Good morning. Welcome to the latest edition of the Inside NUsletter.
In this edition, we’ll get you ready for the 2020 Big Ten Championship Game at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis between the Wildcats and the Buckeyes. Kickoff is at 11 a.m. Central.
The past week has seen some major news in the Northwestern athletics sphere. Longtime defensive coordinator Mike Hankwitz will retire after the season, it was reported Monday. The 73-year old has spent the last thirteen seasons in Evanston, the culmination of a career spanning 51 seasons and nine programs.
That same day, Northwestern AD Jim Phillips was announced as the ACC’s next commissioner. Since beginning his tenure in 2008, Phillips has overseen major changes across all of Northwestern’s athletics programs, including the opening of the $270 million Ryan Fieldhouse and the $120 million renovation of Welsh-Ryan Arena. Eleven programs have won conference or national titles, while the profile of NU Athletics has risen considerably.
Both of these departures are major losses for Northwestern, but we trek onwards. A lot is happening right now in both the college sports world and the actual world.
In case you missed it
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Anyway, on a wet, rainy day in Evanston, the ‘Cats relied on Cam Porter and Evan Hull to bulldoze Illinois 28-10 for their sixth straight derby day victory. The secondary played well once more, while Peyton Ramsey found himself with little to do and was replaced by last year’s HAT hero Andrew Marty in the third quarter.
Here’s a recap of our content from the Illinois game:
Rapid Reaction: Northwestern runs past Illinois on a rainy Senior Day, advances to 6-1
Postgame press conference notes from Northwestern’s quality win over Illinois
Five takeaways from Northwestern’s dominant win over Illinois
Northwestern might have an answer to its backfield inconsistencies in Cam Porter
Peyton’s Passes, Week Eight: Steering the ship in rainy conditions
Everything you need to get ready for the Big Ten Championship
The ‘Cats travel to Indianapolis to play for the Big Ten title for the second time in three years. Their opponent is the same: the No. 4 Ohio State Buckeyes. Ohio State is really good at football, to say the least.
Justin Fields is a Heisman-caliber quarterback equipped with wideout weapons Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson. Their secondary is worse than the last two seasons, something that Indiana quarterback Michael Penix, Jr., exploited in IU’s 42-35 loss in Columbus. The five-win Buckeyes have their eyes on returning to the College Football Playoff in the face of a skeptical national media.
After reports of some positive COVID tests for the Buckeyes this week, we’re holding our breath on the next round of testing today. Sources reported that as of yesterday the Big Ten Championship was on as scheduled and wasn’t close to being canceled, but as we know this year, that can change at any moment.
A lot of things have to go right for Northwestern to end its 16-year drought against the perennial Big Ten Champs, so here’s some preview content to get you pumped up for the contest:
Three takeaways from Northwestern’s Big Ten Championship Week press conferences
Seven statistics that tell the full story of Northwestern’s new offense
Big Ten Football Power Rankings, Week 8: Hobbling to the finish
The Road To Indy: Recapping the 2020 Northwestern football season
Why beating Ohio State would cement Pat Fitzgerald as one of the greatest coaches of all-time
The Big Ten Championship will be a measuring stick for Northwestern’s secondary
Veronica Burton
Oh yeah, Veronica Burton is good at basketball. The junior guard dropped 27 points, along with five steals and three assists, on Purdue in Northwestern’s 70-54 victory. The ‘Cats moved to 3-0 (2-0 B1G) on the young season. Joe McKeown and company have a brief respite in conference play against Eastern Kentucky before the thick of their Big Ten schedule.
Here’s a quick recap of the last week of women’s basketball.
Rapid Reaction: Northwestern cruises by Minnesota 80-51 in Big Ten opener
Women’s Basketball: Northwestern’s offense retains its core but evolves outside
Rapid Reaction: Northwestern beats Purdue 70-54 behind a dominant performance from Veronica Burton
Editors’ Picks
We’re thrilled to have Sippin’ On Purple (the site that became Inside NU) founder and The Ringer writer (and now viral Tweeter) Rodger Sherman picking games for the Inside NUsletter all season long, and you won’t find his picks anywhere else on our platforms. He’s a great Twitter follow, as well as a very smart writer. Most importantly, he has only picked against Northwestern, and they’ve always lost those games (he did not pick the game vs Michigan State).
Rodger (@rodger): Ohio State 35, Northwestern, 16
OSU is better in every conceivable way than Northwestern. We're 1-32 against Ohio State in our last 33 games, and the "1" came before I was in high school, and I'm 30. Their quarterback is a god, ours is one of the top two quarterbacks at Indiana last year. They gain more than 7 yards per play; we gain fewer than 5. They have 7 of 12 first-team all-Big Ten players on offense; we have no first-teamers, no second-teamers, and two third-teamers. Our strength is our passing defense; but their best cornerback is better than any of our defenders. We have a total of one player who chose Northwestern over an offer from Ohio State, Earnest Brown IV. You could argue Northwestern has the better kicker, but why believe results? We should just accept that Ohio State is better than us and pray for mercy. I have no hope, except for the fact that Northwester is 6-0 in the six games I've picked them to lose this year. Go Cats.
Lia Assimakopoulos (@lassimak): Northwestern 28, Ohio State 27
Anything can happen in 2020.
Eli Karp (@karp_eli): Ohio State 37, Northwestern 23
Talk to me after we get Ohio State’s availability report to see if I can be persuaded to flip.
Daniel Olinger (@dan_olinger): Ohio State 42, Northwestern 24
I’ve said it all week, the 2020 Buckeyes are not as good as the 2019 Buckeyes. The dominance doesn’t come up as easily, the secondary has struggled severely with some deep passing attacks and the running backs leave a bit to be desired. But they still have Justin Fields, Chris Olave and Garrett Wilson. Those three aren’t just good players, they’re freaking supernovas waiting to explode on your defense. The Bajakian offense will keep Northwestern in this game and reaching 24 points should be expected, but containing the OSU offense is just too tough of a task.
Colin Kruse: Northwestern 31, Ohio State 28
Why not?
Mac Stone (@MacStone00): Ohio State 38, Northwestern 17
Not gonna happen. Northwestern hasn’t faced an offense like Ohio State all year, and Justin Fields is an unbelievable talent. Will the ‘Cats learn to effectively QB spy? One can only hope.
One Tweet today
We’ll just leave you with this. Watch it and then tell us you’re not ready for tomorrow.
This isn’t a tweet, but this is one of the individuals who writes the Inside NUsletter.
That’s all from us. Thanks for sticking with us this football season.
Give us your questions, comments, suggestion, compliments, good Tweets and everything else by emailing us at insidenu@gmail.com. Have tips, article ideas and more? Hit us up.
Written by Colin Kruse and Eli Karp.