Just saw the 1995 season special.  Brought back wonderful memories.  It was good to see you represent the program on the show.

So...how many purple ties do you have?

Thanks, Brian.

I have no idea how many purple ties I have, but it's definitely far more than I need.  I wore my best one during the interview.

Was VERY good to see you Matt. Thanks again for making my senior year so special.

Gotta say, my wife loved your tie.

Matt... wondering if you agree with this. I saw Chris Emma write this "Northwestern's front seven is at its strongest since the Rose Bowl team which Fitzgerald played on."

Do you agree? I think he has a point... at least on paper.

IMO the 2008 front seven was, at least in hindsight, as solid as our current crop. Though we have some younger guys who may eventually surpass the accomplishments of the 2008 crew.

On DL we had Wootton-Bryant-Gill-Mims as the main starters as well as Hahn, Browne, DiNardo and Watt. Probably more accomplished than or current line at this point.

At LB we had Q Davie, Arrington, N Williams and Kwateng. Probably similar to our current LBs at this point.

I do wish we had our 2008 starting secondary: Mabin, B Phillips, B Smith and McManis - wow. If we have another good corner opposite Van Hoose, I think the lineup of Van Hoose - Campbell - Henry - TBD could be very solid for the next 3 years.

I would have thought that too, but we were not nearly as successful with the 2008 defense... statistically speaking.

The 2008 front seven may have been better than this group.  It's close.  The 2008 and 2012 bunches are probably both better than the Rose Bowl team, but we had a dominant secondary.