THE BIG EAST CONSIDERS EXPANSION, EYES A LESS ACCURATE NAME THAN THE BIG TEN

In the madness of conference expansion news that dominated college football headlines during over the summer, a clear dynamic emerged: the power hungry Pac-10 and Big11Ten were dead set on ripping apart and feasting on the poor carcasses of the Big 12 and Big East like they were a delicious Thanksgiving turkey (with the apple pie - ACC - looking on nervously and hoping that dinner alone would satisfy their ravenous appetites).

In the end, the changes to the conference landscape were in fact minor, and eventually the college football world turned its attention towards the 2010 season while things calmed and the dust settled.

That is, until the Big East - slow, "special" child of the BCS conferences that they are - decided they wanted to join the side of the agressors. The conference of 8 football and 1,478 basketball teams has decided to expand its ranks. And in a stunning imitation of the fine batch of QBs populating the conference at the moment, their expansion plans have landed unfathomably far from any predictable target...as word has gotten out they are interested in TCU.

The Big East's 2005 expansion to University of South Florida may have indicated the league's desire to break out of its traditional Northeast shell. And hell, that was a match made in heaven - the school, located in the North Florida city of Tampa was already geographically challenged. But the possible move for TCU defies any sort of logic.

Except for this: joining a BCS conference opens the door for TCU to make a national championship run - something non-BCS schools could never do (I'm looking at you, Boise St). It would also give the Big East conference some small bit of respectability, as TCU has already beaten more BCS conference teams this season than the whole Big East (2 versus 1). Of course, TCU also has one more ranked team, #24 TCU, than the Big East can lay claim to at the moment.

Folks, reality continues to out-do fiction.

I'VE FELT THE SAME WAY SINCE THE OUTBACK BOWL

I can only assume there's no videos out there of purple-clad toddlers screaming at the site of a stand selling Illini gear. True rivalry...the south gets it.

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!

WILDCAT HIGHLIGHTS, WEEK 2

DECISIVE

After years of experiencing NU games involving last second field goals, goal line stands, and dramatic comebacks, I had a very strange experience watching the Cats Saturday afternoon: boredom. Watching the game at a local restaurant with 30 other purple passionates, I'll admit that most of us spent the better part of the second half talking amongst ourselves...more or less not paying attention to the action unfolding on the screen.

Ladies and gentlemen, we've finally arrived.

Despite a very respectable performance in conference over the past 15 years, (one of) Northwestern's archilles heel has been playing down to their opponents in the out of conference schedule. Losses to Duke, New Hampshire and Syracuse are just a few of the painful moments 'Cats fans have lived through recently. Thus, NU fans were understandably anxious going into a game against a 1-AA team with a apparently potent offense.

By the end of the first quarter, it was clear those fears were misplaced.

The 'Cats first team offense looked simply unstoppable, scoring on their first three possessions and leading 30-3 at the half. Persa picked up right where left off last week, going 19/23 with 3 TDs, and keeping his quarterback rating higher than Snoop Dogg at an after-party.

While the defense gave up yards early to the Redbirds, they too clamped down and held a solid offense to just 3 points, and virtually nothing in the second half. In addition, the D stepped up and had 3 interceptions, giving nervous NU fans some hope that the Vanderbilt performance was not indicative of what to expect this year.

However, despite all of the positives in one of the Cats most dominating wins of late, the biggest concern remains: the Northwestern running continues to flounder. The Cats had 163 yards on the ground, but averaged only 3.3 yards per carry. Northwestern has proven it can win games with a pass-only offensive attack, but the difference between making a bowl and contending for a Big11Ten championship (in any year) is having a solid run game to compliment the passing attack.

Overall though, the complaints were few as the Cats came to play and ran circles around an inferior opponent. Heading down to Rice for another out of conference road contest, fans can only hope this current roll continues.

KNOW YOUR OPPONENT: ILLINOIS STATE

This week, the 'Cats return to the friendly confines of Ryan Field to take on the Redbirds of Illinois State. Because one cannot conquer an opponent before truly understanding them, the East Coast Wildcat proudly presents Know Your Opponent: Illinois State.

When: Saturday, September 11th at noon EST. BigTen Network (channel 720 Cablevision, 472 Time Warner, 610 DirecTV)

'Dey old: While you may never have heard of Illinois State, it's certainly been there all along. Founded in 1857, Illinois State holds the distinction of being the oldest public university in the state (take that, University of Illinois). In fact, the university was brought into existence by legal papers written up by Abraham Lincoln. Though never having been there, I think its a safe bet that this fact is included in pretty much everything they publish (gotta have your claim to fame somehow). Like many schools back in the day, the university was established primarily as a place to train teachers, giving it the official name of Illinois State Normal University. However, this school has the particular oddity of also being located in Normal, Illinois, meaning that one could reasonably call the place Illinois State Normal University - Normal. I'll stop here.

Be happy: According to Wikipedia, ISU's motto is "Gladly we Learn and Teach" While this reads more like one of the wonderful English translations you'd find on the sign for a Chinese elementary school, it is in fact the actual motto. More dissappointing than the phrasing itself, however, is the fact that they were only two flipped words away from owning the motto GTL. Missed opportunities all around.

The school's alma mater should also be noted for the fact that it is written to the tune of the German national anthem. So, big picture, if they ask you if you are in fact gladly teaching and learning, you say yes and ask no questions. The More You Know *insert flying star and NBC song here*.

