This Saturday, Northwestern will play its home opener at Ryan Field against UTEP with a chance to claim the program’s first victory in over a year. To be blunt, if they fail to do so, the ‘Cats are one step closer to extending that streak for an entire season. That’s how bad the Rutgers game looked and felt, and that’s how difficult the conference schedule will be.
While NU is capable of knocking off a non-Power Five school like UTEP at home, it’s far from a sure thing. The Miners already have one win, and they’ll be looking to make that two against a Big Ten school they undoubtedly view as beatable.