Northwestern Football Preview - Western Michigan vs. Northwestern
It’s the morning after a party. You don’t remember exactly what happened last night, but you do know two things: it wasn’t good, and you didn’t hydrate. Your head kills, you hate yourself, and there’s a disgusting taste in your mouth. Welcome, friends, to Football Season.
Here at Sherman Ave. we know you’re a busy Northwestern student: you can’t be bothered to do the necessary research to evaluate the performance of the statistical models of the predictive models of the computer models of the matchups that’s required before you feel comfortable pretending to care about football for 4 months. So, we’ve been working meticulously for weeks to produce a game-by-game breakdown of the upcoming season. Over the next 14 weeks, we’ll be releasing our game analyses and predictions, so you can use them to pretend you know what you’re talking about when your dad asks you what you think about the football season. If he sounds disappointed in you, that’s not on us, though.
PREDICTION:
WESTERN MICHIGAN BRONCOS (WMU) 43 – NORTHWESTERN WILDCATS (NU) 38
Easily the most anticipated game of the season, Western Michigan rolls into Evanston so far undefeated in 2016. The ‘Cats will have a hard time handling the Broncos’ star power, and will need to work hard to remain focused when going up against well-known players like WR Carrington Thompson, RB Vernon Coakly, and QB Matt Little. Expect a high scoring, quarterback driven shootout as these two offense-driven teams put up big numbers and score big points by making big plays on big drives.
KEY MATCHUPS:
Justin “He Carries The Ball” Jackson (NU) v. The Entire WMU Defense
Mick McCall will definitely shake things up offensively for the Wildcats this year; expect Jackson to be utilized much more than last season, running at least one or two plays a play.
Clayton Thorson (NU) v. Clayton Thorson (NU)
This tough, evenly matched contest will really test Clayton Thorson in the first start of his second season. Clayton will have to work hard to keep Thorson out of his head, and fight to keep Clayton from putting the lid on Thorson’s passing game, if the Wildcats want to pull off the win. Thorson’s impressive speed will be an important factor here, although whether he is quick enough to outrun Clayton has yet to be seen.
Bryson White and Ron George (WMU) v. The State of Michigan
Expect these two Broncos to be an serious threat on offense. Coach P.J. Fleck praised their entrepreneurial, go-getter spirit and willingness to toe the line, saying that the pair will do literally anything when it comes to fighting for what they want. These first-degree recruits will definitely not bail on WMU and be locked up as cornerstones of the team for years to come.
