The NU football blog "Lake the Post" is predicting a NU loss this Saturday. With our defense playing how it has, I can't disagree too much with the analysis.

"Simply put there are two reasons we will unfortunately lose on Saturday:

1) Kickoff coverage - we're terrible. Brutal. We made Eastern Michigan look like a team of Devin Hesters. Heck - we make every team look like Hesters. But get this - Purdue is #2 in the country in kickoff returns - BEFORE we play them. You can get on our defense all day long, but when you consistently give the opponent half the field to work with it is tough to expect to keep points off of the board (don't look now, but Purdue also leads the Big Ten in scoring).

2)Purdue's offense - If you caught them play this weekend, you'll see that they are going to feast on our secondary. Dorien Bryant, when he is focused, is a maniac - and he seems to be clicking again. Painter has so much confidence - he and Bacher are in the same mode right now. What is most impressive is the consistency of the 3rd and 2 20 yard pass across the field for a 3-yard gain. Unless Purdue shoots themselves in the foot with a slew of turnovers, Bacher will simply have too much offense to carry on his back. "

Interesting notes on the special teams. Yeah - it will be a long day in West Lafayette. The only way NU wins is if we get some key turnovers and win the field position game.

Purdue will score at least 40 unless we really dominate running the ball. It is up to Northwestern to match that. Our defense is playing with a lot of confidence.

I see Purdue getting out to a two or three touchdown lead and then matching scores for the rest of the game.

Northwestern is playing Purdue at a bad time. This last weekend I would have been very worried about the upset but they have found a rhythm again.

Jaycen Taylor, who returned last weekend from a broken arm, should have a big day.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

For what it is worth, I was impressed by Northwestern in the game. Our offense took over in the fourth quarter but I was very concerned as Northwestern was the better team in the second and third quarters.

The future is looking up for Northwestern. They remind me a lot of Purdue last year.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I thought we'd lose this game. But to get my hopes up and then lose it all(and failing to cover the spread) was tough on my consitution. Purdue was the better team. The momentum clearly shifted. Our defense still sucks, but for a couple quarters I was encouraged.

I think Jaycen your RB looks great. I think he'll do some good stuff the rest of the year. Hopefully that will open up some more stuff for Dorien Bryant.

Great game, Boilers.

Too bad you don't play the Illini this year. I think that would be a pretty good matchup.

Jaycen Taylor is the heart of the team. We really missed him vs. OSU and Michigan. Purdue still loses both of those games, but I have to believe we put up a better fight. He is the team leader.

All season I have thought that the game vs. Penn State next week was a loss. I have to hope that PSU has the same OSU hangover that we seemed to have.

Northwestern is going to give the Fighting Illini a really tough time. Nothwestern's offense can be explosive. If it wasn't for the Purdue defense getting some key turnovers in the first half then Northwestern could have taken a bigger lead and really put pressure on us.

I'll be rooting for Northwestern in the last two games and I guess also against Iowa since I'm pretty sure that a 6-6 Iowa team would be picked for a better bowl than a 10-2 Purdue team

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

Not so fast my friend - I never made that statement.

I did say that a 6-6 iowa is more attractive than a 6-6/7-5 MSU, Indiana or Northwestern.

Hell, I'd probably go to the game in Detroit for the hell of it.

I know. I was joking about that. It just gets annoying to hear how all these teams will jump over Purdue for a bowl game with more losses when it hasn't happened in my memory. Add in the fact that Iowa fans are the primary ones that say it(or at least would when both teams were good) and it gets a little bit irritating.

As for jumping over Minnesota, Northwestern, IU, and other schools I agree that it is possible and has happened to Minnesota from what I remember. It's just that Purdue has shown that they travel to bowl games also.

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You do not talk to me like that! I work too hard to deal with this stuff! I work too hard! I'm an important member of the CSFMB! I drive a Dodge Stratus!

I'm removing the spinning Wildcat head from my sig. I think it is both bad luck and scaring me.