The Motor City Bowl is the pre-eminent bowl game on the calendar and all Big 10 teams strive for an invite to this presitigious game. (We’re going with that as long as Michigan is in the driver’s seat.)
The WLA would like to learn as much as it can about potential MCB suitors from the BigTen, so we sent a questionaire to some fellow BigTen bloggers. [Previously covered: Purdue] Next up is lone (and excellent) Northwestern blog, Lake the Posts. Recently, gamblin’ extraordinare Jamie Mac ran down the odds for Northwestern to get to the Motor City Bowl. He concludes:
Northwestern, 12/1
These odds seem pretty long for a program that needs to claw its way to bowl eligibility, even when it has a good club. Not only has this team been to a Motor City Bowl before, but its lost one. Could this be the best bet on the board? I dont know. Northwestern actually is a January bowl game sleeper. They might have the league’s top returning QB, outside of Happy Valley and Columbus. With a lot of the core returning that nearly toppled Missouri in last year’s Alamo Bowl, Northwestern has a lot of different postgame dreams. Detroit is just one possible destination.
Swing Game: at Purdue, 10/3. The Wildcats have a tissue paper soft first half schedule. If they manage a road win against the Boilers, this club could start 6-0 with a home game against Indiana still on the slate. Seven win teams usually get snubbed by the Motor City Bowl, so the Cats could be out of contention before the World Series begins.
Let’s see how Northwestern holds up. LTP, go:
1. Explain Northwestern’s outlook for 2009 (Projected wins/loses):
The outlook is rosy in Evanston. OK, maybe not literally, but a second straight bowl game is a given in the minds of ‘Cats fans. Year four of the Fitz era and there isn’t a ton of upward trend left (4-8, 6-6, 9-4). NU returns possibly its best defense in school history, which is saying a lot considering when Fitz roamed the LB unit, NU was the top-ranked scoring defense in the nation. Mike Hankwitz did wonders in year one as DC and the chemistry is there for great things, assuming Corey Wootton regains full strength. There are some major question marks on offense as NU’s three leading WRs have graduated, the RB slot is up for grabs, but senior Mike Kafka has the potential to be something special. He’ll have his line back to protect him and is a true dual threat that should have the NU spread finding its own by the time conference play begins.
The schedule couldn’t get much easier with Towson (FCS), Syracuse, Eastern Michigan and Miami (OH) – all teams with first year coaches at the helm. We’re fortunate to roll Ohio State off the schedule, but lose out on missing Michigan (how weird is that to read?). Anything less than 8-4 would be a major disappointment. The next step is to actually win a bowl game – preferably one that we don’t get leaped over for by a team we beat head to head.
2. Who is your most-hyped freshmen? Has he heard of Tate Forcier (aka White Jesus)?
Patrick Ward, a 4-star OL from Chicago is the most-hyped recruit we’ve got. Unlike Michigan, 4-star recruits are few and far between at NU as Ward is only our second this decade. Heard of Tate Forcier? Ward wants to know if Forcier has heard of him!
3. Who is one opponent you are most afraid of this year? Please include any recent nightmares. Bonus points if the answer is “Michigan”.
Ohio State – and we don’t even play them. Considering last season was the first time since 1963 we swept the non-conference slate, NU fans are averse to overlooking anyone. We get a tad Lou Holtz-ian and therefore the road game at Syracuse smells a tad scary. I think everyone is excited about the Halloween match-up with Penn State at Ryan Field.
4. Is your coach on the hot seat? If Rich Rodriguez loses every game this year, would you want him?
Hell no. We’re a couple seasons away from naming buildings after the guy. I’m fairly certain we’re in one of the few situations where fans believe there is a legitimate chance to have a 40 year tenure with Fitz. We’re also fairly certain RichRod will have Big Blue back in the highlife again soon.
5. Is your team willing to buy a few cars while in Detroit?
If it means we’re at the Motor City Bowl, hell no. We find ourselves in a BCS game and I’ll be leading the charge to get a caravan.
6. Please. How about a van?
Yes, it will be the ultimate tailgater that former DE Kevin Mims’ family invented. They are pretty sweet.
7. How many defensive coordinators have you had in the last 10 years? Has anything improved or has it been more along the lines of rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic?
Two. Greg Colby was the DC for year-in and year-out one of the most porous defenses in America. Fitz, thanks in part to Gary Barnett, was able to scoop up former Wisconsin (and Texas A&M and Kansas and Colorado…) DC Mike Hankwitz after he was unceremoniously dumped by Bielema. Bielema was a co-DC at Wisky where he dropped the Badgers from #2 to #37. We were like - 37? where do we sign. Honestly, I think it was arguably the most impressive assistant coaching jobs in America last year. Just watch the Missouri game or the Illinois game and tell me he didn’t work wonders. Expectations are about as high as they can be for the defense. We went from Titanic to cigarette boat. In a year.
8. What new traditions has your team tried to implement in recent years?
Fitz installed a gameday walk that is in the same spirit of the ones you see on ESPN for SEC games with about 10,000 less people. The spirit is great – it is a walk down Randy Walker Way – a tribute to our fallen previous coach. However, with so many 11 am kickoffs the walk happens before the eggs have been fried at the tailgate. We’re hoping to reverse a disturbing trend – half full Ryan Field for too many games. It’s a joke. As is our marketing department. How well has that gone for you?
9. Is there any particularly stupid subject in your blogosphere that has the natives really up in arms? Night games perhaps? Rawk music team intros?
Butts in seats. Not stupid, absolutely legit and puzzling. The hot button joke is the fact we run out of hot dogs every year at the Big Ten home opener. The kicker is there are only 35,000 fans at the game…it truly is pathetic.
10. Are there any particular recruits that your coach is heavily pursuing? Has your blogosphere begun Facebook stalking to poor kid? Has the word ”skinsuit” been used in any discussion?
Hah! We only have 16 scholarships to give for 2010 and we’ve definitely ramped up to go after top tier talent. Fans are skittish since we’ve yet to land one commit for 2010 – the past three seasons our first commit was early April. Robert Bolden – the QB from Orchard Lake, Michigan is in the mix along with CA RB Cameron Roberson. We’re a finalist with some truly top tier recruits, but the questin remains will we close?
11. What are the best nicknames on your team? Have any methods been used by the fans to anoint any nicknames on players?
Nothing truly original. Vince “Beast” Browne, our DE has emerged simply from his style of play. With a QB named Kafka, the term ”Metamorphis” is always integrated into conversation. With a player named Kyle Petty and a WR named Charles Brown, there are some lay-ups to be had.
12. Is there a team about whom your fanbase is obsessed with accusing of being obsessed with your team?
Iowa. They think we’re the Michigan State to your Michigan. We think they’re simply delusional. It’s pretty easy and fun to push their buttons. Thanks for reminding me it’s time for me to remind them once again we beat them last year…
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