handed out annually to the most versatile player in college football.
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Training camp is underway for Northwestern football. The ‘Cats figure to be explosive on offense, with some questions on defense. Media day was Wednesday and with it Pat Fitzgerald answered some key questions about Chicago’s Big Ten team.
Here were some of the highlights
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Northwestern and Under Armour recently unveiled the new uniforms that the Wildcats will wear this season. Cutting their ties with Adidas after last season, Northwestern is the first Big Ten school to have Under Armour as their official apparel provider.
Although what Under Armour created for Northwestern is kind of sharp looking, I am, for the most part, disappointed.
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