The die-hard fans were sold in Madison when Damien Anderson waltzed to paydirt in double overtime. For the bandwagon hoppers dangling from Ryan Field’s north goalpost, Northwestern football became a reality in the celebratory frenzy following the Michigan miracle.
Toughest to convince were the media, whose consensus last-place predictions for the Wildcats looked worse after every game.
But Randy Walker was unimpressed by the magic and mayhem of 2000.
He stood by while his team converted a fourth-and-20 in Minnesota, kicked a game-tying 46-yard field goal against Wisconsin and stripped the A-Train to win the Game of the Year. There were no gaping grins or sentimental postgame raves from Walker about NU’s success – he expected it.
Now NU is backed by the press and the public. And Walker and his troops have raised the bar even higher.
At a banquet prior to last season, NU Athletic Director Rick Taylor introduced Walker before the coach spoke to a group of merlot-sipping alumni. Trying to pump up the aging Cats backers, Taylor proclaimed that the team would notch six wins and earn a minor bowl berth in 2000.
“I took the stage, looked at him and said, ‘Well, just who do you think is going to beat us, because I don’t see any losses on that schedule,'” Walker says nearly one year later. “Now that’s pretty lofty thinking from a guy who just went 3-8 and got his ass kicked by a bunch of people, but I have pretty lofty expectations all the time – I wouldn’t have come here if I didn’t.”
Heading into the 2001 season, Walker and the Cats are no longer laughed at when they spout phrases like “Big Ten champions” and “national title.” In one year, NU transformed from a 3-8 farce to an 8-4 force.
But the Cats knew they were winners last spring – it just took everyone else until November to catch on.
These days NU is revered for its three conference titles in six years – no one mentions its 4-20 Big Ten record from 1997-1999. People remember quarterback Zak Kustok for his relentless desire and composure last season, not for the 13-yard passing performance he had against Indiana in 1999. And Anderson has shed the label of work horse and up-and-coming runner – he’s a Heisman Trophy candidate now.
And when the media revealed its 2001 season predictions, the Cats had a new image. They had gone from worst to first. ESPN and The Sporting News both listed the Cats as Big Ten favorites for 2001. CBS SportsLine, which predicted the Cats last in 2000 and misspelled Kustok’s first name in the team preview, ranked NU No. 17 in the preseason and slated it to play Florida State in the 2002 Orange Bowl.
But for players and coaches, the public praise merely reinforces what they already know.
“We had high expectations last year – we expected to win the Big Ten,” Kustok says. “Whether the media has us at the top or bottom of the Big Ten, we don’t listen to any of that. I’m not going to pick up and read the magazines any more this year than last year. I know (the press) didn’t get that much smarter over one year.”
With 16 returning starters, 10 of which starred on the NCAA’s fourth-best offense in 2000, the Cats have elevated their standards for excellence.
Spring practice in 2000 provided images of players cramming a new offense into their heads and gelling with each other on the field. This March the Cats came into spring ball with a new goal in mind – perfecting a winning attitude.
“If we come in here thinking we’re the best, we’re going to play a little faster, a little harder, a little more cocky,” middle linebacker Billy Silva says. “That’s the thing perennial powers have against any other team – the confidence level.”
Silva’s wingman, senior linebacker Kevin Bentley, agrees that the team’s image has changed for 2001. Although last season’s glory let the Cats out of the bag, Bentley says he is motivated by the heightened hopes in his final season.
“We go into every game looking like everyone is after us, and if they’re not after us, they’re going to get it taken to them,” Bentley says. “We’re coming out like we’re the last man standing and everyone wants our piece of meat.”
While he preaches confidence and demands excellence, Walker is quick to point out areas of necessary improvement. NU’s defense allowed more than 30 points in seven of 12 games, spotting Minnesota and Michigan huge leads before the offense retaliated.
The special teams were a major concern throughout the season, conceding long kickoff returns that gave opposing offenses a short field to work with. And Walker was at times disgusted with the team’s mental errors – NU was flagged for 112 penalties last season, 14 more than its closest Big Ten rival.
“You pull three plays out of our season last year and we’re just another bunch of guys,” Walker says. “Take three plays out, I can pick them out right now, and we are just another .500, 5-6 football team.
“But we made those plays last year, so we were co-champions of the league, and now everybody thinks we’re wonderful. We don’t make those plays and they’re picking us last again.”
While Walker dismisses the “what ifs” and praises his team for “finding a way,” players are conscious that the triumph could have easily been tragedy. Anderson, who refused the riches and renown of the NFL to remain at NU for his senior season, says the Cats are out to prove last season was no accident.
“A lot of people could say Northwestern won its games on some fluke plays, but we want to make them clear-cut this year,” Anderson says. “We’ve got the confidence from those plays when guys stepped up in big-time situations, and now we feel confident and capable.”
Many of NU’s defensive starters agree with Anderson, saying that there is unfinished business left over from last season. Pulling no punches, starting cornerback Raheem Covington says the defensive performance was “pitiful” last season and did not keep pace with the Cats’ offense.
To challenge themselves to elevate their play, NU’s defenders set a new objective for 2001.
“To win the Big Ten outright,” Covington says. “That’s what we want to accomplish. That’s how the defense feels. We’re Big Ten co-champs, but we want to be the top, the Big Ten champs, alone.”
Wide receiver Sam Simmons ups Covington’s ante in stating his goal for next season. The recipient of two game-winning touchdown tosses in 2000, Simmons has set his sights on a feat disassociated from NU football since the 1995 Rose Bowl season.
“You’ve got to be thinking of a national title – it’s possible,” Simmons says. “The Big Ten is a great conference, and if you can win the Big Ten, you’re a top team in the nation.
“Right now we’re thinking about UNLV, we’re thinking about spring ball – there will be a time to think about (a national title). First we have to play those first couple of games, start the Big Ten and then it’ll come. It’ll come.”
