TAKIN' CARE OF BUSINESS

Along with the commonly cited issues of special teams and playing down to opponents, one of the major factors holding Northwestern back from taking the "next step" as a program has been their lack of success in out of conference road games. From 1996-2009, the Cats were a very mediocre 10-12 on those road trips (including 0-4 in bowl games). With this history, along with the vivid memories of the team's struggles in the heat and humidity at Duke in '08, many fans of the Cardiac Cats looked at this season's contests at Vandy and Rice with deserved anxiety.

Yet, as the Cats walked off the field last night after dominating their second opponent in as many weeks, even the most skeptical 'Cats fan had to admit that it appears the team may have finally turned that corner. Next week will be the final test - facing a powerful offense at home with a chance to go 4-0 - but the results to date have shown a team ready to shed the ghosts of its past and step up as a top tier football program.

Cats 30, Rice 13.

After some struggles in the first quarter, the Cats dominated virtually every facet of the game, completely shutting down the Rice offense (whose lone TD was against the second and third string D in the waning seconds), and continuing to produce on offense. In a testament to the incredible performance of Dan Persa to date, last night seemed like an "off" night for the QB...in which he still completed 75% of his attempts and had another passing TD with no interceptions.

There are areas to improve, no doubt. While the 'Cats front 4 put unbelievable pressure on Rice's QB and running attack in the second half, some questions still remain in the secondary's ability to limit the opponent's passing game. And though the ground game showed some (slight) improvement, NU has a long way to go in developing a legitimate rushing attack. Still, these concerns are limited when considering the big picture of the Cats performance in 2010.

A few of the particularly strong showings from last night should be noted. Persa, as always, carried the team through the air and on the ground. While his completion percentage dropped to a clearly unacceptable 82%, he still remains tops in the country in that category, and 3rd in QB efficiency overall. WR Jeremy Ebert and superback Drake Dunsmore also put on great performances, combining for 169 yards receiving and a TD. To date, Dunsmore has done a fanstastic job in the superback role, helping to add yet another wrinkle to NU's complex passing offense. Lastly, the one man interception machine, Quentin Davie, had a pick-six for his 3rd INT in this young season - one of Rice's 4 turnovers on the night. There are many others who deserve mention, particularly on defense, including Hunter Bates, Jack DiNardo and Vince Browne.

Dominant and "business as usual" are not terms typically used to describe the Northwestern Wildcat games of the past 15 years. I'm not fully sold yet...but it may be time to start considering this the start of a new age.

GO CATS!