Her Loyal Sons

A Notre Dame Football Blog

Home > Notre Dame Football > Opponents > Notre Dame 2014 Opponent Preview: Northwestern

Credit: The Helmet Project

Notre Dame 2014 Opponent Preview: Northwestern

by

Well, after Friday’s events, it’s a bit interesting to take to the preview realm once again, but the show must go on.

Today, we take a look at the standard of B1G mediocrity: Northwestern.

Previous Opponent Previews:

Vitals

[table “” not found /]

Offense

[table “” not found /]

The Wildcats return practically their entire offense, but I’m not entirely sure that’s a great thing beyond consistency.

And consistency is definitely something Northwestern needs. Just take a look at their QB situation last season. They basically played two QBs the entire season: Kain Colter and returning starter Trevor Siemian. Colter was more of the running QB (and even saw time at WR) and Siemian more of the traditional passing QB. The Wildcats have another running QB, redshirt freshman, Matt Alviti, so they very well could use the same system again.

Either way, the most positive thing that I can say is that the squad is certainly experienced as the offense will comprise of eight seniors and three juniors. If there is ever a time for this unit to peak, 2014 would be it.

Defense

[table “” not found /]

Same song, second verse.

The majority of the defense returns and with loads of upperclassmen (six seniors, four juniors, and one lone sophomore). Much like the offense, the rank somewhere between mediocre to terrible, although the F/+ ranking seems to be a bit kinder to them.

Still, there isn’t much here that scares me, or anyone else in college football for that matter.

What to Expect

In the end, this is a battle of mediocrity vs. Notre Dame. I just don’t see Northwestern improving to the point that they will become much of a threat during the season.

Add on to the fact that this is also a home game for the Irish and I really don’t see how the Wildcats manage to pull this one out.

Quite frankly, if the Irish manage to lose this one something went, terribly, terribly wrong.

Study Your Enemy

Read up on the Wildcats at these sites:

Looking for Tickets?

Get Great Tickets at Ticket Monster!

Ryan Ritter
Latest posts by Ryan Ritter (see all)

About Ryan Ritter

Editor-in-Chief
Texan by birth, Irish by choice.

First-generation Domer and a former student manager, HLS podcast host, HLS Sim creator, Extra Life streamer, and technical problem haver. You can find more non-Notre Dame related writing on his Patreon.