Opening Thoughts:
This offseason has been one for the books. From my calculations, it is 264 days between that frigid game in Duluth, and this season’s kick off in Kirksville. There have been so many changes in this offseason, I don’t know of any program that’s had this many changes. It all started with Will Wagner being named the new Head Coach at Angelo State. The day after Christmas rumors began surfacing that Mel Tjeerdsma was going to retire, and he did just that. After 17 years of wearing that red hat and filling the role of Defensive Coordinator, Scott Bostwick was promoted to Head Coach of the Bearcats. Bostwick brought in Ken Gordon as Special Teams & Secondary, and hired Joel Osborn as WR’s coach and recruiting coordinator. From all accounts, this was the beginning of Scott Bostwicks dream job. But it was a dream that was cut short. On June 5, Coach Bostwick had a heart attack and died at the hospital. Assistant Head Coach and Offensive Coordinator was then named as the newest Head Coach of the Northwest Bearcats.
There was also a ton of changes on the roster. A lot of transfers came and went during Spring ball and over the summer. Some recruits showed up and didn’t even last the summer. Others never showed up at all. With so much that has happened, it wouldn’t shock me if NW’s in-conference win streak comes to an end this year. At the same time, I think that Northwest has the talent to make a deep run if not end up in Florence again this year!
This Week’s Match up:
History tells us that the first game of the season is not been kind to the Bearcats. But unlike the past 4 years, NW is not facing a nationally ranked team. In fact, NW is facing one of the ‘bottom’ teams of the MIAA. Playing Truman always has the history of being a potential trap game for the Bearcats, but I don’t think that will be a problem this year. From the beginning of spring practice – Coach Bostwick was focused on winning the first game, that focus has not changed. The team’s motto this offseason has been “All In” Which I think is great. Last season, the team seemed to lack leadership and appeared to just be going thru the motions. The shear talent on the team, and a couple of lucky breaks – the Bearcats managed to continue their streak. This year, I believe/hope that there will be the leadership on the field that was missing last season.
Offensively, Northwest returns the majority of their playmakers from last year – with the exception obviously of Baker and Bolles. The OLine took probably the biggest hit overall, but they still return 3 players who started in the Semi-Final game. They will also be helped out by Cole Daft at center. After seeing Cole’s high school tape and watching him play in practice, I think this kid has a lot of potential. They will also be aided by John Becklun who came to NW via UNO. For Tight Ends, NW has Kyle Kilgore and transfer Jon Gregg. The Wide Receiving corps is once again a strong suit – with Soy, Shaw, Hinchey, Eiken, Pierce & Utter all returning, along with new WR’s this year to watch Bryce Young and Brian Miller – if you remember, Miller had a huge game against NW two years ago when he was a Freshman at UNO. The backfield for NW is really staked this year. Billy Creason is back to being completely healed, Jordan Simmons is always a threat to run or catch out of the backfield, AND probably the biggest transfer that NW got this off season is James Franklin III from UNO. Franklin went to the same highschool as Darrin Sproles and broke all of his records. Besides for those three, Ricky Hicks is back – he has recovered completely from his MCL injury and apparently has found a doctor to sign off on his neck injury from last year. I don’t know how much field Hicks will see – but I think he may have the most potential of all of them, and that is saying a lot! As for Tight Ends, NW returns preseason 1st team all conference Kyle Kilgore, and they picked up a transfer from Monterey Peninsula Junior College who at 6'6" 255lbs provides a big target for the QB. Speaking of QB's, NW lost one of their best ever last year, which opened up a nice QB competition during spring ball. Fifth year senior Blake Christopher separated himself from sophomore Trevor Adams. Blake is a physical type of player, who filled in at RB last year when needed. Christopher is not a pocket passer, so this provides another thing that defenses have to prepare for. This allows NW to look like they are going to have Christopher run, and have him pull up and pass to one of the many receivers. I also wouldn't be surprised to see something like we did in 2008 with Trevor Adams taking snaps regularly every 3rd or 4th series just to gain more game time experience. Mel Tjeersdma once described Adams as "Joel Osborn with an arm" - I think that is saying a lot. But Blake Christopher definitely has the respect of his team. He was almost a unanimous selection for Team Captain - with 97 votes.
When hearing Coach Dorrel speak, you can definitely tell that he has a history of being an offensive lineman. AD has indicated that the offensive mindset will be being physical and disciplined. He has said that he thought that prior to this year, part of NW's problem of starting off slow was that the offense may have been a bit too complicated to start off the year. He stated that he thought that fall camp was too short to really be able to cover everything thoroughly. So I expect that the Offense will be a bit more basic than it had been, but in the coming weeks it will be back in regular form. About the only strength for Truman is their secondary. They return almost their entire secondary, so going against a new QB may be to their advantage. I think NW will counter this by simply using their stockade of running backs and ram the ball down the Bulldogs throats!
On the Defensive side of the ball, we will see a much different team than there was last year. The Bearcats are replacing 9 of the 11 starters. Granted, the two remaining are really stinkin' good - preseason All American Chad Kilgore at Line Backer and Josh Lorensen on the line. Lorenson will be joined on the line by Matt Meinert, Aaron Terry, and Chris Morales - who transfered from Delaware. The Linebackers corps (coached by Chad Bostwick) will feature Kilgore, Massey, Zaputil, and DeBuysere - also returning from injury this year is DJ Gnader and Cody Matthewson. I remember last year Tjeerdsma said that this was the fastest group of LB's he's had, and Gnader may be the best LB'er in Northwest history. The secondary is what worries me the most. That was prior to receiving some serious transfers. My guess is that both of the starting cornerbacks will be pretty darn good. The first is NW's own Travis Manning, the other is Derrick Thomas. If that name sounds familiar, it should. He was an all conference CB in the LSC last year. He was also one of the only CB's that teams trusted enough to try and cover Jake Soy 1 on 1. I guess he wanted to play for a team who can get out of the Super Region. As for safeties, the first is Jordan Sklba who comes to NW from Murray St, and is a track athlete as well; the other is one of the team captains - Derrick Hightower.
Truman’s Coach – Gregg Nesbitt is determined to bring some respect back to Bulldog football. Last season the purple dogs were 4-7 but they were 3 points away and just a few minutes from being 6-5. You can guarantee that he wants to improve that record this year. I really don’t know what to expect out of their offense. They have a bunch of running backs and wide receivers. In fact their leading WR last year was a Freshman. Truman will also be dealing with a new quarterback. Overall, despite the fact that NW usually loses the first game, I don’t think that Truman has what it takes to stop the streak. My prediction: Streak continues to 47, and Northwest wins 28-6.
Interesting Facts/Statistics:
- Truman was the team to stop NW’s last streak @ 42
- Since the streak, the Bearcats have outscored Truman 377 – 92 in the past 9 seasons
Quotes:
“The offseason sucks!” – me
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