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2008 Northwestern Wildcats

Written June 16, 2008 by Jason Lowry

With the NCAA football season approaching sooner than you might realize its time for Jason Lowry to make his 2008 Northwestern Wildcats football predictions. The Wildcats are coming off another disappointing season as they finished just 3-5 in the Big 10, but were good enough in their non-conference schedule to have an overall record of 6-6. Even though they reached the magical number of 6 wins, they were not rewarded with a Bowl game. The team has yet to put together a winning season under head coach Pat Fitzgerald, and his stay in Evanston might end up being shorter than he hoped for. While the team returns 15 starters on both sides of the ball, it will be interesting to see if Fitzgerald can turn them into winners. Before we go making predictions on their upcoming season, lets take a look at what the Wildcats are bringing to both sides of the ball in 2008.

Offense:
The team will be looking at senior CJ Bacher to help them turn things around, but in order for him to be a big help he will need to cut down on his interceptions. If Bacher is able to do so he just might end up being one of the better quarterbacks in the Big 10. At running back the team will be looking at the senior duo of Tyrell Sutton and Omar Conteh as they combined to rush for nearly a 1,000 yards and 9 touchdowns. At receiver the team will count on senior Eric Peterman to put up some big numbers, as he is coming off a 744 yard season with 3 touchdowns, but don’t look past fellow senior Ross Lane as he led the team with 7 receiving touchdowns. The offensive line is something that could end up being a big problem for the Wildcats, they only return 2 starters in senior center Joel Belding and junior right tackle Kurt Mattes. Look for the team to go young in at least two of the empty spots with redshirt freshman Al Netter at left tackle and sophomore Keegan Grant at right guard.

Defense:
Here the team returns 8 starters and should be able to improve on their numbers from a year ago. The improvement should start with the defensive line where they got some great talent. Junior defensive end Corey Wootton has all the potential but has yet to turn it into great results. At defensive tackle senior John Gill is a beast should build off his 4 sacks a year ago. At linebacker the team should be pretty solid with the return of Malcoom Arrington at middle linebacker and Prince Kwateng at one of the outsite spots. Look for senior Mike Dinard to step in at the other OLB spot. The secondary isn’t exactly a strength of the defense, but it should get better. They get the return of Brendan Smith at strong safety after he redshirted because of an injury last year. The team returns Brad Phillips at the free safety spot and Sherrick McManis at one of the corner spots. As it looks now sophomore Justan Vaughn is the likely replacement at the other corner spot.

Prediction: 10th in the Big Ten
We really don’t think that Fitzgerald is the answer at head coach, and just don’t see how this team can improve that much overall to compete in a league such as the Big 10. The offense is really going to be hurting on the line, and the defense has never really been much to brag about over the years. The Wildcats have won 3 titles in the last 13 years, so maybe there is hope in the future, we just don’t see the future being 2008.

If you are interested in checking out more NCAA football preview and predictions, be sure to check back as professional handicapper Jason Lowry will continue to take a look at some of the best teams in the country. Also, if you are looking to get an early edge on the upcoming season, head over to BetUS.com and get an account up an going today!

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