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Miami Preview and Prediction
By The Lowes Line Staff
Matchup: Miami RedHawks (0-0, 0-0) vs Northwestern Wildcats (0-0, 0-0)
Location: Northwestern Medicine Field, Evanston, IL
TV: BTN
Date: Saturday, August 31, 2024
Time: 2:30 pm CDT
Line: Northwestern (-3), o/u 39.5
News:
Northwestern
fans, welcome back for another season of NU football! It is
beyond shocking to me that 25 years ago this week, many of us were at
Wrigley Field celebrating Marcus and collectively decided to keep this
thing called the Lowes Line going. That first iteration without
Marcus was the start of the Randy Walker era, and like this week, also
a home game for NU against Miami (Ohio). Thanks to you all for
taking some time over the past quarter-century to read the often
offbeat nonsense spewed here on the Wildcats’ gridiron exploits.
There was plenty to talk about off the field in the offseason, so let’s
start there. First, and probably most exciting, is NU’s home
venue for the next two seasons, Northwestern Medicine Field. With
Ryan Field having been torn down and scheduled to be replaced and ready
for the 2026 season, NU football was needing a place to play home games
for the next two seasons. Several potential possibilities were
tossed out, including Soldier Field and SeatGeek Stadium in Bridgeview,
southwest of the city, among others.
To the amazement of many, Northwestern somehow managed to repurpose an
existing lacrosse field and turn it into a makeshift stadium that holds
about 12,000+ fans, less than a first down from the waters of Lake
Michigan. That this happened at all was not only incredible
logistically, but a huge positive for both fans and players, and credit
must be given to those that made it happen across the
administration. Being on campus is a completely different gameday
experience. Could you imagine NU playing a “home” game against
Wisconsin at Lambeau, as was being discussed? I’ll take a smaller
venue with the likelihood of a home field advantage. I, for one,
would have loved a tailgate in the Sargent parking lot. This
place has a beer garden for God’s sake, and for the cynical, you can
bet the restroom situation is probably better in this temporary stadium
than it was at Ryan Field.
NU will play five of their seven home games by the lake, taking on
Duke, Eastern Illinois, Indiana, and Wisconsin, in addition to this
weekend’s clash with Miami. Home games against Ohio State and
Illinois in November will be played at Wrigley. Yes, Wrigley
would certainly have been available for October games as well, since no
baseball is really played there in October, but let’s face it, the
on-campus option is better anyway.
Year 1 of the David Braun experiment went incredibly well, as NU
exceeded expectations last season in a big way with a new head coach in
the wake of the firing of Pat Fitzgerald. Braun led the ‘Cats to
an exciting finish to the season, winning the final four games on the
schedule, including a bowl game victory over Utah in the Las Vegas
Bowl, finishing up at 8-5. That success didn’t mean Braun wasn’t
open to making changes, as offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian was
dismissed, and Zach Lujan was brought in to handle running the
offense. Lujan is a relative youngster from South Dakota State,
having graduated from there in 2017 and immediately joined the staff,
rising to the role of offensive coordinator in 2022. Lujan’s SDSU
teams have won the FCS national championship the past two seasons, with
the offense having averaged north of 34 points a game.
Defensively, long time linebackers coach and NU standout Tim McGarigle
has been promoted to defensive coordinator, the post Braun was hired
for before being elevated to the C-suite. The youth brought to
the coordinators positions is exciting, and here’s hoping we see that
manifest itself in the play calling on both sides of the ball.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention some of the other non-football
related athletic news occurring around NU as well. Northwestern
just this week hired Mark Jackson to be its athletic director.
Nothing against Jackson, as he seems like a great hire, having spent
the past nine years at Villanova in a similar capacity, is known as a
great fundraiser, and is highly regarded. I wish him well, and it
appears he’s set up to succeed. The question is, why did we need
a new athletic director in the first place? It’s because former
AD Derrick Gragg, who was at the forefront of one shitshow after
another during his two years at the helm of the athletic department,
was cast aside in a classic, “we can’t fire you, so we’ll promote you,”
reshuffle, giving Bragg the newly created role of “VP of Athletic
Strategy” in the process. If history is a guide, it’s beyond
questionable to have this dude engaging in anything to do with
strategy. Well, if that’s the case, why did Bragg get hired in
the first place? Oh, right, that’s because after longtime AD Jim
Phillips departed NU to be commissioner of the Atlantic Coast
Conference, NU promoted longtime deputy Mike Polisky to the post, a
role he played for less than two weeks after being named in a (now
dismissed) lawsuit. Polisky stepped down after then NU-president
Morty Schapiro had to endure large groups of people, including the
mayor of Evanston, marching to the front of his house to protest the
hire, in a guilty until proven innocent scenario. Well, Polisky
wasn’t technically proven innocent, but the plaintiff dropped the case
without any settlement having been received. Sounds like
innocence to me. All this to say that if Morty would have given
the mob a Shooter McGavin-esque, “Damn you, people, go back to your
shanties,” response, Polisky might still be the AD today. We’ll
never know.
What’s the point of this column again? NU football…right.
NU’s got the excitement of the season opener in a new, albeit
temporary, home, and should come into the game with a lot of energy,
but Miami is a quality team, having won the MAC last season and
finishing at 11-3. They’ve got a very strong defense that is
likely to give NU fits, as is typically the case when these two teams
meet. Miami is 7-3 all-time against NU, with all seven of those
wins coming in Evanston. The RedHawks are led QB Brett Gabbert, a
sixth-year player, who threw for 1,600+ yards and 14 TDs last season
before suffering a season-ending leg injury forcing him to miss the
final six games.
For NU, the front seven on defense give reason for optimism. Look
for teams to have to throw the ball in against NU order to be
effective, as the fairly deep defensive line should keep opponents’ run
game at bay. There’s concern at the corners, but returning senior
safety Coco Azema will anchor the secondary.
Offensively, Braun has picked up where Fitz left off, not officially
naming a starting QB. Look for it to be grad transfer Mike Wright
who had stints at both Vanderbilt and Mississippi State before
committing to NU in May. The primary target will be senior A.J.
Henning, who’s returning after a successful year in 2023. Running
back Cam Porter will be a big part of the story against Miami.
Porter averaged just under 4.0 yards per carry last season in putting
up 651 yards. Expect a low scoring game, even with the excitement
of a new offensive coordinator. NU is not sneaking up on anyone
this season, after exceeding expectations by a large margin in
2023. NU’s defense is the reason the ‘Cats get off to a solid
start in 2024.
Pick:
Northwestern 20, Miami (OH) 14
Take the ‘Cats and the under, and lay the points.
The Lowes Line is an
e-mailed description of NU's
next
football game, with an invariably fearless prediction of the outcome
and
how NU will fare against what the other "experts" predict. Our
good
friend and Brother Marcus Lowes began the broadcast mailing in 1996.
The crack Lowes Line Staff (alumni Lone Star Cat,
GallopingGrapes, P.S. O'Briant, Eric Cockerill, Joel Kanvik, Charlie Simon, and
MO'Cats) have continued the Line in memory of Marcus.
For
the 2024 season it has returned to HailToPurple.com,
for anyone to enjoy. Thanks to the gridiron brain trust at the Lowes
Line!
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