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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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I became intrigued with Bo Schultz some time back, not entirely for his baseball talent because it was said he was not a major league prospect, but largely in that he came out of the prestigious Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern and was likely to become a baseball journalist. It seemed writing might take center stage sooner rather than later because of his projected level of pitching skill.
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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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Welcome to The Sports Bank’s third annual college basketball season preview series. Two years we looked at 99 teams in 99 days. Last year, we were slightly more aggressive and expanded to 111 teams in 111 days and will do so again as we look ahead to the 2012-2013 season.
We will rank the 75 power conference teams and top 36 mid-majors in reverse power ranking order. We’ll break down rosters, transfers, incoming freshmen, non-conference schedules, and pick a player to watch for each team.
The streak continues… The Northwestern Wildcats missed the NCAA Tournament once again last season meaning the program has yet to put on their dancing shoes. Bill Carmody loses star John Shurna and will likely see their streak go on for another year.
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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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Pat Fitzgerald had a great quote on dais at Big Ten Media Day: “some people have called me the youngest old-school person in the country, and I’m okay with that”
He’s definitely earned it, as Northwestern has been to four straight bowl games, a first in school history. Their academic rating, APR is so high that it makes them one of the best ranked schools in the nation. And in 2012, they’ll be the only school in the league to play 3 BCS conference teams in the nonconference schedule.
The Wildcats will do it with sweet, new school meets old school uniforms.
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The New England Patriots truly have an abundance of talent at the wide receiver position. It’s probably their strongest and deepest group. Wes Welker may be very unhappy about his contract, but he claims he will not hold out this season. Chad Ochocinco tries to hold on for another year, former Illini star Brandon Lloyd will compete with Deion Branch to be the team’s deep threat, and 2007 perfect season role players Jabar Gaffney and Donte Stallworth are back in the mix. Don’t forget Julian Edelman, Matthew Slater and Northern Illinois and Riverside-Brookfield High School product Britt Davis.
Jeremy Ebert from Northwestern is hoping to find his niche in New England as well.
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