Wha' Happened?: SIU

The sloppy weather on Saturday in Evanston was met by an encouragingly non-sloppy win for Northwestern over in-state FCS power SIU.  The wet game included no turnovers for either team, although the Cats recovered their own fumble on a kickoff return, SIU had a lost fumble that was over-ruled on review, and NU blocked a Saluki punt.

The only "low" points that I can see were a mediocre running average, although Sutton did have all three of the Cats' touchdowns, and an inability to finish drives with TDs (4 short FGs).  I can chalk some of that up to the rain, although I would have liked to see our offensive line start having its way in the 2nd half.

The story of the day, aside from the weather was the NU defensive pressure.  While more or less containing SIU's running game, they acrued 6 sacks and about a jillion TFLs.  The opposition will get stiffer from here, but this will help us visualize what our attacking defense is supposed to look and feel like.

How did they do?

• Bachér - C.J. was efficient and calm in the bad conditions.  He was helped greatly by the always-improving O-line and good routes by the receiving corps.  I think we'll have to get used to a lot of 7-15 yard passes this year.  We've seen those thrown against us for years, so it should be nice to do a little damage ourselves.


• Sutton - Tyrell had all three NU touchdowns on just 101 yards rushing, plus 16 receiving.  It was what we needed, but I'm starting to wonder if he's lost a step since last year.  Some runs looked like Sutton circa 2005, but he didn't seem to hit every gap.  Looking forward to next week, on hopefully dry turf.


• Mabin - Jordan had little statistical impact on the game, although he returned one kick in Stephen Simmons' absence. This has less to do with Mabin's game and more with the Cats' safeties leading the team with 7 tackles each and the front 7 dominating the LOS and the backfield.

Finally, last week's one vote has become 10 in the coaches' poll and 4 in the AP.

Let's go Cats!