Northwestern Recap: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

THE GOOD: Ambrose's decisions on WHICH true freshmen he would play....

I liked Peter Athens at quarterback all of camp. He embodies a lot of Sean Schaefer qualities. He's a great leader for being a boy among men, he has good vision and great accuracy. He showed some youth once the game started in his decision making and his reluctance to get rid of the ball in certain situations, but the mental errors leave as he matures into the system. Not too sure about burning Tommy Chroninger's redshirt as well, but they don't pay me to make these calls.

Alex Blake and Tom Ryan add good size and hands to a receiver corps that before Saturday looked like a large group of glorified slot receivers.

I've always been high on B.J Greening, he's very tough and has a good amount of natural ability. He reminds me of a young Matt Castor with more speed.

THE BAD: Lack of size in defensive front seven

I realize it wouldn't do much good analyzing this game as closely as other, but it was obvious NU had the game plan on Brady Smith (despite the double teams was still able to record 11 tackles in his first start with the Tigers). But with Smith taken care of, DT Rob Osbourne out and the eventual loss of middle linebacker Alex Butt, it was easy for the far superior Northwestern offensive line to carve gaping holes through the Towson front seven.

That along with a stalling offense kept a very young defense on the field for a long time. Thankfully they'll have an early bye week to rest and reload after the beating they took. Could you imagine being a year out of high school and facing a squad of highly-tuned, well-oiled athletic machines. You'd be pretty sore after as well.

THE UGLY: Alex Butt's shoulder

Senior middle linebacker Alex Butt was sidelined early in the game with a shoulder injury. Before any X-rays have been taken, the rumor mill buzz suggests it could possibly be an AC Joint injury. Nothing confirmed yet, but with your best defensive tackle in Osbourne sidelined, the last thing you wanna lose is your middle linebacker. (Who is also your captain and emotional leader in the locker room)

OTHER NOTES AND THOUGHTS:
A (-1) turnover margin against a Big 10 school...I'll take it.

Yaky Ibia's sack was probably the most entertaining play of the game. I love seeing big guys do well.

Brady Smith (who was a captain of this team before playing his first down for the Tigers) recorded 11 tackles despite being double teamed most of game. 3rd in the conference for the weekend.