While the fans in Minnesota are really starting to gear up for their recruiting classes in the face of terrible seasons, a similar “parallel” is happening in Evanston, where coach Pat Fitzgerald is riding the momentum of a good offensive 2007 and try to build it into an explosive 2008. This has been a longtime coming for Wildcats fans who have waited for a return to the glory days of the mid-90s, and they start this season against a team that has headed in the wrong direction as well for a while–and there may not be any sign of the downward spiral ceasing in the case of the Syracuse Orangemen.

Fitzgerald is going to be relying on C.J. Bacher to continue his passing fancy in the way he did last year, where he averaged an eye-popping 300+ ypg. However, when Bacher wasn’t throwing the ball, he seemed to be fumbling it on the ground. He has absolutely got to keep it tucked away if the Wildcats are going to be successful.

The running game also has to be prevalent for Northwestern to keep defenses honest–they were last in the Big Ten in rushing, but you could really attribute that to the injuries that Tyrell Sutton had after having a stellar first two years with NU. With him at full strength, this should make for a very potent team when they have the ball.

Potency doesn’t go in the same sentence with the Syracuse Orangemen. Picked to finish last in the Big East media day, the team has struggled immensely over the past three seasons, and the defense has been atrocious–which spells disaster for the Orangemen when pitted against the purple engine. Syracuse doesn’t have an awful offense at all–QB Andrew Robinson did throw for over 2000 yards and threw for 13 TDs, but he got sacked an amazing 50 times (Hey Orangemen, there is thing called blocking–ever heard of it?) The rushing game should be improved regardless–they averaged a paltry 2 yards a carry last year–but again that depends on the blocking that the offensive line can provide and not play the matador offensive scheme.

Overall, it just seems that the deck is stacked way too much against ‘Cuse. In my mind, it won’t be pretty. Northwestern 38, Syracuse 21