2008 Week 2

Coach Taylor and his Northwestern football team knew that it wasn't going to be easy to go into both Alabama and Florida State and get a win, let alone a chance at 2.

But a .500 trip to start the season is not bad at all, considering their opponents. Alabama was ranked 40th in the preseason poll, while Florida State just snuck in the top 60 at #60.

After a convincing victory at Alabama last Saturday, Coach Taylor was feeling confident going into the FSU game.

However, that confidence was quickly gone.

CJ Bacher fumbled on the Wildcats first 2 possessions, both leading to Touchdown runs by Antone Smith, who has 6 total touchdowns through the first 2 weeks. Bacher would also throw 4 interceptions throughout the game, 2 of which came after the game was already out of reach for the Wildcats.

However, not only did CJ Bacher not get anything going Saturday, neither did Tyrell Sutton nor the Wildcat defense that played so well against Alabama.

Sutton had just 38 yards on 12 carries, but he did have 9 receptions, which went for 66 yards.

But the real story on offense was Sidney Stewart, a sophomore out of Bloomfield, MI. Stewart caught 11 of Bacher's 31 completions for 151 yards and 3 touchdowns.

The Wildcat defense couldn't buy a stop of the Seminole offense all day. Antone Smith, the NCAA Offensive Player of the Week in week 1, ran all over the Wildcats early and was pulled late because of the rout. The defensive line that was supposed to be the strong point of the defense never reached Drew Weatherford, and he had all day to throw.

Northwestern now comes home to face Ball State before they get a bye week.