Bleav in Northwestern

Northwestern football saw its hopes of making a bowl effectively come to an end over the weekend against Michigan and Inside NU's Adam Beck joins Zach to lament a rather disappointing season for the Wildcats. The two discuss how it's been to watch this team struggle to look competitive and maintain any consistency this season (2:23) while also breaking down the jobs done by head coach David Braun...

Northwestern football heads to Ann Arbor for a high-stakes matchup this weekend and Zach is joined by Aaron McMann of MLive.come to talk about the matchup. The pair begins by discussing the disappointing season for Michigan before getting into the Wolverines' 2024 quarterback carousel (2:20). Then, they point out the talented tandem in Michigan's backfield and how tight end Colston Loveland could...

Zach took a trip to catch two Northwestern sporting events in less than 24 hours over the weekend, beginning with a narrow victory over Eastern Illinois for men's basketball. He talks about the scare the team got due to a poor second half on offense before lauding Jalen Leach for taking over in his first signature sequence as a Wildcat (1:46). Then, he discusses the end of game rotation for Chris...

It's a massive sports weekend in Evanston (and at Wrigley Field) and Zach is joined by Big Ten Plus and ESPN+ broadcaster Noah Coffman to preview Northwestern field hockey ahead of the NCAA tournament. The two discuss what happened in the Wildcats' first and only loss of the season to Michigan in the Big Ten tournament (2:31) before talking about how Tracy Fuchs has turned this program into one of...

The Wildcats kicked off the men's basketball season with a bang, cruising past Lehigh in their opener on Monday. Zach overreacts to the game, discussing the identity of this year's team and highlighting the individual performances of Nick Martinelli, KJ Windham and more (1:26). Then, he welcomes on Sports Illustrated's Kevin Sweeney to dive deeper into the biggest questions facing NU this season (...

Northwestern is back in the win column! The 'Cats overcame a never-say-die Purdue team and a number of self-inflicted mistakes to get their fourth win of the season and Zach is back to break down it all down. He begins with an overview of the game (1:29) before talking about how the running back pair of Joseph Himon II and Cam Porter revitalized NU's offense (6:45). Next, he discusses how Northwes...

Wildcats basketball is finally here! Zach breaks down everything there is to know about this year's Northwestern team, beginning with a brief reflection on what Chris Collins and co. have been able to accomplish the last two seasons (2:30). Then, he goes deep on this year's roster, breaking down each and every player expected to be in the rotation and how they might make an impact after the depart...

Northwestern dropped its fifth game of the season in disheartening fashion to Iowa Saturday and Zach takes a look at how this program got to the brink of bowl elimination. He begins by assessing the head-scratching coaching decisions made by David Braun and Zach Lujan, focusing on the lack of consistency and the uncertainty in the decisions (6:25). Then, he breaks down the play of Jack Lausch and...

Northwestern (3–4) needs to quickly turn the page after a dreadful loss to Wisconsin, so Zach welcomes on KCRG TV-9’s Jack Lido to take a look at the 'Cats eighth opponent of the season: Iowa. The pair discuss how the Hawkeyes' season took a rather dour turn with a surprise loss at Michigan State (2:28), before diving in on some individual scouting reports—beginning with Iowa's QB Cade McNamara (1...

Northwestern heads back to Evanston for its final game of the season at the lakeside stadium against Wisconsin and Matt Perkins of the Bleav in Badgers podcast joins the show to give insight into Luke Fickell's program. He and Zach begin by discussing how Wisconsin has gained momentum over the last few weeks behind a strong rushing attack and the play of quarterback Braedyn Locke (1:58). They also...

Northwestern forced three turnovers in the fourth quarter and shut the door on Maryland on the road to improve to 3–3. Zach was on hand in College Park and gives his thoughts on how the Wildcats were able to come up with just a few big plays to completely open up on the floodgates on the Terrapins (2:04). He breaks down the performance on offense, which featured plenty of explosiveness, but also a...

Northwestern heads east to close out the first half of the 2024 season against Maryland and Zach is joined by Inside the Black and Gold's Ahmed Ghafir to take a closer look at the Terrapins. They begin by assessing the job Mike Locksley has done with the program in his tenure (1:34) before going over the play of quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. in his first year as the team's starter (6:11). Next, th...

Northwestern couldn’t keep pace with Indiana despite a better performance on offense and Zach takes a look at what happened to the Wildcats in their return home to Evanston. He begins with the disappointment of watching the defense, thought to be this team’s strength, struggle so much against one of the best units in the country (1:19). Then, he discusses the improvements he saw from Jack Lausch a...