So who do I know?: Many of ISU's notable alums populate the world of entertainment, something us Northwestern fans can identify with pretty well. Gary Sinise, Gary Cole (Bill Lumbergh of Office Space) and Carlos Benard (Tony Almeida of 24) all called ISU home. I'll still see all these guys and raise them Charlton Heston...we win!

Who's mascot would win in a fight: A truly underrated piece of winning football games, whose mascot is tougher? As mentioned earlier, Illinois State is the home of the Redbirds, with a logo more or less the same as Louisville and every other cardinal-themed team out there. As any cardinal would realistically fly away from an attacking wildcat, I have my suspicions that this fight would be somewhat less than entertaining, but for posterity's sake, I'm giving this one to Northwestern (we so rarely win!).

So that whole football thing: Illinois State may be a 1-AA school full of the future teachers of America, but their roster is also full of former 1-A players, making them one of the more dangerous 1-AA teams out there.

In their season opener, the Redbirds threw for over 300 yards on route to a 55-54 victory over Central Missouri State. They complimented their arial attack with an additional 187 yards on the ground. While the opponent surely had something to do with these numbers, the Cats D will have their hands full and better come out playing early - the Redbirds scored 40 in the first half of that game.

More positive, however, is how terrifyingly bad a defensive effort Illinois State put up in that match: 33 first downs, 547 passing yards and 5 passing TDs for Central Missouri has to make any 'Cats fan think we'll have a better chance of scoring than Tiger Woods at a local IHOP. This begs the question, though...what does NU do on offense?

The seemingly obvious answer is to let Persa throw all day and tear apart the Redbirds defense. Realistically, Persa should be able to put up a 400+ yard, 3+ TD performance. However, I fear that NU will continue to try and force their ground game to be successful in spite of the passing opportunity in front of them. I can't help but be scared of this situation - if NU tries to force an unsuccessful rushing attack, they'll likely keep ISU in the game until late. As any NU fans knows, if you let a team hang around, you never know what can happen.

Fortunately, I have enough faith in our OC to believe he'll transition to a pass-happy offense by the 4th quarter if things are not going well, letting the 'Cats shut the door on the Rebirds. My call: NU 34 - ISU 17.

Till next time, GO CATS!

WHAT WE LEARNED IN WEEK 1

Well its time to just give in and admit it - Northwestern is incapable of winning a game in relaxing fashion. After going up 10-0 early in the first quarter, it looked as if all of the fears of laying an egg on the road versus an SEC bottom-feeder would be avoided. Alas, it was not to be. Not until a personal foul penalty in the final minutes gave NU a first down and the ability to run out the clock was there any feeling of comfort for 'Cats fans.

But only one thing counts: a 23-21 victory, 1-0 to start the season. So what'd we learned in this (all too common) nail-biter?

Quarterback
Dan Persa entered the season opener with huge shoes to fill following the graduation of Mike Kafka, including the 4TD performance in the Outback Bowl. In what had the potentional to be a disasterous first start on the road, Persa was the brightest spot on a generally lackluster performance for the men in purple. His 19/21, 226 yards, 3TD performance set a NU completion percentage record, and Persa complimented his throwing accuracy with a solid running game as well.

Following a very successful first start, expectations are likely to be sky-high for the Junior QB moving forward. While we aren't likely to learn much more about Persa this week (as the running game will take precedence), the game at Rice in two weeks will be a good test to see if our new phenom can keep rolling.

Running Game
As Cee Lo Green would say..."WHHHYYYYYYY!!! WHHHHHY!" Hopes were high going into the game that with an experienced O-line the running game would finally be resurrected from the depths of despair known as 2009. Instead, the ground game may have actually taken a step back...literally. Starting RB Arby Fields finished with -7, yes NEGATIVE SEVEN yards on 10 carries. None of the Cats RBs finished with over 50 yards, and the total rushing yards other than Persa's were a terrifying 61.

How did this happen? First the O-line showed few signs of being the powerful unit fans had expected coming into the season. Throughout the game the line struggled to open up holes and give the backs some room to run. This problem exacerabates the fact that NU's RB's lack the speed required to get to the outside and turn the corner, meaning that opening up holes on dive and draw plays is crucial for the Cats to pick up consistent yardage on the ground. Additionally, while the backs play tough, none possess the talents of former stars Sutton and Wright, in that they can't make their own space with the ball. There are times when the backs need to open their own routes, and so far none of the current corps have shown us much in that area.

Keep the kids away, because this has become a horror movie.

Defense
It may be that practicing against the 'Cats running backs has brought the D down as well, but the Cats showed that they have a lot of work to do in stopping opponents rushing attacks. Zac Stacy led the charge for Vandy, gaining only 69 yards but averaging 7 yards per carry. The 192 total rushing yards the Commodores put up is not the end of the world on its own, but when considering that Vandy's top running back gained only 46 yards because he was slowed due to injury, those numbers are far scarier (horror movie, part II).

Under Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern's defenses have traditionally improved as the season goes on, so the hopeful assumption is that this year will be the same. The D will have a serious challenge this week against Illinois St, so the improvement better come quickly...we cannot lose to another 1-AA team.

We have a lot more to learn about the Cats in the next two games, particularly about the running and defensive woes. One this is for certain though - no matter against who and no matter where, the game is always going to be much too close for comfort.