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"Chicago, Chicago, that toddling town"
The opening line to Fred Fischer's 1922 classic song "Chicago", which was most notably covered in '57 by Frank Sinatra, makes reference to a little-used word that seems to be the perfect descriptor of our football team following our week one loss to Penn State:
toddle (verb): to move with short, uneasy steps while learning to walk.
Having seen our team, in particular our offense, it looked like we were in many respects performing the college football equivalent of toddling. Drew Allen looked unsteady. The right side of our O-line often looked overmatched, and the schemes and play calling seemed to suggest we weren't quite sure how to put our players in positions to attack a vulnerable Penn State defense.
So, we leave the (cough) friendly confines of The Meadowlands, and pack our bags for Chicago. Waiting for us is a ranked Northwestern team that seems to be moving from strength to strength, while we seem to be not quite sure what are strengths are. It's reason for concern, but I buy-in to the theory that vast improvements often happen between week one and week two, and I think we have it in us to upset the Wildcats. We just need to leave all the toddling behind us in New Jersey...