Bleav in Big Ten podcast host and former Indiana receiver Rhett Lewis joins Zach on the show to preview Indiana, Northwestern’s undefeated opponent coming out of the bye week. The pair begin by discussing Curt Cignetti’s nearly instant turnaround of the program (1:39) along with Kurtis Rourke’s clinical start to the campaign in a high-powered offense (6:54). Next, they pivot to Indiana’s defense b...

It's mailbag week! Wildcat Report's Matt Shelton joins the show to answer questions with Zach about Northwestern football after a crushing loss to Washington and a 2–2 start to the season. They begin with a follow-up discussion on David Braun's head-scratching field goal decision against Washington (3:01) before diving into the team's quarterback play through four weeks (14:16). Then, they discuss...

Northwestern got a rude awakening to the Big Ten over the weekend, falling to Washington 24–5 in the 2024 conference opener. Zach is joined by Andrew Bowen to try and decipher what exactly went wrong for the Wildcats and how they can fix it. They first discuss the inept showing on offense, beginning with the early-career struggles of Jack Lausch at quarterback (4:01). They also discuss NU's inabil...

Northwestern got back on track with a 31–7 victory over Eastern Illinois and Zach takes a look back before glancing ahead at the Washington matchup. He begins by assessing Jack Lausch’s performance in his first start (2:10), explaining why he thought the redshirt sophomore quarterback was able to settle in over the course of his 2024 debut. Later, he’s joined by Andy Yamashita of the Seattle Times...

Former Inside NU editor-in-chief David Gold joins Zach on the show to further dissect Northwestern's first two games and the quarterback switch from Mike Wright to Jack Lausch. The two begin by discussing their initial reactions to the news and why they're stunned it actually happened (2:20). They then jump into how the Wildcats got here and what changed from Wright between Week 1 and Week 2 (10:3...

After last Friday’s debacle vs. Duke, David Braun has opted to make a change at quarterback. Jack Lausch will start for Northwestern against Eastern Illinois this weekend instead of Mike Wright, and Zach reacts instantly to the news. He discusses why the change was made and what Lausch brings to the table (1:25). However, there’s some hesitation to the early-season move, and he breaks down why thi...

Northwestern lost in heartbreaking fashion to Duke and Zach laments a massive missed opportunity after the double overtime loss. After touching briefly on the challenging elements of the late-night Friday game, he goes over the key moments of the loss (2:06) and reflects on Mike Wright’s second straight shaky performance (9:10). Next, he gives out flowers to Cam Porter and the other standouts on o...

Fresh off of a win to start off the year, Northwestern will return to action against Duke on Friday night in Evanston. Zach is joined by Mike McDaniel of Sports Illustrated to preview the game, beginning with how the Blue Devils reloaded under first-year coach Manny Diaz after changes in the offseason (3:14). They go over the talents and drawbacks of Texas transfer quarterback Maalik Murphy (11:31...

Northwestern football is back! Zach was on hand at the lakeside facility for the Wildcats' season-opening win over Miami (Ohio) and is now joined on the show by Henry Ettinger to give their thoughts on the stadium setup (1:15) and assess Northwestern's performance. The two begin by focusing on Mike Wright's Northwestern debut (7:14), before talking about the positives and negatives of the offense...

It's game week! Northwestern welcomes Miami (Ohio) to Northwestern Medicine Field at Martin Stadium and Zach is joined by Alex Scheer of the MAC Sports Connection podcast to preview the game. The two discuss the Redhawks' 2023 season and how the team was able to win 11 games without starting quarterback Brett Gabbert (3:44). Then, they pivot to this year's Miami team, talking about the vast return...

It’s prediction time on the show and Zach is joined by Jack McKessy of USA Today to make a number of picks related to the outcome of the 2024 season for the Wildcats. They begin by discussing if Northwestern will have a home field advantage at the temporary stadium on Lake Michigan (2:45) before projecting who will be the starting quarterback in Week 1 (12:05). Then, they make their picks for the...

In the final positional preview episode of the preseason, Zach breaks down the backend of the defense (linebackers and defensive backs) and the special teams players lining up for Northwestern in 2024. He begins with the linebackers, discussing the competition to replace Bryce Gallagher at middle linebacker and how the unit can assist star Xander Mueller (2:16). Then, he goes over the secondary, h...