Well, I hate to say I told you so.

For that matter, I hate to say I told myself so.

Last week, after Northwestern escaped Minnesota with a 29-28 win despite their sloppy play, I warned not to overlook Purdue.

Too bad by the end of the week I, like many others, had taken a drink of that purple Kool-Aid and predicted a 45-17 victory for the Wildcats.

There were just too many ingredients mixed into that purple concoction. Purdue was 2-2, coming off a loss to Toledo two weeks ago, and was missing much of its main offensive firepower due to injury. NU finally had a night game, the first in my time here. And let’s not forget that possible 6-0 start and the visions of College GameDay coming to town when the Cats play No. 13 Michigan State.

Somehow I had lost sight of the fact that the running game still had yet to get going, Stefan Demos was unreliable at best and the Cats couldn’t stop shooting themselves in the foot.

“If we continue not to kill ourselves, I think we will be fine,” coach Pat Fitzgerald said after the game.

It’s awfully hard to win week in, week out in the Big Ten when you make obvious mistakes.

Against Vanderbilt, it was Dan Persa’s fumble with NU up 10-0 that let the Commodores back into the game. Three weeks later, the Cats narrowly escaped Upset City against Central Michigan when the Chippewas put up 12 unanswered points after an Arby Fields fumble. Their win against Minnesota should have been a blowout, but two red zone turnovers by Persa and undisciplined penalties kept the game close down to the wire.

As for Saturday, well, pick your poison out of two botched punt returns, one muffed kick return, one shanked punt and two field goal attempts from Stefan Demos that never had a chance.

Yet Fitzgerald doesn’t seem to think these plays tell the story.

“You want to start pointing fingers at a lot of little things, we can do that all night,” he said. “We’re going to focus on the whole picture, we’re going to try to find a way to do better and find a way to improve.”

But aside from the ineffective rush attack, these “little things” have been the whole picture, considering that four games were decided by five points or fewer.

The Cats got away with it their first five games, but their mistakes finally caught up with them against Purdue, the best team they’ve played so far.

“After a loss, you gotta really look inward,” Fitzgerald said. “You gotta make some real tough comments to yourself. I’m responsible, and obviously we didn’t have the guys ready to execute the way they’re capable of, and that falls on me and the rest of the staff.”

It won’t get any easier from here as NU has their toughest opponents in the latter half of the season, including the Spartans, No. 15 Iowa and No. 18 Wisconsin. Their upcoming bye week gives the team time to reflect and prepare for Michigan State.

“If we don’t come ready to play, they’re going to run us off the field,” Persa said.

Face it: Through their first six games, these Cats have been nothing more than paper tigers.

Sports editor Andrew Scoggin is a Medill senior. He can be reached at [email protected]