This is from an AP article, near the end:
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssen...ts/9775209.htm
(I'm guessing that the heading was suposed to read "Losses" not "sses", but all the agencies carrying this story list the heading the same way.)
sses haven't cost Northwestern its confidence
NANCY ARMOUR
Associated Press
EVANSTON, Ill. - For a team that's won only one of its first four games, got walloped in its Big Ten opener and now has a date with No. 7 Ohio State, Northwestern certainly isn't lacking for confidence.
"They're kids just like you out there, so you need to go out there and just play," receiver Mark Philmore said Monday. "Just because they go to Ohio State doesn't mean anything. It's just a matter of us going out there and playing."
Yes, but these are the Buckeyes (3-0), the national champs just two years ago. OK, so they got scares from Marshall and N.C. State, and their offense has been sluggish. But they still have one of the nastiest defenses in the Big Ten and an equally fearsome kicking game.
And look at their record against Northwestern (1-3, 0-1 Big Ten). They've won 24 straight, a streak that dates back to 1972. The Wildcats haven't beaten Ohio State since 1971, long before any of the current players were born.
"Sometimes teams at a Northwestern or an Indiana, they get caught up playing the traditions," running back Noah Herron said. "The tradition of Ohio State. The tradition of Michigan. The tradition of Penn State. We're not playing those years of tradition. We're playing the 2004 Ohio State Buckeyes, so we can't look at it like we haven't beat them in 33 years. What's that matter? Thirty-three years we were unlucky, so we've got to go out and change that."
The Wildcats haven't had much luck this year beating anyone, though, let alone a perennial powerhouse like Ohio State. Northwestern coach Randy Walker thought his team was making progress after it held on to beat Kansas, only to see it lose 43-17 at Minnesota.
And it wasn't the loss that was discouraging so much as the way the Wildcats lost.
"We just didn't play or execute to the caliber we expect," Walker said. "It's really, quite honestly, frustrating because we thought we had a good preparation. We got in the game and our lack of consistency on both sides of the ball allowed them to get out to the big lead and take us out of the game.
"It's a little frustrating at this point we're not further along."
But the Wildcats are convinced they're not that far off. Their biggest problem - aside from a rash of injuries on defense - is consistency. Penalties, on both offense and defense, are hurting Northwestern as much as anything.
Take Saturday's game. The Wildcats gave up 77 yards on nine penalties, compared with one, 5-yard penalty, for the Golden Gophers.
"Obviously there's a lot of frustration in the team, but we're still confident because the frustration comes from our own errors, our own self-inflicted wounds," Herron said. "It's frustration, but it's frustration that we can avoid once we start executing at a higher standard."
Ditto for the defense, tackle Luis Castillo said.
"When you go out there and you work as hard as you and give it up on a few plays, obviously it kills you," he said. "But it's things we can fix. That's the light at the end of the tunnel. It's not that we're getting driven through and our defense is getting killed on every play. It's a few little mental mistakes that we can get fixed up."
And the Wildcats have to be a little encouraged watching Ohio State's previous games. Though the Buckeyes are still ranked seventh in the country, they have their flaws. They're averaging just 121 yards rushing a game, a statistic that would gall Woody Hayes if he was still alive, and are 80th out of 117 Division I-A teams in total offense.
Still, the Buckeyes are 3-0.
"They've always been a great defense and a mediocre offense that finds ways to make plays," Castillo said. "They know how to win. That's just Ohio State for you."
But that doesn't mean the Wildcats are intimidated.
"You respect all," Philmore said, "and fear none."
BUCKS!
N'Western Bulletin Board Material on OSU's Offense.
