Week Three: The 'Huskers Invade Evanston
Northwestern controls its own destiny in the Big Ten West.
Good morning. Welcome to another edition of the Inside NUsletter, as we get you set for the Wildcats and Nebraska tomorrow at 11 a.m. CT. Inside this issue, you’ll find our coverage from last week’s big win over Iowa as well as plenty of preview content for Nebraska and other Northwestern/Big Ten related news.
The Big Ten descended into chaotic madness last weekend with a pair of upsets and a some COVID cases. Saturday promises to be a good one as well with an embattled Michigan squad visiting upstart Indiana.
A lot is happening right now both in college football and in the world. We have you covered every week, and we’d very much appreciate if you hit the subscribe button.
In case you missed it
After some self-inflicted errors put it down 17-0 after the first quarter, Northwestern relied on a relentless running game and some timely turnovers to take down the Iowa Hawkeyes 21-20 in an old-fashioned, smash-mouth game of football at a windy Kinnick Stadium.
The ‘Cats notched their third straight win in Iowa City. Peyton Ramsey attempted only 18 passes, completing 11 for 130 yards and an interception. Yet the fifth-year senior demonstrated poise and maturity down the stretch. A three-headed monster of Isaiah Bowser, Drake Anderson and Jesse Brown, who scored two rushing touchdowns, averaged about two yards per carry but killed a lot of clock in the second half. Kyric McGowan also emerged as a go-to receiving target, making up for a muffed punt which led to a Hawkeye touchdown with a rushing score of his own.
On the defensive side of the ball, Brandon Joseph continued his meteoric rise with two picks of Iowa quarterback Spencer Petras, while the linebacking corps of Paddy Fisher, Chris Bergin, and Blake Gallagher, who sealed the ballgame with a late interception, all racked-up double digits in tackles.
Here’s a quick list of our game coverage and analysis of the major victory, putting the Wildcats in a very good position to contend for the Big Ten West, even if it’s only a quarter of the way through the regular season.
Preparing for Nebarkas
The outbreak of COVID-19 cases up in Madison saw the contest between Wisconsin and Nebraska cancelled. Scott Frost’s squad come out of their “bye week” having played only one game, a 52-17 loss to Ohio State.
The Huskers hung with the Buckeyes for early parts of the game but ultimately fell in a blowout. A loss on Saturday would bury Nebraska in the race of the Big Ten West and lead to their first 0-2 start since *checks notes* 2018.
All jokes aside, here’s some content previewing the Big Red:
In Big Ten country
Wisconsin vs. Purdue game canceled as Badgers continue to deal with COVID-19 outbreak within program
Around the Big Ten, Week 2: Maryland and Michigan State pull off major upsets
Big Ten Football Power Rankings, Week 2: Minnesota falls, Indiana’s rise continues
Editors’ Picks ft. Rodger Sherman
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.
Rodger (@rodger): Nebraska 31, Northwestern 27
Starting to believe that Northwestern can win the Big Ten West if I keep picking against them every week. Let's make Nebraska wish there hadn't been a season.
Eli Karp (@karp_eli): Northwestern 27, Nebarkas 23
I’m still expecting to pass hundreds of Nebraska fans at Canal Shores on my walk to Ryan Field. The Husker offense has a lot of potential, but the Husker defense is not very good. I suspect that though UNL will come out with a lot of energy, it might do them more harm than good. It’s always tight between these two teams, and I see no reason why it should be different this time around. Ramsey has his best day yet, and NU moves to 3-0.
Lia Assimakopoulos (@Lassimak): Northwestern 30, Nebraska 27
Colin Kruse (doesn’t have twitter rip): Northwestern 24, Nebarkas 14
After Brandon Joseph ruined my not-so-optimistic prediction last weekend, I have some more faith in the Fighting Fitzes and their steady, bend-but-not-break approach to the game of football. Northwestern will surely benefit from the first-half suspensions of starting defensive backs Deontai Williams and Cam Taylor-Britt, carried over from the Huskers’ loss to Ohio State. Perhaps this will encourage Mike Bajakian to establish the pass game and unlock Peyton Ramsey to attack a temporarily depleted UNL secondary. The ‘Cats should take an early lead and then rely on the same factors which got them out of Kinnick with a victory (winning the turnover battle and chewing up clock with the run game).
Daniel Olinger (@dan_olinger): Northwestern 31, Nebraska 24
As someone who has watched his fair share of Ohio State football, Nebraska actually held up better than I expected. The joint quarterback run game of Adrian Martinez and Luke McCaffrey put up 165 combined yards on the ground even with lost yards through sacks, and the defense held OSU to 17 points before the closing moments of the first half. That said, the ‘Cats are not only a good team right now, but a team that has fully bought into its identity. The quarterback makes all the right plays, the O-Line and run play isn’t overwhelmingly great, but generates enough consistent production that the offense can fall back on it when needed and the defense has morphed from a simple bend but don’t break unit to a task force of playmakers that truly won the game for NU last week. 3-0 here they come.
Mac Stone (@MacStone00): Northwestern 27, Nebarkas 21
Northwestern struggled out the gate last week against Iowa, giving up two turnovers and falling behind 17-0 at the end of the first. I fully expect the ‘Cats to have shored up those mistakes come this week, but that doesn’t mean Nebarkas will be a walk in the park. Adrian Martinez is good, especially on the ground. I’ll be intrigued to see how the ‘Cats decide to defend against him. With that being said, I think NU has the advantage in terms of defense, which is what will end up getting them the win and pushing them to 3-0.
Good Tweets
No caption needed after a brutal missed extra point in overtime to Maryland.
Here’s the view of arguably one of the best traditions in college football.
Also, Iowa City during a pandemic is truly something else. We made a gif to celebrate the win (and yes, hello, this is us, the braintrust. From right to left: Lia, Eli, Colin).
We are getting (at best) semi-political, sorry if you don’t approve, we just like democracy.
That’s all from us. Get some rest to gear up for Saturday morning’s contest at Ryan Field. Make sure you’re subscribed to the Inside NUsletter as we’ll have anything and everything Northwestern/Big Ten football 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.
Written by Colin Kruse and Eli Karp.