Good morning. Happy Black Friday, we hope everyone had a happy Thanksgiving. Welcome back to the Inside NUsletter, as we get you set for the Spartans and the Wildcats tomorrow at 2:30 p.m. CT on ESPN. Inside this issue, you’ll find our coverage from last week’s win over Wisconsin as well as preview content for this week’s showdown against Michigan State.
In stymieing the Badgers, Northwestern won its biggest game of the season (yet), carving out a clear path to the Big Ten Championship Game. Meanwhile, Ohio State squeaked by an upset-minded Indiana, while Michigan barely defeated Rutgers in triple overtime (something that probably was not on your 2020 bingo card).
Elsewhere, the men’s basketball team begins its season Tuesday against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, and the women’s team opens up four days later against Bradley.
A lot is happening right now in both the college sports world and the actual world. We have you covered every week, and we’d very much appreciate if you hit the subscribe button.
In case you missed it
In a de-facto Big Ten semifinal, the “Fighting Rece Davises” defense forced five turnovers and once more relied on some solid Peyton Ramsey game management to defeat the no. 10 Wisconsin Badgers. It was NU’s first victory over a top-10 team since 2011 and first double-digit victory over a top-10 team since 1959.
Brandon Joseph continued his meteoric rise, picking off UW quarterback Graham Mertz twice. The linebacking corps, headlined by Big Ten Defensive Player of the Week Blake Gallagher, had a big day as well. On the other side of the ball, wide receiver Ramaud Chiaokhiao-Bowman continued his impressive play with a career-best 95 yards and a gorgeous touchdown grab.
Anyway, here’s quick rundown of our coverage and analysis from Saturday’s win, including Dan Olinger’s feature on Peyton Ramsey that came out shortly after last week’s newsletter reached inboxes:
Peyton Ramsey: A quarterback on the field and in the classroom
Rapid Reaction: No. 19 Northwestern upsets No. 10 Wisconsin 17-7
Stock report from Northwestern’s landmark win over Wisconsin
Postgame press conference notes from No. 19 Northwestern’s upset win over No. 10 Wisconsin
Five takeaways from Northwestern’s monumental victory over Wisconsin
Northwestern ranked 11th in AP Top-25 Poll for first time since 1996
Northwestern shows that in the Big Ten West, defense still reigns supreme
Northwestern ranked No. 8 in first College Football Playoff rankings
In CFB country
In case you haven’t been keeping up with the Big Ten or college football in general lately, here’s a quick recap of all that’s been going on in the conference. Penn State, Michigan and Nebraska are all terrible. If you want to see Nebarkas get clubbed by a hot Iowa team, get yourself to FOX at 12 pm CT.
Big Ten Football Power Rankings, Week 5: Division pictures become clearer
Mandel: Five takeaways from the first College Football Playoff top 25 rankings
Minnesota star WR Rashod Bateman ending college career to concentrate on 2021 draft
Alabama coach Nick Saban tests positive, showing COVID-19 symptoms
On the hardwood
As previously mentioned, both the men’s and women’s basketball teams open up their seasons shortly. Here’s a quick list of our coverage and analysis ahead of the beginning of the season.
The Fighting Rece Davises
If you caught our emergency/promo NUsletter, you have an idea of the Fighting Rece Davises. If you need a refresher, click here.
Anyway, SBNation partner BreakingT made this cool, timely merch, and asked us to help promote it! They’re pretty funny, if you ask us, and it’s a great way to remember what’s thus far proven to be an historic season. Now the T-shirts and hoodies come in both black and purple.
Use the code “BIG15” to get 15% off site wide through Monday, and hit the link below to purchase.
Get your Fighting Rece Davises apparel here!
Preparing for the Spartans
Oh yeah, because Wisconsin’s upcoming game against Minnesota has been canceled due to COVID-19 concerns, the Badgers are no longer eligible for the Big Ten Championship Game. With a win against Sparty, the ‘Cats would clinch their second division title in three years. Even if the matchup itself doesn’t scream “big game” the ramifications are significant.
Under new head coach Mel Tucker, Michigan State lost its opening game to Rutgers but bounced back to defeat in-state rival Michigan before losing to Iowa and Indiana by a combined score of 73-7. Sparty has struggled on offense. Quarterback Rocky Lombardi has been interception-prone and was benched at halftime against Indiana for Payton Thorne, who also did not look convincing.
MSU’s defense is average but has regressed from seasons’ past, especially at stopping the run (149.2 yards per game) and forcing turnovers.
Here’s our preview content for the potential West clincher:
Editors’ Picks
Rodger has the week off for Thanksgiving, so you’re stuck with just us. Apparently Colin has filled in for the week by picking against the Wildcats.
Eli Karp (@karp_eli): Northwestern 28, Michigan State 10
I was only very slightly concerned about this matchup with all of the hype that’s enveloped Northwestern since its win over Wisconsin. But Wednesday’s press conference with the players rid any of those thoughts. They seem locked in and focused on the immediate task. This is an opportunistic matchup for Mike Hankwitz’s defense, and I expect things to be in cruise control, even if it isn’t a blowout.
Lia Assimakopoulos (@lassimak): Northwestern 30, Michigan State 14
No disrespect to the Spartans, but I believe this weekend is NU’s easiest matchup all season, and the Wildcats should take care of business no problem. Michigan State is in the middle of a rebuilding period and has struggled a lot this season, especially on offense, so the Wildcat defense should have a field day. The offense won’t be fantastic and will likely not capitalize on a high number of turnovers again this weekend, but their efforts will be good enough to clinch a spot in the Big Ten Championship later this season.
Colin Kruse (doesn’t have a Twitter): Michigan State 14, Northwestern 10
Two words: trap game. Yes, Sparty lost to Rutgers and was obliterated by Wisconsin and Indiana, while their only victory came against a Michigan squad in disarray. Meanwhile, the ‘Cats suddenly have captured national attention and have forged a somewhat realistic path to the College Football Playoff after a program-defining win over the Badgers. What could possibly go wrong?
Mac Stone (@MacStone00): Northwestern 31, Michigan State 6
Michigan State is bad. Northwestern is really, really good (at least defensively). After Wisconsin’s game against Minnesota was cancelled this weekend, I fully expect the ‘Cats to go full throttle in an effort to clinch the Big Ten West. Considering how well Northwestern’s defense played against Graham Mertz and Co., I don’t see the Spartans scoring a touchdown on Saturday. The bend-but-don’t-break mantra is here to stay.
Daniel Olinger (@dan_olinger): Northwestern 28, Michigan State 3
According to the always infallible transitive property of college football, Northwestern should beat Sparty by 43 points via the Iowa Hawkeyes. The ‘Cats likely won’t be that dominant, especially coming off the emotional high of the win over Wisconsin, but this MSU offense isn’t just bad, it’s 2019 Northwestern bad. They’ve scored seven points in the past two weeks, and their 18.5 SP+ offensive rating ranks 118th out of 127 teams nationally, third worst in all of the Power Five. The cold Michigan weather keeps the beatdown from getting too ugly and stifles the offense for a time, but these two teams are simply not playing on equivalent levels at this time.
Good Tweets
That’s all from us. Make sure you’re subscribed to the Inside NUsletter as we’ll have anything and everything Northwestern/Big Ten football (and basketball) covered in the coming months. 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.
See you next week, when we might be able to officially address you as fans of the Big Ten West Champions.
Written by Colin Kruse and Eli Karp.